My mom filled her pain pills 6 days ago.
She gets 70 5mg oxycodone a month.
In 5 days she has already taken 30 of them.
She suffers from crippling arthritis, fibromyalgia and needs a knee replaced.
I know she is in a tremendous amount of pain, but don’t you think that what she is doing is excessive?
She runs out a couple weeks early each month and then has nothing for pain.
She has asked me to dole out her lyrica so she doesn’t take too much.
What would you do in this situation?
I don’t want her to overdose, I know the oxy’s are pretty strong.
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That’s hard to say. I’ve no experience of oxy’s so I can’t comment on them.
I was a benzo addict though and some of the telltale signs I remember were that I would stagger and slur my words like I was drunk
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She definitely slurs her words sometimes, but she seems to be relatively sober.
I don’t know how she can take so many.
When I had my back surgeries the pain pills pretty much knocked me out.
You build up a tolerance so you need more of the drug to get the same effect
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I wonder why the pain doctor doesn’t give her an extended release med?
Seems like she wouldn’t have to take as much then.
I don’t know why you have to ration out the lyrica, thats what I’m on now and its not addictive.
Apparently it takes weeks of use to take effect
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A lot of people who have taken a lot of OxyContin end up liking it a lot. Maybe too much.
The fact that she makes it last 3/4 weeks she’s doing better than a lot of other people with managing her pills.
Still be VERY CAUTIOUS and weary.
I dunno it’s really tough you don’t wanna tell her doctor just yet she’s abusing them then they’ll take away her script and then she can only go to the street to get pain pills or powders (bad).
Maybe I’ll have better advice later.
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She takes way too many and runs out of those as well.
They’re usually prescribed to be taken 3 times a day.
I’ve taken a good few of them before and you can get woozy off them but not high.
I’d be more worried about the oxy’s
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She gets 3 450mg lyrica a day, but takes 5-6.
Then when she runs out, I have to give her my gabapentin or she gets physically sick.
OK, she’s on a much higher dose of it than me since she’s using it for fibromyalgia. I was prescribed it for anxiety because I’ve got a history of addiction.
Maybe at those levels one can become dependant on it
Pain or no pain she must be physically addicted at those levels
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When I had my c-section I was prescribed pain pills but I didn’t take them I just took a high dose of Tylenol
5 mg oxycodone is the lowest dose, but 30 of anything in 5 days sounds excessive especially for opiates, maybe try to help her to slow down and not take so many oxys basically have the same effect as heroin just not as strong and most doctors refuse to prescribe it, if she took only the dose specified than that would probably be ok because being in alot of pain can be unbearable but something definitely needs to change
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I’m addicted to pain medication and to me if she’s having you dole out any meds it’s a clear sign that she’s feeling out of control of her situation. She’s not relinquishing control of the oxy’s because she doesn’t want to give them up, I bet. And if you’re giving her any of your meds, including your neurontin, that’s another really bad sign. I’m sorry to say this but, to me it sounds like your mom is in trouble, lot’s of danger signs there.
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There’s no sure fire way of picking out an addict in a crowd. Addicts can probably spot other addicts but I can’t tell who is an addict and who isn’t.
The warning signs to look for would be needing escalating doses of the oxycodone in order to maintain the same level of pain control. You might also notice increased sensitivity to pain, meaning that you have more issues with being hypersensitive to pain. Generally, after 1-2 month of regular use of opioids it’s likely to develop physiologic dependence.
Your best option would be consulting an addiction medicine specialist who can safely switch her to a different medication which can then be weaned off. If she is ready to do it herself, about 25% reduction in dose every week should work as well. Most patients take medicines for pain that is not properly addressed, so consulting a good pain specialist for proper treatment would be the proper thing.
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As someone that just detoxed from pain meds, let her get sick. Running out sucks but it teaches us a hard lesson. I am being more careful and not taking anything except as prescribed.
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My mom has been on Oxycontin for 25 years and has never abused it. She has exactly enough to get through every month and the one time she lost some it was hell to get replacements.’
As far as your situation is concerned, she’ll punish herself if she takes more than her dose by running out early for the month. Withdrawal coupled with unmedicated pain can drive a person crazy.
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She says she doesn’t have withdrawal from the pain meds, which is probably a lie.
But she was really sick from not having lyrica till I gave her some of my gabapentin.
I can’t keep giving her gabapentin, I nearly ran out last month.
I had to ration them since I gave her so much.
I guess I deserve this since I used to be a drunk.
But the situation is really pissing me off.
Not only do I have to do everything around the house, now I have to deal with this crap.
My family doesn’t lift a finger to help me or her, ever.
I can barely take care of myself and I’m in charge of someone who can barely take care of herself.
This situation is really triggering my anger and paranoia.
It’s making me angry and it carries over to my job.
I don’t know what to do.
Thanks to everyone who replied, I really appreciate it.
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Slurring words is a sign of a very different state of mind. I can appear normal under certain circumstances but when i start slurring, even a tiny bit, its a wake up call to myself that I’m really messed up. Appearing sober, or being able to think and talk intelligently means nothing imho, if you’re slurring, you are over doing it.
This is my extremely subjective view. I have no advise for how to deal with this situation besides just saying that I think your concerns are very valid.
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