Well, based on my own experience with benzos, MDs suck at helping people off legit prescribed medicine (as is the case here), and they either cut you off immediately or they try to send you off to rehab. I read enough on the benzo boards to realize that rehab isn't set up to deal with benzo problems (which take months not days to resolve), and I'd be skeptical of sending my wife to one for narcotics.
My benzo taper was roughly 10% reduction every week, but I sped up, slowed down, and did anything BUT stick to my original plan. When I got below the lowest therapeutic dose, I jumped.
However, I did personally succeed with the taper method over months from the benzo crap, but I need to know what to expect from narcotic withdrawals. She is already down to 2 pills a day and only reports congestion and sinus drainage, and perhaps a slight increase in end of day anxiety from her stressful work. Is this typical stuff, and if so, how long does it last? What type of tapers do people use? I bought a medical scale and cut my own meds when tapering from benzos. Backup plan is to see an addiction psychiatrist if tapering gets difficult and she needs help. Anyone with experience with addiction specialists? Good or bad?
I'm working out to help myself, as well as pray, and I have a strong faith to rely upon, and so does my wife.
I'm trying to convince my wife to see a counselor for stress, which produces anxiety and a need to self medicate, I think. I believe that if she can manage stress better, the probability for relapse goes down significantly.