hawkman

My wife and I are both in AA - We are about to celebrate 3 years and I have 7 years.

This past weekend my wife was prescribed Valium for anxiety. She has a history of anxiety and panic attacks. I found out she was taking these because I could tell last Wednesday that she was not herself and asked her what is going on. Later that night she gave me the pills and I found out that she took 14 of the 30 pills over the course of 1 1/2 days. RX is 1/2 pill twice daily. The next day she got another RX for adiral (6 pills) and just prior to our flight to LV, she took 5 of the pills at once and some of the valium was still in her system. Later that night she was out and honestly I was scared that she might have over dosed.

Thankfully she was OK and the next day she took a few more of the valium (one at a time) and tossed the remaining Friday night.

I was scared and upset and told he I thought she had relapsed. It was not my place to pass judgment so I do feel bad about that and told her this.

She is now struggling with whether she has to reset he AA date and she is working with her sponsor but I was curious what this forum has to say about this. She also just told me that maybe AA is not for her if the program will make her reset her date. Obviously AA will not make her reset her date.

I have my opinion and am trying to be neutral here being that I am her husband.

Thanks…

least

to SR! It's your wife's call to reset her sobriety date or not. If it were me I'd consider it a relapse but I'm not your wife and cannot judge her. I'd be worried tho if she were taking that many pills and not how they were prescribed.

ScottFromWI

I'd say it's really up to her. If she specifically took the drugs for any purpose other than what was prescribed, i'd personally chalk that up as a relapse if I was in her shoes. I am not in AA so i cannot speak for their policies, but even if they didn't see it as a relapse because it wasn't alcohol, I would see it as a relapse for myself personally.

hopeful4

I would be alot less concerned with any dates and be alot more concerned that she took 14 pills at once! I would encourage her to tell the dr that prescribed them and the pharmacy as she clearly cannot be trusted even with herself. However...you cannot do it for her, she has to see it herself.

Good Luck...Stay Safe!

Dee74

Hi and welcome Hawkman

yeah like hopeful my main concern reading this was your wifes well being. I'm glad to read shes ok and working with her sponsor

D

SparklingSeven

I say her date is up to her - especially if it's going to make her quit her meetings.

I would advise caution though as I'm struggling to work out a valid excuse for taking so many pills like she did if it wasn't for addictive reasons.

Having done the same things myself you understand

hawkman

Thank you all for your comments. She went to her home group meeting last night and had a long meeting with her sponsor. She is still very depressed and upset with what happended but she is strong and will pull through this.

jeeves

Personally I'd classify that as a relapse. The amount of pills she was consuming was obviously in excess and not taken as prescribed. If she was taking one or two Valiums when she was having a panic attack, that would be a different story. But consuming over half the bottle in less than two days is indicative that she was looking for a high.

thatslife

i dont think it matters what you call it, relapse or not. it matters what she does from here on out. she may have took a step backwards but if she takes steps forwards from here on out it will be okay if she continues to takes steps back then its a problem

jeeves

I agree with this. Whether or not she considers it a relapse is ultimately unimportant, what matters is where she goes from here on out.

chaili05

This is a good learning lesson for her. According to healthcare professionals, a relapse is the abuse of any mind altering substance... this is good for your wife to see that she can still abuse other substances regardless of alcohol in order to feel the effects- it's common for addicts to stop one particular substance and still use others. This is good because hopefully your wife can now work on herself holistically... also it can make her aware of what prescriptions she should be fearful of taking.

Congrats to her for going back to her home meeting and speaking with her sponsor. I know she's depressed but at least she is reaching out.

anchorbird

I hope she is doing better today. I will pray for her and you.