VanessaLee13

It is funny how so many meds are used so often for things they aren't technically "approved" for. Seems to happen a lot. A patient will be prescribed a med I am not familiar with, so I'll look it up. But then what it says it is for is something that doesn't at all apply to the patient. Sometimes I can figure out why the doctor ordered it for that particular patient, other times not. And sometimes run into sticky situations when the patient wants to know what it's for. All I can really say is, "well, this is what is typically used for, but there could be other reasons the doctor ordered it for you." Especially weird when it is something that is antipsychotic or something similar. I'm sure the patient is thinking, "oh my god, I'm not psychotic." Haha.
Vanessa

Barbdee

Seroquel is one of several atypical antipsychotics, also called Major Tranquilizers. They really are tranquilizers though most people don't know that.
Also found out they can be abused..son in his drug days used to take them. Guess I should start locking up my meds too, along with the keys and the money?
BTW, I have bipolar disorder, the reason for the seroquel.

VanessaLee13

Haha. I know! Gotta hide everything around these addicts. Hehe.


ahhh. It is great that some meds do serve a dual purpose. Same with my bf and elavil. The med treats the bipolar or depression, but also can help with sleep. The wonders of modern medicine.

Barbdee

Vanessa, don't worry I studied up on every single med there is...and I didn't want Seroquel since you gain weight. I haven't and it's been a miracle cure, for bipolar disorder, that is. It's NOT a sleeping pill.

chloe78

Thank you so much everyone for all the helpful information and suggestions. I really appreciate it. My husbands doctor is well aware of his addiction - I called him myself to inform him, since my husband can't be trusted telling the truth to anyone. Unfortunately, the doctor just said he would take what I told him "into consideration" and hung up. I almost felt worse after getting off the phone with him since I felt he really didn't listen. BUT my husband likes him and feels he is helping him, so where do I go from here? If he isn't getting pills from the doctor, I am afraid he'll be getting them off the streets again. I don't know which is worse. Right now he is on Lexapro for his depression and Lunesta to sleep. Well, those are all the pills that I personally know about right now. The scary part is that he just isn't afraid of taking ANYTHING and mixing them and taking more than he is supposed to. I guess I will never understand. I am so happy that I found SR since I FINALLY feel like someone understands ME and I really needed that. Thank you again everyone for all the great info!!!

VanessaLee13

I want to make sure you didn't take something I said wrong. I'm not sure what you mean by this response telling me not to worry. It sounds like you think I was criticizing the fact that you take Seroquel, or that I think you are using it solely as a sleeping pill. I'm sorry if you took something I said the wrong way. I guess I don't know how to word what I want to say. This response from you to me just seems odd cause I don't know what you are responding to, cause it doesn't seem to be in response to any comment I meant to say. Haha. Did I make any sense at all with this?!
, Vanessa

VanessaLee13

The sad thing is, many doctors (and our healthcare system) either don't care or don't do much about addiction. In fact, they seem to feed addiction in many ways. I went into the ED/urgent care one time for mono/flu/104 degree fever. Which of course, I had aches and pains from. The nurse walks up to me and starts to hand me a pill. When I asked what it was, she said "vicodin." When I asked why, she said "I thought you were in pain?" Haha. Really?! The doctor automatically tries to order me vicodin cause I have aches/pains from the flu/mono? I didn't take it.

90% of time at work, if my patients have something ordered for pain, it's Percocet and Morphine, not something non-narcotic. A lot of my RABF's painkiller supply was legally prescribed. Ridiculous how easy it is to walk into an ED or doctor's office, make up some story about pain and get a prescription for narcotics. Being a nurse myself, I know that it is usually pretty obvious when patients are drug seeking. So I can guarantee that on more than one occasion, the nurses and doctors treating him were fully aware that he was an addict, but gave him the narcotics he wanted cause it was easier to do that than to confront his real problem--his addiction.

Where do you go from here? Well, if your husband wants to be an active addict, he will get drugs wherever he can. Doesn't really matter which doctor or drug dealer he is getting the drugs from (my boyfriend visited a ridiculous number of doctors offices and emergency departments). And there isn't much you can do to stop him. I have heard people comment on SR before to not obsess about whether or not your addict is using---it's their behavior that matters. Because their behavior is what affects you either way. We just gotta decide what makes us happy, and to not accept behavior that violates our boundaries.

OK, I will stop rambling!
, Vanessa

PaperDolls

I'm going to change the subject here a bit ...... chloe, you can't control what pills he pops into his mouth. No matter how much you want to you can't break him free from his addiction(s). Only he can do that.

I learned here are SR. The 3 C's.
You didn't Cause it.
You can't Control it.
You can't Change it.

If you read that and let it sink in a bit you'll realize you know that deep down.

Only an addict can "fix" themselves. No one else can do it for them. I say that from experience.

so where do I go from here?
Work on the only thing you have control over. Yourself. Take care of yourself because that's all you can do and it's important.

If he isn't getting pills from the doctor, I am afraid he'll be getting them off the streets again.
He's an addict. If he's not ready to quit then you're exactly right. You can't change it.

I don't mean to sound harsh in what I'm saying and I'm sorry if I do.

I'm glad you found SR too. There's a great bunch of people here.
Keep posting! :ghug3

(I hope my three c's are right!)

SunnySue

Great post Paperdolls!! I am finally beginning to really understand the concept of taking care of myself and really and truly understanding that I can't control my AH. This realization brings with it a certain amount of peace. I am only responsible for me!
Love to you all!

chloe78

Me too!! Hugs to you all!!!!!

wrestlingfan85

I understand completely what your husband is going through. When I was diagnosed with insomnia the first thing my doctor prescribed to me was lunesta. And the first night i took it about a couple hours before I went to bed I felt high. And it felt like I was on top of the world. I was more talkative, not afraid to speak my mind, and I really opened up to everyone around me. But, then I started to get addicted to it. I wouldn't take it to fall asleep anymore, I just took it to feel "normal". This went on for about a couple of years. Until I started to forget things. When I brought this up at my doctors visit he told me that if you abuse lunesta you could get memory problems and it could destroy your liver. That thankfully scare me enough to quit taking it. Is he still taking it?

psychobabe

Chloe,
If Lunesta is like Ambien, he should be very cautious with it. My AD's drug of choice is Ambien and she has ruined her life with it. She says when she takes it during the day, she gets the most relaxed feeling she has ever felt. She also does extremely stupid and criminal things for which she is now in jail. In addition, it causes amnesia for the things she has done.
Drs. don't realize for the most part how dangerous these sleep meds can be. I wish they would take them all off the market!!

IronMan21

I took lunesta on occasion in high doses to get high(usually about 18-27 mg). I know from experience that lunesta can cause euphoric effects and I would not at all recommend giving it to someone in recovery in high doses. I have never taken anything less than 18 mg so I cannot comment on effects in lower doses. If you stay awake for several hours after taking lunesta you most definitely get a pleasant buzz.

heartbeats

Hi, Chloe,
I noticed the topic of your post and thought maybe I'd offer my two cents. My mother is a prescription pill addict and her newest thing to abuse is Ambien, which is a prescription sleep aid. I don't know how Ambien and Lunesta differ chemically, so maybe my comment's irrelevant. But I know she takes large amounts of it and then purposely stays awake. She's told my brother (not me, because she unsuccessfully tries to hide her pill abuse from me) that she sees things that aren't there and that it's fun. Ughh. I don't know if she gets a "high" per se, from it. I am sorry you're having to deal with your husband's addiction...I know how rough it can be.

winnie12

My son overdosed on otc sleeping pills that contained ingredients similar to benedryl. if you take enough you can hallucinate. he was completely out of his mind - didnt know who anyone was or where he was and was in a complete euphoric state - not sleepy at all. it was very difficult for the ER docs to find out what he took and he couldnt tell us so they had a very difficult time knowing how to treat him. we did finally get to one doctor that recognized the signs. so from what i've seen first hand you can get high on certain sleeping pills.

SexPanther

i didn't get much sleep my first 5 years clean, went to a sleep specialist and we decided to give lunesta a try. i've been taking 3mg every nite before bed for about 2 years and sleep very well. i've skipped several days, several times, and no withdrawals, just can't sleep well (duh, that's why i was prescribed them). according to my specialist, lunesta is non-narcotic and unique in that "tolerance" does not develop, and my experience taking it is consistent with that. i take the same amount now as when i started and get the same effect, good sleep throughout the night without interruption. i've been clean almost 8 years now, severely addicted to oxycontin and many other things prior to that. imo and experience, prescribed medications are not "drugs" unless i decide to obtain or use them like drugs (other than as prescribed or lie to get a prescription i want).
i've never felt the least bit "high" from taking lunesta and to my knowledge, lunesta doesn't have any "street value". that doesn't mean it can't be abused, it just indicates to me that taking it as prescribed is probably not going to present a big issue for a retired drug addict.

willy85

I have just been prescribed lusnesta for insomnia, and found these posts helpful when trying to understand the dependence factor. A few comments posted here were a little off, so I'll try and add my two cents on what the drug is, and how it works.

Sleep-aides such as Lunesta, Ambien, and Sonata are non-benzodiazepine hynoptics, also known as the "Z-class drugs"(Because their hemical names generally start with a "z"). Don't let the "non-benzodiazepine" classification fool you; They act the same way typical benzodiazepines work, by agonising (or increasing activity) at the GABA receptor sites in our central nervous system. Benzodiazepine is a chemical class of drugs, which all share a common molecular construction. Z-class drugs are constructed differently, but act the SAME way benzos do. Any chemical or substance that agonizes GABA increases tolerance, thus causing dependance and/or addiction.

Yes, every drug is different, thus cause different effects, and that is why one may be prescribed ambien over lunesta. They all are CNS depressants, and cause benzodiazepine dependence over time. Any one who has a history of drug abuse should only take these medications as a last resort. Z-class hynoptics are extremely dangerous to abuse, and may kill someone if other depressants are mixed, such as opioids. At higher than prescribed doses, they generally cause amnesia and sleepwalking, which can cause problems on their own.

(Also Id like to add that ambien and lunesta are water soluble, so they may be abused intravenously. IV use of a hypnotic can cause physios.)