crazy crazy crazy
 

Hi all, I've been on here before as my husband was /is addicted to painkillers. The dr. finally cut him off after years of just handing them out like candy. He gave him a final 14 which he ate in 2 days. So that was 2 weeks ago. He is now on Neurontin for the pain ,, catapres for w/d/s, lunesta to sleep plus trazadone to sleep then he drinks beer and takes benedryl to "sleep" more. Well today was a bad day, he got into a bad mood over something stupid and it turned into a 10 hour ordeal. He made no sense was totally irrational and even our grown son who was visiting toldhim he's lost it. My question is , can it be all the meds and/or the opiate w/d's thats putting him into this nearly psychotic state or do u think I should be worried that its somthing physical like a stroke or something. He is just plain nuts today! Thanks for letting me vent.....

Sounds to me like it is all the meds plus beer. He is dosing up with a lot of stuff!
I'm sorry you are going through this. I'm guessing he won't go for help?

Hi skeetermag. Sorry for what you're going through right now, and I hope you are doing your best to take care of yourself. I had to comment when I read this cuz my AH has kinda been in the same position. His doctor actually got his license taken away for over prescribing. My AH was on methadone, and was lucky enough to find a doctor who would take over his prescription and help him ween off it. Even with his help, it was hell for both of us. My husband became a totally different person, angry and moody. The times he became irrational and nearly dillusional were when he was taking too many of the pills for the withdrawals. Once he even tried to go to work, even though he was off that day...put on his uniform and tried to walk out the door. There were days and days that he didn't even remember when he finally 'came down".

It seems that your husband needs more intense medical care, I don't know about his heart obviously (never heard of strokes causing that kind of behavior though), but mixing all those things can't be good. Is an inpatient rehab possible? Good luck

Thanks for the support. Inpatient is outof the question . He would never go. I guess he is trying to see if he can get a buzz from the beer and meds since he doesnt have his pills anymore. It's just so nuts. What did u do when your husband tried to go to work that day? Did he feel foolish afterward or what? My son says to get a tape recorder but I think that will just make him angrier. He has alot of meds in his system, and I worry that he takes too much. I don't know what the doses are but i know he also takes ativan. he is prescribed one or two as needed but he takes like 5 or 6 at a time. It's so horrible, he is not who he is. My son says he is totally crazy but it's not him if u know what I mean. He is doing things totally out of character. We got into a stupid argument and he just was so mean and nasty. It's almost like I liked him better on the opiates.

All that stuff effects the brain. I watched a PBS show - Change your Brain, Change your Life and they had scans of addict brains and healthy brains - addict brains looked like "swiss cheese" - some drugs or alcohol caused more "holes" but these things all mess with the system a LOT!

I'm with medical care too for my two cents.

Hugs and prayers to you and yours!

Do you think all of the drugs he is taking are safe? He takes atavan, blood pressure pills, melatonin, lunesta, neurontin, trazadone, catapres patch, and i'm sure there are more I am leaving out. Plus the beer and benedryl. I mean it even says on neurontin do not drink alcohol. duh! Hello, I mean what is he trying to do to himself? Now I know tomorrow the fight will continue bc he is ;passed out right now but I think i will go shopping and get my nails done or something!!!

It sounds like he is taking enough drugs to be really out of it. My doctor prescribed me 50 mg of Trazadone to help me sleep and I had to make sure that I was ready for bed before I took it because it made me so loopy. I can't imagine adding anything else to the mix. Hugs, Marle

i have lived with a pill taker for awhile, trust me, it will not get better. i noticed all the things you mentioned, the only differance is you know for a fact, as i did not. He needs to find treatment, or things are going to spiral. I am not sure how you are going to get him to go, but someone else her may be able to help. I am sorry to hear about whats happening, i just finally did something 3 days ago, so i am new at this as well.

Mixing the Atavan with alcohol is a deadly combination should never mix a benzo with booze. I have seen people get very irrational while on Benzo's so it could be that plus with w/d's that are making him cranky. I got very moody while w'd'ing from vicoden mood swings and such. He is on some heavy duty meds still and mixing with alcohol could be doing it too.

very long sorry
 

I do know what you mean. Those are drugs that affect the mind, and it shows in the change in personality. My AH gets very hostile when he takes the likes of ativan or clonezepam, and even lunesta sometimes. I thought about recording him also, but never did. I don't know if it would have made a difference. If they can't believe their own wives, what would it take?

I know what you mean about opiates too, at least for me it was more predictable, not like the pills. Does his doctor know he is abusing the meds? It took my H about a month to get off methadone, but I am wondering how long your husband's withdrawals should take.

Sorry that rehab isn't an option. I don't think rehab is a cure-all, but I did hope for you that it would help you to not have to be the one taking this all on by yourself.

(tried to make the next part short, but didn't quite work out so feel free to skip, I would forget about it if I could :)

You're right, it is nuts. Isn't it crazy what we do to .....help..? The day he tried to go to work was totally insane. I can't believe that it happened to me, to our lives. My mom was living with us at that time. Both of us had to stand in front of him to stop him. I got his keys by leading him to believe I would drive him to work. I drove him to the hospital instead. At the hospital, the meds had begun to wear off so they just basically said there was nothing they could do and sent us home. Outside, he wouldn't get in the car unless I let him drive which was totally out of the question. So guess what??? He freaking took off walking and left me there with the car. I tried following him and kept asking him to get in with me, but no luck. We live about 15 miles from the hospital, and he walked. At first, I tried following and watching to try to keep him safe. I did give up and went home. After hours I couldn't stand the worrying anymore and went to look for him. He had made it about 12 of the miles walking. He was still angry and had stopped at a store to get some liquor. So here he is walking with a paper bag full of alcohol, and I finally pass him on the side of the rode. We live in a rural area and it is a two lane road with no sidewalks. Now if this isn't already crazy enough, he still wouldn't get in the car unless I let him drive. Now, what should I have done...let him walk into the road and be killed? I figured it had been hours since he took the pills, the alcohol hadn't really been touched, and he seemed coherent, just really pissed. It was only a couple more miles home, it was late, and as I said it is rural so no people are around, so I figured IF something went wrong I could reach over and steer if I had to. Yes, I must have been very sick, but I let him drive and he did ok. His memory of it is only pieces here and there, basically he was in denial that it was that bad.

The drugs for w/d seem as damaging as the ones they are trying to get off. Regular mds don't know about them enough IMO to prescribe them properly.

It seems your H is determined to do what he wants to do, please do what you can for you, I wish you all the best,
hugs, rica

Thank you all for sharing your stories. I know it is going to be a crazy day today as he is off work. He thinks having a day off is a reason to try as many diff. pill and alcohol combinations as possible , still I think trying to recreate the opiate high.
Well the person I married , is not him. He was so nasty and irrational yesterday that even our son almost left. We see him only once in about 4 weeeks and its a 2 hr drive. He knows tho what things can get like here, but I felt bad about that.
The mood swings from hour to hour are impossible. The nastiness is so uncalled for. I cannot reason with someone who is acting like a child having a tantrum.
All the drugs should be enough to knock him out for a whole night, yet he is up and unable to sleep 4 hrs later. I think maybe bc he has built up such a tolerance to all of them. Too bad he won't consider help, even tho his dr. advised him to.
Now I just need to decide how to handle this person I don't know and get on with my life. I am not young, we are both in our 50's. He is so stuck in past mistakes and i am so afraid I'll never find the person I married again.

Clearly too many prescriptions and way too many combinations...
sounds like your husband takes things that contradict the other's effect...
dangerous combinations but you already know that...

now what are you going to do....not much for him but alot for yourself

sounds like there are no small children around (the plus side of being "older"...LOL)....that's a blessing....perhaps you can focus on yourself.....get out of the house and away from the drama...a movie, a friend, a walk

offer medical care but once its refused then let it be and take care of you
if he won't consider in patient then so be it...but don't let yourself become his home care....

there are facilities that can help him taper and withdraw (and many of his meds need tapering rather than quick withdrawal)
sudden withdrawal can definitely cause psychotic episodes...my RAS was hospitalized this winter due to a sudden change of meds (doctor controlled) that caused a psychotic episode

you are in my prayers...

please find some time to restore your sanity...away from his drama
perhaps go out with your son!

It's the withdrawals from the opiates, plus the alcohol. My XAH tried to detox himself one time by drinking Vodka (almost a whole 5th). He wound up going into an alcohol induced coma and not recognizing me, etc. He spent 16 hours in the emergency room before they would even admit him to detox for the opiates because the alcolhol level was so high. That was 1.5 years before he went to rehab. One week out of a 30 day rehab, he relapsed, caused a wreck, caused another wreck, I divorced him, and STILL to this day (1.5 years later) he's still popping pills like they're Skittles. The mood swings that come with opiate addiction are horrible. I wouldn't put myself through that mess EVER again. Your life is too valuable to spend trying to help someone who can only help themself. Good luck. Pray.