Addicted spouse - help!
 

Hi,

I am new to this forum and came here for advice helping my wife get off pain pills. My wife is trying the taper method, and I would like to know how successful this is compared to CT. She is taking medicine as prescribed, but mostly because she is addicted to it and has been for years. How fast of a taper is reasonable for 3 hydrocodone/day? What are the side effects she will experience most likely? When do you seek out help of an addiction psychiatrist or attend AA?

Assuming she wants off the pills, is something preventing her from working with an Md on a plan to do so?

Hi, and welcome to the board.

I can't give out medical advice -- I'm not a MD. But I think a MD needs to be in the loop. It's entirely possible she may have to be admitted to a behavioral health unit to wean safely. Coming off those things is going to be a nightmare, and the more professional help you have, the better off you're going to be.

Best Wishes. Keep your head on straight and stay safe.

ZoSo

Welcome to SR!

I would recommend you read the stickies at the top and read many of the posts around here. There is alot of good knowledge here!

My AH was also abusing pills and he did the taper off method. He was taking a few a day like your AW, but he was buying them off the streets. When he began it was really hard. He was running to the bathroom, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, was irratable and was sweating alot. It helped him to drinks lots of fluid, stay busy and to work out. If she can get the doctors help with getting off of them then that would be the best way. From my experience what ever amount you think she is taking . . it is normally more. Addicts in active addiction lie, lie and then lie some more.

Is this your AW's first time trying to quit? If she attending NA?

What are you doing for yourself? Are you taking care of yourself in this process? Are you attending Nar anon or Al anon meetings?

Welcome to SR!

I would recommend you read the stickies at the top and read many of the posts around here. There is alot of good knowledge here!

My AH was also abusing pills and he did the taper off method. He was taking a few a day like your AW, but he was buying them off the streets. When he began it was really hard. He was running to the bathroom, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, was irratable and was sweating alot. It helped him to drinks lots of fluid, stay busy and to work out. If she can get the doctors help with getting off of them then that would be the best way. From my experience what ever amount you think she is taking . . it is normally more. Addicts in active addiction lie, lie and then lie some more.

Is this your AW's first time trying to quit? If she attending NA?

What are you doing for yourself? Are you taking care of yourself in this process? Are you attending Nar anon or Al anon meetings?

Welcome to SR!

I would recommend you read the stickies at the top and read many of the posts around here. There is alot of good knowledge here!

My AH was also abusing pills and he did the taper off method. He was taking a few a day like your AW, but he was buying them off the streets. When he began it was really hard. He was running to the bathroom, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, was irratable and was sweating alot. It helped him to drinks lots of fluid, stay busy and to work out. If she can get the doctors help with getting off of them then that would be the best way. From my experience what ever amount you think she is taking . . it is normally more. Addicts in active addiction lie, lie and then lie some more.

Is this your AW's first time trying to quit? If she attending NA?

What are you doing for yourself? Are you taking care of yourself in this process? Are you attending Nar anon or Al anon meetings?

Welcome to SR!

I would recommend you read the stickies at the top and read many of the posts around here. There is alot of good knowledge here!

My AH was also abusing pills and he did the taper off method. He was taking a few a day like your AW, but he was buying them off the streets. When he began it was really hard. He was running to the bathroom, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, was irratable and was sweating alot. It helped him to drinks lots of fluid, stay busy and to work out. If she can get the doctors help with getting off of them then that would be the best way. From my experience what ever amount you think she is taking . . it is normally more. Addicts in active addiction lie, lie and then lie some more.

Is this your AW's first time trying to quit? If she attending NA?

What are you doing for yourself? Are you taking care of yourself in this process? Are you attending Nar anon or Al anon meetings?

Welcome to SR!

I would recommend you read the stickies at the top and read many of the posts around here. There is alot of good knowledge here!

My AH was also abusing pills and he did the taper off method. He was taking a few a day like your AW, but he was buying them off the streets. When he began it was really hard. He was running to the bathroom, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, was irratable and was sweating alot. It helped him to drinks lots of fluid, stay busy and to work out. If she can get the doctors help with getting off of them then that would be the best way. From my experience what ever amount you think she is taking . . it is normally more. Addicts in active addiction lie, lie and then lie some more.

Is this your AW's first time trying to quit? If she attending NA?

What are you doing for yourself? Are you taking care of yourself in this process? Are you attending Nar anon or Al anon meetings?

Sorry I don't know why it posted so many replies

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.