Retro_Girl

Hello, A family member has been taking oxycontin 20 mg a day (I think) 3x a day for 12 years for "back pain" no physical therapy, no exercising, just pills and not much activity. We do not even know where the "injury" came from but some how this pill regimen was started. I learned recently that they had daudid added to their daily pill regimen, 2 pills every 4 hours all day (8 pills a day) - doesn't this doseage and combo seem a bit much? Seems very very heavy. They have started to do strange things and I am wondering if anyone else has had experience with similar situation this can sort a few things out for me.

Apparently they do not get very much sleep due to "anxiety" and are up all night and the psych dr. thinks they "sleepwalk" because they do all kinds of things that they don't remember during or in between sleeping. We think its black outs. Some of the things are dangerous such as cooking food and passing out with the stove on, and waking up on the floor later. Nodding off in a chair with a lit cigarette etc. The doctors want to blame everything except the medications. They think her brain needs to be scanned for possible tumor. We think its the heavy opiates. How is it that someone can get this level of meds for this long without doctors trying alternative therapies? Physical Therapy, Surgery, Rechecking the "injured" area and adjusting treatment. It seems as long as you say you are in a lot of pain and keep complaining to the doctors, you can get almost anything prescribed to you, pain pill-wise . Any opinions would help. Thanks!

hope213

i do not know anything about the drug. u could call a drug store & they can also answer your questions about that. sorry!!

Retro_Girl

I have read about these drugs on the internet already, I am just trying to see if anyone recognizes these behavior patterns from other addicts. Also I think I spelled it wrong, its dialudid, a form of opiate narcotic (stronger than morphine).

crazybabie

I have a neighbor who does quite a bit of the above but it is because he over takes his meds. Do you know if she has doctor shopped?

Retro_Girl

No doctor shopping. There are only 2. One for pain and the other for psych. She has admitted to taking more than prescribed. I'm just trying to figure out if the doctors are full of it and are trying to cover their asses because of liability or if its not from the drugs. Another relative found her passed out with labored, shallow breathing in the past 4 weeks so thats a bad sign.

shockozulu

My mother did all of the above when she was abusing narcotics. I was at that point myself in the past. My mom finally fell down once too often and they wouldn't let her go home alone, it wasn't safe and she had one leg shortened at the hip from her last fall.

I learned there is nothing I could do about it and went no-contact for my own sanity. It was the best thing I ever did. When my mother finally was legitimately sick and needed me (and in recovery), I was able to be there for her last year and a half.

crazybabie

Have any family members gone to the doctor with her? Isit possible other options have been offered to her and no one knows?

Retro_Girl

Yes, family members have gone to the doctor and now they are restricting her so she has to go once a week for the meds but they are still giving them to her.

Thank you schockozulu for the info. Our relative is falling down all the time too and hurting herself at night, she probably doesn't feel pain because of the meds. Its looking like the doctors are trying to cover up some of their liability. I think rehab is the only choice....

laurie6781

There is a further problem with these meds.

NEITHER IS A PSYCH DRUG.

They are both opiates. Highly potent opiates.

Maybe it is time that the family members there call for a 'well being' check done on this relative. Have the state Social Workers come and check on her and see for themselves, that it is time she goes to 'assisted living'.

They can usually be contacted by calling the state Adult Protection Agency of that state.

J M H O

Love and hugs,

Retro_Girl

Thanks, that may be a good option, rehab would work too. There is an antidepressant she takes, Vivactil but really i do not think that vivactil would cause a person to do this type of thing. I had a neighbor that was a herion addict (was told by her father when he came around one day) and the behaviors were similar. The neighbor was up all night, sleeping in her car with it running and nodding off.....house looked like a trash dump.

shockozulu

That's what we finally had to do after my mother's last fall. We called and had the police do a welfare check. It was a good thing as when she went to the hospital they wanted to release her the same day with the broken hip! I called the officer who had done the welfare check the day before and she called the hospital which suddenly 'lost' my mother's discharge paperwork and placed her in a room. From there she went to assisted living.

That behavior sounds far too familiar. At one point my mother nodded off in the car, ran a red light and paralyzed a man for life

Retro_Girl

I am glad I do not take these pills, it seems like it ruins many lives and people have a large chance of becoming addicted to them.

FindingErica

OxyContin is a long acting form. Dilaudid is stronger but is in the same family, an opioid medication, and would be a short acting med to cover breakthrough pain. It is ordered as needed and is not supposed to be taken religiously every 4 hours, but only when there is breakthrough pain and not sooner than 4 hours. Patients do not always understand this distinction. Opioid meds can cause mental confusion, drowsiness and respiratory depression. So yes the things you are seeing are possible but it sounds as though the doctors are trying to rule out any other possibilities.

Prescription medication addiction can be as devastating as any other

xenoughx

I know this is a few weeks late, but read up on vivactil - it can cause people to be drowsy. Should not be mixed with alcohol, etc.

The pain medication causes drowsiness as well.

xenoughx

A signed of overdose from all 3 of the medications she takes is passing out, labored breathing, etc. Even from the anti-depressant she takes.

What you wrote above says it all - She admitted to taking more than prescribed.