alphaomega

Hi everyone.

My husband has been abusing Norco/Vicodin for years. He started on it after a back injury, but now only uses to get high. Like any other addiction, it started out innocuous enough, and is rapidly ramping up to (what I think are) ridiculous levels.

I confronted him two nights ago. I refused to talk to him whille he was high, but he gave me his bottle of pills and said "You are right, I'm totally out of control. I can't do this anymore.

I counted the pills. There were 36.

I left the bottle on the nightstand. Yesterday morning, I counted them, there were 32.

So he came to talk to me in the morning. I asked him if he had any pills. He of course, said I had all of them. Being an alcoholic myself, I know better than to trust anything that comes out of his mouth. So I asked him where the other 4 were. Oops. He must think I'm a dummy.

I told him I was done. I wanted a separation. He's married to his pills and I can't do this anymore. In 19 years of marriage, we have never talked divorce. Never. I'm working my butt off trying to get and stay sober and I just can't do this successfully if he is still using. So while I understand he may or may not be ready to give up the pills, I have to move on.

It wasn't an ultimatum, I was just being true to myself.

Long story longer, he took all the pills and flushed them.

And now he is in a panic BC he can't get anymore for 3 weeks. And he has himself convinced, what if one of us hurts ourselves and really really REALLY need pain meds ?

This has been his mental excuse for years.

He admitted to using every night. Four pills of the 10/325 at a single setting. Never in the day time. Only after 9:00 pm.

Is that a lot ?

He said he will start having withdrawals. And they will last for 3 or so days.

I know really nothing about opiate addiction so I need some guidance on what to expect, is that enough to have Withdrawals ?
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zoso77

Detoxing from opiates is best done in a controlled setting (hospital, rehab center). Otherwise, it's potentially quite dangerous. The only thing you have to be aware of is if he doesn't have his drug of choice, he will likely try to substitute: alcohol, other medication in the house, etc.

We're not marriage counselors, as you're no doubt aware. What you have to do, alphaomega, is make a decision on what you're willing to tolerate, and for how much longer. The fact that you have to guard your own sobriety must factor into your decision.

You're wise to not trust a word that comes out of his mouth. Only his actions matter. Keep your eyes open, for they're not lying. And please keep us posted.

buffalodiscord

My wife was taking 15 Mg morphine, perscribe 3 times a day....but actually ingesting a months supply...90 pills in a few days. When she's been clean it's been real rough. Sounds like your story is at a lower dosage but i don't know how WD will be.

Lost2000

It seems that these are a lot of marriages that are dealing with pain pill addiction. I too am one of those marriages. My husband has done the same thing with flushing them. We are going on 6 years of his addiction so I think the only reason he flushed them was because I caught him with them. I was pregnant with our daughter and I also had kidney stone. Which was horribly painful that I could hardly walk at times. My doctor prescribed me a very low dose of pain medication. My husband went to the pharmacy, refilled my script, and took them all fully knowing that I desperately needed them to simply walk. I have learned through my experience with this horrible addiction that addicts will do and say anything. They are not in the right frame of mind to comprehend the people they are hurting. My husbands main concern it to make sure he has
Pills for the next day. It breaks my heart on a daily
Basis and I don't know how long I can continue to live this way. I wish you the best of luck! Please take care of yourself!!