BayAreaPhoenix

I have a question - of course. AH is opiate addict. I have read here now several places that one of the ways to tell is that the pupils are so small when using that they are like "pin heads". Now, my AH has very dark brown eyes, and we didn't look into each other's eyes, so I never noticed this - so is there another overt tell-tale sign? Also, I can remember a few times he would come to me with really glassy eyes and say "how do my eyes look, my allergies are really bothering me". Was he just seeing if I could tell or do glassy eyes have nothing to do with opiates? He did a lot of codeine, that I know of, FYI.

ccgirl2

I obviously can't give you an answer because who know what someone is doing? Only he knows. I finally get the phrase "To thine own self be true" He knows the truth.

One thing I do know about allergies is they can give you "raccoon" eyes. Trust me, I have a six year old with them, and I suspect she's not a substance abuser, lol.

windysan

i have a pinhead

ccgirl2

A pinhead, and you like Nipsy Russell. OK

BayAreaPhoenix

ha ha you guys! Not trying to figure out any more if he's using or not. This is more all out curiosity for me - so sorry if it's just nosiness. This whole thing was sort of thrown at me in a way and along the way I learned some stuff that I couldn't spend time on as I had to deal with myself, my own issues and asked about stuff which at the time seemed like I needed to know. This question now - thankfully - comes from a place of curiosity, pure and simple (and does that feel good). Someone asked me the other day if I never noticed his eyes, and then I remembered what I had read here a few places and said no, his eyes are so dark, couldn't tell anything. Only that there were times when he's point out how glassy his eyes were, or ask if they were glassy, and with his allergies, I just assumed that's what it was. And, that made me wonder - know this isn't helpful, or recovery related or anything like that. Just wondering - but I think you all can take it anywhere you want. Windysan, I always get a kick out of your posts - so please .... take it away! humor is good for all our souls!

exjunky

It's real hard to tell if somebody is on a moderate amount of opiates, even if you are an "expert" at it. When they are on a huge dose of course they are "nodding out" and can barely put a sentence together, and any fool can tell they are high. But on smaller doses the addict learns to hide it really well. It's not easy to judge somebody's pupils because you can't really see somebody's eyes unless you have good light, and guess what--when you're in bright light everybody's pupils become tiny.

ccgirl2

Well put Ex; I don't think my husband ever knew from my eyes. My behavior was another story.

bval

One of the most tell-tales signs I would say is itchiness (and hence scratching), especially the nose and chin area. IIRC, codeine in particular can also make your upper back, shoulders, and neck really itchy. In men, opiates often make your privates pretty itchy, too...in particular, the 'lower parts', shall we say. Satisfying this itch requires a bit more 'action' than your typical 'male readjustment' manuever, too.

Watching for a lot of scratching in these regions, along with unusual 'animation', talkativeness, and pinpoint pupils should give you a good idea if someone is high on opiates. As ExJ said, lower 'keeping from getting sick' dosages in the case of an addict won't produce much in the way of noticeable signs.

windysan

yep, ya gotta scratch that itch.

BayAreaPhoenix

Um, that brings up something else - kind of weird, but the "nether regions" - I think he started shaving down there? Well, that's a whole other story - I guess. I remember thinking that was weird, then I wondered if he always had (been so long how would I know?)

exjunky

Ummmmmm that is BIZARRE. I don't know what to say about that one.

For me the scratchies always were my face and nose. But I know some guys who scratch "where the sun don't shine" while high on opiates. Some people don't scratch at all.