Opioid addiction... I don't know what to do.

I agree with those who mentioned that Opiods can not be stopped cold turkey.

A doctor can put her in the hospital and can then wean her off.

Unless and until she loses her craving, she will be very difficult to deal with.

Opiod cause a myriad of health issues and when a patient on opioids goes through withdrawal it is extremely painful. That is why they want more.

( Kathryseton wrote: The risks of overdose and falling and breaking a hip or sustaining a life threatening head injury are very real for an elderly person, esp bc they don't metabolize the meds the way younger adults do.)

Good points Kathryn.

I do not know why doctors prescribe these drugs like candy rather than seeking alternative methods first. Opioids should be a last resort, not the first.

I I work in the addiction industry. You may want to try Suboxone for your mom it will stop those cravings. The other group that I don't recommend is methadone. Because some people still get high off of it. Either one of those drugs can help addiction is a terrible disease you can't just stop it cold turkey your body hurts it's not simple

Sarahk
I absolutely agree with you 100%. By taking away her pain medication, whether she needs it for a chronic condition or not, they are doing more harm then good. They will just create more problems and agitation. They need to seek professional help and not just take away the pain medication.

Thank you, everyone. Of course, my mom needs compassion. Me writing on here, just isn’t about me. Sure, she’s said horrible things, but she’s emotionally fragile and not thinking clearly. It hurts, but I’d do anything for her.

Next....kaiser doesn’t seem to have a problem giving out Norco, but I’m very sorry this whole opioid “issue” is affecting those who truly need it. It’s like the few thieves who steal from stores, so now everything is bolted to the box or walls and someone has to check our receipt when we leave. We all suffer for the smaller minority who are abusing. They have been told she has a problem, but this doc gave it to her anyway. The only thing we can see that she had was a bladder infection. Do they give opioids for that?

Someone was selling Norco for $5 a pill in the location grocery store parking lot in our nicer middle income area. Clearly, they know someone’s wanting it.


My my mom has said very clearly that the meds make her feel better emotionally. Knowing what she’s been through (and still goes through), I understand why she wants to numb herself. However, it makes her very sick, exhausted, constipated and so on.

She knows exactly how to get it from the doctors and has even gotten meds without giving a urine test. She’s also “accidentally” spilled her medicine and lost it, so she can get more.

Part of me thought about jut letting her take whatever she wants, but that’s not a quality life. If she hurts herself by falling, etc. that would be terrible.

We tried the one visit to the psych. Didn’t go well and she thinks no one understands what she’s been through. Very few people could, but we all understand pain and heartache, fear, humiliation and rejection, etc.

ive heard quite a bit about cbd oil. I will look into it. I will see if we can get her in to talk with someone, but this is one streetwise, smart and hurting lady. ❤️

Kratom (look on Youtube) many people weane off opiates painfully using Kratom
Also wonderful for pain relief
Distilled water only for food and cooking
Read "The Choice is Clear" br Allen E Banik (Amazon) re water
Herbs to get & keep the bowel regular. Dr Christophers Lower Bowel Formula
2 caps 2 or 3 times daily with meals
6 days a week...rest one day...repeat.
The Bowel is "the first thing to get sick..and last thing to get well"

Midkid, I completely agree with you!

This whole discussion has hit a nerve with me:

2 years ago we wouldn't even be DISCUSSING this. Until the government stepped in and said "Hey, here's a 'problem' we can screw up even more, let's make it night unto impossible for people to get opiates! Wow! We'll solve America's drug problem in one swoop of a pen! (Do you think your Congressman can't get a scrip for whatever the heck he wants/needs whenever?? C'mon, there's one law for them and one for us.)

2 of my kids are Drs. We've discussed this ad nauseum. They have stated over and over that this was the poorest thought out and implemented law ever (re: medical intervention). They say they CANNOT give their patients the quality of life they'd want to. They're routinely screened.

It has NOT helped teenage drug abuse. It has made "legit" pain sufferers miserable b/c they are literally counting their pills and cutting them in half or quarters to make them last the whole month. AND often times, in agonizing pain while doing this...all b/c our great gov't felt like this was something that would "work".

I've lost 2 friends to suicide b/c they could not get meds for their intractable chronic pain and just gave up. How is THAT helpful???

When I was going through pre-back surgery issues, I could barely walk...then I had to have a root canal that took 3 visits to "make right"....and so I was on 4 Norco...for a year or more. ONCE I got an "extra" scrip from the endodontist and next thing I know, I am getting a call from somebody at a gov't agency telling me I'm on a "watch list". WTH?????? For getting scrips from "multiple sources". (2)

Scared me to death. I cried and cried and believe you me, ending my life seemed preferable to the PAIN.

At your mom's age---criminy--are you going to put on her headstone "Clean & sober for 102 days!" No you are not.

She needs compassion. Maybe she has a problem, not my call. Just I cannot figure out how she can get enough to "abuse". Drs check your profile. Pharmacies are interchangeable with info---I doubt she has the capability to search the internet for the one or two Indian "pharmacies" that might or might not send you drugs.

Ok, off the soapbox.

And yes, I do know quite a few people who must take opioids to function each day. It's something NOBODY talks about. The shame is incredible.

Find out if it is possible to overcome her addiction, at her age and with her not wanting to do it. If it isn’t possible, it might be best to stop worrying about it. It’s horrible for both of you at present. If this is the way she wants to finish her life, it is a decision perhaps she should be able to make.

CBD oil is great for helping withdraw from opioids. It also helps with many other ailments and pain. It brings the body back in balance. But they are not all created equal, so you must do your research and buy from a trusted source. Charlottes Web CBD oil is terrific but a bit pricey. They also have a help line where you can talk to real people about your moms problems and just may be able to help you.
Hope this helps?
‘Prayers for you and your Mom.

Give her thempain meds back ...maybe she is having pain ..but she’s going to go into withdrawals and it won’t be good for her or you ....I hope your Mom gets the help she needs ....and I hope and pray when I get that age no one takes my pain pills away ,.....hugs to you and your family ..my mom just died and I miss her so much ...please love her all you can

Give her thempain meds back ...maybe she is having pain ..but she’s going to go into withdrawals and it won’t be good for her or you ....I hope your Mom gets the help she needs ....and I hope and pray when I get that age no one takes my pain pills away ,.....hugs to you and your family ..my mom just died and I miss her so much ...please love her all you can

Sarah: On the opportunity that you want to learn more about the faith-based addiction program, you call look here----
Call Us Today! 866.733.6768 | weneedu@reformu.com

It does sound like she has multiple issues.
Best of luck.

hmmm, this is disturbing to me. If I make it to her age, my daughters better not take my pain meds away! Good God, unless you have lived with pain, you have no idea how depressing life can be. Even if she is taking them to feel good mentally, who really cares at this age. I hope I can find a doctor to give pain meds to me. Let her be and give her back her meds. Place her in assisted living, if need be, but IMHO she is old and why would you want her to be unhappy at this point in her life? Just my opinion. don't mean to offend. Good luck.

It's going to difficult, BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE, to stop this addiction. Go to ReformU.com where you can find weekly bible-based meetings through this program. If she is unable to attend, you may want to consider it. You said that you don't know what to do and that is one option. What happens to a person is that they unknowingly become addicted. "Doctor shopping" is the oldest trick in the book for an addict. There comes a time when they become careless about hiding
drugs.

If someone took away my pain meds and made me withdraw cold turkey, I’d be talking about killing myself too, believe me! That’s because it would feel like I was dying. Only a Doctor should supervise withdrawal, you can’t take this into your own hands and make this decision against your mother and her doctor. I’m sure you thought you were helping, but withholding her meds made things much much worse for her. She needs to be back on them now.

Sarak50,
My heart goes out to you and your sister. Also, to your mom who is suffering.
Everyone freaks out when
opioids are mentioned.
Thanks to the government.!!
You say ur mom has Alz/Dem and is 88 years old.
What is her diagnosis for being prescribed norco?
Does she have a physically chronic pain issue?
If so, the medication given
in correct dosage daily would
relieve her pain and also help her depression. Depression comes from many things, just being 88, knowing half your life is over, is depressing!
You can't do the daily things you used to be able to do and that includes doing things you loved. Add terrible chronic pain when you don't have even 5 minutes of relief and anyone would be severely depressed.
Perhaps you can look on the prescription bottle and see what the directions say about how to take...how many and at what times.
I would also get the Doctors name and number and make an appointment with him asap to discuss ALL that is happening with your mom.
If that doctor can't help your mom's situation he can
refer you to Specialists or the proper place-person to go to right away.
In the meantime it might be best for you or your sister to give the medication to your mom as the doctor prescribed. Meaning...don't give the bottle to your mom..
you guys give her the meds.
Opiod withdrawal without
medical help or tapering down first is unbelievably
painful, dangerous and cruel...esp at your mom's age.
It's surprising to me that she can continually get Norco frm different doctors. Most people
have to sign a contract to only get those meds from that doctor. There is a government site online that all doctors have to look at before even prescribing that type of medication to make sure no one is getting this medication elsewhere.
Also a Urine drug test is mandatory every 3 or 6 months.
Hope this helps ...it is never easy....Hugs to you all and prayers

There does not seem to be a workable solution. You state she is at the end of her life. Perhaps you should just let go and let her have them so her remaining time is more peaceful and YOU get a respite from her. Some things you can't fix.

If you dont know why her doctor is prescribing her the pain medication then you shouldn't "take them away". Obviously her doctor prescribed tem for a reason. It's not your decision unless you have medical POA, or she is in some way mentally incapable of making her own decisions. You said it has been a year since she has received any pain medication. To me, that doesnt sound like an addiction problem. I would suggest asking your mom if she would allow you to accompany her to her next doctors appointment. Find out what is going in for yourself. Stop guessing. I'd be furious if someone withheld my medication because they thought they had the right to. I dont mean to sound harsh but your mom has rights too.

Is she in pain? It's logical to desire pain medication when one is in pain and there are some types of pain that pain meds are never enough for. Your mom's doctors seem to think she has a reason to be in pain and prescribe the meds they believe she needs. How old is she? I mean if someone is in their 80's I would be much less concerned about an addiction than I would if they are in their 50's. Does she have an illness or injury that has left her in constant pain? If her body is no longer metabolizing the pain meds then she may have a serious illness. I agree with those who said it is very dangerous to force an elderly person to go through withdrawals without medical supervision. So if she's really addicted to them then taking away her pain meds is unwise and possibly dangerous. I believe there are some types of illnesses that are so painful that the people living with them should never be denied relief no matter how many pills they need in order to get that relief. I also know, from personal experience, that there are methods for dealing with pain that don't involve medication. Maybe what she really needs is a doctor who specializes in pain management? Pharmacy's, doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, etc are all working together now to red-flag opioid overuse. Using the prescribed dosage is not an addiction. If she's chronically overusing prescriptions it's likely she will be cut off soon enough.

ooops double posted this comment and can't figure out how to delete it. I can delete the words that were in it but not the comment itself. If someone comes along who knows how please tell me or delete this one?

You can call her doc and tell them she is using them to get meds. Tell them she gets them online, and from other docs if that is the case. They need to know her history with alcohol and meds too.

How do you know she is not in pain? If your sister is driving her to doc appts/picking up meds, then she would know how many doctors she is going to. I doubt a doc would prescribe her Norco if he/she didnt think she needed them.

You can't decide to hide medicine from someone!!!! The withdrawal could be dangerous! That is why she was screaming. People can't go off pain meds cold turkey. You are not a doctor and have no right to do that. It is one thing if you just gave her the normal dose on the label, and not give her however many pills she demanded.

You can always call her doc and tell them she is abusing the drugs by taking too many at one time. Going through a month of meds in 3 days for example. Plan with the doc to get her into a rehab.
They can also evaluate her mental health too. She is a danger to herself for saying she is going to kill herself. Get her to the hospital and have her admitted. You can do this because she was threatening suicide.
Good luck

I'm maybe going to be the only person on here who is "kind of" in mom's corner.

Have you ever suffered from chronic pain? Like, every waking (and sleeping) moment is pain filled and misery? And you've done everything that the drs tell you to do, you've HAD the back surgery or whatever, done the rehab PT--and the pain is a constant...well, that's my life. 2 major back surgeries from a congenital condition made much worse by carrying 5 huge babies and then having a busy and active life.I'm lucky in that I don't have rods or pins in my back. But I WILL NEVER have another back surgery.

I have been on some kind of opioid for about 6 years. I have a "contract" with my dr, I cannot get them from another doc and I can never have more than prescribed. Hard thing is, I really have to be SO CAREFUL not to have a 'bad month' in which, heaven forbid, I need 5 one day or even 6, and then I wind up short one month---I go "cold turkey" for a few days and the pain (and accompanying withdrawal is hell). Then I refill my scrip and life goes on.

The "war on opioids has been an epic fail. EPIC. Drug abusers (like the OP's mom) is still able to get her meds, every neighborhood street dealer is doing a GREAT business--and you know what? The new "laws" drives doctors absolutely nuts. They are held under such scrutiny. They cannot treat their chronic pain patients appropriately---as much as they may want to, they are hamstrung.

That's the problem with the one size fits all law---the truly needy chronic pain sufferers feel like crap--and like criminals for going in the office each month to simply pick up a new scrip. People who truly abuse are lying, cheating, fighting--and STILL getting all the meds they want. Who is winning????? Certainly not the patients.

The OP's mom has a problem. She needs to be dealt with LOVINGLY and not with harsh judgment. She can be evaluated and dealt with. Cold turkey w/d of her meds are going to make her sick, sick, sick. AND impossible to deal with.

Someone in the family needs to step up and get her to a chronic pain clinic. Most PCP's cannot really judge chronic pain.

How much is she taking in a day? And how much of what? IF she's taking 10 Norco, that's too much. If she's taking 4, that's probably OK. But YOU don't make the call about her pain. She needs to be able to come to terms with the problem w/o screaming and belittling.

I HATE that I need opioids to be "OK". This is my life. My kids know and they are not happy about it, but as THEY age, and begin to have some chronic pain issues, they are beginning to get it. I also take antidepressants and *gasp* benzos. All well controlled by drs, but still, I feel like crying sometimes when I fill my scrip for Tylenol #3---b/c I know I am "addicted". This is NOT the way I planned to be at age 62. Nobody PLANS to NEED drugs to function in life!

BTW, I have NEVER fallen down or had fits b/c of the meds. I don't even get remotely "high". I just feel a sigh of relief and go about my busy day.

The last thing someone needs is to be judged---You guys need to all be on the same page re: mom and her drug use. Please don't be harsh. You don't walk in her body, you don't feel her pain. And DO NOT expect that she should be 100% drug free in her old age.

I struggle b/c I feel personally that I want to be stronger and not have this pain. But my body is such that have MANY arthritic joints, bone spurs all over that sometimes require surgical removal---and bone pain is unbelievable.

I used to be pretty judgy, and then Karma got me. I know my doc is great now about helping me along--but he'd young and pretty soon he will be jaded & scared and probably turf me to a pain clinic, which for me is patently ridiculous.

Just my opinion. But then, I have NEVER taken pain pills to get "high".

My mom had the same problem
we had to get her admitted to for rehabilitation and her doctor can do this.

If you feel like your mom is currently a danger to herself, which sounds like she might be if she is screaming and threatening to hurt herself, you can call police and see if you can have her Baker Act-ed to admit her to a mental health facility for opioid detox.

Sounds like she is definitely going through withdrawals and will need to be detoxed medically. I wouldn't give her any more pills, just let the medical staff handle what and how much to give her if she is admitted. And, if she does go into detox, tell your sister to get rid of any narcotics in the house.

In the meantime, I would also talk to an elder law attorney about your mom's health and whether seeking emergency guardianship might be warranted.

If your Mom has ALZ/Dementia you will not be able to get POA. She has to be able to make informed decisions and sign the paperwork. Your other option would be guardianship.

Can I ask how old is your mother?

Opioids are for pain. Its heroin in a pill. With the Pres waging war on them I am surprised a doctor would prescribe them willy nilly. Opioids are
not new thing. They were developed for the primary use for terminal patients. I had a local Woman campaign over ten years ago in our town against prescribing them. She had doctors signing papers they would no longer prescribe.

I don't think I would take the pills away at this point. Withdrawal can be hard on the body. You need to speak to the doctor who prescribed them and explain the situation. Maybe he can tell you how to ease her off.

Your profile says Mom has ALZ/Dementia and is 88. How does she get to different doctors?

Your sibling is the enabler and needs to kick her out or stop facilitating her addiction. You need to stop doing anything that could be facilitating her drug abuse as well. If neither one of them will change, you need to cut them off and protect yourself. That's your only option.

I am very new here, so I do not want to overstep the mark, but your post really resonated with me...I can only share from my family's experience: Addicts are crafty. Perhaps whatever issues she did not deal with successfully underlie all the addictions- I understand that is usually the case. There are some agencies who offer services geared toward the elderly- but again, if she is unwilling to avail herself of it, you will not get far.
The only other thing I would like to say is that I hope you take care of yourself and your needs. The toll on caretakers can be tremendous...
I sincerely hope things improve for you all.

If she is taking opioids everyday, and for a long time, she is most likely having withdrawal symptoms when she goes into what you call a fit. Blood pressure goes up when your body does not get the opioids it is used to getting, and this might be what’s causing her to act like that. It can be painful to experience the withdrawal of the drug. There is a drug that Dr.’s give to people for withdrawal symptoms relief, I think it’s called “ methadone”. Maybe you can explain to the doctor what you said here , and he would give you a prescription for it, and you could switch out the methadone for the opioids? Also, there is a little known “B” vitamin called “ Inositol”. It helps heal the brain and is good for alleviating all kinds of addictions. I myself started using it for leg cramps many years ago and found that it helped me not crave sugar. I was able to quit eating sugar and to this day I still don’t eat sugar and I don’t have the huge food cravings I use to get. That was ten years ago. And incidentally, I don’t ever get leg cramps any more , as long as I take a 1/2 teaspoon of the inositol powder every other day. You can get it on this site called iherb. Here is a code you can use for $5 off: LIN940. It has a calming affect also. Hopefully it would help your mom. Good luck and God bless.