Any suggestions for helping me help my mother with withdrawl syptoms

Hello!  I am new to the forum, and am hoping someone might have a suggestion for me.  My mother is 74 years old and has been on fiorinol w/ codeine for about 10-12 years or more she has been abusing them by taking 100 pills every 21-25 days.  I have tried to get her off of them, but she thinks she has to have them.  Last tuesday she decided to go off of them cold turkey, (because of the cost), she has been so sick with what I believe to be withdrawl symptoms.  She is very shaky, has diahrea, has the jitters cannot sit still.  I have taken her to the er and all they have offered up, is some ativan to help her through it.... I would think there was more she could do.  She has always taken them for irritable bowel, other than that, she is very healthy, doesn't drink or smoke, heart is good.  I feel so bad for her, is there anything I can do to help her???  How long will she have to go through this?  If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate it.... I was finally able to get her into the dr in 2 days.... I don't know if they are not taking her serious or what... but it really concerns me at how bad she is....  thanks for listening!

Dear Helpless,
Welcome to the HW forum. It's late and my brain is a bit foggy, but I think Ry has asked some good questions and given you some good advice. What is the dose that's prescribed on the prescription bottle? If someone has prescribed them for this long, then there must be a need or she is working with a doctor that's looking the other way - and these days that's getting pretty rare. So if you could explain a bit more that would help. But the first thing I would do is as Ry suggested, go with her to her doctor's appointment and tell/him her what's happening. If there is a real need for the meds, and cost is an issue, perhaps there's an alternative that could be tried. If it is an addiction issue, then have the doctor help refer you to some addiction professionals. They may be able to help with detox if it's still needed, and then with your Mom dealing with the problem. Yes, there are people her age who are addicted to prescription meds and other substnaces, but I don't know enough from what you're saying to have a sense whether your Mother is one of them.

Whatever you do, I'd suggest your direction needs to be taken from your Mother's doctors, not us in the forum. We can offer support, but we're not doctors, nor do we know all her medical history.

PaLady

Hello, and I am so sorry, this is a horrible thing to go through. Subutex is a good med for this and if she can get Neurontin which is for nerve pain it works wonder with preventing opiod withdrawl. I have never been told this but have experienced it and have told a friend who also had great results.

Best of luck and God Bless,

Hart

Hi, Helpless. I am glad you are going to go to the doctor with your mom tomorrow. I don't know your mom or the details of the situation, but I want to encourage you to really be ready to hear what the doctor and your mom have to say. I can tell you care a great deal about your mom, and I don't know if some event happened or what has caused you to become concerned about this issue right now after many years of treatment with this doctor, but it sounds as though you are already convinced that your mom is abusing her medications and that the doctor is prescribing them unnecessarily. That worries me a little bit.

Is it possible that she has a very real condition which would cause pain that may necessitate the use of this medication? If so, you would not want to insinuate that she is abusing the medicine or especially that the doctor is improperly prescribing them. Just the slightest hint of abuse might initiate notations on your mom's records that could make it extremely difficult if not impossible for her to get prescribed pain medication in the future.

I know I don't know the whole situation, so this is just my opinion and you can take it with a grain of salt... It's just that sometimes the friends and family of people who are suffering with REAL pain don't really know how much pain they are in. Especially if it is a chronic sort of issue. I know I spent a lot of years really trying to HIDE how much pain I was having from the people I was closest to. They had no idea! And I think they might have been shocked if they knew what medications my doctors had me on - maybe even worried that I was addicted to the stuff. But the fact is that the medication is the only thing that makes it possible for me to even stand up and walk on some days. The pain is just so impossible I could not function without something to mediate it. And even though the meds I take are fairly heavy duty for the average person, they are "taken up" I guess with the pain issues, because I do not have any of the "high" effects that people talk about with recreational drug use (thankfully!). I just wonder if that is where your mom is at? Maybe she has had some pain issue that you didn't know about - or at least didn't know everything about?

I don't want to make you angry. I know you just want to take care of your mom and make sure she is well and that her doctors are doing the best things for her. I just hope that you will let her and her doctor talk to you and explain what the deal is first. And really try to listen and hear their perspective. And then, if your mom really does feel like she's taking more of this medication than she really needs, you can all work as a team together to change that.

Ry