Suggest Treatment For Dependency On Opiates

Posted on Mon, 18 Aug 2014

Question: I have a loved one who has been on opiates for pain management for years They have fibromyalgia and have taken everything from fentenal patches to morphine orally . For the past year they have taken hydroco/apap 10-325 and oxycodone 15 mg. Both scripts were 120 pills per month. They started acting funny, nodding off, slurred speech, falling asleep while smoking. Last week our family had an intervention to get help for her, she refused and dissapered for 4 days. When she came home we went to her doctor and she stated she took one pill that morning and flushed the rest down the drain. Since then she has acted normal with no signs of withdrawal. Is this possible or is she still using?

Answered by Dr. Rohit Gulati (22 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
hi,

Detailed Answer:
Yes this is possible.
When the person has been taking medicine for a long time, one gets fed up of the dependency on medicine for long. In such cases they tend to stop the medicine suddenly or abruptly, without realising the sideeffects or the withdrawl symptoms.
The medicine she has been taking has psychological dependence and abrupt discontinued medicine leads to withdrawl.
All the symptoms you mentioned fall in that category.
If she continues the medicine it shall not happen again

Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D