I just found out my wife is addicted to vicodin.
she has been without for two and a half days and is completely misirable
she refused to go to any treatment place
she can't even function and must go to work tommorrow
what can I do to help her
she has been taking about 15 pills a day for a year
Hey Charley, welcome to the board. Can you get your wife to post here as well?
If she won't seek medical attention then the best she can do is ride this out. There are OTC meds that will ease her symptoms but truthfully, it's just going to take time. At about day 7 she should start feeling better and then will need to work on the emotional stuff. Getting clean is the easy part, staying clean is a bugger. Is she committed or just tryng to get through until her next script? Telling her dr is so important. She has to cut off all of her sources and make sure that she's accountable to everyone. Doing this on her own is empowering and alot better than being accussed.
Things that will help:
Immodian
Lots and lots of fluid-water, gatoraid, juice
Iboprophen for aches and pains
heating pad
hot baths or showers, as many and as hot as you can stand it
melatonin for sleep (mixed feelings on this one, sleep will come, it just takes awhile)
Wish her luck and if she wants to talk, to come here. We've been where she is.
The board's kinda slow today but more should be on later.
Remember to take care of you too Charly. You're a good husband. Whatever you do, don't get her more pills.
Cowgirl
If she won't seek medical attention then the best she can do is ride this out. There are OTC meds that will ease her symptoms but truthfully, it's just going to take time. At about day 7 she should start feeling better and then will need to work on the emotional stuff. Getting clean is the easy part, staying clean is a bugger. Is she committed or just tryng to get through until her next script? Telling her dr is so important. She has to cut off all of her sources and make sure that she's accountable to everyone. Doing this on her own is empowering and alot better than being accussed.
Things that will help:
Immodian
Lots and lots of fluid-water, gatoraid, juice
Iboprophen for aches and pains
heating pad
hot baths or showers, as many and as hot as you can stand it
melatonin for sleep (mixed feelings on this one, sleep will come, it just takes awhile)
Wish her luck and if she wants to talk, to come here. We've been where she is.
The board's kinda slow today but more should be on later.
Remember to take care of you too Charly. You're a good husband. Whatever you do, don't get her more pills.
Cowgirl
hello, my name is poopie ,,,and IN on my 8 day clean,,,,there is one thing to do just be there and listen,,,she will be weepy sad ,feel like not eating ,very down gloomy feeling ...going to work sick is really hard to do,,,but she going to want to get clean bad enough,,,time ,,will make her better,,,,could take her to detox ,,,some people canwork ,some cant ,,because overwhelming feeling of doomn ,,and saddness,,,,more people will be on to help ,ok ,,hang in there ...thank godness she has you .....go to a meeting with her ,,only she can do this ..thats whats so hard for you ,,,she has to want it bad enough ,,poopie.o it will not kill her,,she will feel like it ,but it wont ,ok ,,she will feel better day 3 or 4,,,,,poopie
charley1, don't feel bad my husband got surprised too. i did not take so many pills, but i took a much longer time. i have been clean for 5 wks now and feel almost like my old self. i still am nauseated and have diarrhea alot. i hate to say this, but there is no way i could have worked for the first month. she needs time off if at all possible. she's going to feel like she's bring hit by a truck and not sleep much at all. her brain no longer produces endorphines which play a large role in bodily functions. slowly her brain will begin producing them, but she will have to tough it out. she will definitely need support. she may not be able to work at all around the house much either. overdoing it made me hurt worse. stretching helped. this forum can be a God send if you both will use it.
If she wants to quit, have here come here and talk. We know what she is going through. Everyone is different as far as how they feel during withdrawal. I used to go to work during withdrawal, in fact I did it all the time, until I finally decided I didn't want to do it ever again. I wasn't the most productive worker, but I did make it. That was back in my vicodin days and I usually took about 12-15 a day for weeks or months at a time. We do what we have to do.
I hope she does want to quit, and isn't just waiting for a refill. She might feel crappy for a few days, but most people find that most of the worst symptoms have cleared after just a few days. She should be functional very soon. But she really needs to talk to someone and look into addressing the mental part of addiction. If addiction ending with the physical symptoms, there would be a lot less people addicted. Does that make sense?
I hope she does want to quit, and isn't just waiting for a refill. She might feel crappy for a few days, but most people find that most of the worst symptoms have cleared after just a few days. She should be functional very soon. But she really needs to talk to someone and look into addressing the mental part of addiction. If addiction ending with the physical symptoms, there would be a lot less people addicted. Does that make sense?
