Expert: Peter L. - 6/7/2010

Question
Hello, I was wondering if you could help me to better help my husband deal with his addiction to roxicodone. First of all, he hasn't been addicted that long, approximately 6-8 months. He was introduced to the drugs recreationally and started using them on the weekends to get a high when he would go play golf or something like that. He works in construction and pretty soon it became an every day thing. His normal dose would be 1-2 15 mg pills a day. He told me the most he ever took was 3 a day, but it made him sick so he never did that again.
I didn't know until recently that he was addicted to them, although I knew something was going on and he was hiding something from me. He basically was pushing me away and was lying all the time and I caught him in lies constantly. He finally fessed up and told me what was going on and that he wanted to quit.
A few days later he told me that he was done..That was a Thursday and Friday he went through withdrawals and quickly changed his course of action. He decided to wean himself off of them slowly. So he got more and he started on Monday taking a half and by Thursday he had himself weaned down to a quarter of a 15 mg pill every day. He compltely stopped taking them on that Friday and didn't really have any noticeable withdrawals other than tiredness.
He was doing great. He told me that he was feeling so much better at work with so much more energy and it was nice just to feel normal again. Things had gotten a lot better between us since he confessed and I was trying to support him.
The thing that really scares me though is that he was only able to go a week without taking anything. This past Saturday he took one and I could tell. I asked him if he had and he lied and told me no, but he was acting different. Later that night he told me the truth and told me that he was sorry and that he couldn't stand lying to me anymore. He asked me if I was mad at him and I told him no. I truly am not mad, just extremely dissapointed.
I feel like he is letting his family down. I'm 38 weeks pregnant and we have a 4 year old daughter. I told him that i felt like he was letting us down and he said he never thought about it that way and that he didn't think it had any effect on us. I told him that it did and explained how it changed his personality and he understood and got really sad. All day Sunday he was in a bad mood. I thought it was him just coming down, but I don't know.
I don't know what else to do. He really wants to stop and is trying to, but he thinks he can do it on his own. And honestly, right now with me not working we can barely make our bills so any kind of treatment is out of the question. So I was just wondering if you could offer any advice on how I can help support him, but at the same time help keep him from doing more? I'm at my wits end and I really don't need the added stress. Thanks for reading all of this and any information you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi Angie,

I feel your husband needs treatment, and I find it hard to see how he'll do any better without it. There should be some kind of sliding scale, or depending where you live, some form of subsidized treatment.

Opioids like Roxicodone, Oxycontin, and the others, produce powerful effects on the brain.  They interfere with normal mood, and create enormously unsettled personalities. I find the recovery from them takes a very long time.  

Almost invariably addicts and alcoholics will lie; we might say that's a survival instinct they develop to sustain the behavior.  Opioid addicts are the hardest (in my opinion) to treat, and usually need either Suboxone or Methadone to control cravings.  Even then, they can use other substances than opioids.

If he truly can't afford treatment, and there is no funded program, I suggest he attend Narcotics Anonymous every day.  At least he will be in the company of individuals who are struggling like him, and might gain some much needed support.

Best,
Peter