Question by feelings_mutual: DRUG ADDICTION! Please help!?
My mother in law is on 2 different pain pills lyrica muscle relaxers and adderal. she gets so drugged up sometimes she passes out for days. she takes care fo her grandchild who is 5 months old and falls asleep on her almost drops her when she holds her. she smokes also and she will light up a ciggarette and we have to watch her because she will drop it while its lit. she dropped one the other day and we put it out and she didnt wake up for 10 minutes. then she woke up and tried finding it. she sleeps sitting up and falls forward and hits her head on the table sometimes. we are worried she is going to kill the baby or set the house on fire. her husband tries talking to her but she act like the usual addict. saying she has no problems and gets mad and acts like a 5 year old. shes also bi-polar. she gets 120 painpills (60 of 2 types) 60 adderal and 60 muscle relaxers. we live in arkansas. we are very tired and its hard to stay up for days watching her to make sure she doesnt do anything to hurt out house or herself. what can we do? can we addmit her to a hospital without her permission? her doctor is crappy and just hands her these pills. she also takes her brothers and mom pain pills through out the month. she runs out of pills with in a week of getting them. she take them on average about every 4 hours. we really need help. we cant do this anymore. ive looked stuff up online but cant find what im looking for. what can we do? what would happen if we called 911 while shes drugged up? were lost.
Your answer is perfect, no not my child. its my sister in laws and i am equally upset that she would trust her new born with a druggie. i know what adderal is (methamphetamine causes a high people take to do stuff, same as meth) but she takes two other pain pills with that. i am thankful you answered. wonderful information. i really hope we can help her. shes a very loving person and we hate seeing her struggle.

Best answer:

Answer by SeeInElle
First of all Adderall is not a pain killer. It is a amphetamine. It makes people get wired and hyper, unless they have ADHD, in which case it causes their brain to become more focused. Really, I have no idea how she could even pass out while taking this.

Secondly, you need to inform the state medical board. The number in Arkansas is: (501) 296-1802.

Also, do not leave a child in her care. This is child endangerment and if the child is not your child (couldn’t really tell from the post) inform the parents that this is child endangerment and if it happens ONE more time you will be reporting it to CPS.

Lastly, the only way to have her committed to a hospital against her will is if she is suicidal or homicidal. She has to say she is going to kill herself or someone else. I suppose you could always tell the police this (you would call the police in this situation) and then tell the ER Psychiatrist this, but at the end of the day she will only be kept 48-72 hours involuntarily, she will not be detoxed from her medication properly and there is a good chance she will come out with more prescriptions than she went in there with. So, I do not recommend this. Especially, if she can prove you lied, you can be arrested.

Most addicts have to hit “rock bottom” before they will even acknowledge they have a problem. You father-in-law has the only hope of actually helping her. He would have to basically threaten to kick her out if she doesn’t enter a detox facility and rehab. There are many state supported detox facilities and rehabs and this would simply be done by going to the ER and telling the triage nurse and then the doctor that the person is a drug addict and is coming off of XYZ. There will be a social worker that works for the hospital and they will secure her a bed in a detox/rehab. She will need to be detoxed. Withdrawal for her will not be life threatening (only alcohol and benzodiazepines can kill you if you stop cold turkey) but it will be very, VERY painful. If she still refuses to go, hope your father-in-law has enough sense to kick her out. He is literally enabling her.

Another less drastic approach would be to force her to go to NA (Narcotics Anonymous) meetings. Just google “NA meetings” and your area. If she will agree to go to these and detox (at the very least, trust me if she stops using for a day or two she will want to go to a detox) maybe no one has to threaten to kick her out.

Make it VERY clear to your father-in-law that kicking her out will SAVE HER LIFE. She will, sooner rather than later, nod out because of the pill overdose and she will simply stop breathing. SHE WILL DIE if she is not forced to get help.

If you need any additional help with this, feel free to email me using the option on my profile.

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