Addicted to Pain Meds: How Do I Tell My Loved One?

I suffer from severe ptsd and migraine, as well as Ansonia issues. I had to have my gallbladder removed 13 years ago and had multiple complications following surgery. I was hospitalized for almost 6 months. I have never been the same since. My husband knows that I take pain medication everyday, what he doesn't know is how much I take and that my pain is getting worse everyday. I don't want to increase my meds but I can't function from the pain. Er doctors tell me that my pain is "all in my head". My primary doctor is a blessing and is truly trying to help find out what causes my pain and how best to treat it. I just want to have a little less pain so I can enjoy my daughter and watch her grow up without being in a fog. I had never thought of addiction as cancer, but that makes a great deal of sense. I don't think he'd leave me, but I fear that if I have to increase my meds I won't be able to care for my daughter, and that is terrifying. I saw a doctor about addiction and he told me that I didn't have a problem and that I was not a candidate for suboxone.

First of all you should be commended for reaching out. Pain pill addiction is more common than you know. Remember addiction is a disease just as cancer is a disease. The only difference is there is a cure. Do you think your loved one would leave you if you had a cancer??? Hopefully not! If you really want help for yourself then you have nothing to lose. Nothing but YOUR life which is far greater than losing him. I too struggle with pain pill addiction and it all started from a series of surgeries. I didn’t set out to become an addict, nor did I look for ways to find pills. This all happened as a result of something I had no control over. I had a rotator cuff surgery on my shoulder in which I waited far too long to do and the pain was unbearable. The pills made life do-able then I needed more and more pills to ease my pain and before you knew it I was addicted. Then when I would get off the pills I’d have another surgery. It’s been 12 years or so now. And I still struggle. Once you are addicted it truly becomes a life-long battle. But the fight is all up to you. And you may fail a couple of times at quitting but there are some great medications out there that can help you get out of the withdrawal phase. Suboxone is what I’m on. It’s wonderful. Let me ask you this….? Do you really think he doesn’t know about your addiction? How did this all begin????