Pill Addiction

United States
January 21, 2008 11:20am CST
A close relative of mine is addicted to Xanax to the point that she has been caught crushing the pills and snorting them up her nose. She recently gave birth to a healthy baby (thank God) and after coming home, she had a grand mal seizure. I have read that one of the withdrawl symptoms of Xanax is seizures and being in the hospital & lack of pills, (since they are are not presrcibed), may have led to the seizure. Does anyone have any similar stories? I need advice on how to make her realize how serious it is.
1 person likes this
2 responses
• United States
21 Jan 08
Have you tried calling your local hospital and asking for the behavioral health center or if they can recommend one? You don't have to give a name and they should be able to refer you to someone that can give you some advise. They deal with behavioral health and addiction problems. It might be a good starting point.
• United States
22 Jan 08
I would but she's in Florida and I'm in NY. I don't want to intervene but I'm afraid that she is going to ruin her life with pills.
• United States
23 Jan 08
You can still call to get advice. You might also approach her with a heart to heart. She may just need the dosage adjusted. You could remind her that things, hormones etc. change after having the baby and that she may not need the meds anymore or may need to have it adjusted and encourage her to talk to her Dr. about it. If nothing works and you can contact family, you can always go that route too. It's hard to watch. I had a friend that was having similar problems. I finally asked her Dr. name. I then called his nurse and told her that I knew they couldn't discuss her with me but they could listen. After I described how she was acting they called her for an appointment "to review her meds" that day they sent her to a detox for a week. She's doing great! She says she hasn't felt this good and happy for years. Hang in there. It's scary when you don't know how to help. Keep being supportive.
@shaggin (71678)
• United States
9 Oct 10
AmyKay618 I am wondering how your relative is doing now. It looks like you probably are not active here on mylot anymore if its been three years since you posted this discussion and you only have a 66 by your name. I would love to hear what the outcome of this was. I hope that your relative stopped abusing the meds and has a healthy happy child:)
@shaggin (71678)
• United States
9 Oct 10
Wow how sad that your relative was doing that while being pregnant. Xanax is something a lot of people get addicted to. Takng them by mouth is one thing but snorting them is me not part of the normal addicition. Thats over the line especially when pregnant. My ex has been abusing xanax for about 9 months. He was in the psychiatric ward twice. Just a few days ago he decided to take the whole bottle of xanax instead of just two a day like he is supposed to. He wound up being admitted into rehab. He just called me from the hospital as he had a seizure. Its been a few days since he hasent had his meds and especially after taking a whole bottle I am sure thats what caused the seizure. I hope he gets better soon its sad.