“I caught my teenage son with prescription pills?”
I have a 19 year old son and I caught him with many bottles of prescription medicine. I took them away and didn't recognize any of them. He must have purchased them from friends. Is my son addicted to prescription pills? How do I stop this?
3 Answers
Hello, To be completely realistic and honest there is no way for this writer to say if he is or is not addicted to prescription medication, as I do not have his history. You cannot stop him stopping is a job for him to first decide to do, and then he might want to seek professional help with this task.
You're not going to be able to stop it by simply taking them away. If the bottles have labels on them then you may have the name of individual who is diverting their medications and a medical professional who is prescribing them.
Unfortunately, there are hundreds of kinds of prescription medications, so saying he has a lot of prescription medications isn't all that helpful. Specifically, which meds? You might write down a list of all the drugs you found and either look them up on Google or ask your family physician.
That said, most likely he'9s obtained addicting medications like opioids (hydrocodone, oxycodone, etc.) and benzodiazepines (Xanax/aprazolam, Ativan/lorazepam, or Klonopin/clonazepam). If these are among the mix, you should have him see an addiction medicine specialist. Note that most psychiatrists claim expertise in addiction medicine they don't have, and too many family physicians will pat you on the head and tell you not to worry. But mixing opioids and benzodiazepines can easily cause a fatal overdose.
An alternative is finding an addiction treatment facility for adults over age 18. The problem is many or most of these programs are of questionable quality, and many are rigid and quite ideological (we're a hammer so you must be a nail). So, choose wisely. Search online or your personal network to find out more.
That said, most likely he'9s obtained addicting medications like opioids (hydrocodone, oxycodone, etc.) and benzodiazepines (Xanax/aprazolam, Ativan/lorazepam, or Klonopin/clonazepam). If these are among the mix, you should have him see an addiction medicine specialist. Note that most psychiatrists claim expertise in addiction medicine they don't have, and too many family physicians will pat you on the head and tell you not to worry. But mixing opioids and benzodiazepines can easily cause a fatal overdose.
An alternative is finding an addiction treatment facility for adults over age 18. The problem is many or most of these programs are of questionable quality, and many are rigid and quite ideological (we're a hammer so you must be a nail). So, choose wisely. Search online or your personal network to find out more.
