A family member in trouble...?

I have concern for my Aunt. She suffers from a few medical problems- migraines, an esophegial problem which she sometimes loses her dinner, she had gastric bypass surgery that she had to have reversed over 6 months ago because of the throat issue. She has some other things that I wonder if they're just coping problems. Like she says she's got fibroid mialsia (spelling?) and anxiety. Anyway the real problem is that she has this doc that seems to give her a script for whatever she wants. She is on effexor (300mg)which isn't a subtle dose, something for anxiety, methadone, vicaden, and some odds and ends of others. She gets really out of it, doesn't sleep, can't remember things, and she's really missing out on her kids growing up because she can't function. How should our family go about trying to keep her off of her overly medicated cycle? She gets off of them and then does really well, but then it happens all over again.How do we get her to see what she's doing?So she can help herself?

Answer:
Unfortunately, some people can get more script meds than they actually need. There is somehow a way around the strict regulations. You could report her doctor, but the first result might be that his license is taken and all of a sudden your Aunt is forced into detox. This can be very dangerous, in fact, deadly.
The best for your Aunt would be to contact a local rehab center. You can go through insurance, or there are funded programs. They both work equally as good.
You are going to want to ask about an intervention. What should happen is they will tell you how that is done and they should provide a professional mediator to assist with the process.
What usually happens is the mediator schedules a time to get together with close friends and family of your Aunt...but not your Aunt. They should give you information on how an intervention works and what is to be expected. Once everyone is clear on everything, an intervention is scheduled. Your Aunt will be confronted by this group along with the mediator in an effort to convince her to go into treatment.
If your Aunt agrees, she will go into a treatment center for a minimum of 28-30 days. Treatment centers are staffed by doctors, nurses and trained staff, (mostly LCDC's). She will be given a treatment specifically tuned to her particular needs.
The end result would hopefully be to get her weaned down to some reasonable maintainence medications for her particular health issues. While she is in treatment is the time to address the issue with her doctor. You will want to ask the professionals how to handle this situation in order to prevent the same problem once your Aunt gets out of treatment.
Hopefully this will help you to begin to get your Aunt some help.
Video record her, document everything, and show her when she is coherent.

The medicine and health information post by website user , ByeDR.com not guarantee correctness , is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.


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