son help: my sons using oxycontins what do i do - Help.com

How is he getting them?

Are you sure it’s your son who’s using them?

Does he know that you know?

Also, how old is he?

In the US an 18 year old is legally an adult, so you can’t have him committed to a rehab program without his consent. More importantly, he needs to want to get clean for himself. When someone is coerced into treatment, it’s much more likely that he/she will relapse.

Does he live with you and is he financially dependent on you?

Then you have some leverage. As long as he lives under your roof and eats at your table, he needs to abide by your rules. Love isn’t conditional but room and board are.

I don’t know that I have the answer you need right now, so I’ll invite some friends to your post.

tell him you will kick him out if he doesn’t.

doesn’t stop that is

Most people use drugs recreationaly because their either bored, or sad.

Figure out which one it is and your halfway to solving the problem.

And the problem isnt him using, the problem is lying under the surface, its whats driving him to use.

I can’t offer any advice other then this, extend the circle of support you have for him, perhaps with an intervention, your goal should be that there are more people in hid life encouraging his recovery then the people who support is drug habit. old friends, family or if needs be some kind of support group. Find out what he wants from his life, or help him figure it out if he doesn’t know, and then help him make a plan to accomplish his goals, it’ll give him something to aspire to, and help him find the strength to want to change his life. Bottom line is, you can’t force him, he has to want it, so if you wanna help him, help him to want to be sober.

Oxycontin is highly addictive and you will certainly need some help from addictions counselors and professionals. As Sans said you do have some leverage and can tell him he needs to seek treatment if he wants to continue to live under your roof.

I’d start researching the addiction as well so you can garner a better understanding of it and the substance. Feel free to share with your son any terrifying stories you may come across and tell him how concerned you are.

miss_enigma wrote:
Oxycontin is highly addictive and you will certainly need some help from addictions counselors and professionals. As Sans said you do have some leverage and can tell him he needs to seek treatment if he wants to continue to live under your roof.I’d start researching the addiction as well so you can garner a better understanding of it and the substance. Feel free to share with your son any terrifying stories you may come across and tell him how concerned you are.

You dont know if hes addicted. Drugs aren’t some magical spell which makes you addicted to a substance once you ingest it. They’re chemicals…thats it, nothing special.

I’ve done more addictive substances then I care to recount right now, and guess what I’ve actually gone through withdrawal from so far? Coffee.

haha. he is right though

I was doing a little reading on this drug, go and check this website out, it has lots on info on Oxycontin Addiction, Abuse and Treatmentof the drug. There is also 800 numbers you can call.

draper1 wrote:
We told him all the advice you people are giving us and it’s nothing but lies we can’t stop him

So you’ve taken the advice of complete strangers, talked to your son for under 21 minutes, and your griping because you havent seen an instant magical turnaround?

Hes not a lightswitch. Give him time. It may take weeks, or even years before he gets over whatever he needs to get over.

http://www.addictionsearch.com/treatm…

oops, here is the link

draper1 wrote:
have you ever snorted oc thats what he’s doing

Not personally. I have friends that do. As far as I know none of them are addicted. I know for a fact that my best friend has done coke, oxy, pills of all kinds, and hes a fully functioning human being.

Its not the drug that makes you addicted, its how often you ingest it. That reason is why I dont believe any of my friends are addicted, they dont do it often enough for that to happen.

How often does he dose?

Nightowl wrote:

draper1 wrote:
have you ever snorted oc thats what he’s doing

Not personally. I have friends that do. As far as I know none of them are addicted. I know for a fact that my best friend has done coke, oxy, pills of all kinds, and hes a fully functioning human being.Its not the drug that makes you addicted, its how often you ingest it. That reason is why I dont believe any of my friends are addicted, they dont do it often enough for that to happen.

There is always a reason for doing drugs, you can attempt to downplay it all you want but the mere need for a high speaks volumes. Not to mention these are substances that are chemical, dangerous and not meant to be snorted or taken without prescription.

How often does he dose?

draper1 wrote:
he’s doing them two or three times aday

If hes doing that much over the course of about a week he may have to deal with withdrawl. It can be pretty hard.

draper1 wrote:
have you ever snorted oc thats what he’s doing

snorting is a way to get it into your system faster… how is he getting his hands on these pills? do you know who is supplying him with it? maybe when he is under the influence, you can trick him into telling you… or maybe see if one of his friends are prescribed these pills..

eventually, this is going to put a lot of drama on his organs and things will start to fail… and i know that you are concerned here… we are just trying to understand a bit of information..

draper1 wrote:
he’s doing them two or three times aday

While I’ll agree with Nightowl to an extent (made his first reply about getting to the source of the problem a “quotable”), some substances are extremely addictive, and different people react differently to differnt substances.

Three times a day, every day? That would be an addiction.

Recent reports indicate that non medical use of Oxycontin is relatively high among teenagers. The increased misuse of the drug has led to a numerous emergency admissions and even deaths. Many States have introduced legislation to decrease the illegal use of Oxycontin. Numerous States have also introduced prescription monitoring and banned the sale of the drug over the internet. Despite all the increased efforts by the FDA, DEA, and state/local authorities, the illicit use of Oxycontin is at an all time high. Over the last decade the increased illicit use of oxycontin has led to the manufacture of “fake” oxycontin pills all over north America.

Well at least the withdrawl is not life threatening, you will need to keep speaking to him, find out as much as you can, he may need detox

OxyContin withdrawal symptoms can include:

Tiredness or fatigue
Constant yawning
Hot/cold sweats
Heart palpitations
Joints and muscles ache
Nausea and vomiting
Uncontrollable coughing
Diarrhea
Insomnia
Watery eyes
Depression
Oxycontin withdrawal symptoms can begin

draper1 wrote:
We told him all the advice you people are giving us and it’s nothing but lies we can’t stop him

Does he drive? Next time he is high and tries getting behind the wheel call the police.

miss_enigma wrote:
There is always a reason for doing drugs

I agree 100% with you. If you read my other reply I said the same thing,
“Most people use drugs recreationaly because their either bored, or sad.”

miss_enigma wrote:
you can attempt to downplay it all you want

Downplay what exactly, may I ask? I already said how I agree with you that there are definite reasons people use drugs, either boredom, or sadness.

miss_enigma wrote:
the mere need for a high speaks volumes.

Silly rabbit, no one NEEDS a high. Its something you want, not something you need.

miss_enigma wrote:
Not to mention these are substances that are chemical

Seriously, how are we not on the same page? I said exactly what you’re saying.

“Drugs aren’t some magical spell which makes you addicted to a substance once you ingest it. They’re chemicals…thats it, nothing special.”

miss_enigma wrote:
dangerous

A fork can be dangerous kid. Its all in how you use it. You can either stab yourself in the eye, or you can use it properly. The same gos for drugs.

miss_enigma wrote:
not meant to be snorted

Thats ridiculous. You have no authority to say what things are “meant” to be used for…that would make you God.

miss_enigma wrote:
or taken without prescription.

Let me tell you a secret. Prescriptions dont mean much. They’re just a way to make sure only people with money/insurance have access to medicine, because people with money/insurance are the only ones with access to doctors, and doctors are the only ones with the authority to divvy out sripts.

Dont be a sheep kid, open your mind.

Nightowl with all due respect I’m am much more concerned about this kid than arguing a point with you.

Guys, could you carry on that conversation in a shout trail?

Draper1, you have every reason to be concerned, and every right to insist that while your son lives with you that he not do drugs. I said you have leverage, but be careful how you use it. As was pointed out earlier, people often turn to drugs because of boredom or sadness, both of which can derail a person’s life.

My advice to you is to approach the situation with as much knowledge as you can gain. Try to get to the underlying reason for his use. Tough love doesn’t need to be completely inflexible. But if you hit a brick wall with him, you need to be the one who stands firm.

If you must tie him up , or call the police on him to get him in treatment NOW !!! I know a 15 year old boy ,who was a star hockey player and got tied up with the wrong crowd doing these pills and now he’s dead , , do whatever it takes to get him help……NOW

miss_enigma wrote:
Nightowl with all due respect I’m am much more concerned about this kid than arguing a point with you.

Same here. Which is why I was very concerned when you started talking about her son like he was a strung out hippie/commie/dopefiend, instead of a human being whos most likely in pain. I honestly think that being the resident gestapo in a household with a confused child WILL drive them away from the parent whos doing the “enforcing”. He needs understanding, and a good therapist. Unfortunately good therapists are hard to come by. And from personal experience, in most cases when a parent tries to “be their child’s therapist” it ends with hurt feelings.

wow, theres a lotta tension here tonight.
so, my best friend overdosed on oxy’s and when he did them, at one point he couldnt feel the effects as well anymore so he kept taking them until he did. he was drooling from the mouth, and had puked all over himself and we found him the next morning. his parents being tooootally conservative, were hard to tell, but he was dead for a short time because of these pills. had we not woken up to see him, he would have died…
the lecture of the story is, these are very serious, its not like marijuana or shrooms, which are also horrible, but atleast they are natural, and it takes a lot to o.d. tell him that he needs to go to rehab, or he will go to jail. jail sucks way worse, because they dont give you anything to detox, they just set ya in there with some luke warm water, and if your lucky a mat. let him understand that his life is now at stake, because the outcome of rehabilitating could also be dangerous. i will pray for your baby(dont forget that he is your child and even though he has made a mistake, he loves you. help him find the root of this problem, and thank god that it is not heroin, or that you havent found him blue with a needle hangin outta his arm, too late.) god bless you, and time to take action. as much as he will “hate” you for it, in the long run he will understand.