http://www.affie.com.au/wild-look/ specialising in dependencies: compulsions and recovery Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:45:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://www.affie.com.au/wild-look/comment-page-1/#comment-78607 Affie Adagio Fri, 14 Dec 2007 02:11:46 +0000 http://www.affie.com.au/wild-look/#comment-78607 @ Corbin: You cannot be very effective if you try to take on the role of doctor without being qualified. So he needs medical advice primarily. Then he can avail himself of a support group such as Pills Anonymous or SMART Recovery where he will develop a new healthy abstinent lifestyle. As you can see the focus is on him doing the work with you being supportive. Be careful not to take over his responsibility for recovery as this will disempower him to find a solution, pushing you into the role of being his saviour and/or his warden. He may need to also undergo detoxification. @ Corbin: You cannot be very effective if you try to take on the role of doctor without being qualified. So he needs medical advice primarily. Then he can avail himself of a support group such as Pills Anonymous or SMART Recovery where he will develop a new healthy abstinent lifestyle. As you can see the focus is on him doing the work with you being supportive. Be careful not to take over his responsibility for recovery as this will disempower him to find a solution, pushing you into the role of being his saviour and/or his warden. He may need to also undergo detoxification.

]]> http://www.affie.com.au/wild-look/comment-page-1/#comment-69854 Corbin Sun, 04 Nov 2007 05:13:22 +0000 http://www.affie.com.au/wild-look/#comment-69854 I need some help with my partner, he admitted to me today that he suffers from addiction to pain killers, in particular Nurofen Plus, which would be the codeine I would assume. He has taken a step in reducing the number of tablets he takes, but he told me that at one time he was taking 100+ per day. Currently he is very sick with what I think is a Gastric Ulcer. He has many other symptoms, including excessive tiredness, insomnia, itchiness, excessive vomiting, nausea and dizziness. I have been helping him to get better from those symptoms, however I had not realised the extent of the addiction until today. I have tried to research codeine addiction on the internet, while there are many other sufferers of this affliction I am unable to find any reference to support groups or help centres with any real information on how to get away from this addiction. As you can imagine it is putting a strain on the relationship, however it is something that I am prepared to help him fight and get past. Having said that, I am very worried about the long lasting effects of the prolonged use of codeine medicines. He is willing to get help and I am willing to help him find it, it's just such a helpless feeling knowing it's not something I can fix. My real questions are... 1. What are the long term effects, i.e. liver damage etc. 2. Can he go cold turkey to get off them or does he need a substitute? I am desperately looking for answers, and I do not know which way to turn. I need some help with my partner, he admitted to me today that he suffers from addiction to pain killers, in particular Nurofen Plus, which would be the codeine I would assume. He has taken a step in reducing the number of tablets he takes, but he told me that at one time he was taking 100+ per day. Currently he is very sick with what I think is a Gastric Ulcer. He has many other symptoms, including excessive tiredness, insomnia, itchiness, excessive vomiting, nausea and dizziness. I have been helping him to get better from those symptoms, however I had not realised the extent of the addiction until today. I have tried to research codeine addiction on the internet, while there are many other sufferers of this affliction I am unable to find any reference to support groups or help centres with any real information on how to get away from this addiction. As you can imagine it is putting a strain on the relationship, however it is something that I am prepared to help him fight and get past. Having said that, I am very worried about the long lasting effects of the prolonged use of codeine medicines. He is willing to get help and I am willing to help him find it, it’s just such a helpless feeling knowing it’s not something I can fix. My real questions are…
1. What are the long term effects, i.e. liver damage etc.
2. Can he go cold turkey to get off them or does he need a substitute?
I am desperately looking for answers, and I do not know which way to turn.

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