Monday, January 31, 2011

What do you do when your friend is addicted?

What do you do when you find out your friend is addicted?
The friend that was my maid of honor at my wedding many years ago called about an hour ago. 
She seemed frantic, as she usually has each time she's called me over the past year.  She's still seeking Ambien from any Doctor that will give it to her.  She calls me hoping I know a Doctor that will write her a presciption.  I don't know any Doctor's.  I've told her this in the past.
Seems she has been getting the medicine from a relative, and she hasn't even told her husband she's been getting this medication from them.  I'm sure her husband would flip his lid if he knew she was getting medications without a prescription.
She kept telling me she needed the medication because her days were too long.  So I asked her if she was taking the medication to sleep at night, or if she was taking it during the day.  She takes it both day and night.  She wants to sleep her days away because they are too long and she has nothing to do since they put her on disability and will no longer let her teach.
I told her you don't sleep during the day simply because you are bored and your days are too long.  I told her you do things or learn things to do to fill them up.  I gave her examples of things to do and places to go to learn things.  She doesn't want to pay to take classes, and I understand that because money is now tight for them.  I suggested she learn new recipes and such.
I told her even if you're bored you don't take pills to sleep during the day.  I explained you somehow learn to live with periods of boredom.
I think she was going to start volunteering somewhere, but had a car accident.
I don't think right now while her mind is wandering that she can focus well enough to be driving.
I explained to her I think that she's now addicted to the Ambien and needs to go somewhere (drug rehab, though I didn't say that phrase) to get dried out just like alcoholics do.  I tried to explain to her that the longer you take sleeping meds, the less and less they seem to be effective.
Then she said that yesterday she mentioned suicide to the same relative that had been giving her the Ambien.  The relative doesn't want to give them to her anymore.  So the relative called the police on her because she was talking about suicide.  She also said the relative lied and told the police that she was threatening someone too besides.
She said the police came to her house, but that she was able to convince the police the relative was lying.
So, what do you do.  She wanted phone numbers from me for the insurance company we both have.  She's bound and determined to find a psychiatrist or primary Doctor that will prescribe these pills for her.  I don't think any ever will. 
I don't know why she can't talk to her own family about her needs and how she's feeling when she is down.  I'm not a psychiatrist and pray that she finds a new one that will help her.  Apparently her present one isn't.
It must be horrible to have a frantic mind and only want to sleep to escape it.  I mean I have health problems too, physical in nature.  I have a lot of physical pain with my condition and I don't seek out prescription pain meds, nor do I drown myself in alcohol or any illegal substances to dull my pain.
I really think people sometimes need to find their own way to help themselves with chronic illness, whether mental or physical.  I don't think the Doctor's, whether psychiatrists or medical in nature really get it, unless they've been through it themselves.
I talked to my husband and asked him if I thought I should try and call her husband at work and talk to him.  He told me "No."
Her husband has physical medical problems and is still trying to work.  We already know her daughter is tired of everything with her mom.
So, I just know that I will call the police next time, if needed, if she talks of suicide.  I'm not trained in this and I can't be responsible anymore to try and talk her down, or reason with her.
I try, but she doesn't seem to remember what we talk about from one phone call to the next.
It's draining me emotionally.  I'm feeling like I can't deal anymore. 
So what would you do when your now know your friend is addicted?

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

I can read this easily, can you?

AOCDRNDICG TO RSCHEEARCH AT CMABRIGDE UINERVTISY, IT DSENO'T MTAETR WAHT OERDR THE LTTERES IN A WROD ARE, THE OLNY IPROAMTNT TIHNG IS TAHT THE FRSIT AND LSAT LTTEER BE IN THE RGHIT PCLAE. TIHS IS BCUSEAE THE HUAMN MNID DEOS NOT RAED ERVEY LTETER BY ISTLEF, BUT THE WROD AS A WLOHE. IF YOU CAN RAED TIHS, PSOT IT TO ...YUOR WLAL. OLNY 55...% OF PLEPOE CAN !

Sunday, January 16, 2011

It is their problem, no it is their problem.

Well for awhile now we couldn't get onto the internet.  Our phone company was saying it wasn't them or our IPS service, but was our router.  The router company was saying it was our phone company and the DSL line.
So back and forth, and back and forth.  Well thankfully the phone company sent a technician out today on a Sunday to check the problem.  Sure enough it was the DSL line.  Something had to be fixed in a phone box a bit away from us.  There wasn't a problem in the phone box that was right behind our house, because apparently our phone line doesn't originate from there.  It comes from a phone box on another block some distance from us.  Strange if you ask me.
Anyways the technician replaced some wires at the box where our DSL comes from.  Now we are back, but not before my husband had to pay almost a hundred dollars to the router company so they'd go through and help him check if it was our router.  Okay, so he gets a year worth of service for that hundred dollars, but it wasn't our router and if our phone company would have checked on their end first then we wouldn't have had to put out money for something we didn't need.  So very frustrating and sometimes feels like a racket if you ask me.
Ahh well, at least we are back online and have the internet again.