slowmoving...but not slowthinking, methinks ;) right on, right on, right on!

first: nem had no way to 'prove definitively' who the culprit was. this was her only way to make sure that WHOMEVER it was didn't get any more actual opiods...and be assured of not being overly harmed. completely agree with your take on this. i know a few police officers and they thought my solution was hilarious; agreeing that i'd have to have tons more proof before they could so much as fill out a report and even then it'd be a case of 'he said, she said'. further, because the thief was a family member invited into my home, they could really do nothing despite my finally proving it to my own satisfaction. so much for 'reporting' it.

seems the ones who want all this 'compassion' for thieves are those who have drug addiction backgrounds, but have absolutely no compassion for the victims who are now missing (as in nem's case)two-THIRDS! of the pain meds they desperately need for pain relief..and can't GET anymore, else their doctors will think they're taking too much! i have zilch 'compassion' in this particular situation. 100% in support of nem.

to kyna: I so feel for you, sweetie: it's a particular hell to find out you can no longer trust a family member..and to be a young kid and now have to worry about a parent figure is especially bad.
That's a real sin.
But I do want to say that anyone should always count their pills; especially the opiods, immediately after filling them. I've been short-changed a couple of pills quite a few times over the years, especially on tylenol/codeine and fioricet. Strangely, never on anything not opiod or barbiturate related, hmmm.
Perhaps merely a mis-count on the part of the person filling them - an honest mistake, or maybe not? But notifying them right away usually convinces them of your veracity. I prefer to count right there before leaving..off to the side of the counter, but my husband never does..and I've checked and then called in as soon as he got home. At the very least it puts them on notice that you're paying attention.

I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING YET...OOOPPSS USED CAPS AGAIN SORRY!

Great idea, that's hilarious!

You'll have to get a safe for your real meds.

I shared this story with my wife, as she is a nurse, anyway, she disagreed while I totally agree in replacing the meds with herbal meds. On being held accountable for any damge to his body, I highly doubt that would occur, you have every right to put whatever you wish in your bottles of meds, and besides your intent is not to hurt him, it is to teach him a lesson in stealing otehr peoples meds.

I think we have a responsibility to keep our drugs out of reach of kids and to keep it private. My PM Dr. told me to never tell anyone but my hubbie what I take because he said people will break into your home and steal them. My teenager knows that what I take can hurt him or anyone else who takes it. I have talked to him about never telling anyone that they are in the house. Most kids today get their drugs from their parents supply or that of friends. He also knows that I would report him to the police. I think she should have made it known to her roomie and son that her meds are off limits and that they would be turned in for taking them. I think this would have kept it from happening.

A lot of "addicts" start out taking their pills for legit reasons....such as surgery;dental problems;arthiritis; different medical conditions and diseases....these meds are prescribed by the doctor and are sometimes taken for long periods of time....months and sometimes even years....then they suddenly find themselves without their medication for one reason or another....the way the government is going docs around the country are becoming more and more reluctant to prescribe narcotics. Sometimes the doc may decide that the person does not need the med anymore or want to switch them to something milder....this is where it is all headed anyway i have been doing research on this as i have severe degenerative arthiritis with bone changes and i'm only 44....anyway it is usually during this transition time that the person realizes that he is addicted and probably has been for a long time and did not know it because he always had the drug up until that time. Anyone who takes narcotic medication on a routine basis is probably addicted to some degree or another....addiction does not mean that you don't take your meds as the doctor prescribed them....or that you take too many....it means that your body is so used to the drug that if you discontinue it you will have withdrawals. A lot of people who take narcotics for a designated condition are addicted to their meds and they know this but use their pain as an excuse.Especially if they take several different kinds of narcotics. I am not on pain meds now but will probably be in the future when my insurance settles in. I am aware of the possibility of addiction but have weighed the options and since i have to work and function and disability is not enough to live on i need to be pain free to function. I am a nurse and am on my feet all night....but I realize that i could become addicted and i can admit this....I know that it can happen to anyone of any race, creed ,religion ,age it is no respecter of persons. One thing is clear though....i will never leave my meds out....talk about them in front of people i don't know....and if i had heard that my roomates son "Liked" my drugs i certainly would not leave them out in plain view to cause him temptation KNOWING that he liked them and there was a good possibility that if he saw them he would take them....and if knowing that i still left the meds out, I would not feel the need to come up with a vindictive little plan to punish him for a weakness that i may very well be close to developing myself.

jennaw72: Please learn to differintiate between being dependant on medication and being an addict. There are many of here that take umbrage to the term being an addict. I would think during all your research you would have come to understand that there is a difference. I don't mean to be ugly. In order to have some quality of life I depend on pain medication to get through the day. I have never been high on my medication, nor do I get a buzz from it. I am not an addict.

I am talking about a physical addiction....i understand that you are dependent on the med for pain relief....i think that point has been made very clear.Being dependent upon a med for pain relief does not mean that if your meds were suddenly discontinued you would not have withdrawal symptoms....I am sure that you would....thus you are addicted....thus the term addict. i am sorry if you take "umbradge" to this....I am simply stating a fact. If you are going to be offended then by all means BE offended....if you want to call yourself dependent then do so....because that means your body is dependent upon the med which is just another word for addiction.....only dependent sounds a little more respectful does'nt it?? I have been clean for a good while now but may have to start taking pain meds again because of severe arthiritis pain....does this make me dependent too or am I srill an addict?? LOL

to jennaw72: this is the part of your comment which will incite the most umbrage and frustration from suffering people: "A lot of people who take narcotics for a designated condition are addicted to their meds and they know this but use their pain as an excuse". "Especially if they take several different kinds of narcotics."

What?!!! - Really!

perhaps this is true for you, but you seem to have no real clue about the average chronic pain sufferer and how they live, the hoops they've jumped through to get the tiniest bit of pain relief, or how they'd do absolutely anything to ensure no possibility of drug dependence. Please go on this very site and read about the move to protect doctors and patients from being persecuted for prescribing NEEDED (and therefore not habit-forming) pain relief to their chronic pain patients. You need to become better educated before sitting in such high-handed judgment of others.

There's a vast difference between being 'addicted' and bodily dependent. For the record, I've been taking codeine and occasional other stronger pain meds for many years and am not even remotely dependent, physically or otherwise. When I stop them periodically for weeks just to check, I do not go through 'withdrawal' as you insist we all must. However, I pay the price of never having escalated my dosage of codeine in all these years by never really achieving the full pain relief I require. But that's me. I wouldn't dream of judging others by how I live and what works for me. Why do you?

And yet, once more, you justify blaming the victim of theft for 'causing temptation'. How dare you? I mean, really? How dare you? The woman said she had just gotten up from a 3-day migraine... had just gone downstairs to get a bite to eat. If you haven't been there, then you have no right to speak on this. How one feels after a 3-day migraine is: light-headed,sick, dizzy, ill, stomach completely empty; starving but unsure if you're even able to eat a plain piece of bread with perhaps a sip of water...the pain isn't completely gone but is still 'lurking' just there - behind your eyes or at the back of your head...your balance is affected, as well as your short-term memory and thinking processes for some time after; you feel 'logy'; need time to recover. So when she said she 'went' downstairs, what she really was saying was that she dragged herself downstairs just to get herself up and back to a semblance of normalcy. During that very small window, somehow her pills were stolen. One shouldn't have to live WITHIN ONE'S OWN HOME especially feeling so ill and just going down the hall to the bathroom or down to the kitchen after the agony of a long-drawn out migraine (I know exactly what she felt like)...and having to then ALSO think that the meds she'd just been using would somehow to taken during that very brief time. Living in such controlled conditions would be monstrous. We might as well then, live in jail.

Hers is a vastly different situation from leaving one's meds sitting out on a living room table, or on a kitchen counter. This was in the sanctitiy of HER OWN BEDROOM! Good grief! Not a single mature woman here would imagine anyone, especially a younger man, trespassing into her bedroom while she was right there...she would assume that taking her pills with her when she went out would be sufficient protection.

Thankfully the vast majority of the responses here are those of logical individuals. If yours was typical, I'd certainly think there'd be no reason to stay here. As it is, there are far more people who understand the situation as it plays out in real life than there are those like you who seem to think theft of one's needed pain meds is something one should accept as one's responsibility.
That's complete and utter balderdash. If someone came into your bedroom and stole money from your purse would you blame yourself and feel sorry for the poor thief because you tempted him/her? Don't make me laugh. She was victimized and is making sure it won't happen again. Personally I think her solution under the circumstances is quite brilliant.

I love your little trick. It is a very serious problem. I agree with kpain. Don't advertise what you take. They will break in and they also have no value of human life.

Hugs,
Annie

There seems to be alot of argument on this post as far as addiction goes. I myself take pain meds to get me through the day. In fact if I didn't have my meds this morning I would be lying in bed writhing in pain. So if that is addiction so be it. At least I can get out of bed. The only withdrawal I think we all go through after stopping pain meds is remaining in horrible pain. Anyone who is not going through this should not state opinions about whether you are addicted or not.
As far as worrying about my meds being stolen, I live alone and keep my meds out of plain sight if I have visitors. If someone I know would even consider taking my meds and letting me suffer in pain, then they wouldn't be allowed around me at all!
There should be an additional post for people who take pain meds for pleasure.
The point I think nemcgrath is trying to make is that she was violated and I don't blame her. What is she going to do now if she gets a horrible migraine and has nothing to help her? She needs to make a point. I really think that a verbal threat would be best though. What if this person is allergic to any of the meds being replaced.
It is a great idea but a little risky. I hope he never steals again from you!

Reply to JENNAW:

Sorry, but Iam *extremely* annoyed
by your post.

Please do me the favor of not leaving posts 'educating' a room full of
CHRONIC PAIN SUFFERERS about prescription
narcotics and how, even when taken
for 'legit reasons' (YOUR words), they
can lead us to becoming 'addicts.'
ESPECIALLY when you yourself are not
even TAKING prescribed narcotics for
pain. Help yourself to all of the
research in the world, but we are all
extremely aware of the power of drugs,
and don't need a random lecture from
anyone.

After that, please do me another favor
of not stating what you KNOW that you
will or will not do in the future. The
day might come when you are on pain meds,
and you DO leave them 'out' - but somewhere
safe, where you don't think twice about it.
There are few things more annoying on
these boards than people posting to say
'i would NEVER let that happen,' or 'in no
way would *i* ever act like *you* ...'
we're here to relate and support and strengthen, not to chastise and judge. it
seems to me that that's what most of us
are here for, anyway ...

i'm very sorry to hear that you may in
fact need pain medicine one day, to deal with CHRONIC PAIN - i truly hope it never
comes to that. but if it does, my guess
is that you won't appreciate others, not
in your shoes, telling you about your
situation (as though you are uneducated
in it completely), and what THEY would do
in YOUR shoes. no, i don't think you would
enjoy that much at all.

*misa*

This whole problem would have never taken place if the original poster had done one simple thing. Kept her narcotics in a locked metal box. They wouldn't have been stolen, PERIOD. The question of calling the police should have been talked about in the same breath that she talked about the med's she is taking. Warned the other roommate that she has a zero tolerance to theft and would report it immediately. She has to be her own advocate, and make her views known when she is in a good period of pain control.Its hard to make yourself clear when in the midst of a three day migraine.
There are very simple locks that can be used even in the middle of a serious pain attack.
Thieves will go into any personal area, they don't care where they have to go. The only thing to stop a thief is a LOCK.
As far as addiction to out medication, do you believe that a diabetic is addicted to their insulin, Jennaw72? Or is a heart patient addicted to their life saving medications? I'm very curious to see where you draw the line.
Most of the things you say in your post are ridiculous. The doctor may decide that the person doesn't need the med's anymore , this is where its all headed anyway ?? WHAT are you talking about?
You say that these med's are prescribed for long periods of time, months and sometimes even years.....I have been using extremely strong narcotics for over 14 years. These are used for a variety of different problems. Would I experience withdrawal, you bet your a** I would. Every RX bottle I have in my possession WARNS me to " Do not stop taking these med's abruptly. Must be weaned off these medications, etc." Death may occur if stopped too quickly"
Does this mean I am a "addict"?? I NEVER take more than I am prescribed, have NEVER gotten prescriptions earlier, have NEVER lost a single dose of any type of narcotic I have used. I have NEVER experienced any type of Euphoria or high feeling. The most I have gotten was fairly good pain relief.
What "research" have you been doing? Where are your back-up facts? You sound like you are a addict yourself and are looking for a excuse to start using again.
I am INSULTED, and I think you have insulted each and every person in pain, here in these forums.
I use my pain as an "excuse for getting" narcotics???? That is the most insulting sentence in your post. I wish it was as simple as wanting to get "high" I have suffered unbearable pain for almost 30 years and have been under fairly good control for the past 14 years. I have lost family, a husband, my job, and most of my dignity to my pain "excuse".
I have gone through enormous amounts of money, treatments, painful injections, hours and hours of physical therapy. I have had to adjust my whole life to try and control my pain.
And to have you state I am using "pain as an excuse to get high", well I wish you were standing in front of me and I would show you my full reaction.
How would you like a ten inch needle place in your spinal column,and be injected with medication to try and get relief? I have undergone this procedure at least 16 times. Also a stellate ganglion block where the same type of needled goes through the front of your neck. All while you are fully awake. My ex husband passed out while watching a doctor perform these procedures. I did this for stupid med's?? Why didn't I just get drunk?
I better stop here because I am getting more worked up, and its simply stupid for me to be upset with a person who is very obviously ignorant.

Ok, another for Jennaw... lol
its really suprising and unnerving that you are 1)a nurse and 2)have done "research"

You need to do some more because you have NO clue... on what you are talking about... I want to stop you LOL because you are embarrassing yourself... no really Im not kidding -I really mean that.


Dependance and addiction are DIFFERENT- totally different...
Addiction is a behavior- mental
Dependance - is physical.

You might also learn someday that alot of people take offense to people... saying they are addicts and they use pain as an excuse... to get meds...

You have NO idea what people have gone thru -or GO thru on a daily basis...

When you go back on meds for your arthritis or whatever it is and you want to call YOURSELF an addict or something else because that would be more "respectable" as you say... then go right ahead...

but your wrong in your terms - go back and look it up...