New to this board, need some help

Hello everyone, I have never been on this board before, but Ive come here to ask for your help anyay. Its kind of a long story, but I could use some advice..... For as long as I can remember my mother has been addicted to pain medication. I am 31 years old now, and I can remmeber being as young as 4 with empty pill bottles stashed all over the house. My father died the year before, and I believe that was the begginning of her downfall. My grandmother began "to stay" with us shortly thereafter which remained that way until the day she died when I was almost 18. My grandmother basically raised me, even though my mother was present in the house. Now I recognize that my mother was probably just too depresssed and intoxicated to get out of bed to do her duties as a mother. When I was about 16, my grandma told me that my mom was stealing medication from her. Being naive and ignorant I didnt know what to make of it, and at the time I was probably too self absorbed to care. Within 2 or 3 months after my grandma's death my mom began to binge on prescription drugs. Ive seen and been through experiences since then that will haunt me till I die. Enough said. My mother and I have argued, not spoken to eachother for months, and repeat the cycle over and over. Im absoultly tired of this.  What makes matters worse in all of this is the fact she has had some legitimate health problems which has led to her need to continue to take this stuff. She had surgery in late June, and is facing another surgery in about a month. During this time her doctors have been giving her Vicodin, muscle relaxers, sleeping medication, Cymbalta, a nerve medication for her back, low dosages of Valium, and others that have lapsed from my memory right now. Her addiction is going from bad to worse. Me and my dbf managed to get a unit that locks her medication and dispenses it at certain times (so I wouldnt have to be there every single day), but she is figuring out how to manipulate it and us to get more. Just 2 days before I had my GBS I litterally caught her stealing medication behind my back, which caused a big blow up. I cannot express to you how much this is effecting my mental health, and just how tired I am of my life being effected by this. And it is even begginning to put extra stress between me and my dbf too.  Being an only child makes it worse, and we have an extremly small family. She only has 1 sister who is almost as addicted to the stuff as she is. Her (the sister who I dont get along with) solution to all of this is to just go talk to the doctors and tell them not to give it to her anymore. HAHAHA! Yeah right, Ive had doctors tell me in the past that she's needed rehab and then hand her a script for more medication. Ive lost faith in doctors, and she needs more. Maybe that might have worked 25 years ago, but we're way past that point now. She needs rehab, and I need help to deal with all of this. In retrospect, I know that my addiction to food grew out of trying to comfort myself from all the horrible things I experienced growing up. I cannot continue to live like this, sometimes I just want to run away again. Not that it can be done......but it definelty makes me aware of where my addictions to food, sleep, and fantasy came from. Does anyone know of any prescription drug rehab centers? If so, where? I would appreciate any feedback or advice you all can give me. Thank you....

I sent you a PM, our stories are very very similar

All drug rehabs can treat your mother, because drug addiction is just addiction, regardless of the drug.  She would benefit from treatment at any drug treatment center.  If your mother in unwilling to get treatment, it may be necessary to do an intervention.  I am not sure how to suggest going about doing that.  You could possibly get individual therapy for yourself to help you cope with your mother.  After you have been in therapy for yourself, you could ask your therapist about bringing your mother in for a family session, and possibly do an intervention there.   In the meantime, you could attend Nar-Anon meetings to get support in learning to cope with your mother's addiction.   http://nar-anon.org/index.html I had a friend who was addicted to prescription drugs.  She used her position at a doctor's office and her family member's names, and even my name and medical insurance, to obtain narcotics.  She faced criminal charges and lost our friendship because of her addiction.   Good luck in getting the help you need. Trish

I like the idea of attending Nar- anon, they don;t really have it in my area, so I have to go to Alanon ( my husband is an addict) and I'm am also reading a Co-da book- Codependent No More because sometimes he relapses and I don't want to destroy my life any more just because he is. I'm tired of eating over his drug problems. Good luck.