Trying to understand Adderral and amphetamine addiction

[personalevolutions]

I'm so happy to have come across this site.  I have had personal challenges with addiction (food, exercise, alcohol), however, not with amphetamines.  I am a wellness coach and Pilates Fitness teacher and I believe I have cracked the code on a client I believe to be highly addicted to amphetamines.  Would so appreciate your weigh-in here.  He is a very wealthy man w/a history of cocaine and alcohol abuse.  He has shared that he has been sober from those drugs for over 15 yrs and attends 12 meetings. Following are observations:

Erratic behavior and mood swings
Will come in to work out highly talkative and wants to train hard then schedules 3 additional sessions on consecutive days.  Only to then cancel one by one because of stomach issues.  He told me that his system literally shuts down and he cannot poop.
During this time (above) his texts change from conversations to single word responses (curt) with hours/days of lapses between responses
The cycles are approx 2-3 days UP then almost a week DOWN w/out communication.  
Then he wants to get back on schedule and the cycle starts all over again
Oh and he will share things with me that he has already discussed during a prior session

I also work with his wife and she is totally disconnected and says she doesn't ask questions (she attends Al-Anon).  We've discussed his history with drug abuse however, I haven't talked to her about my recent revelation.

I am a compassionate, empathetic person and just want to be supportive and non-judging.  Should I confront him with my concerns and observations?  How can I best work with him?

Thank you so much for any relating or insights you can offer.

[del677]

Opioids can cause massive constipation, and morphine to treat opioid addiction can also cause massive painful constipation. My sister-in-law is on massive amounts of morphine and she has bad painful constipation and can't go for days. We've found that Probiotics and Omega-3 Fish Oil help her, along with old fashioned prunes and prune juice. (She also needs to learn "moderation", a concept she hasn't mastered yet. When she's massively constipated, she'll drink a whole bottle of prune juice, then she'll have the opposite problem. I just casually stand back and watch, finding it all rather humorous, which is about all one can do when one knows I can't control her, and I buy her large amounts of toilet paper, and I occasionally suggest the word "moderation" to her once in a while, to see if the concept will eventually sink in.)

Then I have a niece who likes Meth. It makes her paranoid. She'll call me late at night, past midnight, complaining "they" have broken into her "account", or her cell phone, and she wants me to fix that, to get "them" out of her cell phone, and out of her "account", and there's really no logic to it, why would anyone want to break into her cell phone, or her account, whatever account that is; why would anyone want to spy on her. It's impossible to try and explain to her, "Sure I can fix that. Just stop taking Meth and that will stop them from breaking into your cell phone."

The one thing I ALWAYS do, which has always been helpful, is I never chastise them for being on drugs. I CAN lovingly push them away and say they need to leave, not for their sake, but for mine, because I need my peace, and I can't have peace with them being high around me, so I still love and care about them, but for MY sake I need them to please leave. When my son was on heroin (yea why whole family is F**ed up. I'm the one who's never used drugs. Straight arrow me) we'd let him come over and visit, but then he had to leave, which worked out, because he just wanted money anyway, so we'd have him do a chore, like clean the house, or do the dishes, then we'd pay him, and then he wanted to leave and go get his drugs, which we knew, so we didn't pay him much, he did a crappy cleaning job anyway, but we got to see him, and reaffirm we loved him, and accepted him as he was.

So in your case, very important to always affirm that you still accept him as a person even if he's on drugs. You don't have to accept his behavior when it impacts you, such as cancelling appointments are disruptive to you, you need your income you're running a business.

Oh here's another important philosophy angle that helps: think of him not as an addict, but as a person who has a problem with addiction. This distinction is very important. If he is an addict then he IS the problem. If he is a person who has a problem with addiction, then he HAS  problem. The difference is between BEING  the problem, and HAVING a problem. If you ARE the problem then there is no solution other than to get rid of you. If you HAVE a problem then the problem can be addressed and the person can be separated from the problem. (It's like the difference between having cancer, and being cancer.)

This way, you can accept the person no matter what state they are in, on drugs, off drugs, in jail, out of jail, where they are and what state they are in doesn't matter, because you see their core self, their core being, and that core being is always there, it's always them. That's the connection that will ultimately be helpful to them in the long run. You can still take care of yourself and your business, if they are disrupting your business or your peace, you can push them away if it's for your own good, and you can do it lovingly, because you are doing it for yourself, while still affirming that their core being is a good person, they are just on drugs at the moment and that is disruptive for you, while you still acknowledge their core being is good.

With this mindset, that people addicted to drugs are still good people, and people have problems, people are not their problems, there you can open dialog about the problem they have. Not as a confrontation, but as an open exchange of love and concern. They will greatly appreciate not having to hide their dark side, fearing rejection, when they learn to separate their problems from their core being, and learn their core being is always lovable, drugs may make them temporarily insufferable. Their greatest fear is rejection because of who they are. They can learn being pushed away is not because of them and who they are, but because of you and your needs, and they are still good people and you still care about them, and they are not their problems. Separate the person from their problem.

[personalevolutions]

Thank you for your insight. It's obvious you have done a lot of work around this issue and have amazing wisdom.   You handle your family with grace and compassion. So appreciate this!

[atthebeach]

I too believe it is opiates.

[personalevolutions]

Thank you!

[motye51]

From what I've just read, I would say he's on some type of opiate. The speed and not pooping are straight signs.
I am in N/A, I would assume he's in A/A. He might be clean from alcohol and coke but if a DOCTOR has prescribed him Vicodin, loritabs, for a pain issue he could be abusing those. And perhaps doesn't consider it using b/c it's prescribed? Sometimes we addicts can lie and even believe our own ********!!! Lol
Do you monitor his heartbeat throughout the workout?

[personalevolutions]

Thank you!