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Avatar universal

Is my boyfriend on opiates again?

I know my bf has had an oxycontin problem in the a few years ago. He's honest about it now, but when he was using, he did not admit it at the time.

He was in an accident about a year ago, experiencing severe trauma to the left side of his head. His wound runs up the side of the ear up his scalp. He has memory loss, back pain, depression, and sometimes I wonder if what I construe as drug use could be tied to his head injury and the subsequent problems.

In the past 6 months I began to notice some erratic behavior (switching from one task to another suddenly, being very moody) along with pinned pupils. I immediately began questioning him about this but he denied any drug use.
He claimed winter depression, which he has been diagnosed with before.

After a few months, I confronted him with a text message I found in which he was soliciting people for pills. He admitted that he had been looking for xanax and other anti-anxiety meds since he was having a hard time with winter and his job but claimed he had not been able to find any and said he was not on drugs.

He had pinned pupils the majority of the winter, with occasionally very LARGE, dilated pupils. Both kinds were unresponsive to light changes. I noticed the erratic behavior and memory issues continued intermittently.

In the past month, as spring has finally come around he seems to have become much happier and and I haven't noticed any pupil changes. But yesterday, his face was very puffy, his eyes were very pinned, his eyelids/eyes were droopy and he was covered in red scratches. He denied any drug use and claimed that he took some allergy medicine. He does have seasonal allergies. He would just pace and focus on other tasks instead of talking. When he did sit, he be very frustrated about my consistent questioning and would get up immediately to pace. I also noticed he had difficulty urinating that night and when we went to bed, he would fall asleep very quickly and wake up suddenly, only to fall asleep again.
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1684282 tn?1614701284
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Dear Not Enabling,
It is very difficult for me to definitively tell you if your boyfriend is using or not, the only way for a physician to say for sure is urine or a blood test especially without examining the person.  But while reading your question, I was struck but the feeling that you seem to be pretty sure that he is using drugs and to me, that is significant.  You know him, you are with him and you notice that something is off.  That is a big indicator.
The fact that he has a history of lying while using, and history tends to repeat itself, is also a big indicator.   The symptoms you mentioned: pin point pupils, erratic behavior, itchiness, interrupted sleep may all be attributed to opiate use.  
The question you are asking me here is not as important as the question you should be asking yourself: do I trust this man enough to continue to be in this relationship?  I think your gut is saying NO.
If you think he is someone worthy of the effort of confronting and the relationship is important enough for you to save, go ahead.  But it will be painful, especially if he is not ready to fess up and face his demons.  It is up to you.  Please be careful, talk to his friends, if you trust them, talk to his parents.  Seek their help and intervention.
Good luck and I hope he appreciates you.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
yes he is definitely back at it again.. but i think you already know this. stop lying to yourself. i know cause i have wanted to believe something i knew was lies
Helpful - 0

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