My boyfriend is addicted to painkillers what can i do?

[kmarier18]

My boyfriend and I have been together for three years and i've finally felt like i've found someone who truly loves me. . .except for one thing. . .in the past year he's become addicted to painkillers.

it started last year when he was prescribed them for an accident he'd had at work, but when he ran out he kept getting more (his father takes them and has for years because of an injury he got at work years ago) his father gave him a few more after his prescription ran out bc of the pain he was in. . .he was okay and then for a little while he didn't take any. then all of a sudden i started finding pills in his pants pockets when i was doing laundry and he started throwing up alot at night and i couldnt figure out what it was from. eventually a friend of his told me what was going on and what signs to look for because he would always lie to me about it. again he stopped for a while and things were good, but now he's doing them again and its worse, he now crushes them up to snort them and i'm terrified. i lose so much sleep because i'm afraid that if i go to bed and don't keep checking on him that i will wake up in the morning and he will be dead.

he spends hundreds of dollars on painkillers every week and then lies to me about what he's spending the money on, he's lost his job as a result of his addiction and he's also forced his father to install cameras in his house and get a safe to keep his medication in because my bf was stealing them from him. he's even gone as far as to steal one of the safes, break into it, just to get his high.

i can't count how many nights hes layed in my arms in tears because he hates how his life has turned and he knows he's addicted, but how can i help him to see that he can get help and he can change?

i love him and hate seeing him this way, i have no more tears to cry, and i'm so tired of being afraid that he's going to die after a night of snorting these pills. . .

[Judy246]

You can contact hospitals in your area and inquire if they are willing to take him and explain the situation. They will tell you what you can do to bring him in. He needs treatment in order to get off the addiction, but it's free will. He has to hit rock bottom, where it's either get treatment or die. If you find a hospital that is willing to take him in, it's very important to follow through and at that point it's something that you should not do alone. Get either his family or your family to help out with this situation.

This is fixable, but he has to want the help and is willing to go to the hospital for treatment (having health insurance will also help). Good luck

[teko]

Bottom line. You cannot help someone who does not want it.  His actions are telling you that the addiction is what is important to him right now. The only thing you can do to help him right now is to not enable his addiction. Usually as long as someone wants to feed the addiction, nothing you do or say will change it.  It will literally take unpleasant consequences to open his eyes, and that is just a matter of when. Could be weeks or could be years. Your only option is to confront yourself with your ability to live with a pill until your man emerges again.