Time Out For Some Humor
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Those of you who remember me, remember what I was going thru the last time I posted back in 2006. My problems with my middle son, affectionately refered to asshole #2 still has a host of problems.
He has been diagnosed with Poly substance dependence
Poly substance dependence refers to a type of substance dependence disorder in which an individual uses at least three different classes of substances indiscriminately and does not have a favorite drug that qualifies for dependence on its own.
Poly substance dependence is listed as a substance disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published in 2000 (also known as the DSM-IV-TR). The DSM-IV-TRis the latest revision of the manual that it is used by mental health professionals to diagnose mental disorders. When an individual meets criteria for dependence on a group of substances (at least three different types used in the same 12-month period) he or she is given the diagnosis of poly substance dependence. For example, an individual may use cocaine, sedatives, and hallucinogens indiscriminately (i.e., no single drug predominated; there was no "drug of choice") for a year or more. The individual may not meet criteria for cocaine dependence, sedative dependence, or hallucinogen dependence, but may meet criteria for substance dependence when all three drugs are considered as a group.
There is very little documented regarding the causes of poly substance dependence.
He has also been diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia
Paranoid schizophrenia is the most common type of schizophrenia in most parts of the world. The clinical picture is dominated by relatively stable, often paranoid, delusions, usually accompanied by hallucinations, particularly of the auditory variety, and perceptual disturbances. Disturbances of affect, volition, and speech, and catatonic symptoms, are not prominent.
Examples of the most common paranoid symptoms are:
delusions of persecution, reference, exalted birth, special mission, bodily change, or jealousy;
hallucinatory voices that threaten the patient or give commands, or auditory hallucinations without verbal form, such as whistling, humming, or laughing;
hallucinations of smell or taste, or of sexual or other bodily sensations; visual hallucinations may occur but are rarely predominant. Thought disorder may be obvious in acute states, but if so it does not prevent the typical delusions or hallucinations from being described clearly. Affect is usually less blunted than in other varieties of schizophrenia, but a minor degree of incongruity is common, as are mood disturbances such as irritability, sudden anger, fearfulness, and suspicion. "Negative" symptoms such as blunting of affect and impaired volition are often present but do not dominate the clinical picture.
He is also Bipolar and has Clinical depression which is a serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Individuals with clinical depression are unable to function as they used to. Often they have lost interest in activities that were once enjoyable to them, and feel sad and hopeless for extended periods of time. Clinical depression is not the same as feeling sad or depressed for a few days and then feeling better. It can affect your body, mood, thoughts, and behavior. It can change your eating habits, how you feel and think, your ability to work and study, and how you interact with people. People who suffer from clinical depression often report that they "don't feel like themselves anymore."
The stress those 2 have put me thru over the last 2 years is mind boggling, I honestly don't know how I have dealt with it. But I have.
I am raising their 2 children, I'm going to rephrase that, I am raising my two children that they made. Remember my grand daughter who I posted all the time about about 2 years ago? Well I have had her since I last posted on this blog back in 2006. She was 13 months old at the time, and has been with me ever since. We have permanent legal custody of her and we are going to adopt her. But dig this, that wasn't bad enough...they went and made another baby who I just got one month ago. This time we have a baby boy, who is only 2 months old. We also have permanent legal custody of him, and will be adopting him also.
I love both my son and his gf, but let me tell you, I would like to choke the shit out of both of them until their eyes bulged out. In my opinion, they had no business making another child. They had no business deciding that I needed to raise yet another child. All they care about is their next high, or what ever pleases them at the moment. They live for each second without a care for the future, not even theirs.
So, I raised my sons, and they are all grown men...Now I am a mommy all over again. I love these kids and I will protect them with my life. Nobody will ever hurt them again, and my husband and I will raise them as our own, and give them a normal family and life that they deserve. But damn it.....damn it to hell...I should have been allowed to be the grandma.
But, even saying that, it is what it is and I am going to provide the best possible life for these 2 angels. God Help Me, cause I'm gonna need it.
In fact all snarkiness aside, I could use some pointers on potty training etc etc...it's been a few years ya know.
He has been diagnosed with Poly substance dependence
Poly substance dependence refers to a type of substance dependence disorder in which an individual uses at least three different classes of substances indiscriminately and does not have a favorite drug that qualifies for dependence on its own.
Poly substance dependence is listed as a substance disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published in 2000 (also known as the DSM-IV-TR). The DSM-IV-TRis the latest revision of the manual that it is used by mental health professionals to diagnose mental disorders. When an individual meets criteria for dependence on a group of substances (at least three different types used in the same 12-month period) he or she is given the diagnosis of poly substance dependence. For example, an individual may use cocaine, sedatives, and hallucinogens indiscriminately (i.e., no single drug predominated; there was no "drug of choice") for a year or more. The individual may not meet criteria for cocaine dependence, sedative dependence, or hallucinogen dependence, but may meet criteria for substance dependence when all three drugs are considered as a group.
There is very little documented regarding the causes of poly substance dependence.
He has also been diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia
Paranoid schizophrenia is the most common type of schizophrenia in most parts of the world. The clinical picture is dominated by relatively stable, often paranoid, delusions, usually accompanied by hallucinations, particularly of the auditory variety, and perceptual disturbances. Disturbances of affect, volition, and speech, and catatonic symptoms, are not prominent.
Examples of the most common paranoid symptoms are:
delusions of persecution, reference, exalted birth, special mission, bodily change, or jealousy;
hallucinatory voices that threaten the patient or give commands, or auditory hallucinations without verbal form, such as whistling, humming, or laughing;
hallucinations of smell or taste, or of sexual or other bodily sensations; visual hallucinations may occur but are rarely predominant. Thought disorder may be obvious in acute states, but if so it does not prevent the typical delusions or hallucinations from being described clearly. Affect is usually less blunted than in other varieties of schizophrenia, but a minor degree of incongruity is common, as are mood disturbances such as irritability, sudden anger, fearfulness, and suspicion. "Negative" symptoms such as blunting of affect and impaired volition are often present but do not dominate the clinical picture.
He is also Bipolar and has Clinical depression which is a serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Individuals with clinical depression are unable to function as they used to. Often they have lost interest in activities that were once enjoyable to them, and feel sad and hopeless for extended periods of time. Clinical depression is not the same as feeling sad or depressed for a few days and then feeling better. It can affect your body, mood, thoughts, and behavior. It can change your eating habits, how you feel and think, your ability to work and study, and how you interact with people. People who suffer from clinical depression often report that they "don't feel like themselves anymore."
May I also add that he is the Biggest F'ing asshole that I have ever met? Is that a disease? Can it be cured? Is there a pill for that?
If the dumb bastard would just STOP drinking cough medicine like it's candy to get high, he might get a clue or two, but its been years now and I don't see that happening. Who would have thought, that you can be just as addicted to cough medicine..actually DXM, as you can be to heroin. Amazing.
The stress those 2 have put me thru over the last 2 years is mind boggling, I honestly don't know how I have dealt with it. But I have.
I am raising their 2 children, I'm going to rephrase that, I am raising my two children that they made. Remember my grand daughter who I posted all the time about about 2 years ago? Well I have had her since I last posted on this blog back in 2006. She was 13 months old at the time, and has been with me ever since. We have permanent legal custody of her and we are going to adopt her. But dig this, that wasn't bad enough...they went and made another baby who I just got one month ago. This time we have a baby boy, who is only 2 months old. We also have permanent legal custody of him, and will be adopting him also.
I love both my son and his gf, but let me tell you, I would like to choke the shit out of both of them until their eyes bulged out. In my opinion, they had no business making another child. They had no business deciding that I needed to raise yet another child. All they care about is their next high, or what ever pleases them at the moment. They live for each second without a care for the future, not even theirs.
So, I raised my sons, and they are all grown men...Now I am a mommy all over again. I love these kids and I will protect them with my life. Nobody will ever hurt them again, and my husband and I will raise them as our own, and give them a normal family and life that they deserve. But damn it.....damn it to hell...I should have been allowed to be the grandma.
But, even saying that, it is what it is and I am going to provide the best possible life for these 2 angels. God Help Me, cause I'm gonna need it.
In fact all snarkiness aside, I could use some pointers on potty training etc etc...it's been a few years ya know.
Is your teen abusing cough medicine? Here are some of the common warning signs to watch for:
Empty cough medicine boxes or bottles in the trash of your teen’s room, or boxes or bottles missing from the medicine cabinet
Visiting pro-drug web sites that provide information on how to abuse dextromethorphan
Changes in friends, physical appearance, or sleeping or eating patterns
Declining grades
Loss of interest in hobbies or favorite activities
Hostile and uncooperative attitude
Unexplained disappearance of household money
Unusual chemical or medicinal smells on your child or in his or her room
Chugging cough medicine for an instant high certainly isn't a new practice for teens, who have raided the medicine cabinet for a quick, cheap, and legal high for decades. But unfortunately, this dangerous, potentially deadly practice is on the rise.
So it's important for parents to understand the risks and know how to prevent their kids from intentionally overdosing on cough and cold medicine.
Why Do Kids Abuse Cough and Cold Remedies?
Before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) replaced the narcotic codeine with dextromethorphan as an over-the-counter (OTC) cough suppressant in the 1970s, teens were simply guzzling down cough syrup for a quick buzz.
Over the years, teens discovered that they still could get high by taking large doses of any OTC medicine containing dextromethorphan (also called DXM).
Dextromethorphan-containing products — tablets, capsules, gel caps, lozenges, and syrups — are labeled DM, cough suppressant, or Tuss (or contain "tuss" in the title).
Medicines containing dextromethorphan are easy to find, affordable for cash-strapped teens, and perfectly legal. Getting access to the dangerous drug is often as easy as walking into the local drugstore with a few dollars or raiding the family medicine cabinet. And because it's found in over-the-counter medicines, many teens naively assume that DXM can't be dangerous.
Then and Now
DXM abuse is on the rise, according to recent studies, and easy access to OTC medications in stores and over the Internet could be contributing to the increase.
The major difference between current abuse of cough and cold medicines and that in years past is that teens now use the Internet to not only buy DXM in pure powder form, but to learn how to abuse it. Because drinking large volumes of cough syrup causes vomiting, the drug is being extracted from cough syrups and sold on the Internet in a tablet that can be swallowed or a powder that can be snorted. Online dosing calculators even teach abusers how much they'll need to take for their weight to get high.
One way teens get their DXM fixes is by taking "Triple-C" — Coricidin HBP Cough and Cold — which contains 30 mg of DXM in little red tablets. Users taking large volumes of Triple-C run additional health risks because it contains an antihistamine as well.
The list of other ingredients — decongestants, expectorants, and pain relievers — contained in other Coricidin products and OTC cough and cold preparations compound the risks associated with DXM and could lead to a serious drug overdose.
Besides Triple-C, other street names for DXM include: Candy, C-C-C, Dex, DM, Drex, Red Devils, Robo, Rojo, Skittles, Tussin, Velvet, and Vitamin D. Users are sometimes called "syrup heads" and the act of abusing DXM is often called "dexing," "robotripping," or "robodosing" (because users chug Robitussin or another cough syrup to achieve their desired high).
What Happens When Teens Abuse DXM?
Although DXM can be safely taken in 15- to 30-milligram doses to suppress a cough, abusers tend to consume as much as 360 milligrams or more. Taking mass quantities of products containing DXM can cause hallucinations, loss of motor control, and "out-of-body" (disassociative) sensations.
Other possible side effects of DXM abuse include: confusion, impaired judgment, blurred vision, dizziness, paranoia, excessive sweating, slurred speech, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, headache, lethargy, numbness of fingers and toes, facial redness, dry and itchy skin, loss of consciousness, seizures, brain damage, and even death.
When consumed in large quantities, DXM can also cause hyperthermia, or high fever. This is a real concern for teens who take DXM while in a hot environment or while exerting themselves at a rave or dance club, where DXM is often sold and passed off as similar-looking drugs like PCP. And the situation becomes even more dangerous if these substances are used with alcohol or another drug.
Being on the Lookout
You can help prevent your teen from abusing over-the-counter medicines. Here's how:
Lock your medicine cabinet or keep those OTC medicines that could potentially be abused in a less accessible place.
Avoid stockpiling OTC medicines. Having too many at your teen's disposal could make abusing them more tempting.
Keep track of how much is in each bottle or container in your medicine cabinet.
Keep an eye out not only for traditional-looking cough and cold remedies in your teen's room, but also strange-looking tablets (DXM is often sold on the Internet and on the street in its pure form in various shapes and colors).
Watch out for the possible warning signs of DXM abuse listed above.
Monitor your child's Internet usage. Be on the lookout for suspicious websites and emails that seem to be promoting the abuse of DXM or other drugs, both legal and illegal.
Above all, talk to your kids about drug abuse and explain that even though taking lots of a cough or cold medicine seems harmless, it's not. Even when it comes from inside the family medicine cabinet or the corner drugstore, when taken in large amounts DXM is a drug that can be just as deadly as any sold on a seedy street corner. And even if you don't think your teens are doing it, chances are they know kids who are.
Reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MDDate reviewed: May 2007
So it's important for parents to understand the risks and know how to prevent their kids from intentionally overdosing on cough and cold medicine.
Why Do Kids Abuse Cough and Cold Remedies?
Before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) replaced the narcotic codeine with dextromethorphan as an over-the-counter (OTC) cough suppressant in the 1970s, teens were simply guzzling down cough syrup for a quick buzz.
Over the years, teens discovered that they still could get high by taking large doses of any OTC medicine containing dextromethorphan (also called DXM).
Dextromethorphan-containing products — tablets, capsules, gel caps, lozenges, and syrups — are labeled DM, cough suppressant, or Tuss (or contain "tuss" in the title).
Medicines containing dextromethorphan are easy to find, affordable for cash-strapped teens, and perfectly legal. Getting access to the dangerous drug is often as easy as walking into the local drugstore with a few dollars or raiding the family medicine cabinet. And because it's found in over-the-counter medicines, many teens naively assume that DXM can't be dangerous.
Then and Now
DXM abuse is on the rise, according to recent studies, and easy access to OTC medications in stores and over the Internet could be contributing to the increase.
The major difference between current abuse of cough and cold medicines and that in years past is that teens now use the Internet to not only buy DXM in pure powder form, but to learn how to abuse it. Because drinking large volumes of cough syrup causes vomiting, the drug is being extracted from cough syrups and sold on the Internet in a tablet that can be swallowed or a powder that can be snorted. Online dosing calculators even teach abusers how much they'll need to take for their weight to get high.
One way teens get their DXM fixes is by taking "Triple-C" — Coricidin HBP Cough and Cold — which contains 30 mg of DXM in little red tablets. Users taking large volumes of Triple-C run additional health risks because it contains an antihistamine as well.
The list of other ingredients — decongestants, expectorants, and pain relievers — contained in other Coricidin products and OTC cough and cold preparations compound the risks associated with DXM and could lead to a serious drug overdose.
Besides Triple-C, other street names for DXM include: Candy, C-C-C, Dex, DM, Drex, Red Devils, Robo, Rojo, Skittles, Tussin, Velvet, and Vitamin D. Users are sometimes called "syrup heads" and the act of abusing DXM is often called "dexing," "robotripping," or "robodosing" (because users chug Robitussin or another cough syrup to achieve their desired high).
What Happens When Teens Abuse DXM?
Although DXM can be safely taken in 15- to 30-milligram doses to suppress a cough, abusers tend to consume as much as 360 milligrams or more. Taking mass quantities of products containing DXM can cause hallucinations, loss of motor control, and "out-of-body" (disassociative) sensations.
Other possible side effects of DXM abuse include: confusion, impaired judgment, blurred vision, dizziness, paranoia, excessive sweating, slurred speech, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, headache, lethargy, numbness of fingers and toes, facial redness, dry and itchy skin, loss of consciousness, seizures, brain damage, and even death.
When consumed in large quantities, DXM can also cause hyperthermia, or high fever. This is a real concern for teens who take DXM while in a hot environment or while exerting themselves at a rave or dance club, where DXM is often sold and passed off as similar-looking drugs like PCP. And the situation becomes even more dangerous if these substances are used with alcohol or another drug.
Being on the Lookout
You can help prevent your teen from abusing over-the-counter medicines. Here's how:
Lock your medicine cabinet or keep those OTC medicines that could potentially be abused in a less accessible place.
Avoid stockpiling OTC medicines. Having too many at your teen's disposal could make abusing them more tempting.
Keep track of how much is in each bottle or container in your medicine cabinet.
Keep an eye out not only for traditional-looking cough and cold remedies in your teen's room, but also strange-looking tablets (DXM is often sold on the Internet and on the street in its pure form in various shapes and colors).
Watch out for the possible warning signs of DXM abuse listed above.
Monitor your child's Internet usage. Be on the lookout for suspicious websites and emails that seem to be promoting the abuse of DXM or other drugs, both legal and illegal.
Above all, talk to your kids about drug abuse and explain that even though taking lots of a cough or cold medicine seems harmless, it's not. Even when it comes from inside the family medicine cabinet or the corner drugstore, when taken in large amounts DXM is a drug that can be just as deadly as any sold on a seedy street corner. And even if you don't think your teens are doing it, chances are they know kids who are.
Reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MDDate reviewed: May 2007
Sorry about that, I got so busy with life I forgot about hoh!!! That should be a sin.
HOH will always be my baby, it's where I cut my teeth, I learned about blogging, where I first met so many wonderful people...of course I met a few jag offs too. Can't be avoided I suppose.
So much has changed since the old HOH days. I have 2 babys to raise...of course asshole 1, 2, and 3, still drive me freaking batty. Asshole #2 is still as looney as the day is long. Still drinking cough medicine like nobodys business.
I still get the late night phone calls that make me think I'm in the twilight zone from him. I'm just learning to deal with it better I suppose. On top of that I have 2 little angels to raise, so I don't really have the time anymore to dwell on what an idiot my son turned out to be.
Ohhh I have stories to share, that's for sure, but they will have to wait until the next post, there is a little girl who wants a drink and a baby boy who needs his diaper changed, so ...see ya soon!
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