Could these be symptoms of drug addiction?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Putting this in IMHO rather than GQ since it contains an advice component.

I know a guy who has a history of drug abuse and methadone addiction. He is currently taking methadone under the supervision of a professional and receiving regular screenings for other drugs. The screenings have turned up negative so far.

Within the last several months, he has started to have bizarre and unpredictable changes in behavior. The most chronic issue appears to be sleepwalking and short-term memory loss. He is often found in the dead of night in random places throughout the house, unaware of how he got there. At times he is completely unable to remember things–for example he had no recollection of a film he saw last week. He has a tendency to repeat himself and ask the same questions over and over in a conversation, apparently thinking he is asking them for the first time. He often forgets what he is doing in the middle of doing it. Last weekend he walked out of a store carrying a number of items he hadn’t paid for. Though he does have a history of shoplifting, nobody in our party noticed he had taken them, yet he pointed out his error and returned them to the store with an apology.

He has intense fits of sweating. During the time I saw him, on a breezy, cool day, he was sweating so badly that his glasses steamed up. He now carries a towel with him wherever he goes. He has had sudden and rapid weight gain of 30 pounds and the inability to urinate for extended periods of time. He lost the weight just as unexpectedly and inexplicably as he gained it, and his bladder is apparently working fine now.

Most concerning is he is becoming more quick to anger and has had at least a couple incidents losing his temper. This is really out of character for him.

He has been to a doctor, who ruled out infection. The doctors are very concerned. They want to do a CT scan but this man has no insurance. He keeps (to my mind) making excuses for why he can’t follow up. I believe this may be because he is afraid to know what’s wrong with him. But it could also be because he does know what’s wrong and doesn’t want anyone else to find out.

I don’t know anything about drugs, but these symptoms don’t strike me as drug-related. During the times I’ve seen him he hasn’t appeared to be high or anything. On the other hand, this guy has a history of deceitful behavior and could be cheating his drug tests. But he has also been behaving more responsibly lately, expressing an interest in long-term planning, giving money to his partner for safekeeping, doing more housework, being more emotionally connected and considerate of others’ feelings… the sorts of things you normally wouldn’t associate with drug use. He also seems worried about his condition, and has made some remarks to loved ones about what they should do in the event of his death. He doesn’t seem nervous, high-strung or agitated–more like laid-back, friendly and silly, despite the fact that he is a pasty-whitish greenish color and looks quite sick.

This isn’t someone close to me, but rather my mother’s boyfriend, and while my mother has admittedly terrible taste in men, she is really worried about him. He’s a nice guy who has had a rough life and while I’m not exactly thrilled with her choice, I’d rather not see him drop dead.

I’m not asking for a diagnosis. What I’m asking is, are the symptoms I described common signs of drug addiction or drug use? Are they associated with any particular drug?

More importantly, how do you convince someone to get medical care for themselves when they are aversive to doing so? Especially when they appear to have the emotional maturity of a 15 year old?

Thanks,

Christy

2

It’s really hard to say what is going on without really knowing him personally.

It very well just may be him off of drugs that is causing his symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms can last a very long time, not to mention the whole adjusting to life without drugs can be both physically and mentally taxing on a person.

You mentioned he is in a methadone program. There is no “standard” methadone treatment. He could be in any number of phases of treatment according to the clinic he sees. Some do consistent dosing for as long as you want it, others taper dosages whether or not a patient requests it. Each clinic generally has it’s own guidelines on what it does with the patients. This may also be impacting his health and behavior.

CT scans aren’t cheap. That may also be part of his hesitation to return to the doctor.

3

It could be his Methadone prescription is being reduced and he’s experiencing withdrawal - the fits of sweating are common to withdrawal as are erratic mood shifts & memory loss.

Methadone use is also associated with weight gain, and many people experience constipation & retaining water as well.

4

If you look up the list of adverse effects of methadone on wiki, most of what you describe is there:

5

<caveat>

I’m not a doctor. But…

</caveat>

Yup. I’d concur that it sounds like a bad reaction to the methadone.

I have a lot of experience with opioid/opiate use and addiction (unfortunately, it’s all personal and experiential…I’m not any kind of medical professional), and with the prescription drugs like methadone, Suboxone, and Subutex, that are used to treat addiction.

Both methadone and Suboxone/-utex are partial opioid agonists with a very long half-life, which is precisely why they’re so effective in combatting addiction-related cravings. As a result of their long half-lives, any negative reactions to these drugs can also be long-lasting, as can the withdrawal symptoms from stopping them. (While withdrawal from heroin and morphine is usually intense, it’s very short-lived compared to the w/d syndrome associated with these long-lasting agents.)

Hope his methadone docs can recognize the problem and treat appropriately.

6

I would say it’s withdrawal symptoms. If you hadn’t mentioned he was in treatment and on methadone I’d say he was either on meth or coke. However, since he’s also acting more responsible, and not less, it’s totally methadone withdrawal symptoms. I’m sure he knows this, that’s why he doesn’t want to have more testing done.