Two years ago my best friend's little sister called him and said that their Mom was freaking out at the hospital. She had accompanied her husband for a kidney stone procedure that was supposed to be outpatient and became inpatient and so suddenly found herself six hours from home with an overnight stay in front of her and without her painkillers. My friend's mom takes painkillers because she suffers from fibromyalgia. She went ballistic and my friend's little sister had to beg a doctor to write a prescription. My friend called his aunt who lives nearby to ask about things and she told him that his mom, "wants to live until she dies," which he took to mean that she wasn't going to consider going off painkillers or even talk about it. He says when he talks to her on the phone, she's kind of out of it and she's now talking about starting to use medical marijuana, too. She's 71. Should he do something more to try to help her? Are there inherent dangers using Oxycontin/Oxycodone at the end of your life? He asked me for advice. I don't know what to tell him.
If she is addicted to it, that is definitely a problem as she will be developing a tolerance to it and taking more and more. I know of a man who ended up in this situation after a serious back injury. He ended up in detox in the hospital because he had started taking too much. I would say talk to her doctor, inform the doctor of the situation and move from there. They will definitely want to get her off it and find an alternative way to manage her pain. Marijuana is not a good solution, it can cause short term memory loss, but there are many methods of pain management out there, she will need to find what works for her.
If she does not want help, she will not get help. You need to sit down and discuss your concerns with her, in a non-accusatory way. Some of our parents were once the flower children of the 60s who did all sorts of drugs. They are living longer, and still think they can do the same things they did in the past. As we age, the drugs can affect us differently or even worse than in the past. Partly because the immune systems are broken down, and partly because at later ages, one is more likely to fall and get hurt. If she is high and loses her balance, it would be a possibility she can fall and break a bone or hip or something. Plus, if she needs to care for her husband, she needs to be lucid. Good luck
You are right, her doctor needs to be informed so that they may find a different pain management option, eventually her body will be so used to that drug that it will no longer serve the purpose it is suppose to serve, she also wants to be put on medical marijuana, she seems to be seeking a way of staying high the whole time.