Jenny was a 46 year old female that sought treatment for an addiction to the prescription pain reliever, percoset.
Jenny began taking percoset when she injured her ankle in a skiing accident. She presented to her family physician and he prescribed 45 tablets of percoset with the directions to take 1 tablet every 4 hours as needed for the next 2 weeks. She had never taken any percoset prior to this injury, but acknowledged that a friend advised her to specifically request percoset and not vicodin from her family physician.
Upon taking percoset, Jenny began to notice that percoset not only provided pain relief, but it also gave her more energy and a strange sense of well being.
Jenny quicky blew through her 2 week supply of percoset and called her family physician for a refill. Over the next 3-4 months she presented to the doctor's office almost every 2 weeks, requesting a refill, stating that her ankle pain continued. She reports that her family physician once mentioned that he was surprised that her ankle pain was continuing for as long as it was, but at the same time he also continued to provide her with 45 tablets of percoset every 2 weeks.
After about 4 months of taking percoset, Jenny found that she couldn't function as well at work and at home with only the limited supply she received from her family physician. She began requenting more percoset from her family physician and for the next 3 months he prescribed 120 to 150 tabs a month for her. She states that during this time her family physician never questioned her continued need for percoset. She states she was in and out of his office in less than 5 minutes each time after a brief conversation about her continued ankle pain.
Over the next 6 to 7 months, Jenny noticed that she needed more and more percoset to make her feel good. She later admitted that she understood at this time that she was addicted to percoset. She contacted family and friends and would ask if anyone had any extra percoset to give to her. There were many months that she would score an extra 35 to 50 tablets of percoset from friends and family each month.
Jenny worked as a real estate agent and relayed a very interesting story. She states that agents are given first preview of new homes that come on the market. She would make sure that she attended these previewing sessions for each new home that came on the market in her area and be the first one there, specifically so that she could be the first to use the bathroom. She said that all homes have a medicine cabinet full of prescription medication bottles and many still have some remaining pills inside. She would scour the medicine cabinets of all the homes she visited, sometimes getting lucky and scoring a more than half of a bottle of percoset or other similar narcotic pain relievers. She would use the percoset she obtained in this manner for herself, but would exchange or sell the other narcotic pain relievers for percoset. Her neighbor had a son that was in high school and he would often buy vicodin and ADHD medications from her and with this money Jenny would buy percoset from a hairdresser that she knew.
As her habit continued, Jenny found herself spending more and more time trying to procure percoset. She was now taking about 8-10 tablets a day and spending more and more of her own money to pay for her habit. She reports that her hairdresser had ample supply to provide her with all the percoset she needed.
After about 3 years Jenny was caught stealing percoset from a client's home and was arrested. It was at this time that she admitted to herself that she was addicted to percoset and sought treatment through a local addiction clinic.
