On October 28, 2005, the Dr. Phil show featured a follow-up story of Stephanie's successful treatment from Vicodin at Florida Detox and how another wife & mother was inspired by her story; and took action to help herself, and her family.
Dr. Phil Refers Stephanie to Florida Detox
On the outside, 36-year-old Stephanie looks perfectly normal. But this single mother of four has a secret. "I've been taking Vicodin 12 years now," she says. "Nobody ever would realize that I'm addicted to painkillers. I lead a normal life. I get up, I go to work, I pay my bills, I do everything I have to do. I started taking the Vicodin for legitimate menstrual cramps, and that feeling was a little euphoric. And if I took two, then, OK, I got a little bit more laundry done. Then the Internet came. I could just take them and take them and have more shipped.
I became completely addicted within the last year," she explains. "I don't feel anything from the painkillers anymore unless I don't take them. A normal dosage would be five milligrams. I take about 30 10-milligram pills a day, the equivalent of almost 60 pills a day. On a typical day, I take four pills before I get out of bed. And then I get my son up, I get my coffee, I get him breakfast, I take three more. Then I get everybody off to school, myself to work, and that's when the cycle of three pills pretty much every three hours begins. When I get home and things are stressful, I would take more." Read more on the Dr. Phil Web Site |