My mom is in an assisted living. She takes hydrocodone 4x a day for her chronic lower back pain (failed back surgery). Lately over the last 2 months she has been running out of them too soon. At first I thought the staff was stealing them, so I kept them at my house and only gave her a weeks supply at a time. That is when she started running out of them before the week was up. She was taking more than her dosage. So I turned it over to the assisted living to give her pills. Actually I wanted them to give her all her pills, but she talked me out of it.
She says I think I am her mother and she accuses me of looking at her a certain way. She got on me about my wine habit. I have 2 glasses a day. This isn't a very pleasant situation, any words of wisdom on how I should handle this.
I read your profile and you say that your weekends are consumed by running errands for her. I would ask at the AL if they have a pharmaceutical delivery service. Buy her enough snacks for a few weeks and tell her when they’re gone, they’re gone until the next time, in a few weeks. Same for other things she needs. If she’s in a small room or a shared room, she shouldn’t need a lot of “stuff. When she claims she needs something,tell her you’re putting it on the list and will deliver it on your next visit.
We have a caregiver over once a week to take her to her doctor's appts and pick up groceries (she needs, they supply 3 large meals a day and snacks, I have eaten there) . It is a very swanky place and she is lucky she can afford it. Even though we have a caregiver getting groceries, she still needs me to pick up things. She also complains about the care givers etc. If she sets her doctors appts ahead of time she can get the AL to take her.
She is just a frustrating woman and an addict too.