Fiancee hooked on painkillers

Dear Annie: I love my fiancee, “Lizzie,” dearly, but she has a serious painkiller addiction, and I don’t know how to deal with it.

Lizzie has been in rehab twice, and upon release, fell right back into her old habit. However, you may be shocked to learn how she gets her supply. Whenever she needs a new prescription, she walks into the nearest emergency room claiming back pain. They X-ray her, tell her she has no broken bones and give her a prescription for a painkiller.

I have contacted the hospital and have even spoken to the ER doctors in person, to no avail. I tell them that she will consume 60 Vicodin tablets in less than three days, but still they continue to write her prescriptions. I have contacted every private-practice physician she knows, and they tell me they are prohibited by law from acting upon my information.

Please, I am begging for help. I love Lizzie with all my heart, but I do not know how to prevent her from gaining easy access to these narcotics. – “Doc” in Love

Dear Doc: The pharmacies, hospitals and doctors should be keeping records of Lizzie’s prescriptions, but it’s possible she is obtaining Vicodin in so many different places, or under different names, that they have no documentation of abuse.

There are several organizations for friends and families of addicts. Check your phone book for Al-Anon (alateen-al-anon.org) or look into Nar-Anon (nar-anon.org) at (800) 477-6291 and Families Anonymous (familiesanonymous.org) at (800) 736-9805. Good luck.

Dear Annie: You printed a letter from a woman who was often mistaken for being her child’s grandmother. She asked for a tactful way to reply.

I was 46 when my only child was born eight years ago. I would come home in tears after hearing people ask, “Is that your granddaughter?” Unlike your reader, I was not interested in tact. I wanted revenge on these thoughtless people.

As luck would have it, I never needed a reply. After a while, the tiny baby will stop being so irresistibly cute, and eventually people will go on to admire other babies. I do, however, enjoy reading my AARP magazine while my daughter is in gymnastics. – Connecticut Mom

Dear Mom: We once saw a gray-haired man who wore a baseball cap with the embroidered words, “No, I’m her father,” when he carried around his little toddler. Whatever works.