@ejayne01 Your bother needs help for sure. Your parents need to lock their medications away. I hide mine in a place my d-i-l is not likely to look when she visits and lock the door.. she is an alcoholic, but likes to add the pain meds in with it.

Your brother needs tests to see what vitamins and minerals he is not absorbing. Before my surgery I had stopped absorbing vitamin d which helps all the other stuff get into your system the way it should. I had no measurable vitamin d at all. They tried me on a high dosage of it.. I hurt worse than having the flu. So I added low dose of it along with what is in my vitamins.. and eventually was able to raise my level.. still on low side of range, but gradually getting higher. My surgeon told me take a chewable vitamin that will be more easily absorbed... the vitamin d is a small gel pill.

I had more surgery done after the initial gastric bypass. My esophagus had shortened during the gastric bypass surgery and pulled a loop of my intestines into my chest. 1% chance of it happening and it caused a small leak and the leak caused an infection. I was too weak for more surgery. About 5 months later two more loops of intestines went up into my chest pushing my left lung against my ribcage and partially collapsing the lung. My diaphragm got pretty messed up in all of this. I had to have an open surgery for repair.. diaphragm turned, lung cut away from ribcage wall, intestines put back in place and I don't know what else.. a lot!! I had to have one rib cracked and one cut into.. muscle was cut. So I have a lot of pain still from the surgery almost 5 years later. I take 5 mg of oxycodone for pain. I take as needed. It is every 6 hours.. many times a half dose or a skipped dose. It varies to how much pain I have. If pain is bad I may take Tylenol in between doses. I do have severe arthritis...not caused by the surgery.. just aging , but oxycodone does not really help with that pain much... nor with the nerve pain I have. If I add Tylenol between oxycodone doses it helps some with arthritis pain. A cream rubbed on joints and heating pad help. Occasional torodol and depro medrol injections help too.. they calm the inflammation. This is just to tell you my situation is not like your brother's. I really hate taking oxycodone. Some people even when not in pain love to take it.. not sure why... but they tend to crave it.

Who prescribes your brother's medication... a family member may need to talk to the doctor and let them know what is going on.. he/she may not know. Your brother may need to see a pain specialist... if he is not seeing one... who can help him manage the pain better. It could be some of his medications contributing tothe pain. I was on a statin.. I did not realize how much pain it was causing until I went off of it. Other medication can have same side effect. He needs to eat nutritious foods... easily digestible. Soft cooked foods are best until his system is recovered from the surgery. .. It can take a few months or a few years. If he can tolerate them.. a protein shake will help with nutrition. A blood test is really important though to see what he is not absorbing. I also have b-12 injections. My husband gives me mine, but they can be self-administered with a little education from a nurse.

I know your parents need their pain medications and if your brother is not helped he could possibly become violent if he cannot get the medications. I really think it is important that his doctor that prescribes the oxycodone know what is going on. You may be able to talk with his nurse on the phone and the information passed on to the doctor. You may have to insist on going to the doctor with your brother to explain what is going on. To some opiates become a craving... an obsession.

My prayers you all,
ZeeGee