DEAR ABBY: I take a maintenance pain pill for arthritis. I count them every other day to make sure that I'm not taking too many.
My daughter has been coming to my house a lot lately, and -- not every time, but off and on -- I'll count my pills after she leaves, and my count doesn't match the one from the day before. Sometimes I'm missing almost all of them, but when I talk to my daughter and ask if she took them, she always says she didn't. If I ask nicely, "Are you sure?" she accuses me of calling her a liar.
I know she's taking them, but I don't know what to do about her lying to me about it. I really need the pills for myself. The doctor prescribes them only once a month, and I know I'm going to run out.
What should I do? I don't want to hurt my daughter's feelings, but she needs to stop taking my pills. -- IN PAIN IN KANSAS
DEAR IN PAIN: Your daughter may have become addicted to your pain medication or be selling them to people who are. It's time to start keeping your pills under lock and key. Once you do, your daughter may be forced to come clean about the lying -- or you may find you're seeing a lot less of her than you presently do.