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Painkillers and Opioid Use Disorder
One of the most frequent reasons people go to the doctor is for pain relief. There are a number of different drugs that can ease pain. About 20% of people will get a medication called an opioid. You could also hear your doctor call it an opiate or a narcotic.
These pain relievers are made from opium, which comes from the poppy plant. Morphine and codeine are the two natural products of opium.
Man-made versions of morphine produce the other opioids:
- Fentanyl (Duragesic)
- Heroin, a street drug
- Hydrocodone with acetaminophen (Lorcet, Lortab, Vicodin)
- Hydrocodone (Hysingla ER, Zohydro ER)
- Hydromorphone (Dilaudid, Exalgo)
- Methadone
- Oxycodone (OxyContin)
- Oxycodone with acetaminophen (Percocet)
- Oxycodone with aspirin (Percodan)
- Meperidine (Demerol)
Misuse
These drugs are generally safe when you take them for a short time, as prescribed by your doctor. But in addition to helping you manage the pain, they can also give you a feeling of well-being or euphoria.
And each of those effects could lead you to misuse the drug or take it in a way your doctor didn’t intend. You might:
- Take a higher dose than prescribed
- Take someone else’s prescription, even for a legitimate problem, like pain
- Take it to get high
It’s a widespread problem. In 2015, approximately 2 million Americans : had substance abuse disorders related to opioid medications.
Opioid Use Disorder
For years we used terms like opioid abuse, drug abuse, drug dependence, and drug addiction interchangeably. But the guidelines doctors use to diagnose these issues no longer contain the terms abuse or dependence. Your doctor will look for these symptoms if he thinks you have opioid use disorder (OUD):
- Using more of the drugs or using them longer than you intended
- Can’t control or cut down use
- Spend lots of time finding drugs or recovering from use
- Have a strong desire or urge to use
- Use despite legal or social problems
- Stop or cut down important activities
- Use while doing something dangerous, like driving
- Use despite physical or mental problems
- Become tolerant -- need more of the drug or need to take it more often
- Have withdrawal -- physical symptoms when you try to stop
Your condition could be:
- Mild: 2-3 symptoms
- Moderate: 4-5 symptoms
- Severe: 6 or more symptoms
Treatment
If you spot the signs of dependence on the drug or your doctor thinks you have a problem, there is treatment. The first step is to stop taking the drug. Your doctor can slowly lower your dose over a few weeks. You might have symptoms like:
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- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Craving for the drug
- Rapid breathing
- Yawning
- Runny nose
- Salivation
- Goosebumps
- Nasal stuffiness
- Muscle aches
- Vomiting
- Abdominal cramping
- Diarrhea
- Sweating
- Confusion
- Enlarged pupils
- Tremors
- Loss of appetite
While they aren't medically dangerous, these symptoms can be painful and hard to live with. The unpleasantness leads to continued drug abuse. In general, the length and harshness of opioid drug withdrawal depends on the drug you are using and the amount you have been taking.
Your doctor can give you medicines to help prevent withdrawal symptoms, a process called detoxification (detox). The most common ones are buprenorphine (Buprenex, Butrans, Probuphine), methadone (Methadose Dolophine), and naltrexone and naltrexone (Revia). Lofexidine hydrochloride (Lucemyra) is a non-opioid drug that can be used to ease the symptoms in rapid detoxification. for up to 14 days if needed.
After withdrawal is complete, you’re no longer physically dependent on the drug. But you could still be psychologically hooked. You might be more likely to relapse when you’re under stress or if you’re exposed to other powerful triggers.
Long-Term Outlook
Substance abuse disorder is a chronic illness, which means you’ll have it for the rest of your life. Most people have a relapse at some point. Some people take the medications that help manage withdrawal symptoms, or other drugs like them, for years.
You can also benefit from behavioral therapy. It can help you:
- Manage cravings
- Build healthy habits and thoughts
- Avoid triggers that could lead to relapse
Therapy could be just you as an individual, it could include your entire family, or you could be part of a group with similar issues. It can help you work on relationships and your role at work and in the community.
Our country has an opioid issue 100%, it is so sad. I have a cousin who is much older than me, but he lives in New York he was going to college in Queens and that area is filled with drugs. He started off with percs and when he couldn't afford the pills anymore he started to use heroin due to the fact it gave the same effects and was much cheaper. It took him a while to get help because no one noticed what was going on. He got help later on, and is still taking a medication called suboxin to help with the withdrawls. I feel addiction is seriously overlooked in America and I am not sure why.
Now oxycodone has to be faxed over to a pharmacy from the dr. Narcan is usually given as a precaution in case of overdose. My husband had surgery and both were given to him. The Dr explained it was a procedure to make sure the patient also has Narcan. Getting refills is not an easy feat even though the surgeon tells you you need to take it. They keep a very close eye on how much they give
Drug addiction in America is at an all time high and in most cases is completely over looked. I saw a post the other day that said whats cool if theyre rich but isnt if theyre poor and the punchline was drugs. I really thought about it for a minute and quite honestly for those who can afford it recreationally, no one frowns upon it. Especially in the service industry it is extremely common. The reality is the effects are exactly the same , and overdoses are becoming extremely common. Unfortunately not everyone has the same resources to get clean and support to remain clean.
@gabriellemrasiectskin-com Its most definitely over looked and almost idolized in todays society. With the impact social media has on the younger generations i hope this is something that can be used as a platform that can educate people of the devastating effects of drug abuse.
It's really sad that we have been in the middle of an opioid epidemic for years. It is not talked about enough and it's a huge ongoing problem. Did you know that in 2019 over 70,000 people overdosed on drugs and over 1.6 million people misused prescription drugs for the first time these numbers are not okay!! Something has to change
@abigailcochraneiectskin-com It is overlooked for sure and to make things worse fetanyl is being laced into these drugs on the streets and causing tons of accidental overdoses and deaths.
My sister is a recovering addict as well as multiple friends of mine. I have also lost many people from drug overdoses. I remember in high school I didn't hear much about people over-dosing now its so common. One thing that upsets me is how people look down on drug users. I've seen first hand how it can destroy someones life and the ones around them. You look back at the people you were close to and don't even recognize them anymore.
@gabriellemrasiectskin-com My sister started off with prescription pills, then started doing heroin. She had to hit rock bottom in order to get clean. My mom tried and tried to get her help and she would go then check herself out and go right back. I feel like in order to stay clean you have to surround yourself with a whole new group of people.
@laurenjohnsoniectskin-com I feel like kids are starting to use drugs at an earlier age now a days. When I was in highschool 8-9 years ago you didn't hear about fentanyl laced drugs. Now that is all you hear about. So many friends of mine or people I know have taken a drug thinking it was one thing and it ends up being laced. You would think that people would be cautious but when your addicted and your mind/body tells you you need it I guess you dont really think about it.
The drugs today are laced with so much you do not know what you may buy. So many people are dying accidentally. It is very hard to wrap my head around the terrible ingredients used and how the body breaks down form use.
when I was a teen it was good to know who to buy what from and I was afraid of drugs. My brother grew his own simple plant and he would get it ready. I never heard of most of the things that are mixed today although it must have been available. LSD was popular but I was too afraid to try much of any drug. My friends di a lot with it. They called me chicken which was fine with me
In the service industry I hear of drug use all the time. I had a cousin who was a chef. He was addicted to heroin and oxy. He died last year of an overdose. 37 years old and a great career and all gone in the blink of an eye.
I did a class several years ago with the Chesapeake Police Department. When the undercover detective came in he was in undercover clothes and bought all kinds of drugs they use for training along with objects they could be disguised in. It was shocking to see and hear about the rampant drug use and overdoses. He told how some things were made and I was shocked at the poisons mixed that people really put in their bodies
Working in a pharmacy has truly shown me how serious opiod addiction is. I feel bad for them it seriously breaks my heart many of them just had a terrible injury or could take the after surgery pain and post op care. Pain management should be taken more serious it can get out of hand fast then its hard to correct after the body is use to the drugs.
@paigebrickhouseiectskin-com I agree overdose have became more common and that is scary. People do look down on drug users but the doctors need to be looked down on especially when they are over prescribing opiods.
@deborahwatersiectskin-com Narcan was a great product to be created. Unfortunately after you narcan a person they wake up in a rage because their high feeling is gone. Most people will atempt to attack you.
Its hard seeing people you know and love be addicted to pills. And its such a hard thing to over come its sad.
@camiryndavisiectskin-com I bet you some crazy people come in there begging fro drugs. I couldnt imagine seeing someone addicted to pills but you have to give them it because its their perscription.
@deborahwatersiectskin-com Thats awful to hear im sorry. it sucks knowing people who have an addiction and watching there career fall.
The amount of people that are falling to drug addiction is nothing other than tragic. A relative of mine got into a car wreck that should have been fatal, but miraculously pulled through. Her injuries were so severe she ended up with metal pins and plates everywhere from her back to her feet. Her pain was so severe she couldn't function without painkillers and whenever the doctors cut her off from the pills, she fell victim to her addiction. I think it's really sad her circumstances didn't really leave her with another option and I think there should be better protocols in place to help wean people off these seriously addictive drugs.
@laurenjohnsoniectskin-com My stepdad is a coroner, and the amount of calls he gets weekly about fentanyl related overdoses is absolutely terrifying. All kinds of drugs are being laced with fentanyl and it's becoming an epidemic of its own.
@laurenjohnsoniectskin-com My stepdad is a coroner, and the amount of calls he gets weekly about fentanyl related overdoses is absolutely terrifying. All kinds of drugs are being laced with fentanyl and it's becoming an epidemic of its own.
@camiryndavisiectskin-com I completely agree that it would be so much easier to prevent addiction with better precautions regarding pain management than it is to help those that have fallen to addiction. I can only imagine how it feels to have to constantly witness the effects working in a pharmacy.
Pill addictions are at an all time high. It is so sad to watch people try and overcome this addiction but feel like they can't. I know of a few people that I went to high school with that have heavy pill addictions, and they are so young and it is just scary to know their life can be taken suddenly with the use of these drugs.
@deborahwatersiectskin-com Learning about how these drugs are made is so shocking. I agree it is scary to see what people actually put in their body
@paigebrickhouseiectskin-com I agree, It is sad to watch how drugs can affect someones life and it's like looking at a person you have never met before.