What often starts out as legitimate medical use or experimentation with prescription painkillers, can quickly turn into a vicious cycle that propels you to do things once unimaginable. People who become addicted to opiates such as oxycodone or hydrocodone may intentionally hurt themselves to get another prescription. Others may steal from friends, family or pharmacies. Some even turn to prostitution to keep the supply of opiates flowing.
The point that really needs to be driven home is that opiate addiction can affect anyone. No one is immune to this type of addiction, which tends to spiral quickly. Plenty of people can and do take these painkillers safely. Problems can occur if more medication is taken against doctor recommendations because tolerance diminishes effects. It’s essential to talk to your doctor if your medication stops working as it had been.
Misuse Of Prescription Painkillers, However Slight, Can Turn Into Progressive Use
Any level of misuse can escalate. Examples can include taking more of a certain drug than prescribed, taking it more often, mixing it with other substances to heighten effects or crushing or breaking the pills to facilitate rapid release of the medication. Some people do this and then smoke, snort or inject it. This can have deadly consequences.
A person who is addicted to opiates will have to maintain a certain level of intake just to feel normal. For many, it becomes less about getting high and more about surviving. This is because opiate addiction can cause a vicious cycle of use based on avoidance of opiate withdrawal.
People who run out of meds they’ve become addicted to will get very sick. Symptoms vary, but generally, opiate withdrawal can cause severe flu-like symptoms, muscle and bone pain, high anxiety and in extreme cases, seizures or death. This is why people become so desperate and do things that seem way out of character to obtain and ingest opiates.
Professional Opiate Treatment, Performed Early, Can Reverse A Serious Problem
Once people become addicted, they stand to lose quite a lot. In addition to risking their health and lives, marriages, careers and other relationships could fall by the wayside. Getting help in the form of opiate treatment is the best option, especially if it’s performed by a professional, medically based detox facility.
People who find themselves in the unfortunate situation of being addicted to opiates basically have three options. First, they can get help, and the earlier this happens, the better. The second choice is to end up in jail or prison. Addiction lends itself to crime and many people cycle in and out of the criminal justice system. Sadly, the last option is death. Most people cannot physically and psychologically sustain ongoing years of opiate abuse.
