Oxycontin Addiction
Oxycontin is a white, odorless, crystalline powder derived from the opium alkaloid. It is the brand name for a powerful painkiller called oxycodone hydrochloride. Oxycontin is commonly used as a mild to severe pain reliever for patients with chronic pain. Cancer patients are usually prescribed with this drug and it has been acknowledged for its long lasting pain relieving quality.
Oxycontin does not just lessens pain but it also gives the body a relaxing and euphoric feeling. This substance has a time-release structure that lasts for 12 hours. This drug is safe and nondestructive provided that it is taken properly. However, the drug becomes abused and people are more likely developing an addiction to the drug. Abusing it is through chewing, crushing, or dissolving the pill into liquid form, and then injecting the solution. Through this, the drug is released all at once and the user experiences a rush similar to heroin, thus experiencing euphoria and the like. Oxycontin addiction manifests through chronic use and increasing tolerance so that more of the drug is needed to feel the same effects day by day. This will start making a person’s life to go on complications.
Once oxycontin addiction kicks in, an individual needs to increase the dosage to avoid experiencing pain. Side effects of the addiction include insomnia, muscle and bone pain, sweats, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, stomach cramping, and muscle twitching. Severe side effects could be highly dangerous.
Oxycontin is a prescription drug and is use to lessen pain. However, when it is abused and used for the purposes it also elicits dangerous effects maybe not sooner, but later on as the euphoric effect subsides. Once an individual experiences the “high” brought on by oxycontin, the person is reinforced to take in more to achieve the same “high” feeling. This condition is now called addiction. One former oxycontin addict testified that within a very small amount of time of taking in the tablet, he felt like superman, he could work all day, go home, and play with his kids. He felt he could do everything he wanted. Common sense would tell us that the quick effects of the drug are very inviting. As time would pass, nonstop intake of the drug would lead to dependence. The problem begins when you could not get away with the drug.
An oxycontin addict may admit that they have become dependent on the drug, however, it’s the physical will to stop taking the drug that is too difficult to deal with. Why is this so? One, an individual becomes very dependent on the drug and two, stopping would mean painful side effects. Yes, the drug may be man’s best friend but once you turn your back on it, it becomes a snake that poisonously bites it could kill you. Once the usage of the substance is ended by an addict, he/she is more likely to experience withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal syndrome is characterized by dysphoria, the opposite of euphoriathat entails sadness, depression, anxiety, and craving. So as they say nothing lasts forever.
A medical professional is always needed to cure oxycontin dependency. There are many ways to treat oxycontin addiction. This includes medication and behavioral and counseling approaches. The substance methadone is helpful in eliminating drug craving and symptoms of withdrawal. Rapid detox is also one option to treat opioid addiction. Moreover, medication is accompanied with counseling and behavioral therapy since addiction is not only biological but psychological.
The substance oxycontin is very helpful in taking away pains especially to cancer patients. However, once abused, one may develop oxycontin addiction and thus should be put admitted to a rehab for treatment.
