While drug addiction is sometimes thought of as a problem affecting only certain groups, the data on prescription abuse and Pill Addiction tell another story. In fact, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention has termed such abuse as a “growing, deadly epidemic.” Prescription painkillers, or opioids, are medications that reduce the intensity of pain signals reaching the brain and impact brain areas controlling emotion, thereby diminishing the impact of a painful stimulus. These medications act by attaching to specific proteins called opioid receptors, which are found in the brain, spinal cord, gastrointestinal tract, and other organs. In addition to reducing the perception of pain, opioids can produce drowsiness, mental confusion, nausea, and constipation. The drugs also affect the brain regions involved in reward, and some people experience a euphoric response to opioid medicines.
Pill Addiction – especially Opioids is becoming part of everyday language.
Opioid analgesics were involved in 16,651 overdose deaths in 2010 (the most recent reliable data), surpassing deaths from any other licit or illicit drug or drug class. A 2010 survey also found that about 22.6 million people (or 8.9 percent of Americans) aged 12 or older had used illicit drugs in the current or past month, with 5.1 million reporting use of pain relievers. Only 1 in 6 users of non-therapeutic opioids said they received the drugs via a prescription from a doctor. Between 2009 and 2010, the majority of individuals using prescription pain relievers nonmedically—that is, without a doctor’s prescription or solely for the feeling the drugs produced—reported obtaining the drugs from friends or family. Opioid abuse has been growing for years. In 2008, for the first time since at least 1980, poisoning deaths represented the top cause of injury death (deaths resulting from forces external to the body such as drowning, suffocation, or burning) in the U.S.—and even surpassed the number of motor vehicle traffic deaths. That same year, opioid analgesics were involved in almost 15,000 deaths, versus about 5,100 deaths involving cocaine and about 3,000 involving heroin.
Opioid Epidemic
it’s hard to keep up with all the trends, new information and creative ways to get high. The opioid epidemic seems to have hit out of nowhere. There are two reasons for this. First, is that the addictive nature of this class of drugs is not fully understood by most people. Second, is that even when the addiction is identified, the solution is not fast or easy. Detox and addiction treatment can also be very expensive. However, there are no short-cuts to getting your old life back.
Which of the following is not an opioid drug?
A. VicodinB. OxycodoneC. Codeine
D. Acetaminophen
Acetaminophen is a common pain medicine you can buy at the store without a doctor’s prescription (with brand names like Tylenol). It is not an opioid. The other three are brand names for opioid drugs, which are similar to heroin. With their risk for addiction and other side effects, they need to be prescribed by a doctor. When used as prescribed, these opioid drugs can help people in pain. When they are misused, they can be as addictive as heroin, even causing deadly overdoses.
Opioids include:
Fentanyl (Duragesic®)Hydrocodone (Vicodin®)Oxycodone (OxyContin®)Oxymorphone (Opana®)Propoxyphene (Darvon®)Hydromorphone (Dilaudid®)Meperidine (Demerol®)
Diphenoxylate (Lomotil®)
Many people get addicted to pain medication because they suffer from Chronic Pain. The newest and most addictive form of painkiller is Fentanyl
Fentanyl Names
In its prescription form, fentanyl is known as Actiq, Duragesic, and Sublimaze. Street names for the drug include Apache, China girl, China white, dance fever, friend, goodfella, jackpot, murder 8, TNT, as well as Tango and Cash.
You can treat pain without creating a drug addiction.
Effects
Like heroin, morphine, and other opioid drugs, fentanyl works by binding to the body’s opiate receptors, highly concentrated in areas of the brain that control pain and emotions. When opiate drugs bind to these receptors, they can drive up dopamine levels in the brain’s reward areas, producing a state of euphoria and relaxation. Medications called opiate receptor antagonists act by blocking the effects of opiate drugs. Naloxone is one such antagonist. Overdoses of fentanyl should be treated immediately with an opiate antagonist.
When prescribed by a physician, fentanyl is often administered via injection, transdermal patch, or in lozenge form. However, the type of fentanyl associated with recent overdoses was produced in clandestine laboratories and mixed with (or substituted for) heroin in a powder form.
Mixing fentanyl with street-sold heroin or cocaine markedly amplifies their potency and potential dangers. Effects include euphoria, drowsiness/respiratory depression and arrest, nausea, confusion, constipation, sedation, unconsciousness, coma, tolerance, and addiction.
Let the experts help you detox from this powerful drug. As is commonly said — don’t try this kind of withdrawal at home.
