Legal But Deadly: Opiod Addiction

Legal But Deadly: Opiod Addiction 

This is written for those who have fallen victim to addiction. Whether you were born into a wealthy family, or one suffering in poverty, addiction does not discriminate. Majority of the population in the United States do not have a true understanding of addiction as it is. Many of us think a certain person's addiction is not as serious because it is legal. It could very possibly be legal, by prescription or doctor's order. However it does not mean it is harmless. Anything that is not over the counter (OTC) can be potentially deadly.

Did you know that most addictions to opiates (i.e. codeine, hydrocodone, oxycodone, morphine, and heroin) and opioids (i.e. methadone, suboxone) start off with an injury or illness? It's true. Automobile accidents, tooth aches, headaches, back pain, sports or on-the-job injuries occur every day. There were over six million automobile accidents in the United States in 2005. Because of that, nearly 3 million people were injured. Every year, approximately 4 million employees suffer from work related injuries. Most of these victims have been treated or prescribed with a pain medication of one form or another. No wonder the pharmaceutical industries are multi-billion dollar industries.

Pain medication is the second highest abused drug in the United States, after marijuana. Usually when a victim starts noticing that they are abusing prescription pain medications, they are already experiencing withdrawals. These withdrawals can be excruciating. Methadone and suboxone are known to help those who are coming off of opiates and opioids. Methadone has potential health risks which include the risk of arrhythmia (irregular heartbeats), irregular breathing, osteoporosis as well as sexual dysfunction.

Suboxone is both an opioid blocker and an opioid. It does have the effect of blocking the receptors however it is still a mild opioid. It produces sensations similar to morphine, codeine and heroin however with a lower euphoric effect. Therefore it is easier to get off of. If a person desires to use suboxone, they should start while going through withdrawals. If a person is using before the withdrawal symptoms start, this can cause the person to be violently sick. This can cause undesirable want to continue the treatment. Keep in mind that in order to be certain that you are weaning yourself off of an opiate or opioid, some discomfort is normal. Otherwise you are still feeding to your addiction.

Both methadone and suboxone are legal if they are prescribed and taken as ordered. However, take note that they are both narcotics and can be addictive. Overdose can still occur. Finding them sold illegally in the streets is a possibility as well. Therefore if someone is unable to control their dosage, it is advised for that person to do an inpatient medical detoxification which is under a physician's guidance. These drugs also have a longer half-life. Which means it takes longer to get out of a person's system. A single tablet can remain in the victim's body for up to five days although the effects are lower. With more and more doses, this means that the chances of overdose are great. Longer half-life also means that the withdrawal symptoms will last longer and be of more extreme. They can be more painful than heroin and other opiates themselves.

Any kind of treatment should be used to better a person. Not to enable a persoan to keep feeding the addiction they are suffering from. Sometimes the victims of addiction think that this is a good way to feed their dependency without the side effects of withdrawals. This is where drug abuse becomes legal and in a number of years, they find themselves no longer addicted to heroin, morphine or etc. However now they are hooked on methadone or suboxone.

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If you know someone who has an addiction to prescription pills or any other kind of drug and aren't sure
how to help or where to start give us a call at 888-619-0019 and speak with a specialist