No, they’re found sitting in doctors’ offices or procuring their drugs of choice from illegal pill mills. Such drugs as OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet, available via prescription, are among the biggest drug problems in the United States. But they’re not the only issue – over-the-counter pain medications also pose a significant health hazard, mainly because people far exceed the recommended dosages.
Opioids like OxyContin, Percocet and Vicodin are natural or synthetic chemicals that attach to receptors in the brain or body and help relieve pain. Heroin is an opioid, but so are medications like oxycodone, fentanyl and hydrocodone.
Americans are used to taking pills, so they often don’t realize the dangers posed by painkillers. In fact, drugs like OxyContin are as addictive as heroin and have a ton of side effects. While people who are riddled with cancer or recovering from painful surgery often need a painkiller, it’s too easy for these drugs to take hold.
Use of opioids is climbing to unprecedented levels. Prescription counts are 300 percent greater now than in the previous decade, and Vicodin and other drugs containing hydrocodone are now the most common prescription medicine in the United States.
You can see the effect by the number of drug-related overdose deaths – about 46 people per day, a total nearing 17,000 per year, die from hydrocodone overdoses. That doesn’t count the equally staggering numbers of people admitted to hospitals from drug complications.
Yet opioids aren’t the only issue. About 80,000 people per year are treated in emergency rooms from taking too much acetaminophen, the common drug in Tylenol. The drug is now the cause of the largest number of liver failures in the country.
THE HEALTH RISKS
The biggest issue with opioids and over-the-counter painkillers is the tendency to take more and more to achieve the same relief. The body develops a tolerance to drugs over time, and when handfuls of pills are taken with alcohol or drugs, complications can happen.
Breathing rates can be lowered, blood pressure can go down, and eventually the two combine to eliminate breathing and send the victim into a coma. Beyond that, there’s a compulsive need for more and more, which can lead to risky behaviors in exchange for drugs, poor work or school performance, and hanging out with fellow addicts to plan getting more drugs. Liver failure, memory issues, and withdrawal symptoms when drugs aren’t available are just some of the health risks. Combine those with underlying health issues like heart problems, liver or kidney problems, and blood pressure issues, and you have a formula for disaster.
Drug problems occur when medications are taken in amounts or in ways that a doctor did not prescribe. Or the patient goes against the directions on the label of the over-the-counter medication. Addiction can take people by surprise, and a person may not realize that his or her craving or psychological dependency is the classic sign of drug addiction.
MOST COMMONLY ABUSED
For the reasons previously mentioned, Opioids, including oxycodone (which includes OxyContin and Roxicodone) and any drugs containing hydrocodone (Vicodin, Lortab, Norco), are leading the American drug abuse train.
Opioid addiction is the same as any drug abuse. The user begins to exhibit erratic behavior, excessive sleepiness or hyperactivity resulting in decreased sleep, glassy eyes, mood swings and an inability to focus on much beyond the next dose.
How do opioids come into people’s possessions? In many cases, it is a gradual surrender, as a patient deals with chronic pain. It’s easy to shop around for doctors and many receive prescriptions from one or more compliant physicians.
In some cases, the addict may steal or borrow medicine from a friend as a way to cut expenses, then start looking for the drugs available anywhere, including the street and the underground market of the Internet.
While some people are prescribed the drugs after surgery, they become dependent on the relief and start to extend the use beyond what’s medically necessary.
Taking a pill is a natural act, and that can make it extremely easy to forget you’re taking drugs. Other risk factors of addiction include prior problems with alcohol or tobacco abuse; a family history of substance abuse issues; certain pre-existing psychiatric conditions that may be triggered by drug experiences; and in some cases, easy access to medications whether through the home medicine cabinet or compliant doctors.
Many people believe pills are not part of a serious drug problem, and thus do not realize that there are some health issues that may occur from repeated abuse.
WHAT CAN BE DONE
The road away from addiction is not an easy path. Patients are usually evasive about their drug problems, but doctors will require an honest discussion of habits in order to treat a drug abuse problem. Treatment options are plentiful, but they depend on the patient’s insurance and financial resources, their location in the country, and whether there are vacancies in drug rehabilitation and treatment centers for their particular issue.
Treatment usually consists of detoxing and psychological counseling in either an individual or group setting. Switching away from pills is not easy, and many addicts have harsh and painful physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms. Family and group therapy may help with some of the issues, particularly if relationships or life issues triggered the spiral into drug addiction.
Breaking the cycle of opioid addiction also requires the medical community to wake up and recognize the problem. About 90 percent of people who have long-term pain are usually prescribed an opioid, but there is no evidence that the drugs are anything but a temporary crutch. In the long term, they are damaging, causing nausea, constipation, disruptions in the immune system, and causing cognition issues.
Doctors who are dealing with patients with nerve pain, fibromyalgia and migraines should explore other prescription medications than opioids, and understand that over-the-counter medications work just as well as many opioids in the goal of relieving pain.