Oxycontin Addiction
Although Oxycontin is a fairly new drug, it has received a large amount of publicity over the last few years, thanks in large part to the sheer number of people that have fallen victim to Oxycontin addiction, including celebrities. Oxycontin is a painkiller that is often prescribed for serious pain, usually after a surgery or after some kind of accident. Since addiction to this medication is so frequent, doctors are hesitant to prescribe it now and the company that issues it recently announced that a new version of the drug is to be released soon that has significantly less addictive qualities.
The active ingredient in Oxycontin is oxycodone, an opiate narcotic drug. Oxycontin is designed with a time release formula so those that use the drug only need to take it twice a day. Just like morphine, another opiate based painkiller that is extremely addictive, Oxycontin binds to the pain receptors in the body to help mask the effects of chronic pain. What makes Oxycontin so easily abused is how the drug is absorbed into the body. Everyone who is prescribed the drug is told to never, ever crush or break a tablet because if they do, the entire drug can be absorbed into the body at once instead of over the span of 12 hours. Most people who are addicted to the drug simply take a few pills, crush them up, swallow them, and the high can be very intense. It is thought that the drug company that makes Oxycontin will change this aspect of the pill in future versions. What’s worse is that addiction to Oxycontin, as well as other drugs containing oxycodone, can become addictive after only a few days of use. You don’t have to take your prescription for weeks or months to become addicted.
As anyone who has been addicted to a prescription painkiller can tell you, the impact of Oxycontin can be devastating. You can expect behaviors to surface that have never even been considered up to that point, such as lying, cheating, stealing, prescription fraud, and even robbery (to get money to buy Oxycontin off the street or from a pharmacy). If caught in time, a person can make a full recovery. Many people still view prescription drug addiction as more acceptable than street drug addiction, but once a person has become addicted to an opiate, their lives change forever. Every doctor they see for the rest of their lives will need to know about such an addiction so further drug prescriptions can be limited. It is very possible that a drug addiction to Oxycontin could result in a jail sentence, especially if fraud or robbery could be proven in a court of law. Many people who believed that they wouldn’t fall victim to any kind of addiction find themselves at the mercy of Oxycontin. The addiction, the high from taking too much on purpose, is extremely strong, but thankfully the drug has been prescribed less and less over the years.
As is the case with most drugs, the first signs that someone is addicted come from extreme, irrational cravings for the drug and from signs of withdrawal. Cravings can take the form of borrowing money or even stealing money to buy the drug off the street or by asking someone to go pick up their prescription from a local pharmacy. Signs of withdrawal include extreme nausea, vomiting, cold and hot flashes, bursts of anger and extreme mood swings, and more. Other Oxycontin sufferers report not being able to sleep for almost two weeks and constant, nerve wracking body aches.
With Oxycontin addiction, the consequences of the compulsion are directly related to how quickly the addiction was caught. If a person goes an extended period of time without getting help, their behavior can become very irrational and they can become prone to breaking the law to get more pills. If the addiction is caught early on before a person has gotten desperate enough to break the law, there can be little to no consequences, other than the fact that the person will have to consider themselves a recovering drug addict for the rest of their life. Oxycontin addiction can turn a normal person into a criminal in only a matter of days and should not be taken lightly.
