Prescription Painkiller Abuse and Addiction

It is mentioned in songs, TV shows, and movies. Celebrities use it, get addicted to it, and go to rehab to get off of it. Some 20 tons of it are reportedly produced each year. Hydrocodone is one of the most abused of all prescription drugs. In the 2006 Monitoring the Future study from the University of Michigan, one brand of this particular pain drug ranked second only to marijuana in the top five drugs used by 12th graders in the past year.

Hydrocodone is a narcotic-type painkiller commonly prescribed for the short-term management of intense pain from injury or surgery. Hydrocodone is an opioid-meaning it acts on the body similar to the narcotic opium. It binds to opioid receptors in the brain and spinal chord, where it interrupts or alters the perception of pain.

Hydrocodone also increases the activity of the neurotransmitter, dopamine, producing a euphoria similar to that produced by other narcotics such as morphine or heroin. This is the primary reason for the prevalence of abuse.

Dependency and Withdrawal

Prolonged use of opioids can result in a physical tolerance, meaning higher doses are required to achieve the same effects. It also leads to physical dependency, wherein the body adapts to the drug and withdrawal symptoms occur if it is stopped. Drug detox in a rehab center is the safest route down at that point.

The symptoms of opioid painkiller withdrawal may include restlessness, fever, sweating, chills, goose bumps, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, nausea, diarrhea, loss of appetite, involuntary leg movements, sneezing, watery eyes, runny nose, irritability, panic, depression, persistent headache, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound.

Side Effects

Sometimes the opioid, hydrocodone is combined with another drug, acetaminophen, which is the active ingredient in Tylenol. The addition of acetaminophen acts to increase the analgesic effects and limit the intake of hydrocodone. At higher than prescribed doses, acetaminophen can cause unpleasant and often unsafe side effects including damage to the liver.

Common side effects of hydrocodone include dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea, vomiting, and constipation. Some less common side effects are allergic reaction, blood disorders, changes in mood, mental fogginess, anxiety, lethargy, difficulty urinating, spasm of the ureter, irregular or depressed respiration, and rash. Euphoria and drowsiness are the common side effects that have led to the medication's illicit use.

Overdose symptoms

With the uncontrolled use of euphoria-causing narcotics comes a high potential for overdose. The overdose victim may be lost in the euphoria of the drug and fail to notice the symptoms or seek help. Symptoms of a hydrocodone overdose may include slow breathing, cold and clammy skin, constricted pupils, tiredness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, sweating, weakness, confusion, loss of consciousness and coma. Overdose can be fatal.

As with any drug, it is important to be fully informed. Even when prescribed and needed, painkillers should be used with caution. Where their abuse has reached the dependency stage, treatment in a detox rehab center is often the safest and sometimes the only route to sobriety.

As with abuse or addiction to any dangerous drug, seek the advice of a qualified treatment center as soon as the problem comes to light, in other words, as soon as possible.