Get Rid Of Pain Killer Addiction Once And For All
Opioids should never be taken when drinking alcohol (also a drug) or when alcohol may still be in the system. Many chronic pain patients may be under-treated as a result of doctors who are trying to gain control over pain killer addiction, they report. Opioids used as the doctor has prescribed are supposedly not dangerous according to some well-established medical groups; but if this is the case, why are so many people addicted to them?
Often people who are addicted to pain killers are plagued with various symptoms to different degrees; many times they don’t associate the symptoms with the drug. Treatment options for pain killer addiction include: medications, such as methadone and LAAM (levo-alpha-acetyl-methadol), and behavioral counseling; usually, the patient is medically detoxified before any treatment approach is begun. If you are addicted to pain killers or other drugs or think you may be, you can start working to increase the body’s endorphin production naturally; some ways are laughing, touching, massage, acupuncture, acupressure, walking, anything that makes you feel good that’s natural.
2.2 million people aged 12 and up first abused painkillers within the past year; this is more than the number of people who started using marijuana and has overtaken the use of cocaine. More than 415,000 people received treatment for pain killer abuse or addiction this past year. Addiction to pain killers is an escalating problem today, especially the abuse of opioid pain killers.
When you’re addicted physically to a drug, like pain killers or alcohol, etc., it’s because you’ve suppressed or shut down your body’s production of endorphins, which are natural opiate pain killers; when this happens you start craving the drug that you replaced the endorphins with whether it’s alcohol, any of a number of drugs or pain killers. A person exhibits compulsive behavior to satisfy their craving for a pain killer or pain medication even when there are negative consequences associated with taking the pain killer or drug. Addiction is both a biological and psychological condition.
There are many side effects and adverse reactions that can occur with the use of opioids as pain killers. There are a number of effective treatment options to treat pain killer addiction to prescription opioids and to help manage the sometimes severe withdrawal symptoms that can accompany sudden stopping of pain killers or drugs. More than 10% of high school seniors have started taking Vicodin for reasons other than reducing pain.
The longer you wait to get treatment the worse it’ll get; take action now. If you don’t have insurance, check with your local mental health agencies to see what is available that’s free. Find out from your local health professionals where the closest and best pain killer addiction treatment centers are.
All other demands of children, a job, school, or any other responsibilities may make inpatient treatment seem like an intrusion but it’s not. If you can’t do an in-patient rehab, find out how you can do outpatient rehab and pay for it under your insurance plan; check your insurance policy to see if it’s covered. It’s important to go through rehab following your detox stay: make it a part of your plan of action.
Why I Openly Discuss My Son’s Death From Drugs
We did everything the experts told us to do. We did what we thought was right. But lurking around every corner was the Monster. The Monster was waiting to pounce on us and steal our dreams and destroy our future. He did. Bigtime!
You may know the Monster by another name – Drugs! Whatever name you give him, he’s an unforgiving and unrelenting monster who, according to the DEA, claims the lives of one American every 20 minutes.
When our son died, I could not bring myself to utter the words – “he died from a multidrug overdose.” I could merely say his heart stopped. He was a 31-year-old Paramedic and RN. The dregs of society? No. He was a young man with promise, talent, intelligence, good looks, kindness and every loving attribute you can describe.
Some kids do drugs to feel good or their peers entice them to do so but a lot of kids start taking drugs to self-medicate their emotional pain.
We can no longer remain silent about drug addiction. For far too long we’ve sat back and let the experts speak for us. Now we must speak.
We must not only get a firm handle on drug addiction but we must do all that we can to help the mentally ill. Mental illness and drug addiction quite often go hand in hand.
Three and four week rehabs are not the answer.
Jail time is not the answer. Unless an addicted person has committed a crime while under the influence of drugs (the fact that even doing drugs is a crime, notwithstanding) they don’t need to be sequestered in jail with hardened criminals. They need treatment, not punishment.
Although ridiculed, Nancy Reagan was spot on with her “Just Say No” message. But that won’t work in and of itself. We must attack this with as much vigor as the anti-tobacco campaign. Until science discovers a cure for addiction, the only remedy truly is prevention. “Be smart – Don’t start.”
We have to start early on talking to our kids about drugs, showing them the horrific consequences of drug abuse. Let them see the drug addicts in hospitals and nursing homes who are alive but not really living.