Prescription Drug Addiction

Prescription Drug Abuse

In the last three decades, the use of prescription drugs has increased to alarming numbers across Canada. From Nova Scotia across Ontario and through Alberta into British Columbia, prescription drugs have attacked and destroyed so many lives that, surprisingly, there isn’t more done to control this danger in our present society.

When referring to prescription drugs, we are talking about any drug usually ordained by a qualified physician for a diagnosed medical condition. But people can become addicted to some of these particular drugs. The best example is that medication prescribed for physical pain, such as those given after a traumatic accident that requires some relief, including Fentanyl, Percocet, Oxycodone, Morphine and a whole list of others. These are very potent medications and are expected to be taken by following an exact dosage.

The issue though with these pain suppressant prescription medications is that they suffer from some unwanted physical pain. By the time the prescription dosage has run out, the pain may not be fully resolved. This causes the person to fill their prescription medication again and again and again. Eventually, they can no longer fill this prescription drug and turn to black market sales. That is when you can see the addictive factors involved with such drugs. The question is, why would someone continue past the point of their prescription?

Every drug and medication has its side effects; pain suppressant drugs are no different. One of the desirable effects of the prescription drug is its numbing effect; to relieve someone from a source of pain, the drug must null this for the individual. This numbing effect causes the person to feel numbing to other areas of life; nothing bothers them. It creates a “spacey feeling” a “not there feeling” it’s a disconnected feeling. That works well for people who may also suffer from emotional upsets or other sources of unwanted feelings.

People that get addicted to prescription painkillers will tend to increase the dosages regularly. It’s not uncommon to hear about a person taking 20 or 40mg of Oxycontin per day, increasing this to 500mg and even up to 800mg a day. Conclusion: that reacts to the body by creating a dependency on this drug, and the body can not survive well without its required dose.

So if you have pain or discomfort and have a prescription drug medication to take for it, follow the correct posology, and that’s it. If you or someone you know is already addicted, you should call a professional in the field of addiction; most likely, a medical Detox will be required before enrolling in a drug rehab center.