Opioids
Opioids are a drug class naturally found in the opium poppy plant. Opioids can be prescription medications or street drugs. As a prescription, you may know opioids as OxyContin, Oxycodone, Codeine, Tramadol, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Fentanyl, Tranq, or Morphine. On the street, you may know opioids as Heroin, smack, black, tar, or white. Physicians may prescribe opioids to treat pain. Opioids work by blocking pain signals between the brain and the body. Opioids can make people feel relaxed, happy, or "high" and they can be addictive.
What Opioid Dependency Looks Like
Sometimes, physicians prescribe opioids to treat pain, but the misuse OR EVEN APPROPRIATE USE of the prescription can lead to dependency. Yes, you read that correctly: even the FIRST DOSE of a PRESCRIBED (or unprescribed) opioid can lead to phsyiological effects that lead to dependence.
Of course, recreational street drug use also may lead to dependency. When this happens, it is called Opioid Use Disorder (OUD).
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OUD is a medical condition and occurs when people are unable to conduct daily life without the use of opioids. OUD can make your brain and body believe the drug is necessary for survival. Dependence can interfere with daily life including work, relationships, and healthy behaviors. Common signs of Opioid Addiction may include:
- Tolerance- the longer you take the drug, the more you need to get the same effect
- Constipation
- Dry Mouth
- Sweating
- Drowsiness
- Dizziness
- Cravings
- Itching
- Being nervous or having mood swings
- Weight Loss
- Decreased sexual desire
- Lack of hygiene -not bathing, changing clothes, or practicing good dental health
- Changes in sleep habits -sleeping at odd hours
- Flu-like symptoms
- Isolation from loved ones
- Changing friends
- Financial difficulties
Withdrawing From Opioids
Opioid withdrawal symptoms can include: cravings, anxiety, irritability, insomnia, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and shaking tremors. Withdrawal symptoms from opioids lasts anywhere from three to ten days, on average. Opioid withdrawal can be dangerous, which is where medically supervised treatment including MAT and behavioral counseling can be beneficial.
If you or someone you love is dependent on opioids, YOU are NOT ALONE
- 1 in 3 American adults know someone who is dependent on drugs.
- 1 in 4 people who try heroin will become dependent on it.
- 1 in 4 people who take prescription opioids misuse them.
- 8-12% of people who misuse opioid prescriptions become dependent on them.
- 80% of people who use heroin first misused prescription opioids.
- More than 2 million Americans have an OUD.
- 128 people die from opioid overdose in the USA every day (2018).
