OxyContin Addiction and Dependency

OxyContin Information

OxyContin Addiction and Dependency

OxyContin is the brand name for oxycodone hydrochloride which is manufactured as a slow release pain reliever that can last up to 12 hours. As OxyContin is one of the most powerful pain relief drugs on the market, and it is no surprise that its abuse is growing more serious daily. Since the FDA first approved OxyContin in 1995, abuse and addiction has spread rapidly, and as if that wasn't enough to cause alarm, it is now spreading beyond the borders of the US. OxyContin abuse has become a substitute for heroin for some addicts who find pharmaceutical drugs to be more pure than street drugs. Other individuals have been caught off guard as their trusted doctors prescription for pain relief developed into OxyContin abuse and soon became a consuming addiction.

The widespread OxyContin abuse has been blamed in part for the lack of educational information from its manufacturer, Purdue Pharam L.P. Due to OxyContin's twelve hour time-release structure, the amount of the active ingredient oxycodone is much higher than other well known opium derivatives Percodan and Percocet. When used properly as prescribed, OxyContin abuse is avoidable and the drug is a highly effective painkiller that has relieved the suffering of chronic pain sufferers and cancer patients. These individuals, unlike opioid abusers, do not experience euphoria or seek pleasure by taking more of the drug.

OxyContin Abuse Study - Two Types of OxyContin Addiction

A study by doctors and medical researchers of 21 major cities in the U.S. have found that individuals are by-passing the time-release safeguards by chewing, pulverizing or dissolving OxyContin pills into liquid. Pulverizing the pills makes OxyContin abuse effective because the full effect of the dosage is felt immediately rather than slowly over a 12 hour period. Abusers feel a heroin-like rush after they eat, drink, snort or inject the new pulverized form of OxyContin. Many addicts will use CNS depressants such as alcohol or marijuana along with the OxyContin.

On the other hand, many people involved in OxyContin addiction are not abusers seeking pleasure or the drug-haze. Many patients have received legitimate OxyContin prescriptions for temporary pain relief and may have underestimated the pain killer's addictive qualities. Mistaking OxyContin prescriptions for being safe and nothing like street drugs, patients often begin taking more than the prescribe OxyContin dosage to experience the same pleasurable feelings sought by the heroin addict. As OxyContin addiction increases, the body begins to change and chemicals in the brain begin to adapt to the increasing or continuous presence of OxyContin. Tolerance develops as the brain and bodies natural balancing system requires that more pills are needed to feel the same effect that one or two used to give. It is not unusual for addicted individuals to require dozens of pills to feel the effect that use to come with just a couple. This can lead to serious health problems, and possibly death due to OxyContin over-sedation.

OxyContin addiction - A Medical Condition

Drug addiction is 'the plague of our time', and things such as recreational marijuana usage or are not the issue here, but true and fully-fledged substance abuse, a silent killer that creeps up on the user who may be completely unaware of what is happening. From 2 OxyContin pills a day to 2 pills an hour to 2 pills every 15 minutes, tolerance builds as the body adapts. OxyContin side effects include moving from pain relief to pleasure seeking. This isn't an issue of self control. Continuous use of a drug like OxyContin produces chemical changes in the brain that comes to depend on the drug and makes it impossible to stop without medical intervention. The obsession and compulsion to find and use OxyContin becomes an overriding concern to the detriment of all other areas of life.

OxyContin Withdrawal

OxyContin withdrawal symptoms are as serious as heroin withdrawal and are not to be taken lightly - they are chemically very similar. Just as with heroin addiction, OxyContin withdrawal is something very few people can get through without medical help and supervision. Those who have attempted, or perhapes eve succedeed in quitting, have experienced some or all of the following OxyContin withdrawal symptoms:

• muscle and bone pain
• restlessness
• diarrhea
• insomnia
• vomiting
• cold flashes
• involuntary leg movements

These and other severe "flu" like symptoms can be minimized or avoided under proper medical supervision called detoxification. OxyContin withdrawal is not a process you can go through on you own easily, "sweating it out" in your bedroom over the weekend, and expect to be successful in beating your addiction. Very few people can manage, as it is a very individual and frightening experience. If you know or suspect that you might be an OxyContin addict, the Pharma-Help Team urges you to seek medical advice and assitance. It will be the best decision you ever take.

OxyContin Information