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Prescription Meds - Addiction Recovery

Prescription medications have played a significant, beneficial role in modern life. The non medical use and abuse of prescriptive medications, however, remains a serious public health concern. When abused, three classes of these medications - opioids, central nervous system (CNS) depressants, and stimulants - can alter the brain's activity and lead to dependence and addiction.

Opioids, because of their effective analgesic properties, are most often prescribed to treat pain. Medications that fall within this class include morphine, codeine, and related drugs. Morphine, for example, is often used before or after surgery to alleviate severe pain. Codeine, because it is less efficacious than morphine, is used for milder pain. Other opioids often prescribed to alleviate pain include propoxyphene (Darvon), hydrocodone (Vicodin), hydromorphone (Dilaudid), and meperidine (Demerol). In addition to their pain-relieving properties, some of these drugs - codeine and diphenoxylate (Lomotil), for example - can be used to relieve coughs and diarrhea.

Addiction to a particular opioid, oxycodone, or OxyContin, has increased many times over in recent years. People are short circuiting the 12-hour time-release nature of this medication by chewing, crushing, or dissolving the pills, which enables them to experience a rapid and intense euphoria that does not occur when taken as designed and prescribed. Once having crushed the pills, in fact, OxyContin abusers inject, inhale, or take them orally, often with other pills, marijuana, or alcohol. The active ingredient in OxyContin, oxycodone, is a synthetic opiate - similar to morphine - that is particularly attractive to the user and that is finding increasing abuse in urban, suburban, and rural areas.

The euphoric effect produced in this manner, and the fact that many people perceive prescription pain killers as "safe," are likely the reasons why this drug is being abused in such alarming numbers. There are indicators, in fact, that OxyContin is being used by many as a substitute for heroin.

A second class of prescription medications is CNS depressants, used in the treatment of anxiety and sleep disorders because they slow normal brain function. These include barbiturates, such as mephobarbital (Mebaral) and pentobarbital sodium (Nembutal), which are used to treat anxiety, tension, and sleep disorders. Other CNS depressants include benzodiazepines, such as diazepam (Valium), chlordiazepoxide HCl (Librium), and alprazolam (Xanax), which are often prescribed to treat anxiety, acute stress reactions, and panic attacks.

The third class of prescriptive medications often abused are stimulants, prescribed to treat such issues as the sleep disorder narcolepsy and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). As the name suggests, stimulants enhance brain activity. They cause an increase in alertness, attention, and energy that is accompanied by elevated blood pressure and increased heart rate and respiration. Stimulants were used historically to treat asthma and other respiratory problems, obesity, neurological disorders, and a variety of other ailments. However, as their potential for abuse and addiction became apparent, the medical use of stimulants began to wane.

Prolonged use of prescription medications eventually changes the brain in fundamental and long-lasting ways, explaining why people cannot just quit on their own, and why treatment - such as the treatment available at Sunrise Recovery Ranch - is essential.