Taken from the opium alkaloid, oxycontin is a white, odorless, crystalline powder. It is the brand name for a powerful painkiller called oxycodone hydrochloride. This drug is used as a mild to severe pain reliever for patients with chronic pain. Cancer patients are commonly prescribed with this drug and it has been acknowledged for its long lasting pain relieving quality.
Oxycontin does not just lessens pain but it also gives the body a relaxing and euphoric feeling. The drug has a time-release structure that lasts for 12 hours. When taken properly, which is through swallowing it whole, it is safe and not destructive. Once abused, addiction would always follow. Abuse is done by chewing, crushing, or dissolving the pill into liquid form, and then eating the solution. When the drug is released, the effect is similar to heroin. Oxycontin addiction manifests through chronic use and increasing tolerance so that more of the drug is needed to feel the same effects day by day. This will start making a person’s life to go on complications.
Addiction to this drug forces the person to take in more dosage otherwise they would experience physical pain. Oxycontin addiction also has side effects this includes insomnia, muscle and bone pain, sweats, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, stomach cramping, and muscle twitching. Severe side effects could be highly dangerous.
Oxycontin is a prescription drug and is use to lessen pain. However, when it is abused and used for the purposes it also elicits dangerous effects maybe not sooner, but later on as the euphoric effect subsides. Once an individual experiences the “high” brought on by oxycontin, the person is reinforced to take in more to achieve the same “high” feeling. This condition is now called addiction. One former oxycontin dependent testified that within a very small amount of time of taking in the tablet, he felt like superman, he could work all day, go home, and play with his kids. He felt he could do everything he wanted. Common sense would tell us that the quick effects of the drug are very inviting. As time would pass, nonstop use of the drug would lead to dependence. Thus, you couldn’t get away with the drug. That’s when the problem starts.
An oxycontin addict may admit that they have become dependent on the drug, however, it’s the physical will to stop taking the drug that is too difficult to deal with. Why is this so? One, they have become very dependent on the drug then stopping would mean painful side effects. Yes, the drug may be man’s best friend but once you turn your back on it, it becomes a snake that poisonously bites it could kill you. Once the usage of the substance is ended by an addict, he/she is more likely to experience withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal syndrome is characterized by dysphoria, the opposite of euphoria, which entails sadness, depression, anxiety, and craving. So as they say nothing lasts forever.
Treatment for oxycontin addiction is done with a medical professional. There are many ways to treat oxycontin addiction. Treatments include medication and behavioral and counseling approaches. The substance methadone is helpful in eliminating drug craving and symptoms of withdrawal. Rapid detox is also one option to treat opioid addiction. Furthermore, medication should go hain in hand with counseling and behavioral therapy because addiction is not only biological but psychological.
The substance oxycontin is very helpful in taking away pains especially to cancer patients. However, once abused, one may develop oxycontin addiction and thus should be put admitted to a rehab for treatment.
