Taken from the opium alkaloid, oxycontin is a white, odorless, crystalline powder. It is the brand name for a powerful painkiller called oxycodone hydrochloride. Oxycontin is commonly 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 praised 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. However, the drug becomes abused and people are more likely developing an addiction to the drug. Abusing it is through chewing, crushing, or dissolving the pill into liquid form, and then snorting the solution. Through this, the drug is released all at once and the user experiences a rush similar to heroin, thus experiencing euphoria and the like. Oxycontin addiction shows through chronic use and increasing tolerance so that more of the drug is needed to feel the same effects day by day. Consequently, like any other addiction, life is slowly disrupted and destroyed.
Once oxycontin addiction kicks in, an individual needs to increase the dosage to avoid experiencing pain. Side effects of the addiction include insomnia, muscle and bone pain, sweats, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, stomach cramping, and muscle twitching. Severe side effects could be detrimental.
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. That is why it is called addiction because the once the person takes in the drug and gets the high feeling, he/she is, in a way, reinforced to take in more of the drug so as to get the same feeling again. One former oxycontin dependent testified that within a few minutes of consuming the tablet, he felt like superman, he could work all day, go home, and play with his kids. He has the notion that he could do everything he wanted. Common sense would tell us that the immediate effects of the drug are very attractive. 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.
Dependents on oxycontin admits that they have become dependent on the drugbut it’s the physical will to discontinue taking the drug that is too complicated to deal with. Why so difficult? One, they have become very dependent on the drug and two, stopping would mean painful side effects. Every thing always has it’s negative sides. Once the usage of the drug is stopped by an addict, he/she is more likely to experience withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal syndrome is characterized by dysphoria, the opposite of euphoriathat 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 a number of means 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. Another way of treating opioid addiction is through rapid detox. Furthermore, medication should go hain in hand with counseling and behavioral therapy since addiction is not only biological but psychological.
Oxycontin is a drug prescribed by doctors to eliminate mild to severe pain and it is used among cancer patients who experience extreme pain. However, once abused, one may develop oxycontin addiction and thus should be put admitted to a rehab for treatment.
