subject: Analgesic Addiction: Its Symptoms And Signs [print this page] Analgesic or pain reliever abuse is considered as of the leading serious concerns in the society. One of the most potent analgesic is opioid that is often taken abusively. Opioids are categorized into three classes, namely, naturally occurring opioids such as opium and morphine, semi-synthetic opioids like heroin, oxycodone, oxymorphone, and hydrocodone, and synthetic opioids such as buprenorphine, methadone, fentanyl, codeine, levorphanol, alfentanil, meperidine, and propoxyphene.
According to statistics, just under ten percent of the US population abuses opiates at one point in their lifetime. Americans constitute 4.6% of the world's population, but consume around 80% of the world's opioid source. This data is a well deserved national issue and measures are currently being carried out to stop opioid abuse.
Opioids have the ability to bind to and affect opiate receptors in the cell membrane. The outcomes of taking these drugs are a profound sense of pleasure or euphoria, relaxation, relief of pain and anxiety, coma if taken in very high doses, and even early death. Unlike natural euphoria in which a person feels very happy because of a worthwhile event or happening around him, this kind of happiness has nothing to do with what's happening around him but due to an effect of the drug altering the brain's senses. That is why for many addicted individuals, stopping is extremely hard to do.
Effects of opioid use may last between 4-6 hours and after it has lapsed, withdrawal symptoms follow which may involve vomiting, pain, diarrhea, and anxiety. Withdrawals from opiate addiction can be so serious that those dependent on the drug would go to great lengths to acquire the drug again. This time, higher doses are used in order to get the desired satisfying result.
Blurred speech, narrowed eye pupils and loss of body coordination are common symptoms of the abuse of opium. People dependent on opiates have trouble socializing because they don't care about what is going on around them. Their state of mind is such that they are unaware to their environment and would rather be left alone. Consistent use of pain relievers and changing it to increasing dosages after experiencing tolerance to the drug is also a form of opiate abuse. Many of opiate addicts actually received these drugs from a doctor. It is for a truth indeed why at some point in their lifetime, US citizens abuses optiates.
