OPIOID EPIDEMIC IN AMERICA
You hear about it on the news a lot. You might know a few people who suffer from it. But what is the opioid epidemic? It all started in the late 1990s when the pharmaceutical companies reassured the medical community that patients would not become addicted to opioid pain relievers and then the healthcare providers began to prescribe them at greater rates. The increased prescription of opioid meds led to widespread misuse of both prescription and non-prescription before it came clear these medications can indeed be highly addictive. Every day more than 115 people in the United States die after overdosing on opioids, which include prescription painkillers, heroin fentanyl, and others.
The Drugs:
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine but 50-100 times more powerful. In prescription form its known as Actiq, Duragesic, and Sublimaze. Street names include Apache, China girl, China White, Dance Fever, Goodfella and many more. Heroin is an opioid drug made from morphine, a natural substance taken from the seed pod of the various opium poppy plants in Southeast and Southwest Asia. Common names include Big H, horse, hells dust, and smack. Some opioid painkillers include Vicodin, oxycodone and oxymorphone, morphine and codeine.
Other Drugs include:
Prescription Tranquilizers(Xanax or Soma)
Prescription Stimulants(Adderall or Ritalin)
Prescription Sedatives(Ambien) used to treat sleep disorders
Possible effects of opioid on brain and Body:
Drowsiness
Confusion
Nausea
Constipation
Euphoria
Slowed Breathing
Some ways people abuse these drugs are they take the medicine the wrong way or dose than prescribed. People are also known to take other peoples medication other then there’s and tasking the drug to get the effects of a “High Feeling”. When misusing the drug a person can crush or swallow the medicine, dissolve the powder in water and inject into the vein and are also known to snort there powder.
Some reasons adults misuse opioids are too
Relieve physical pain
To relax and relieve tension
To experiment or to see what the drug is like
Feel good or get high
To help with sleep
To help with feelings or emotions
To increase or decrease the effects of other drugs
Because the respondent is hooked and has to have the drug
One reason that opioids work the way they do is that the opioid substance in the painkiller bind to the opioid receptors on cells located in the brain, spinal cord and other organs, especially those involved in feelings of pain and pleasure, and can strongly reinforce the act of taking the drug making the user wants to repeat the experience.
WHAT ARE THE HHS AND NIH DOING ABOUT IT?
Improving access to treatment and recovery services
Promote the use of overdose-reversing drugs
Strengthening our understanding of the epidemic through better public health surveillance
Providing support for cutting-edge research on pain and addiction
Advancing better practices for pain management
SOME COMMON WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS INCLUDE:
Muscle and bone pain
Sleep problems
Diarrhea and vomiting
Cold flashes and goosebumps
Uncontrollable leg movements
Severe cravings
Speaking from experience, all of these symptoms are not mild. They are very severe and depending on the number of opioids the user was abusing, you could be hospitalized. Another symptom is Severe depression. They tend to last about 3-4 weeks and then the symptoms get milder
A range of treatments including medicines and behavioral therapies are effective in helping with an opioid use disorder
Talk to you later
Joe
AverageGuySpeaks 