With a consumer culture on taking a pill to cure one’s ills, it is not surprising that overdose deaths from opioid pain relievers has quadrupled since 1999 and by the year 2007, overdose deaths exceeded those involving heroin and cocaine combined.
Signs and Symptoms of Prescription Drug Abuse
Long term use of opiates, central nervous system depressants, or stimulants leads to addiction. Addiction alters the brain function, mood, physical health and psychological and emotional well being. The list below includes symptoms for all three classes of drugs mentioned above:
- Drowsiness
- Constipation
- Depressed respiration
- Anxiety
- Paranoia
- Irregular heart beat
- Seizures
- Unsteady gait
- Insomnia
Emergency Room Visits Surge
In 2008, nearly one million people went for emergency medical care for misuse of prescription drugs. Between 2004 and 2008, there was an increase of almost 111%. By 2009, there were nearly 4.6 million drug related ER visits with almost 50% of those visits for adverse reactions to prescription drugs. In 2010, nearly 60,000 young children were brought to emergency rooms for consuming medicines while their caregivers were not watching.
Primary care physicians and internal medicine doctors prescribe 80% of prescription painkillers. However, the majority of people misusing prescription pills obtain them from friends and family members for free, followed by friends or family selling their prescription drugs and finally by the abuser stealing the prescription drugs.
Once addicted, a person using these powerful drugs cannot cease using without facing dangerous, life threatening withdrawal symptoms. If you are abusing any drug or alcohol or a combination of substances, you should seek a medically monitored detox (a detox that will not substitute one drug for another) immediately followed by addiction treatment in a medically based, best practices alcohol and drug rehab facility.
