Opiates are chemical substances that are mostly used in the medical field for treatment and relief of pain. They work by binding to opioid receptors in the central nervous system and gastrointestinal tract to stop the sensation of pain. It works as a depressant, thereby inhibiting nerve organs response, changing the heart rate and dulling the feeling of pain and helplessness.
Opiates, when used, can lead to several adverse effects which can include nausea and nausea, constipation, dry mouth, sleepiness and miosis. Other less frequent side effects that can be experienced include respiratory depression, flushing, urinary retention, muscle rigidity, and hallucinations. The most depressing danger with taking opiate is respiratory failure which is often likely caused by opiate overdose. This can cause an individual to stop inhaling and exhaling entirely, and die.
The number of individuals who become victims of opiate habit appear to regularly increase, despite all the wide-spread drug enforcement efforts all over. Addiction to opiate structured pain killers usually start of with an all too familiar chain of occasions and you may get into a road accident,
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Permanent use of opiates can change the way the nerve cells inside our brains work. They wrap up getting used to the occurrence of the opiates, and they commence to need it in order to work as normally as possible. In case you decrease your intake or suddenly stop your dependent nerve cells from getting their usual medication dosage, they become overactive. These causes various withdrawal symptoms such as fever, sweating, aching, extreme craving for the drug, shaking and chills, and other far worse. It is usually strong during the first 6 to fifteen hours, intensifies in the next 2 to 4 days and nights, and little by little declines in two or three days. But the good news is that your nerve cells will normally work again, and you could get your opiate-addiction free life
The physiologic effects of the opioids withdrawal syndrome include, arthralgias, diarrhea, myalgias, abdominal cramping, rhinorrhea, piloerection, lacrimation, insomnia, and yawning as well as temperature dysregulation. It is greatly suspected that Mr. HR was experiencing an opioid withdrawal syndrome due to his medical presentations, such as, rhinorrhea, muscle aches, mild sweating and increased lacrimation.
Methadone is a drug that is primarily used to treat patients who have developed and addiction to opiate agonists such as Heroin, Oxycodone, Morphine and Hydromorph Contin. (Canadian Public Health Association. N/D.) Methadone is also used to treat chronic pain. In treatment patients will undergo a physical exam and blood work to ensure their body can handle the drug. A test is also done on the patient to determine the level of opiate withdrawal the patient is in. Once the patient is determined to require treatment they will be prescribed a dose of Methadone to relieve their withdrawal symptoms as well as reduce cravings. Methadone itself is a synthetic opioid which acts on the same opioid receptors as other agonistic opiates. (Canadian Public
Opiate overdose may cause significant failure to health, physical distress, breathing damage and increase mortality and morbidity. Vitamin D deficiency causes muscle aches, periodontal disease, osteomalacia and osteoporosis [6-10]. Low bone mass has also been reported in opioid-dependent individuals
Even if the drug analgesic effect is strong, but long-term using has side effects. Non-opioid may lead to gastrointestinal bleeding. Kidney and liver dysfunction, cardiovascular toxicity and allergic reactions. The side effects of opioids may include constipation, itchiness, urinary retention, nausea, dizzy, etc. And then serious lead to coma, respiratory
This allows an increase in feeling of relaxation and happiness rather than anxiety and depressed. OxyContin addiction not only will incline that chances of neglecting important relationships such as family, wife, husband, boyfriends. girlfriends and friends but it can also cause you to spend money that you cant afford to spend. This will cause the abuser to not only put themselves at risk but also their loved ones. With abusers, being dependent on a drug it can take over their lives, but it can also interfere with nerve and brain function. As the body quickly adapts to the dug that has been chewed, snorted or ingested, it develops a tolerance. This causes the user to need a higher dose for their body to function normally (2). Although the body quickly adapts to the drug, long-term and short-term effects begin to take effect. Short-term effects include the blockage of pain messages from being sent to the brain, this allows the user to stop from feeling any physical pain they may be in. Another short-term effect is it slows down not only the respiratory system but also the central nervous system, allowing the drowsy effect to take place. The positive effects of OxyContin are often the reason why people become addicted to the drug. As for long-term effects it may include the following, increased levels of tolerance, reparatory distress, physical dependence on the drug, and death
Opioid addiction is a condition that is preventable as well as one which individuals display several noticeable risk factors before the actual addiction prognosis to the point of causing death. There is a strong correlation between the early misuse of prescription opioids, which are prescribed for non-cancer pain management, and the development of a dependence on such opioids. Early detection of risk factors such as the misuse of opioids that are prescribed will help indicate that a patient is developing an addiction.1 Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers must closely monitor patients and the rate at which opioids are consumed as well as refilled.
As better and more comprehensive education is provided both to the general public and practicing clinicians the hope is to reduce the negativity surrounding the users of opioids, and to eliminate demeaning language coupled to them as well. This could improve patient morale and help the needless continuation of physical suffering within patients, as they would be more comfortable approaching and using opioids for therapeutic purposes1. That being said there are those within our communities who do abuse these substances and pharmacists must recognize the signs of abusers, it is important for them to reach out, without comment, to help those suffering from opioid abuse once they have been
These drugs are easy to become addicted to and continued use could lead to dependency. Citizen have to be sure to take drugs only prescribe to the patient on the bottle because what is safe to one person might not be to someone else. This is because our body chemistry is different for everyone.Some people are tricked into thinking it's safe because they are prescribed by doctors.This is untrue and opioid are very dangerous when taken recreational. Most opioids are given to help get through serious injuries. When you start these drugs, you can expect to experience drowsiness, slowed breathing, and constipation. The drug also will relieve the pain it was prescribed for. If long term usage occurs the user can easily become addicted. The body get used to the presence of these drugs and becomes attached. They might even need to use higher dosages to achieve the same high because the body builds up tolerance. This is how people overdose. The opioids slows the breathing so much that that stop breathing at
Today all across America people are buying and selling prescription drugs and street drugs that are killing our youth and our elders. Opiates directly affect the central nervous system. Narcotics commonly known as "opiates attach to specific proteins called opioid receptors and can be found in the brain, spinal cord and gastrointestinal tract. When
Analysis: Opioids are a class of drug that are medically used as very effective painkillers, like fentanyl and morphine, however, they are highly addictive and produce a feeling of euphoria (“Opioids”). This combination leads do a lot of abuse and dependency, where people take more than prescribed in order to feel better. People start off taking the opioid painkillers in order to not feel pain as prescribed by their doctors. Then, they end up getting addicted to them. There are also illicit opioids, such as heroin, that are also highly addictive and also lead to dependency and death (“Opioids”). These illicit versions are taken for recreational reasons, and are also often mixed with other drugs. The combination of taking an unregulated drug in conjunction with other drugs leads to a lot of overdoses.
Opioid abuse is a growing epidemic within the United States. Not only are people abusing the prescription forms of opioids (such as oxycodone - OxyContin, hydrocodone - Vicodin, codeine, and morphine) by taking more than they are supposed to, but they are also being bought, sold, and used on the streets illegally; such as heroin. Opioids are highly addicting because of the high they can induce in a person, causing a dependence and yearning for continued use (NIDA, n.d.) In 2007, the United States was responsible for over 99 percent of the global consumption of hydrocodone and 83 percent of the global consumption of oxycodone (United Nations Publications, 2009).
Opiate addiction is debilitating because it causes many behavioral and psychological effects. This drug is a strong pain reliever that if individuals begin to abuse it, it can cause overdose and even death. Opiate can lead to tolerance, which is the loss of control to distance oneself from a drug. Addicts will continue to use when they’re “fix” is low. Opiates do a lot of harm and is truly debilitating.
Today the recent growth of prescription opioid painkillers has made opiate use far more domesticated and widespread than ever before. Even though heroin use has declined, the use of prescription opiates has increased. The use of prescription opiates for people who are dependent on the drugs for pain reduction has lead to an increase in abuse. When a family member or friend begins taking the drugs, not because they need them, but because they want to feeling, it becomes an addiction. Even though an addict is dependent on opiates, a person who is opiate-dependent is different because of the psychological, physical, and financial effects.
The United States is currently in the grips of an opioid addiction epidemic, in fact, in 2014 drug overdoses became the number one cause of accidental death in the United States, beating out both car accidents and gun violence (Opioid Epidemic, 2016). Of those drug overdoses, 60% involved an opioid. An opioid is defined as natural or synthetic chemicals that bind to receptors in your brain or body (Kirby, 2016). Opioids are typically prescribed to address severe or long term pain. Although they do a lot of good, when misused they can have deleterious effects on the health of an individual and are highly addictive.
Opiates, otherwise known as prescription painkillers, have become an enormous problem in the United States. Addiction, overdoses, and death are only a few of the problems caused by opiates. Painkillers can be prescribed to help lessen chronic pain, pain from surgery, pain from serious accidents, or pain from terminal diseases. Opiates are highly addicting and have become highly abused in the United States in the past few years. Prescription painkillers need to be banned in the United States because of the dangers they bring to the patients to whom they are being prescribed. The FDA needs to become more involved in the awareness of how dangerous these drugs are and place a ban on them.