Oxycontin is a white, odorless, crystalline powder derived from the opium alkaloid. It is the brand name for a powerful painkiller called oxycodone hydrochloride. This drug is used as a mild to severe pain reliever for patients with chronic pain. Cancer patients are usually prescribed with this drug and it has been acknowledged for its long lasting pain relieving quality.
Besides its pain relieving benefits, the drug could provide the body with a relaxing and euphoric feeling. This substance 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. Abuse is done by chewing, crushing, or dissolving the pill into liquid form, and then injecting the solution. When the drug is released, the effect is similar to heroin. Oxycontin addiction manifests 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.
Addiction to this drug forces the person to take in more dosage otherwise they would experience physical 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 highly dangerous.
Oxycontin is a prescription drug and is prescribed 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 addict testified that within a few minutes of taking in the tablet, he felt like superman, he could work all day, go home, and play with his kids. He felt he could do everything he wanted. Common sense would tell us that the immediate effects of the drug are very inviting. As time would pass, continuous use of the drug would lead to dependence. The problem begins when you could not get away with the drug.
An oxycontin addict may admit that they have become dependent on the drug, however, it’s the physical will to stop taking the drug that is too difficult 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 intake of the drug is ended by an addict, he/she is more likely to experience withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal syndrome is characterized by dysphoria, the opposite of euphoria, which entails sadness, depression, anxiety, and craving. Nothing really 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. Moreover, medication should go hain in hand with counseling and behavioral therapy since addiction is not only biological but psychological.
The substance oxycontin is very helpful in taking away pains especially to cancer patients. Nevertheless, when addiction sets in, one should be prepared to go rehab for a treatment.
