Opioid Addiction
The opioid addiction crisis is one that we have written about extensively as not only has it greatly impacted the state of Georgia.
What We treat
Opioid Addiction
The opioid addiction crisis is one that we have written about extensively, as not only has it significantly impacted the state of Georgia, where we are based, but the opioid epidemic has ravaged the United States as a whole for the better part of 3 decades now.
Heroin is an opiate that is created from processing morphine. Morphine is a natural painkiller that is obtained from the opium poppy. Heroin was first made in 1874 in the hopes that it would be a weaker form of heroin that could serve similar medicinal purposes of pain management. Morphine addiction has always been an issue that affected communities that were using it for medical purposes.
In 2022, the number of drug overdose deaths was nearly 108,000. The issue, while getting better, persists. Southeast Addiction has helped many people who have or are currently suffering from an addiction to opiates/opioids.
Opiate and opioid are used in place of one another, but the terms denote two different types of substances. Opiates are natural derivatives of narcotics from the opium poppy. They have long since been in rotation as a drug of recreational use throughout history, also fueling many drug wars and being an object of trade. Opium has been used for thousands of years as multiple civilizations refer to the opium poppy. For better or for worse, the opium poppy has been present throughout history as both a drug of abuse and a valid medicine.
Opioids are artificially created drugs that are prescribed for the medical purpose of pain management. Chronic pain is the primary reason opioids are prescribed. Although prescription of such medications has been cut back on dramatically, the early era of the opioid epidemic in the 1990s saw a completely unrestrained prescription of these drugs for minor pain complaints.
Statistics Surrounding Opioid Use
The National Institute on Drug Abuse provides many enlightening statistics on the opioid overdose crisis. For example, 128 people in the United States die from opioid overdose according to data from 2018. The economic burden of the crisis exceeds $78 billion a year which counts the costs of the burden on the healthcare system as well as lost productivity, incurred costs on the treatment industry, and operating costs for the criminal justice bodies.
According to the NIDA, roughly 21 to 29 percent of patients who are prescribed opioids for pain management will misuse them. Between 8 and 12 percent develop an opioid use disorder, and finally approximately 80 percent of people who use heroin first started using prescription opioids. This is a very important detail.
Heroin Usage in US History
Heroin is a potent opioid drug that is concocted from morphine, which is a natural substance that was the predominant ingredient in the troublesome drug opium, which has similarly created an addiction problem throughout societies in the past.
For example, in the bloody Civil War in America, many soldiers were ravaged with opium addiction as a means to treat the terrible pain they endured throughout the war and after. There was little to no helpful medical intervention back then, so wounds festered and became infected, and other medical issues cropped up. This only fuelled the addiction to opium as a reprieve from the pain of wounds incurred during war.
There are many drug derivatives of the opium poppy which have been used both medically and recreationally; however, heroin has been the one which has frequently caused damage to communities throughout the United States for the better part of 5 decades.
Heroin was a national problem in the 1960s, which experienced an epidemic of heroin use that, while low in total numbers of affected, was seen as an issue due to the lack of understanding of addiction and how such behaviors form. The very addiction and drug taking itself was seen as a problem.
Heroin Usage as a Product of Prescription Opioid Use
Heroin is the dangerous progression that many addicted to prescription opioids take as their prescription runs out and they are left wanting. While it was imperative to tamp down on how easy it is to obtain prescriptions for opioids, it also leaves the problem of steering those affected to illegal street drugs like heroin.
When prescription opioid abuse heightened in the past 30 years, so too did heroin usage, both predictably and concurrently.
Symptoms of Opioid Usage
Opioids attach to opioid receptors in the brain and other parts of the body. When bound to the receptors, opioids block the pain signals in the body, which is what makes them so effective as pain relievers. However, much like alcohol, the tolerance for these drugs and their relieving effects becomes greater and greater, thus setting up a cycle of potential abuse for those who wish to chase the initial potency of the drugs.
What is often not discussed is how the cessation of pain due to opioid usage and abuse can actually lower the pain threshold of patients who are repeatedly using opioids. So, not only is there a cycle of abuse inherent in drugs that users develop tolerance for (until fatal dosing levels are reached), but the initial need, which may have been founded on chronic pain, has now become significantly worse due to a lowered ability to tolerate pain comfortably and a sensitivity to pain is founded.
Like with alcohol addiction, the progression is such that a person must drink to feel normal. In the case of opioid addiction, this is also true. Pain and discomfort become dominant when not under the influence. However, “normal” is the wrong choice of wording when referring a drug induced homeostatic response. The barrage of opioids in a person’s body can result in both short-term and long-term effects.
Short-term effects include:
- Headaches/migraines
- Sluggishness or drowsiness
- Brain fog/difficulties concentrating
- Reduced respiratory
- Response Lethargy
- Numbness
- Fatigue
- Loss of consciousness
Long-term effects include:
- Increased risk of heart attack or heart problems
- Mental illnesses such as depression and generalized anxiety disorder.
- Hormonal imbalances
- Hallucinations
- Hypoxia as a result of respiratory complications
- Gastrointestinal complications such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Withdrawal Symptoms of Opioid Addiction
Opioid withdrawal is an inevitable part of both experiencing an opioid addiction and trying to recover from one. Withdrawal symptoms can come on as quickly as just a few hours after the last dose. Withdrawal symptoms can be separated into two categories: short-term and long-term withdrawal symptoms.
Early withdrawal symptoms can start as early as 6 hours and be delayed as long as 30 hours. Typically, within 24 hours of stopping the drug, a person may experience:
- Anxiety
- Bodily aches and pains
- Onset of Restless Legs
- Sweating
- Insomnia
- Eyes tearing up
Symptoms after the 24 hours may be:
- Onset of depression
- Goosebumps
- Gastrointestinal issues such as cramping
- Cravings
How is Opioid Addiction Treated?
Treatment for opioid addiction must start with a detox phase in which the person abstains through the withdrawal period so that their recovery journey begins. This detox is, of course, medically supervised to limit or ensure that health complications can be kept to a minimum, as withdrawal symptoms from many substances, such as opioids or alcohol, can be severe enough to cause death.
Southeast Addiction knows that the key to treating not just opioid addiction, but any addiction, is to have consistent daily contact hours. Our PHP (Partial Hospitalization Program) in Georgia is designed to provide a realistic setting for those undergoing treatment.
While we firmly believe that every person’s case is unique and merits a custom-tailored treatment plan to address those nuances, there are facets of addiction treatment that greatly benefit all involved, regardless of their current recovery status or where they have come from.
Group therapy is particularly important for fostering solidarity in the recovery community and ensuring that no person feels alone in their struggle. It can be helpful to see firsthand other people talk about their experience with addiction—something typically hidden in a person’s life. This alone can provide healing and acceptance of the current situation, which are paramount for recovery.
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