If you are taking any prescription drugs, it is important that you pay close attention to your intake of them to make sure that you are not falling into the trap of prescription drug abuse. Unfortunately, this has become one of the leading causes of addiction and overdose in the past couple of decades in the country, and it’s only looking to be even grimmer if not addressed sooner.
What makes prescription drug abuse highly prevalent is the fact that these types of drugs are actually legal and are prescribed by doctors. This means that for as long as you have a prescription on hand, you will have access to these drugs.
Which is all fine and good, as long as you are taking it for the right reasons and as intended. As it usually goes with prescription drug abuse, however, it becomes a means to satisfy intense cravings for the relief that the drug brings.
Prescription Drugs Abused
The most common prescription drug abused is painkillers. It starts out innocently enough. You tripped and fell in the bathroom, leaving you with an injury that causes shooting pain up your legs to your hips and thighs. It’s manageable for the most part, although there are days when it’s a lot more intolerable.
So you go to the doctor and you have prescribed a painkiller. You take it religiously according to the prescribed schedule, but then eventually, you realize that the dosage originally prescribed is not giving you as much relief as it used to. So you take it upon yourself to increase the dosage.
Before you know it, you’ve grown dependent on the prescription drug, even coming to rely on it for you to feel functional for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, this scenario is all too common, and is clearly indicative of how addiction to prescription drug abuse can sneak up on you.
Other types of prescription drugs most commonly abused are sedative-hypnotics like Ambien, anti-depressants such as Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil, as well as Benzodiazepines like Valium and Xanax.
Signs of Prescription Drug Abuse
The first sign that you may be hooked to your prescription drug is your increased dependency on it. Whereas before, you’re fine taking it according to schedule, now you find it increasingly difficult to concentrate and function without it. It’s gotten to a point that you are getting more creative in finding ways for you to get more of the drugs even if it’s beyond prescription already.
Among the most usual tactics of a prescription drug addict is to try and get an early refill by saying that their pain increased and so had to increase dosage as well, or that they lost their bottle. For others, it even gets to the point where they shop around for different doctors just so they can have multiple prescriptions to keep their supply going.
Secrecy also becomes an issue. Before the addiction, there’s no need to hide the consumption of it because it’s a prescription anyway. But because you’re now taking it for purposes other than what it was originally intended for, there now enters this perception of guilt at doing something inappropriate.
If you’ve resorted to hiding your intake of prescription drugs, then it means that you know you’re doing something you shouldn’t.
Withdrawals and Intense Cravings
If you feel irritable, uncomfortable, or even unreasonably hostile because you have not popped your pill as immediately as you want, you may already be experiencing early withdrawal symptoms. Couple this with intense cravings and you have another sign of dependency.
Seeking help as early as possible can avoid bigger problems for you in the long run. VSM detox for all addiction issues from facilities can help get you back on the right track to wellness. Don’t let your sobriety slip away from you. Get rehabilitated before it gets worse.
