The Dangers Of Opiate Addiction

Evan Davis
3 min readAug 6, 2018

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Opium has been around for centuries. Nowadays, a huge number of people have developed an addiction to opiates which controls their life. Opiates can take over the life of an individual and can make them addicted to it. If you know a person who is suffering from an opiate addiction, then it is necessary that you take them to an opiate rehab facility. This process should be done under the supervision of a professional medical practitioner which will help the person get rid of the toxins in the body. After completing the detox, the person can enroll themselves in a rehab facility get rid of their addiction once and for all.

Opiates

Opiates are made from poppy seeds. The three most common opiates that individuals become addicted to are Heroin, Morphine, and opium. Other biological or synthetic forms include codeine, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxycodone, and oxymorphone. Generally, opiates are made from the latex sap from the opium poppy.

Prescription drugs

There are many reasons that a doctor prescribes opiates or painkillers to patients. The reason is to help them ease the pain that they are having or going to have. The most common opiates are morphine and oxycontin. They are great fro relieving pain but if they are abused by an individual, that can lead to addiction very fast. People use these drugs by crushing them into a powder and injecting or snorting them. This is very dangerous for the body and can lead to a lot of problems.

Symptoms of Addiction

There are lots of symptoms that will help find an addiction of opiates in a person. These include:

· A strong desire to use the drug

· Controlling their behavior if the drug is not used for a long time

· Lack of interest in the activities previously liked by the person

· Continued use of the drug while knowing its harmful properties

Withdrawal from the Drug

Withdrawal from opiates comes with a lot of symptoms. Symptoms such as extreme pain, chills, cramps, tremors, perspiration, itchiness, flu-like symptoms, sneezing. There are also many types of symptoms related to opiate use. Weakness and nausea are very common in the withdrawals. The psychological symptoms attributed to opiate withdrawal include dysphoria, malaise, cravings, anxiety, paranoia, insomnia, dizziness, depression, and nausea. Other rare symptoms include cardiac issues, strokes, seizures, dehydration, and suicide attempts.

Recovery from Opiate Addiction

One of the first steps in getting over addiction is to go through a medical detox in an opiate rehab facility. Once the body is rid of the toxins that is in the body, the rocovery is complete. Detoxification depends on how severe the addiction was will be decided between a few days and weeks. Medically supervised detoxification in an opiate rehab is recommended as it is in a safe and secure environment for the individual. Also medicines such as methadone and suboxone can be given to the person to ease the pain related to withdrawal.

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