HOW TO PREVENT PRESCRIPTION DRUG ADDICTION
Helping addicts in their recovery, one step at a time
Did you know that many prescription drugs also have opioids in them. In fact, opioids is the same substance also found in the drug heroin. Thus, the stimulants, painkillers and anti-depressants have the potential to cause drug abuse. Hence, every household is likely to suffer a prescription drug initiated abuse. The situation could turn grim if not attended to. To avoid the fatal consequences, one can be preventive in approach. Read further to know how:
- DO NOT SELF-DIAGNOSE
One can prevent a scenario of prescription drug abuse by avoiding self-diagnosis. One never knows when a self-medication could go wrong. In a fatal scenario, even a cocktail of simple pain-killers could go haywire. Therefore, it is better to let a certified doctor take care of the diagnosis job. It is not for nothing that they get certified to be a medical practitioner.
2. OPEN UP TO YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT ALL YOUR MEDICATIONS
At times, even a certified doctor whom you usually go to could go wrong. This may sound counter intuitive to the point above. Though he is not the one to get the entire blame of this situation. If you have not told him about all your medical conditions, then he cannot do much. The patient must inform the doctor about all their health problems and medications. One should even inform him of any herbal or vitamin supplements intake. The various drugs could interact with each other causing an abuse. Hence, informing him of every medical condition and drug intake is vital.
3. DISCARD THE UNUSED OR EXPIRED MEDICINES
If there is no medication that could cause an abuse, the problem of abuse does not exist. In most of the households, one does not notice the expiry date of medicines. The expired ones if consumed, could lead to an abuse which could turn fatal. Therefore, as a safe practice, one must check the medicines for their expiry date. Also, one can develop the habit to discard the ones that surpass their shelf-lives.
4. DO NOT START FOLLOWING SOMEONE ELSE’S PRESCRIPTION
Following someone else’s prescription goes hand-in-hand with self-prescription. As one must not take medicines without a doctor’s consent, ditto for copying another’s. The human body is unique for each one of us, hence its diagnosis. It is not necessary for one drug to behave the same for all. Only a registered medical practitioner can prescribe someone for drugs. One should never take even the OTC drugs by a reference of a friend or even a family member. One could never guess how a common pain-killer could play havoc with the body.
5. KEEP THEM SAFE FROM THE CHILDREN
Going by the statistics, most of the addicted teenagers began abuse from their homes. They started abusing the drugs to which they had an easy access at their place. The decongestants and antidepressants are the most common ones that get misused by them. So, to avoid the misuse of drugs, one should store them in a safe cabinet. The kids at home should never have an easy access to it. One can also check the count of individual pills at periodical intervals. This practice takes the safety of a household from a probable drug abuse at an extra level.
DISCLAIMER:
This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for an advice from a registered medical practitioner. Please consult a certified health care professional before following or referring for personal use.
For more information on Addiction and Recovery Studies, visit Alpha Healing Center at New Jersey.
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