About Opiate Drug Addiction

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Opiate addiction is one of the fastest growing addictions in the world today. An opiate is medication that comes from the opium plant. The most common opiates are heroin, codeine, and morphine. All of these drugs act as sedatives and painkillers that produce a relaxing effect on your brain and body. Most opiates can be taken by mouth, smoked and sorted. Many addicts would rather intravenously inject it though. This way it gives the strongest effect and quickest effect.

When a person has been taking these medications on a regular basis for a long time the bodies receptors start to resist the drug, which causes the need for higher doses. In addition, a physical withdrawal occurs on the other side of this tolerance. Physical dependence is not the same being a drug addict. Physical dependence occurs to people who take these drugs recreationally of course but it also occurs in people who are truly in pain and need the medication to treat that pain. In either case if you stop the medications or lower the doses the person will still experience physical withdrawal symptoms.

Most people who take opiates to an excess were originally prescribed them by a doctor. Some of these same people work their way into borrowing or stealing pills from family members or friends. Many doctor "shop" to get them (go to multiple doctors with the sole purpose of getting the doctor to write prescriptions for opiates). Some will buy their pills (or heroin) off the street from dealers. Pretty much anyone who has suffered from Vicodin addiction has used at least one or all of these tactics.

There are several signs of addiction both psychological and physical. Often people addicted to opiates will experience slurred speech, appear tired, and off balance or uncoordinated. The pupils of the eyes become extremely constricted, almost as small as pinpoints. Thinking is often confused and disjointed. The person might experience respiratory depression (slow or shallow breathing), nausea , vomiting, itching, and also constipation. You may notice the person withdraws socially, doesn't care about their appearance, and is spending too much time thinking about the drug. Keep in mind that there is a wide range of opiates and you could be seeing anything from heroin addiction to Hydrocodone addiction when you witness these symptoms.

When the drug is stopped, the person suffers from withdrawal symptoms for about a week. These include insomnia, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, depression and irritably These symptoms can become very severe and this is sometimes what makes the addict prefer to continue using the drugs.

Detox is only the first step of recovery and rehabilitation from an opiate habit. These people need help in understanding why they became addicts in the first place, why they are at risk for relapse and how to prevent it. They need to learn new patterns of actions and behaviors to replace what they did when they were taking the drugs.