Be Wary Of Deadly Prescription Medications That May Kill You
When it comes to pain management following an illness, an injury or a medical procedure, many patients do not fully realize how powerful their prescribed medications might be.
In fact, in a shocking number of cases, what is prescribed in an effort to manage pain often leads to opioid addiction. According to the Center for Disease Control, nearly 40 percent of all overdose deaths in 2016 involved prescription medications.
That’s right. Prescription painkillers are opiates that can become highly addictive.
Morphine is prescribed to alleviate pain associated with chronic and acute medical conditions. This can happen in a variety of scenarios, ranging from different types (and levels) of surgery through illness such as cancer.
Although its recreational and medicinal use originated thousands of years ago, it wasn’t until the 18th century that the plant was cultivated with a far more potent result. The root of the word ‘opiate’ and ‘opioid’ can be traced to the cultivation of the opium poppy plant.
Through the course of time, the connotation of ‘morphine’ was enough to cause concern among those who had it legally prescribed. However, there are other medications which may have more clinical-sounding names but are as equally addictive.
How is that the case? Simple: They are opiates of various forms.
Some prescription drugs are actually opiates
Drugs such as OxyContin, Oxycodone and Codeine are prescribed on a regular basis. They were initially created as less-dangerous alternatives to morphine (who had increasing numbers of medical users — which also led to an increasing number of addictions) in the early 1900s. That led to the creation of Oxycodone. While there were known risks of the drug for many years, it really did not become a part of mainstream medication until 1996, when an American pharmaceutical company marketed it under the name of OxyContin.
The Drug Enforcement Administration reported nearly 60 million Oxycodone or OxyContin prescriptions were dispensed in 2013.
Another common medication prescribed to minimize pain is Percocet. What exactly is Percocet? Quite simply, it’s Oxycodone with a mix of acetaminophen. It works as a sedative and can create a euphoric effect. Not surprisingly, it has been involved with misuse and addiction.
While Codeine can be found in various medications to treat mild or moderate pain, it also appears in other medications in the treatment of cold and flu symptoms. Prescription-strength cough syrup often contains Codeine. In fact, many Codeine abusers use it as the base for a dangerous cocktail. Consumed in large amounts Codeine-based cough syrups are used in high doses, along with various amounts of soda pop and/or candy to create dangerous street drinks with names such as ‘lean,’ ‘purple drank’ and ‘sizzurp.’ (This was believed to begin in the 1960s, when some musicians used beer to cut a large amount of extra-strength cough medicine to create a dangerous drink).
As you can see, it does not take much to turn what is often an innocuous (but high-powered) medication into something far more addictive and lethal.
Learning the many ways prescription medications are misused, it’s easy to see how this leads to addictive behavior across a full spectrum of people. Geography, gender, race and economic status does not matter, when it comes to addiction.
This can happen to anyone who misuses medications.
It’s important when medications like this — or, for that matter, any medications — are prescribed, the patient must have a clear understanding of its risks and benefits. If, for whatever reason, the patient does not fully understand or simply chooses to misuse their medication, the risk for abuse, addiction and even death becomes greater. The dangers become greater the longer the patient misuses prescription medications.
To speak with one of our compassionate medical professionals, call All Opiates Detox at (800) 458-8130.