OxyContin Abuse

Q.) Is OxyContin addictive?

A.) The powerful prescription pain reliever has become a hot new street drug that has resulted in more than 120 deaths nationwide. It will give you a high much like HIGH GRADE heroin but with worse consequences. 5mg of OXY has has as much active ingredient (oxycodone) as One percocet. So chewing/snorting a 40mg OXY is like taking 8 percocets at once or a 80mg Oxy is like taking 16 percocets all at once. Overdose Symptoms: Slow breathing, seizures, dizziness, weakness, loss of consciousness, coma, confusion, tiredness, cold and clammy skin, and small pupils.

OxyContin should be used to fight extreme pain. Doctors commonly prescribe it to cancer patients as an alternative to morphine. The drug is addictive, expensive, and when misused, it can be lethal. OxyContin abuse is becoming an epidemic in several rural states.

Physical dependence, which is sometimes unavoidable, develops when an individual is exposed to a drug at a high enough dose for long enough that the body adapts and develops a tolerance for the drug. This means that higher doses are needed to achieve a drug's original effects. If the patient stops taking the drug, withdrawal will occur. Just like heroin it is almost impossible to do alone as the withdrawal symptoms of OxyContin are worse than heroin and last longer. Professional help from a heroin detox center is the best and safest way to do this but there is NO painless way.

Drug craving is the result of the drug's imprinting in the memory of a pleasant association of euphoria with the drug. The subconscious memory then motivates the individual to seek this drug because of the false imprint. The brain, in effect, has been trained that using the drug is the fastest way to feel good. This learning process then produces a new appetite or drive to seek the drug which we call craving. This craving is most often activated by, a) memory of pleasure, b) when we feel bad and have a habit of using the drug to rapidly feel good, c) when we are in a situation with people, places and activities in which a previous habit pattern of drug use has been established.