Opioid Addiction ~

  Hello dear readers and welcome or welcome back to my blog today while still focusing on the topic of addictions I wanted to delve into Opioid addition and dependence being one of the more serious and common addictions among people in the U.S. more than 200,000 cases of deaths of caused by opiates alone just in the U.S. not including other outlying territories, but those places are still important, and still have opioid epidemics happening that need awareness, empathy and overall kindness when handling individuals in recovery from opioid addiction and dependency. 

Opioid addiction and dependence: 

Physical and psychological reliance on opioids, a substance found in certain prescription pain medications and illegal drugs like heroin. 

Opioids are prescribed to treat pain. With prolonged use, pain-relieving effects may lessen and pain can become worse. In addition, the body can develop dependency on opioids. Opioid dependency causes withdrawal symptoms, which makes it difficult to stop taking them. Addiction occurs when dependency interferes with daily life. Taking more than the prescribed amount or using illegal opioids like heroin may result in death. 

*Usually self-diagnosable 💟

(Consult with your local medical professionals or authorities for medical crisis//advice)

How Opioid addiction Occurs:

Opioid use -- even short term -- can lead to addiction and, too often overdose and death. Anyone who takes opioids is at risk of developing addiction. Your personal history and length of time you use opioids plays a role, but it's impossible to predict who's vulnerable to eventual dependence on and abuse of these drugs. Legal or illegal, stolen or shared, these drugs are responsible for the majority of overdose and deaths in the U.S. today. Addiction is a condition in which somethin that started as pleasurable now feels like something you can't live without. Doctor's define drug addiction as an irresistible craving for a drug, out-of-control and compulsive use of the drug, and continued use of the drug despite repeated, harmful consequences. Opioids are highly addictive, in large part because they activate powerful reward centers in your brain. 

Opioids trigger the release of endorphins, your brain's feel-good neurotransmitters. Endorphins muffle your perception of pain and boost feelings of pleasure, creating a temporary but powerful sense of well-being. When an opioid dose wears off, you may find yourself wanting those good feelings back, as soon as possible. This is the first milestone on the path toward potential addiction. 

Short-term VS Long-term Effects:

When you take opioids repeatedly over time, your body slows it's production of endorphins. The same dose of opioids stops triggering such a strong flood of good feelings. This is called tolerance. One reason opioid addiction is so common is that people who develop tolerance may feel driven to increase their dose so they keep feeling the same effect. 

Because doctors today are acutely aware of opioid risks, it's often difficult to get your doctor to increase your dose, or even renew your prescription. Some opioid users who believe they need an increased supply turn, at this point, to illegally obtained opioids or heroin. Some illegally obtained drugs, such as fentanyl (Actiq, Duragesic, Fentora), are laced with contaminants, or much more powerful opioids. Because of the potency of fentanyl, this particular combination has been associated with significant deaths in those using heroin. 

If you're taking opioids and you've developed tolerance, ask your doctor for help. There are  other, safer choices available to help you make a change towards healing yourself, and continue feeling well. Don't stop opioid medications without a doctor's help. Quitting these drugs abruptly can cause severe side effects, including pain worse than it was before you started taking opioids. Your doctor can help you taper off opioids slowly and safely. 

Opioid Addiction Risk Factors:

Opioids are most addictive when you take them using methods different from what was prescribed, such as crushing a pill so that it can be snorted or injected. This life-threatening practice is even more dangerous if the pill is a long- or extended-acting formulation. Rapidly delivering all the medicine to your body can cause accidental overdose. Taking more than your prescribed dose of opioid medication, or more often than prescribed, also increases your risk of addiction.

The length of time you use prescribed opioids also plays a role. Researchers have found that taking opioid medications for more than a few days increases your risk of addiction. The odds you'll still be on opioids a year after starting a short course increase after only five days on opioids. 

A number of additional factors -- genetic, psychological, and environmental -- play a role in addiction, which can happen quickly or after many years of opioid use.

Known risk factors of opioid misuse and addiction include, but are not limited to: 

*Poverty

*Unemployment 

*Family history of substance abuse 

*Personal history of substance abuse

*Young age

*History of criminal activity or legal problems including DUIs.

*Regular contact with high-risk people or high-risk environments.

*Problems with past employers, family members and friends 

*History of mental health disorder(s)

*Risk-taking or thrill-seeking behavior

*Heavy tobacco use

*Stressful circumstances 

*Prior drug or alcohol rehabilitation 

In addition, women have a unique set of risk factors for opioid addiction. Women are more likely than men to have chronic pain. Compared with men, women are also more likely to be prescribed opioid medications, to be given higher doses and use opioids for longer periods of time. Women may also have biological tendencies to become dependent on prescription pain relievers more quickly than men are. 

Steps to Prevent Opioid Addiction:

Opioids are safest when used for three or fewer days to manage acute pain, such as pain that follows surgery or a bone fracture. If you need opioids for acute pain, work with your doctor to take the lowest dose possible, for the shortest time needed, exactly as prescribed. 

If you're living with chronic pain, opioids are not likely to be a safe and effective long-term treatment option. Many other treatments are available, including less-addictive pain medications and nonpharmacological therapies. Aim for a treatment plan that makes it possible to enjoy your life without opioids, if possible.

Help prevent addiction in your family and community by safeguarding opioid medications while you use them and disposing of unused opioids properly. Contact your local law enforcement agency, your trash and recycling service, or the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for information about local medication takeback programs. If no takeback program is available in your area, consult your local pharmacist for guidance. 

The most important step you can take to prevent opioid addiction? 

Recognize that no one is safe, and we all play a role in tackling the grip these drugs currently hold on our loved ones and communities.

What to do in an Emergency and How to get Help:

An opioid overdose can be reversed with the drug Naloxone when given right away. Improvements have seen in some regions of the country in the form of decreasing availability of prescription opioid pain relievers and decreasing misuse among the nation's teen's. However 2011, overdose deaths involving heroin increased dramatically. Fortunately, effective medications exist to treat opioid addiction, including methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone. 

A NIDA study found that ounce treatment is initiated, both a buprenorphine/naloxone combination and extended release naltrexone formulation are similarly effective in treating opioid addiction. However, naltrexone requires full detoxification, so initiating treatment among active users was more difficult. These medications help many people recover from opioid addiction. Opioid-involved overdose deaths rose significantly from 46,802 deaths in 2018 to 49,860 in 2019...just 12 months alone and almost 50,000 lives gone to ONE addiction.

If you or someone you know is struggling with an addiction and is an need of help SAMHSA Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365- day - a - year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders 

Call: 1-800-662-4357 (HELP) 

If you are in the middle of a crisis or the person you are calling for is in crisis and in need of immediate help please don't hesitate and call 911 or your local law enforcement. 

I hope I've been able to help someone today, maybe you're in the middle of addiction, or maybe you know someone who is. Maybe you're in recovery or just fell off the wagon for the fourth time. I get it, I've been there I've actually been in all of those scenarios and now I am a few years into recovery, and I am living for it everyday. I wake up without regrets, with my memory intake and with my dignity in the morning and I can stand to see the person looking back at me in the mirror as I'm getting ready. Who I am today is a completely, and utterly different person from who I was 4 or 5 years ago, but the healing has to start from within, and once you start healing, learning and growing into the person that the drugs have suppressed for so long you begin to see the world through the eyes of a child again and you get all those good feelings back, but better.. it's so much better. Don't just sit here and listen to me talk about it, go experience the beauty of life through sobriety and recovery yourself! 

Until next time --

Cheers,

Averi