A study of 801 chronic pain patients who take prescription opiates has revealed a set of warning signs that could indicate dependence, addiction and a need for drug rehab.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse found that nearly 4 percent of chronic pain patients taking prescription opiate painkillers such as OxyContin or Percocet abuse the drugs, compared to less than 1 percent among the general population. The study involved over 800 patients receiving opiate painkiller subscriptions from primary care physicians. The patients all had chronic non-cancer pain and used opioids daily for at least 3 months.
The study discovered that almost all of the patients who abused their painkillers commonly exhibited “aberrant drug behavior”, such as:
* Using opioids for reasons other than pain
* Feeling intoxicated by the medication
* Raising the dose without authorization
* Purposely over-sedating themselves
* Requesting early refills
The appearance of any of these behaviors is a warning sign that the prescription painkillers are likely being abused, inviting long-term addictions that would require drug rehab to deal with. Although the study’s authors cautioned that these types of behaviors could also be caused by inadequate levels of medication, untreated psychiatric illness or stressful life situations, they are certainly indications that more investigation is needed to determine if a rehab program is warranted.
Another significant finding was that a quarter of all drug-abusing patients also tested positive for illicit drug use other than the prescription drugs. And half of these patients denied using other drugs, in spite of guaranteed anonymity.
The findings of this study confirm earlier studies that patients with chronic pain often mislead physicians about illicit drug use while seeking more painkillers. And people with existing or prior addiction or substance abuse problems are not good candidates for unsupervised opiate prescriptions.
Addictive opiate painkillers are regularly seen as the main problem drugs in drug rehab settings across the country, as well as in hospital emergency rooms and even morgues. Interaction with other drugs, whether prescription or illicit, can greatly increase the risk of sickness or death, while opiate painkillers alone over long periods almost guarantee the need for drug rehab.
Primary care physicians should carefully investigate patients before prescribing highly addictive painkillers like OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin, methadone and other opiates, and try to determine if there is any history of addiction, substance abuse or earlier drug rehab.
Physicians should also point out the highly addictive nature of these opiate painkillers, and stress that drug rehab will very likely be in the cards for them if they develop a dependence that leads to abuse or addiction. Finally, prescribing physicians should make patients acutely aware of the serious dangers of drug interactions, which could lead to results far more dire than a drug rehab program.
Rod MacTaggart is a freelance writer who contributes articles on health.
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Tags: drug abuse, drug rehab, drug rehab program, prescription painkillers
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