Dealing With Addiction To Pain Medication

Oxycontin is a narcotic pain reliever. It is prescribed to treat moderate to severe pain. This pain killer is prescribed by a doctor and a person should use it carefully and not share it with any person who may have had drug abuse problems. It is very easy for someone to be addicted to this pain medication if they consume the drug for long and a person should seek treatment once they realize that they are over dependent on the drug.

If a doctor has prescribed this pain medication, you should not stop using the drug suddenly as this can lead to withdrawal symptoms that can make a person be addicted to the drugs. It is important that you seek the advice of a doctor on how to stop using the drug. Sometimes however, even after finishing the prescription some people may still want to use the pain medication. This may lead to an addiction where a person depends greatly on the drugs every time they have the slightest pain.

Treating addiction to pain medication is a process that has several phases. The first phase is usually detoxification that is supervised by a medical practitioner. The effects of the detox are severe and they include withdrawal, intense pain and nausea. Sometimes the doctor may administer medication to mitigate the illnesses arising from the withdrawal process.

Behavior modification is the next step of the treatment after a successful detox program. A person is likely to see pain medications and prescriptions in every day life unlike other illegal drugs like cocaine and heroine, thus it is normally harder for a person addicted to oxycontin to effectively get over the addiction. Through group and personal counseling sessions, patients are able to recover from the addiction and have a different view of prescription drugs.

Pain medications like oxycontin are usually prescribed to a person to relieve pain. Sometimes a person may become too dependent on the drug such that they cannot do without it. Being addicted to any drug is dangerous, one should thus seek medical help or a family can carry out an intervention for an addict.