Once a patient, addicted to pain killing drugs, has completed detoxification, the treatment provider must then work with the patient to determine which course of treatment is best for the patient. Often people who are addicted to pain killers are plagued with a variety of symptoms; many times they don't associate these symptoms with the pain killing drug. 2.2 million people aged 12 and up abused painkillers for the first time within the past year; this is more than the number of people who started using marijuana and has overtaken use of cocaine.



If you think you're addicted and want to get off pain killers or other drugs, it's best to get detoxified as fast as you can and then go through some type of rehabilitation; it's important to have others to lean on and learn from and offer support to you also. When you're addicted physically to a drug, like pain killers or alcohol, etc., it's because you've suppressed or shut down your body's production of endorphins, which are natural opiate pain killers; when this happens you start craving the drug that you replaced the endorphins with whether it is alcohol, any of various drugs or pain killers. More than 415,000 people received treatment for pain killer abuse or addiction in this past year.

There are many side effects and serious adverse reactions that can occur with the use of opioids as pain killers. Many other drugs can interact with the opioids and cause a variety of unpleasant or dangerous symptoms; this can be fatal. Addiction to pain killers is an escalating problem, especially the abuse of opioid pain killers.

The common side effects and adverse reactions of pain killers are: nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, dry mouth, miosis (contraction of the pupil), orthostatic hypotension (blood pressure drops upon sudden standing) -- often happens when getting up too fast when getting out of bed in the morning, urinary retention, constipation and fecal impaction. Opioids, used as the doctor has prescribed, are supposedly not dangerous according to some well-established medical groups; but if that's the case, why then are so many people addicted to them? If you're addicted to pain killers or other drugs or think you may be, you can start working to increase the body's endorphin production naturally; some of the ways are laughing, touching, massage, acupuncture, acupressure, walking, and anything that makes you feel good that is natural.

There are quite a number of effective treatment options to treat pain killer addiction to prescription opioids and to help manage the sometimes severe withdrawal symptoms that can accompany the sudden stopping of pain killers or drugs. Pain killer addiction includes: opiate dependency, opiate addiction, narcotic dependency, narcotic addiction, and pain killer dependency. Less common side effects and adverse reactions of pain killers are: confusion, hallucinations, delirium, hives, itching, hypothermia, bradycardia (slowed heart rate), tachycardia (rapid heart rate), raised intracranial pressure, ureteric or biliary spasm, muscle rigidity and flushing.

The longer you wait to get treatment the worse it'll get; so take action now. If you don't have insurance, check with your local mental health agencies to see what's available that is free. All other demands like that of children, a job, school, or any other responsibilities may make inpatient treatment seem like an intrusion but it is not.

It's important to get help and not try to get off pain killers on your own. Many insurance plans will cover inpatient detox; check yours if you have insurance. Some insurance companies will pay for one or two weeks; some may also pay for rehabilitation too.

Today's pain killer treatment options are drawn from long-time experience and clinical research from studying and treating all types of drugs and even heroin addiction. The body's natural pain killers, endorphins, have been replaced by these pain killing drugs; get them flowing again with lots of laughter and other natural endorphin generators. The potential for pain killer addiction in patients with chronic pain conditions is often overlooked by physicians.