Many doctors prescribe medications to patients without patients knowing much about them. Prescription drugs treat many ailments including pain and mental conditions. The following guide walks you through a few things you should know before taking any prescription drugs to ensure you’re as safe as possible at all times.
Prescription Drugs Can Be Addictive
People often feel a false sense of safety when it comes to prescription medications. They assume that anything their doctor prescribes to them isn’t dangerous. This isn’t the case, though. Many of the prescription drugs that are on the market can be quite addictive. Even if taken as prescribed, medications can still be addictive.
It’s important to pay attention when taking any medications. You need to track how the medications make you feel and how often you take them. Keeping a log that you can refer to can make tracking medication use easier. Track how the medications make you feel, when you take them when you feel you need to take them and what happens if you do not take the medications.
Prescription Drugs Don’t Always Require a Prescription
People often make the mistake of assuming the prescription medication requires a prescription from a doctor. If someone has shown that they are becoming addicted to a medication, simply avoiding a prescription may not be enough to stop them from using.
The Safer Prescribing Plan puts a stop to overprescribing. It decreases the number of opioid prescriptions given by doctors by one-third within just three years. Cutting back on prescriptions causes more people to turn to other ways to get their hands on the drugs their body craves. This is when people turn to prescription drugs on the streets or start taking illicit drugs. You can purchase prescription medications on the streets for the right price. Those addicted to prescription drugs need professional help to overcome their addiction.
Prescription Drugs Are Often Stolen
It’s important to store your prescription drugs properly. These medications are often stolen because they are worth so much money on the streets. It’s best to also minimize the number of people you tell about your prescriptions. While someone you know may not try to steal the medication, if an addict finds out you have them, they could break into your home to steal them. This could create a dangerous situation for you.
Stopping Prescription Drug Use Isn’t Always Easy
It’s a common misconception that someone can stop using prescription drugs at any time. Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy to do. Your body can become addicted to the medications. When you are ready to stop using, it’s best to slowly decrease the amount and how frequently you take the drugs. This allows your body to slowly adjust to the smaller doses you are ingesting.
If you stop using prescription drugs cold turkey, it can lead to server withdrawal symptoms. Many people begin to feel nauseous, get the shakes and have horrible headaches. There are many people who give in to their symptoms and start taking the medications again. This is when overdoses happen. You more than likely will take the same amount of medication you were taking before you tried to quit. It is now too much for your body to handle and causes you to become one of the 130 people who loses their life to an opioid overdose every day in the United States. Decreasing the amounts of medication, you take over time can minimize the withdrawal symptoms you experience.
Prescription Drug Use Can Lead to Illegal Drug Abuse
Eventually, a doctor will refuse to prescribe medications to someone. If you become addicted to the drugs, you could become desperate to avoid the withdrawal symptoms that occur. This is when many people turn to illegal drugs to treat their symptoms. Many people who use opioids turn to heroin to self-medicate. Heroin can be very dangerous because it’s very easy to overdose on it. Knowing how much heroin to take to get high and not overdose is hard to do. Most people take too much of it or take something they think is heroin that is really laced with something else.
Prescription Drug Abuse Can Lead to Legal Consequences
In 2017, more than 47,000 people overdosed from opioid use. In order to try to decrease the chances of future overdoses, stricter drug abuse regulations are now in place. Having medications in your possession that are not prescribed to you or are not in their original container is very illegal. Using modified or fraudulent prescriptions can get you a lengthy jail sentence if you get caught. Many judges require you to court-ordered rehab when drugs are in your possession or system upon your arrest.
Prescription Drug Abuse Is Preventable
Education is the key when it comes to preventing prescription drug abuse. A five-point Opioid Strategy enacted in 2017 helps to provide people with better access to addiction education and treatment. Greater access to overdose reversal medications is also listed in the strategy as being essential. The medications help to reverse the overdose symptoms that you experience when you take too many opioids at one time. The medications are lifesaving, but not readily available at the moment. Public health reporting will be more well known to educate the public about the risks of prescription drug abuse to reduce the number of people that become addicted. Research is also indicated as being important in the Strategy. Learning what causes addiction to happen makes prevention easier in the future.
Becoming addicted to prescription drugs is scary. Don’t make the mistake of trying to hide your addiction from others. Contact Transformations Treatment Center to find the right treatment option for you. Holistic, individualized, group and aftercare treatment options are all available at the center. This allows you to get the care you need as you detox, recover from your addiction and have accountability as you maintain sobriety when you return to normal life. All treatment is anonymous, so you don’t have to worry about anyone else knowing you sought professional help to recover from your addiction.
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