OxyContin Withdrawal

OxyContin withdrawal can be a painful process, particularly after an extended time of heavy use. The symptoms of OxyContin withdrawal are similar to heroin withdrawal and may include sweating, heart spasms, increased blood pressure, nausea, dehydration, abdominal cramps, trembling, weakness, muscle ache, diarrhea, vomiting, restlessness, leg spasms, insomnia, and mood disturbances such as irritability and thoughts of suicide.

OxyContin is a controlled-release version of oxycodone hydrochloride. This medication is intended for extended pain relief and is considered to be a very addictive drug. Over the last few years this powerful prescription pain reliever has become a hot street drug that has resulted in more than 120 deaths nationwide. OxyContin is related to heroin, and just like its relative, those who abuse this drug become addicted. It gives the user a "high" or "rush" similar to high grade heroin.

Some people develop an OxyContin addiction because they obtained a prescription from their doctor. However, overtime they no longer take it just to ward off pain; they use it to prevent OxyContin withdrawal symptoms from setting in. The longer people take the medication, the more their body will become used to having OxyContin in their system. This will cause the person to use more to get a feeling of being high, get rid of any pain, or to stop any OxyContin withdrawal symptoms from beginning.

For those who have become addicted to this drug though a legitimate prescription, it is also possible to experience withdrawal from OxyContin if you stop taking the drug too abruptly. This is a normal, predictable, physical response to stopping narcotic medications. However, it is not necessarily a sign of addiction or abuse. Potential OxyContin withdrawal symptoms include insomnia, abdominal cramps, and loss of appetite. In order to limit these symptoms, you should not stop taking OxyContin "cold turkey" but rather speak with your doctor about tapering down your dosage.

OxyContin is designed to be swallowed and has a protective coating to ensure the medication is released slowly overtime instead of all at once. However, many addicts will chew, snort or inject the drug to get around OxyContin's time-release mechanism. For example, an addict who chews/snorts/injects a 40mg tablet of OxyContin is taking the equivalent of 8 Percocets at once. Someone who chews/snorts/injects an 80mg OxyContin is taking the same amount of medicine as 16 Percocets!

Taking OxyContin on a regular basis creates changes in the brain. Chronic OxyContin users develop a tolerance -- meaning that they need higher doses of the medication to feel the same effects -- and once tolerant, they cannot stop taking the drug without consequences (such as the onset of OxyContin withdrawal symptoms). This means that they need to take increasingly larger and more frequent doses in order to recreate the high that they experienced with the original dose.

Some addicts may take as much as 20 times the original dose. Because the body develops a physical dependence on the drug, addicts may begin to experience OxyContin withdrawal symptoms as soon as 6 hours after their last dose. Withdrawal symptoms are extremely unpleasant and, for this reason, addicts should undergo medically supervised OxyContin detox and treatment when attempting to overcome their addiction. Professional help from a drug rehab center is the best and safest way to do this. Unfortunately, there is no known "painless" method for withdrawing from this drug.

Because OxyContin is available by prescription, many addicts find that it is easy to come by. Addicts will forge prescriptions, buy pills from people who have gotten valid prescriptions, fake injuries/illnesses in order to get prescriptions, and buy them illegally on the street. OxyContin addiction is a problem that affects individuals from all walks of life. Anyone can succumb to drug addiction. It does not make a difference how financially secure they are or if they have had a wonderful family life. It should be noted that nobody sets out to become a drug addict or alcoholic. Developing an addiction problem is strictly about the choices the user made along the way that lead them into the downward spiral of drug addiction.

In many ways, an OxyContin withdrawal feels like the exact opposite of an OxyContin high. Users have described OxyContin withdrawal as similar to a heroin withdrawal, and some people describe it as, "the worst flu you've ever had." OxyContin withdrawal can also occur in a newborn whose mother was addicted to OxyContin during pregnancy. OxyContin withdrawal symptoms usually appear during the first few days of the newborns life. Symptoms exhibited from a newborn experiencing OxyContin withdrawal are: irritability, excessive crying, yawning, sneezing, increased respiratory rate, tremors, fever, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Common symptoms of OxyContin withdrawal may include:

• abdominal cramps
• anorexia
• anxiety
• chills
• diarrhea
• increased blood pressure, respiratory rate, or heart rate
• insomnia
• irritability
• lacrimation (The production, secretion, and shedding of tears. From the Indo-European dakru meaning a tear (from a weeping eye) via the Latin lacrima.)
• bone pain
• myalgia (Pain in a muscle; or pain in multiple muscles. Myalgia means muscle pain. There are many specific causes of various types of myalgia. Myalgia can be temporary or chronic. Myalgia can be a result of a mild condition, such as a virus infection, or from a more serious illness. Examples include epidemic myalgia and polymyalgia rheumatica.)
• mydriasis (Dilation of the pupils induced by eyedrops. The opposite of miosis.)
• nausea
• perspiration
• restlessness
• rhinorrhea (Medical term for a runny nose. From the Greek words "rhinos" meaning "of the nose" and "rhoia" meaning "a flowing.")
• vomiting
• weakness
• yawning

The intensity and duration of the withdrawal symptoms will depend on the length and severity of the OxyContin abuse and on other variables. In general, the longer you've used and the more you've taken, the worse the withdrawal from OxyContin experience tends to be. OxyContin withdrawal symptoms can continue for many months after the cessation of use (though with less severity than in the immediate aftermath of cessation). Secondary and longer-lasting OxyContin withdrawal symptoms include insomnia, lethargy, and depression. These symptoms tend to be variable in intensity and occurrence, and eventually they subside completely.

Name:
Phone:
Email:
Describe the situation: