Healthy lifestyle
A healthy lifestyle means making choices that promote physical, mental, and emotional health.
Living with painkiller addiction can cause a variety of physical, mental, and emotional problems that aggravate the pain. Help your loved one to recover.
Painkillers are essential for keeping a variety of aches and pains at bay, from headaches to surgical wound pain. It also comes in a variety of types, depending on the intensity of the pain.
Paracetamol is often given for headaches and other non-nervous aches. There are also non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen and aspirin, which are used to relieve back pain and toothache. They are also used to treat arthritis inflammation, strains, sprains and more.
The most potent painkillers are opioids, such as codeine, fentanyl, and morphine. Opioids bind to specific receptors in the brain, spine, and other parts of the body to reduce the pain signals sent to the brain. It is often given to end-of-life patients, scoliosis treatment and surgery patients to help control the pain they feel for their symptoms.
Complications of misuse of painkillers
While painkillers are important types of medications, they can also be dangerous, especially NSAIDs and opioids. Excessive consumption of NSAIDs, such as ibuprofen, can lead to dangerous complications. These complications can include stomach ulcers, high blood pressure, and liver and kidney problems. And even if they are not addictive, people can develop an addiction, taking them every time they feel even the slightest pain, which can lead to overuse.
Opioids, however, can cause addiction if misused. According to the Mayo Clinic, addiction occurs when a person experiences something pleasurable and feels as if it is something without which they can no longer live. Opioids create a feeling of pleasure by releasing endorphins, neurotransmitters that make the brain feel good. They greatly increase the sensations of pleasure and dampen the sensations of pain, creating a temporary but powerful effect. When this low decreases, a person may want to hear it again as soon as possible.
Opioids also cause the body to slow down its production of endorphins, making it tolerant of the same doses of the same drug. This can lead a person to increase their dose in order to feel equal or even stronger. This puts a person on the unstable path of addiction and it is difficult to help them get out of it.
Most troubling is that anyone who uses opioids can develop an addiction. According to the Priory Group, more than 115,000 opioid prescriptions are made in the UK in one day. About five of these recipes cause death. Opioid deaths have also risen 41 percent to more than 2,000 annually.
Help a loved one who is addicted or addicted to painkillers or at risk of developing one with the following steps:
Know the symptoms
Living with an analgesic addiction has a variety of symptoms. The most obvious is the continued use of drugs even after the pain has subsided. They may also lie or exaggerate about their pain to get a prescription from a doctor. Physical and mental symptoms include excessive sweating, problems with focus, dizziness and disorientation, and more. When they are deeply in their condition, they may have trouble prioritizing their work, their loved ones, and other important responsibilities.
If you suddenly stop taking painkillers, you may experience withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and more. Knowing these symptoms will help you identify if your loved one may be living with an analgesic addiction.
Educate them about this
Do research on painkiller addiction and its effects on a person. Talk to a psychiatrist to find out. When you are sure that your loved one is living with an addiction, you can contact them. Confront them about the effect of addiction on your life. Educate them about the complications of addiction and how it harms their physical and mental health and alters their work and relationships.
Encourage them to seek help
The best way to reach your loved one is to encourage them to seek professional help. Have them work with a psychiatrist to find out which treatment method is best for their disorder. There are two categories of treatment: medication and behavioral treatment. Behavioral treatments help patients to stop using drugs by changing their unhealthy behaviors and thought patterns. Experts will help you avoid situations that can lead to a relapse and manage your cravings for pain medication.
It is important to just encourage them and not force them to receive help. You don’t want them to bother you or prevent you from being treated for a bad experience they have had with you. Getting treatment should be entirely your choice.
Painkiller addiction is likely if someone you love is taking opiates for their current condition. Use these tips to learn all you can about this and how you can help them recover while managing their pain.
