Drug Addiction 2

Vicodin is generally prescribed by physicians as a pain reliever. When taken as prescribed, Vicodin can promote relaxation and calm to the patient, thus enabling him to fully recover from his condition or injury. Like most drugs, Vicodin can lead to some side effects which include drowsiness, weak breathing, weakness, unusual fatigue, vomiting, decreased appetite, and constipation. It also can cause extreme relaxation and a feeling of euphoria, making it one of the commonly abused prescription drugs.

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When used correctly, Roxicet is an excellent pain killer that can be taken orally. In fact, it is used rather frequently in clinical practice for management of pain right after surgery. This, however, is only recommended for short term use, usually not lasting more than a few weeks at a time.

Like all narcotic drugs, taking Roxicet will have its side effects. The common ones include light headed-ness, constipation, nausea, vomiting, sedation, mental clouding, emotional blanking, or skin rashes. With long term use, Roxicet can caused decreased levels of testosterone, which will likely lead to impotence, but this effect can be reversed once the patient stops taking the drug. Acute overdose, on the other hand, can lead to life

threatening respiratory failure, low heart rate and blood pressure, flaccidity of skeletal muscles, cold and clammy skin, seizures, coma and even death.

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Addiction is both a biological and psychological condition. More than 415,000 people received treatment for pain killer abuse or addiction this past year. Many chronic pain patients may be under-treated as a result of doctors who are trying to gain control over pain killer addiction, they report.

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’s alcohol, any of a number of drugs or pain killers. An opioid-dependent pain patient has improved function with the use of the drug while an

opioid-addicted patient does not have improvement. If you are 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 ways are laughing, touching, massage, acupuncture, acupressure, walking, anything that makes you feel good that’s natural.

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Recent statistics from the US Department of Health and Human Services suggest that over seven million people suffer from severe acid reflux in the U.S. alone. It is estimated that over fifteen million Americans suffer from chronic heartburn, as well.

The incidence of acid reflux is greater in people over the age of forty, but it can affect anyone, even infants. Acid reflux affects people of every age, socioeconomic class and race.

Simply put, acid reflux occurs when stomach acid splashes up through the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) into the esophagus and throat. This reflux of acid can be the result of many things including diet, alcohol consumption, smoking, hiatal hernia, stress and even pregnancy. When

this refluxed acid hits the tender lining of the esophagus, it causes a painful burning sensation in the chest and, or throat. Other symptoms include difficulty in swallowing (dysphagia), hoarseness, asthma and dental erosion.

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Mentioning the phrase drug addiction would usually make people think about illegal drugs like heroin and cocaine. But there are far more kinds of legal drugs being dispensed daily all around the world that can potentially become a source of addiction and physiological dependence.

Pain killer addiction has been slowly becoming a significant problem the past few years. In fact, in 2002, the National Institute on Drug Abuse has revealed that about 3 million teenagers aged 12 to 17 and almost 7 million adults aged from 18 to 25 has used prescription drugs for non-medical uses at least once in their lives. This was a surge from less than half a million in the 1980’s. The more potent danger

comes from the fact that unauthorized use of these substances can lead to thousands of deaths per year. Pain killers are much harmful if combined with other agents such as alcohol.

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