The physical effects of long-term opiate use

Drug overdose death rates in the US have more than tripled since 1990, with opiate abuse being a significant contributing factor. In 2010, 2 million people reported using prescription painkillers non-medically for the first time. 

Definitions

Opium: An illegal drug made from the seeds of an opium poppy.  Opium was formerly used as a painkiller.  Nowadays, many prescription painkillers are made in a lab or made of processed opium.  Street names for opium include Aunti, Aunti Emma, Big O, Black, Black pill, Chandu, Chinese molasses, Chinese tobacco, Chocolate, Dover’s deck, Easing powder, Gee, Hocus, and more.

Opiate:  A narcotic containing opium or a derivative of opium.   Opiates are generally classified as highly physically and psychologically addictive – in the Schedule I or Schedule II category of drugs. Opiates include heroin and morphine.  On the streets, these opiates are known as: H, Smack, Blow, Dreamer, Hows, M, M.S., Unkie, New Jack Swing, Aunt Hazel, Ballot, Bart Simpson, Brown, Crank, Gato, Good and Plenty, and more.

Opioid: A drug or chemical substance that has narcotic effects similar to those of opium or a derivative of opium.  Many prescription painkillers are opioids.  These include codeine, methadone, OxyContin (oxycodone), Vicodin, hydrocodone, Percocet, and more.  Some street names for these opioids are: Percs, OC, Oxy, Vics, Fizzies, Amidone, 40, Hillbilly Heroin, and more.

The terms “opiate” and “opioid” are sometimes used interchangeably.

Short-Term Effects

Opiates can be extremely dangerous and addictive. Different types of opiates have different types of effects – depending on the potency and what they are mixed with. Heroin – an illegal opiate – can make someone addicted after one hit. Vicodin – a prescription opioid painkiller – is hydrocodone mixed with acetaminophen (Tylenol).  This means that liver failure and other symptoms of a toxic liver like jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes) are included in the side effects.  It is important to research side effects for any drug you have concerns about.  Here are some side effects common to all opiates:

•    Euphoria
•    Hallucinations
•    Mood changes
•    Dizziness
•    Nausea
•    Severe allergic reaction
•    Confusion
•    Itching
•    Unconsciousness
•    Suppression of pain
•    Coma

Long-Term Effects

Drugs are essentially poisons; they are not natural chemicals in the body. Taking a drug on a long-term basis, especially one as addictive as an opiate, is never good for you. Prescription painkillers have accepted medical uses, but one should not use them any longer than is absolutely necessary.  

There are significant mental effects that occur with long-term opiate use, like memory loss, flashbacks, depression, erratic behavior, and more. These occur because opiates affect your brain function, making it slow down and flooding the cells with chemicals that interrupt normal activity. Such drugs also irreparably damage or kill brain cells. When a person uses the drug over and over again, the effects become “normal” to the body – so it feels like the body actually needs the drug to function.  This is not the case – and is the reason a full drug detoxification program is so important in order to get off opiates for good.

The long-term effects from opiate abuse include:

•    Addiction
•    Overdose
•    Collapsed or scarred veins
•    Contracting an infectious disease like HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B due to needle sharing
•    Bacterial infection
•    Abscesses (boils)
•    Infection of heart lining and valves
•    Clogged blood vessels
•    Blood borne viruses
•    Arthritis
•    Liver disease
•    Kidney disease
•    Cell death in vital organs
•    Brain damage
•    Severe and life-threatening withdrawal symptoms
•    Unconsciousness
•    Coma
•    Death
 

How We Can Help

At A Forever Recovery, we help the individual deal with drug addiction holistically.  This means that we do not replace an addiction with another addictive pharmaceutical. As part of a holistic in-patient rehabilitation program, one also gets to the root of how and why they turned to drugs in the first place and is provided the means to ensure it never happens again. Successfully kicking a long-term opiate addiction can be the major turning point in a person’s life.

Sources
www.CDC.gov
www.MacmillanDictionary.com
www.Justice.gov