Opioid Dependence and Addiction

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, addiction is a chronic and often relapsing disease of the brain that causes uncontrollable drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences to the addicted person and to those people around them.

The initial choice to take drugs for the first time is voluntary for most people, but the brain changes that occur over time with drug use will tamper with a person’s ability to resist the intense impulses to take drugs.

When a person forms an addiction to opioids they will also develop a dependency to the drug if they continue to use it. A dependency forms when a person’s body has become used to the presence of the drug in it. Once a person stops taking opioids after developing an addiction to it, they will go through opioid withdrawal. Going through opioid withdrawal can be very painful and stressful for a person, and many people go back to using opioids just to avoid the withdrawal symptoms.

Opioid addiction and dependency are both hard for a person to overcome, and when a person decides to stop using opioids they may want to consider getting help from an opiate addiction treatment program.

Symptoms of Opioid Dependence

According to the National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, when opioids are not present in a person’s body after they develop tolerance or dependence to the drug, they will not suppress the brain cells that they normally do. When this happens the lack of opioid in a person’s body will cause the neurons in a person’s brain to release excessive amounts of noradrenaline, which will trigger jitters, anxiety, muscle cramps, and diarrhea.

Three are five symptoms that a person will experience that may mean they have developed a dependency to opioids, below is a list of these five symptoms…

1. Feeling anxious: If a person begins to sweat and feel anxious when they are coming down from an opioid high or when they do not have any more of the drug in their body, they may be dependent on the drug.

2. Rapid mood swings: A person dependent on opioids may have rapid mood swings when there is not enough of the drug in their body or when they do not have any more of it.

3. Fatigue: A person who is dependent on opioids will feel tired and possibly depressed when they do not have opioids in their system.

4. Nausea/vomiting: If a person is nauseated or vomiting when they are not taking opioids then they have a dependence to the drug.

5. Muscle aches: If a person’s body is sore all over when they are not high on opioids, then they may be developing a dependency to the drug.