Path of a painkiller addict
The University of Buffalo
conducted a study on patients hospitalized for opioid detox.
How they got hooked:
- 41% legitimately prescribed for pain
- 32% friend or parent's left-over pills
- 26% drugs on the street
92% of the patients in the study said they eventually bought drugs off the street, primarily heroin.
Most people who try heroin do so for a simple high – and they achieve it, but at a cost.
Once the body becomes accustomed to opiates (and this occurs extremely quickly) it will revolt if the drugs stop coming.
Eventually,
the dosage of opiates contained in painkillers will no longer be enough to remedy the symptoms of your addiction.
These painkillers are particularly dangerous because they depress the central nervous system, slowing down breathing and the brainstem’s responsiveness to CO2 to the point where someone abusing these medications can simply stop breathing. Combine these painkillers with alcohol, another depressant, and you've got a recipe for disaster.
Without Puridone, you have 3 options:
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1. Heroin
Once your body becomes dependent on the opiate fix, it takes more and more of the drug to achieve a similar feeling. The graduated step from prescription painkiller use is heroin. Once you start taking heroin, the chances of stopping on your own drop dramatically.
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2. Methadone Clinic
Methadone is a synthetic opioid, used medically as an analgesic and a maintenance anti-addictive for use in patients with opioid dependency. Although chemically unlike morphine or heroin, methadone acts on the same opioid receptors as these drugs, and thus has many of the same effects.
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3. Losing everything trying to feed the addiction
By the time you reach heroin or methadone, you are steps away from losing everything of value in your life. You will try to fund your addiction by any means necessary and if you have not already, you will have lost those people in your life who you hold most dear. Eventually, your path will end in prison or death! Don't let it get to this point - if at all possible.
State Funded
Methadone Clinics
are for people addicted to painkillers who cannot help themselves?
Once you are fully addicted to painkillers or heroin, a Methadone Clinic that administers a daily dose of a synthetic opiate might be your last stop.
Do something NOW so you don't end up in a Methadone Clinic addicted to methadone.
Methadone can be used either permanently for "maintenance" or tapered down over time as part of a slower detoxification program. The only problem with this method is that methadone is, in and of itself, an incredibly addicting substance.
Heroin addicts take it when they're out of cash.
Methadone is usually the drug of choice for heroin addicts since it reduces the need for a "fix" although cravings may still occur.
Don't ignore the warning signs!
You should avoid, at all costs, reaching the point where you have to depend on the government for your drug. Once you’re fully addicted to painkillers, you might end up standing in line next to heroin addicts to receive your daily dose of methadone.