When to Seek Help for Prescription Drug Withdrawal
Prescription medications are widely used for medical purposes throughout the United States. While they are designed to treat various medical ailments, they are often sought out for recreational purposes and easily abused by both those with or without a prescription. While these drugs are legal, they are still highly dangerous and can cause serious health effects, even death when misused.
How People Get Prescription Drugs to Abuse
Prescription drugs often end up in the hands of people they have not been prescribed for through theft, people selling them, or friends and family sharing their medications with others. Others will seek out the medication, visiting numerous doctors and pharmacies to obtain a prescription. Often those who seek out prescription medications develop a dependency to the drug, increasing doses to a dangerous high and regularly putting themselves at risk of overdose.
When a person is prescribed a prescription medication the doctor will pay close attention to their dosage and regular use of the drug, making adjustments as need. When taking the drug in access or without a prescription it can be extremely dangerous as there is not a doctor able to monitor you for dependency. Doctors are required to pay close attention to patients before prescribing medications, to determine their level of pain and decipher who truly needs the medication and who is exhibiting drug seeking behaviors. Doctors who fail to take the proper precautions when prescribing a controlled substance can loose their privileged to practice medicine.
Developing a Dependency to Prescription Drugs
Even people who are prescribed a controlled substance for legitimate medical reasons can develop a dependency, along with those who intentionally abuse the drug. This begins when the body begins to develop a tolerance to the drug, requiring higher doses to acheive the desired effects. Increasing this dose without a Doctors review can be dangerous. As the dosage increases and the use of the drug is more frequent, the individual will begin to develop a dependency. When they miss a dose or stop taking the medication abruptly they will begin to experience uncomfortable, even dangerous, symptoms of withdrawal.
When to Seek Help
At first sign of withdrawal from a prescription medication it is important to seek medical health. Depending on the severity of your dependency according to the length of time the medication was taken and at what dose, it can be extremely dangerous to stop its use cold turkey.
The first step in safely withdrawing from a prescription medication is to contact your doctor, informing them that you have begun to experience withdrawal symptoms when missing a dose or stopping the drugs use all together. Your doctor will then begin a dosage reduction therapy to help you gradually ween off the medication. If you are suffering from a severe addiction to a prescription medication your doctor may reefer you to an addiction treatment center for medical detoxification.
