What is addiction?

PHYSICAL DEPENDENCE

Physical dependence occurs when the body is physiologically changed by the drug and a person experiences withdrawal symptoms when the drug is not taken or the dosage is dramatically reduced.

If you are a long-time coffee drinker or consumer of sodas which have caffeine and suddenly stop drinking coffee or the sodas, you will almost certainly have become physically dependent on the caffeine and experience withdrawal symptoms. The caffeine withdrawal symptoms can include headaches, insomnia, nervousness and erratic behavior, and having a difficult time “getting awake” in the morning.

All of us know that taking sleeping pills for too long can make us physically dependent on them to go to sleep. If the sleeping pills are not taken, insomnia can result. Others have found that taking laxatives for too long has resulted in a physical dependence on them and experience withdrawal symptoms when they stop taking them—constipation and often headaches.

ADDICTION

A person who is physically dependent on a drug is not necessarily addicted.

Addiction is the continued use of a drug because of the way that one feels after taking the drug—often described as a type of euphoria feeling or a “mellow” feeling or sometimes, in the case of many drugs, to not feel a certain way.

The more one is addicted, the more one’s use of the drug becomes compulsive despite negative consequences which can be severe. Addicted people will often lie, doctor shop, sell and buy drugs on the street, deny drug use if asked and, in short, do things that they would never do otherwise.

If the addicted person stops or reduces their use of a drug, in almost every case the addicted person will experience withdrawal symptoms associated with the drug.

TOLERANCE

Tolerance to a drug generally means that it takes a larger amount of the drug/alcohol to obtain the same feeling/effect that was created by the drug/alcohol when first taken.

Tolerance is dependent largely on a person’s DNA but manifests itself in three main ways. One is that our body adjusts to the addition of the drug/alcohol and actually turns off some of the receptors that were being activated or affected.

Another way that the body can adjust to drugs/alcohol is by the receptor becoming less sensitive and requiring more of the drug/alcohol to produce the same effect on the receptor. (This effect is similar to the doorbell that must be pushed harder and harder to get it to ring.)

A third way is for the body to reduce the natural production of the substance that the drug/alcohol is replacing or enhancing. This means that it takes more of the chemical to produce the same effect.

It can take the body anywhere from minutes to weeks to re-adjust back to normal once use of the drug/alcohol ceases. It is during this re-adjustment period that most people feel the worst withdrawal symptoms when they stop taking drugs or drinking alcohol.

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So - After reading all of this and now that I have said what it is... If you are addicted or know someone that is then they should come to the facility that i work at and its called Novus
and we WILL get you or the person that you know off drugs.
Anyhoo - I just thought that people should know about addiction as it is very important to know in this day and age.

Later - Monty

The "deadly" truth about opiates

I know that I have been spending a lot of my time writing about drugs etc recently, but I feel that this is a responsibility that I must take on as I have been working at a medical detox facility in Florida called Novus and we get people off drugs.

The most prevalent drugs that I see in people coming to get clean are the use of "legal" opiates and some illegal as well. Oxycodone (Percodan), Hydrocodone (Vicodin), Raw Opium, Opium, Codeine, Morphine, Heroin, Hydromorphone (Dilaudid), Methadone (Dolophine) and the list goes on...

"Possible" Effects of Opiates

I put the above in parenthesis as I see these things happening all the time when people are coming off drugs and it is NOT fun for the user at all and so to me it should be classed as more than just "possible" effects...

General effects of narcotic analgesics include: sedation, slowed reflexes, raspy speech, sluggish "rubber-like" movements, slowed breathing, cold skin, and possible vomiting. However, as a user continues to abuse narcotic analgesics he or she will build a tolerance to the drug, therefore causing the effects to diminish. Heroin, a very strong narcotic depressant, completely destroys the users ability to reason. Its synthetic form, known as "designer drug" has been proven to be even more deadly and addictive. If the abuser wishes to maintain the same effect, he or she will have to take steadily larger doses as the tolerance develops.

Heroin users generally experience certain psychological effects immediately after injection. These include a feeling of euphoria: relief from withdrawal symptoms: and, relief from pain. Physical effects, if they are evident at all, typically will become evident after 15-30 minutes. Physical effects may not be evident if the user is tolerant and has taken a normal dose. With new users, the physical effects include: nodding off, poor motor coordination, depressed reflexes, and slow breathing.

If a user is addicted to opiates he or she will suffer withdrawal symptoms if they don't receive another dose, or "fix", before the drug is completely out of their system. Withdrawal effects can be chills, aches of the muscles and joints, nausea and insomnia. These symptoms normally start 4-6 hours after the last dosage of the drug. The withdrawal signs and symptoms intensify from 14-24 hours following the injection, and may be accompanied by gooseflesh, slight tremors, loss of appetite and dilation of the pupils. Approximately 24-36 hours since the last "fix", the addict experiences insomnia, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, depression and hot/cold flashes. Withdrawal signs and symptoms generally reach their peak after 2-3 days. At this point, the addict usually experiences muscular and abdominal cramps, elevated temperature and severe tremors and twitching. This twitching, especially of the legs, is referred to in the expression "kickin' the habit". The addict is very nauseated at this time, may gag and vomit repeatedly, and may lose 10-15 pounds within 24 hours.

Signs of an overdose of narcotic analgesics are depress respiration, slow and shallow breathing, clammy skin, convulsions, possible coma and death.

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So I know that that your friends might tell you how cool it is and if your doing it yes you might enjoy the "high" BUT when you decide to stop it is going to be an extremely wild and un-fun ride so why get into it into the first place...

So I hope that you can use this information in your life as I see a lot of people that I work with do not realize just how hard it is to get off these legal and illegal opiates.

Later - Monty