Addiction is a chronic disease. When someone has a history of heroin use, maintaining sobriety often takes work every day.
When a person in recovery relapses and returns to taking the substance of abuse, it can be hard to bounce straight back into recovery without support. In the case of heroin, even using it one time can
bring back strong cravings and reignite symptoms of dependence. Heroin is always dangerous, and relapse is never safe. Relapse is particularly risky in people who have been abstinent for a long time. As the body recovers, tolerance to heroin falls steadily. Relapsing users are more likely to experience extreme effects or overdose, and no amount of self-awareness will make it possible to know how much your body can now handle.
Typically pain medications are intended to be a short-term solution. Extended use can increase the risk of developing abusive behaviors and addiction. Always take medications as prescribed and always consult your healthcare provider on the use of these medicines. Discuss with your doctor the risks of addiction with medications that are prescribed to you.
This means away from where your children can get them. The recent Monitoring the Youth survey by the National Institute of Drug Abuse has shown a growing trend in adolescents using pain medications in a recreational manner. The commonplace for obtaining such drugs is their own medicine cabinets. This can be prevented by keeping such medications in a safe and controlled location. This type of drug abuse at a young age greatly increases the risk of developing an addiction.
Do not share your medications with others under any circumstances. This can be contributing to their dependency. Never sell your pain meds to others. Not only is this illegal, but it can also contribute to misuse and overdose deaths.
Most communities have developed programs for the safe disposal of medications. Dispose of them as soon as you and your doctor have decided you no longer need them. This decreases the risk of misuse, abuse, and theft.
Pharmaceutical companies are striving to address the issue of prescription drug addiction by inventing formulations that discourage abuse.
Anti-abuse pills pose a challenge to those who do not take the pill as orally recommended. Addicts of prescription drugs will often crush the pills. They then snort them or mix them with a liquid and inject them. The anti-abuse pill congeals when crushed, and does not at all mix with water.
This makes it difficult to inject and virtually impossible to snort. It is nice to see the pharmacy labs making strides to address the growing prescription drug problem. But until this becomes a common practice with medications of abuse, addiction will be an increasing problem.
