Signs You’re Becoming an Opioid Addict


Did you have an accident or injury recently? Doctors will prescribe potent painkillers to help relieve the pain you are in. Sometimes the stress gets to be too much, and you just want to feel good. Or you only aren’t used to these powerful prescription pills, and you get in over your head. When this happens, you could be at risk of getting addicted to these opioids. Here are a few signs to look for that you are becoming an opioid addict.

Uncontrollable Opioid Urges

One of the signs that you are becoming addicted to opioids is not being able to stop taking them. If you have found yourself compulsively taking your prescription pills even when you are no longer in pain, then you might be addicted to painkillers. 

This is why it’s so crucial that you follow each prescription precisely as directed. Your opioid addiction might have started out with you thinking you can control it. You might even still be denying that you have any painkiller addiction since you are taking what your doctor gave you. However, when a person starts to use more than they were prescribed, they are essentially abusing the drug. This could cause people to overdose or become addicted to these drugs.

Taking Advantage of Your Doctor(s)

One of the things opioid addicts will do is go to several doctors for the same injury. For example, one person who broke their arm in a car accident might get addicted to their painkillers after they are sent home. They could end up abusing their prescription medicine on purpose to help with the pain, or their body might end up tolerating the drugs. When someone starts to tolerate the drugs, they usually increase the dosage to feel the effects again, whether to block out the pain or merely get high off it. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2012 alone, more than 259 million prescriptions for painkillers were given out to people in America. It makes you wonder how many of those people actually needed it versus those who take advantage of their doctor’s passion for helping those who are in real pain.

Stealing Prescriptions Pills from Family

This country is plagued by an opioid epidemic where families can turn on one another to get that high feeling or prevent withdrawal symptoms from happening. As reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 46 people die from an overdose on painkillers each day. That’s a lot of people dying from medicine that’s meant to treat and help heal people, rather than harm and kill. 

Some opioid addicts will go to extremes to get the pills to fulfil their addiction. This can cause the most law-abiding person to seek these pills in the craziest and insensitive of ways. One of which is stealing prescriptions painkillers from your family or those closest to you. 

Opioid addicts will take advantage of a family member who is using strong pain pills. For example, older relatives suffering from chronic pain might have their painkillers stolen from even their most trusted family members. 

Taking medicine from your family and friends could also lead to doing other things that will have you breaking the law like buying prescription painkillers off the black market or other things that could lead you to a life of crime.

Forging Prescription Pills

Those desperate enough for more OxyContin or another painkiller might decide forging prescription pills is their next option in getting more. People who are close to a doctor or someone with prescriptions might try to get their hands on the prescription pads to forge it to their advantage. 

If you decide to forge, you could end up going to jail. This is a severe crime to commit and could cause you to lose other things in your life, such as your job, family, and friends. If you get a criminal record for this, you might get fired for it. 

Those closest to you might not be able to trust you again, especially those you might have taken advantage of with their prescriptions. It could take a long time, but there is always hope. It’s also an excellent way to show you who is your real family, because those who will stick by you, love you for you and will look past the disease you have.

Losing Your Children

If you end up with a criminal record due to prescription forgery or drug use, child protective services might be called on you. This could potentially mean losing your children for a long time or until they are old enough to see you again. If you want to prevent losing your children, seek a rehab treatment centre to get the proper help you need. You should get your children back if you go to rehab and show them that you are trying to get your life together.

Acceptance and Treatment Options

It could take a while for you to accept that you are an opioid addict. The good news when you finally admit it is that there are treatment options for you to get better. Inpatient rehab treatments are usually the best option for opioid addicts because this is such an addictive drug to get over. The medical staff at these rehab centres can make the detox process as painless as possible because they know which types of drugs to give you that will help with the withdrawal symptoms. 

Inpatient rehab centres can also give you the opportunity to get the proper counselling and therapy to help you through the recovery process. Rehab can offer people the ability to pinpoint what triggers your reason for taking the drugs in the first place. They can also provide practical tips on how to overcome those urges. This is why rehab is so beneficial in preventing relapses from occurring.

Learn more in regards to long-term detox treatment with more online research and by talking to different inpatient rehab centres. Contacting these centres can help answer some questions you or your family might have about which financial options and treatments are right for you. 

If you can’t control your opioid intake, then try to seek help right away. By getting help from a rehab treatment facility, you can start to rebuild your life and find ways to get through those urges in taking painkillers once more. Don’t give in and stay strong!