Oxycontin Withdrawal

Symptoms

The symptoms of withdrawal are often the reverse of intoxication. Withdrawal and detox includes dilated pupils, diarrhea, runny nose, goose bumps, and abdominal pain.

Prescription Opiate Detox

Opiate detox and withdrawal is caused by stopping or dramatically reducing, opiate use after heavy and prolonged use. Opiates include codeine, Oxycontin, Dilaudid, methadone, and others. The reaction frequently includes sweating, shaking, headache, drug craving, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, diarrhea, inability to sleep, confusion, agitation, depression, anxiety, and other behavioral changes.

Treatment of Opiate Prescription Detox

The FDA has approved a new medication for use in the treatment of opiate prescription detox. This medication, called buprenorphine, may help both physical and mental withdrawal symptoms. Some drug treatment programs have widely advertised treatments for opiate withdrawal called detox under anesthesia or rapid opiate detox. This involves anesthetizing the patient and injecting large doses of opiate-blocking drugs, with hopes that this will speed up the transition to normal opioids system function. Treatment of withdrawal includes supportive care and medications.

Opiate Complications

The biggest complication is return to drug use. Most opiate overdose deaths occur in people who have just withdrawn or detox. Because withdrawal reduces a previously-developed tolerance, recently withdrawn addicts can overdose on a much smaller dose than they used to take daily. Addicts should be warned about this possibility. Addicts withdrawing from opiates should be assessed for depression and other mental illnesses. Appropriate treatment of such disorders can reduce the risk of relapse, and antidepressant medications should NOT be withheld under the assumption that the depression is only related to withdrawal and not a pre-existing condition.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

About 5% of the population is believed to misuse opiates, including illegal drugs like heroin and prescribed pain medications such as Oxycontin. These drugs can cause physical dependence. This means that there is a reliance on the drug to prevent symptoms of withdrawal and detox. Over time, greater amounts of the drug become necessary to produce the same effect. The time it takes to become physically dependent varies with each individual. When the drugs are stopped, the body needs time to recover, and withdrawal detox symptoms result. Withdrawal and detox from opiates can occur whenever any chronic use is discontinued or reduced.

reprinted from the National Library of Medicine and the National Institute of Health