Addiction has the potential to ruin lives. If you are able to recover, it can give you a new outlook on life. Arriving at a place of comfort when recovering takes time. Getting there is no easy feat.
When it comes to opioid misuse and addiction, take note that it is a severe affliction that affected over 2.5 million Americans in 2014, resulting in 28,000 overdose deaths, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). That number increased in 2019, when “nearly 50,000 people in the United States died from opioid-involved overdoses,” further reported by NIDA. From the Recovery Research Institute, in a study about the prevalence of recovery from opioid use disorder in the United States, about 1.2% and 2.2% of “primary opioid users achieved recovery for up to a year or between 1-5 years, respectively.”
These statistics contrast opioid addiction as an extraordinary epidemic that may only be fully realized by taking into account first-person perspectives. Mike and David are two examples of those who journeyed in and through opioid addiction and recovery.
Addiction Stories in Recovery: Mike and David
Mike’s story demonstrates how early-age opioid use can negatively impact your prospective life. Mike played at the varsity level for three different sports in high school, and eventually, in college, where, because of his severe opioid addiction, he dropped out of his classes and stopped playing. He battled ongoing withdrawals due to his body’s physical dependency on opioid medications, traversing multiple recovery attempts. Opioid addiction set Mike back; however, upon recovering, he returned to college and is now working on his graduate degree.
David’s story demonstrates the intensely addictive qualities of opioid use, so much so that even a person who has gone through and triumphed over previous alcohol and cocaine use fell victim to it. David’s story with opioid addiction began like many others’ stories — treating an injury with prescription opioids.
David’s use skyrocketed to unprescribed amounts and quickly ran out, resulting in him soon turning to heroin. Opioid addiction took away his job as the founder of a multi-million dollar brokerage firm, his marriage, and put him in prison for five years. In recovery, David was able to find salvation and restart his life, dedicating his new self to helping others seeking treatment by working as an interventionist and certified recovery coach.
What Is Opioid Addiction?
Opioid addiction refers to dependency and misuse of prescription medications, also called narcotics, such as:
- Oxycodone
- Fentanyl
- Buprenorphine
- Methadone
- Oxymorphone
- Hydrocodone
- Codeine
- Morphine
Opioid addiction also includes dependency and misuse of the illegal substance heroin.
Opioid use tends to start following medical procedures and recovery when the patient is prescribed one of the previous medications listed. Due to the addictive qualities and nature of medicinal opioids, you can be at risk for developing an addiction even when prescribed an appropriate amount and taken as directed.
Identifying prescription opioid abuse typically follows the same logic. These include:
- Taking someone else’s prescription opioid
- Taking a prescription opioid in a way other than prescribed
- Taking more than prescribed
- Combining a prescription opioid with alcohol or other drugs
- Crushing pills into powder to snort or inject
- Taking opioid prescription medications to get high
If you are worried about yourself or a loved one suffering from opioid addiction, it is time to seek treatment. Do not allow your or a loved one’s opioid addiction to get out of control, as the disease can be life-threatening.
How to Identify Overdose Symptoms for Opioid Addiction
Catching the signs of an overdose due to opioid use before they happen is detrimental to the person’s safety going through it. Overdose due to opioid use can be fatal. Symptoms and signs depend on the type of narcotic used. When seeking help due to opioid overdose, make sure to relay any information on the narcotic the person used so that medical professionals can respond accordingly. Additionally, if you recognize that someone is experiencing an overdose due to opioid use, call 9-1-1 immediately.
According to the CDC, you can identify an overdose due to opioid use as a combination of three symptoms, known as the “opioid overdose triad.” Overdose due to opioid use and death increases when combining prescription drugs with alcohol and sedative medications. This “opioid overdose triad” is the combination of symptoms:
- Pinpoint pupils
- Unconsciousness
- Respiratory depression, meaning slow and ineffective breathing
Additional signs and symptoms of an overdose to due opioid use include:
- Unresponsiveness
- Inability to talk
- Limpness in the body
- Pale or clammy face
- Blue lips, fingernails, and skin
- Skin tone that turns bluish purple or grayish ashen
- Shallow, irregular breathing
- Slow or erratic pulse
- Choking or gurgling sounds
- Vomiting
In the case of opioid overdose, there are certain steps you should take to ensure the best possible help for the person suffering. As explained by the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), these steps include:
- Call 911 immediately. Report the drug overdose immediately, and provide crucial information for the response team, such as the address and location of the victim.
- Try to rouse the victim. Speak loudly, pinch, or rub your knuckles vigorously up and down the person’s sternum (the bony part in the middle of the chest).
- Ensure the person is breathing. If the person is not breathing, administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation by pinching their nose and blowing into their mouth. If conscious, lay the person on their side.
- Administer Naloxone if you have it. Naloxone is an opioid antagonist.
- Stay with the person. Administer additional help if needed, and encourage the victim to cooperate with the ambulance crew.
If you or a loved one has experienced an overdose due to opioid use, that is a surefire sign that it is time to seek treatment. Addiction does not need to be a lifelong struggle.
Opioid Withdrawal Signs and Symptoms
In 2018 in the United States, about 808,000 people used heroin, and 11.4 million people misused narcotic pain relievers, as told by MedlinePlus. Due to the powerful addictive qualities of opiates, these types of drugs quickly inhibit physical dependence. Due to this, while attempting to quit or recovering, withdrawal symptoms can range a spectrum of severity.
Early opioid withdrawal symptoms include:
- Agitation
- Anxiety
- Muscle Aches
- Increased Tearing
- Insomnia
- Runny nose
- Sweating
- Yawning
Late opioid withdrawal symptoms include:
- Abdominal cramping
- Diarrhea
- Blurry vision and dilated pupils
- Fever
- Goosebumps
- Hallucinations
- High blood pressure
- Insomnia
- Nausea
- Vomiting
Opioid withdrawal symptoms can happen anywhere between a few days after quitting to a few weeks. This, of course, depends on the type of narcotic you used during your addiction. When going through opioid withdrawals, we recommend you seek medically supervised detoxification, as withdrawing from opioids can be dangerous or even deadly.
How Do You Treat Opioid Addiction?
There are a number of treatment options for opioid addiction, including medically-based and non-medically-based treatment options. Finding counseling for opioid misuse and addiction has the potential to help you change your behaviors regarding narcotic use, build essential life skills, and stick with other treatment options.
According to MedLine Plus, the following are several treatment options for opioid misuse and addiction:
- Individual counseling includes goal setting, discussing setbacks, and encouraging progress.
- Group counseling helps with the isolation aspect of addiction, encouraging sharing and listening to others’ difficulties and successes. This type of counseling can help with learning new strategies for recovery from opioid addiction.
- Family counseling includes repairing and improving relationships you hold with your loved ones.
Specialized forms of individual counseling for opioid treatment include (and will be expanded on in the following section):
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET)
- Contingency Management (CM)
Other resources that can potentially help include:
- Peer support groups, such as 12-Step programs like Narcotics Anonymous (NA)
- Spiritual and faith-based groups
- Case or care management
- Employment or educational support
- Housing and transportation assistance programs
In the case of hypodermic heroin use, you may additionally want to get tested for HIV and screened for hepatitis.
Seeking treatment for misuse and addiction to opioids is always the right choice. Employing some or all of these treatment strategies and resources will ultimately help you build a better life for yourself in the future.
Opioid Addiction Treatment Option: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, is a type of counseling that helps with opioid misuse and addiction and other addictions and types of mental illness. CBT teaches you to recognize negative patterns of thinking and behavior. This can include factors of stress, anxiety, or depression. CBT helps you better manage these changes of thought that cause you to want to misuse opioids.
When traversing CBT with a licensed professional, you might identify and discuss specific triggers, or cravings, that occur and cause you to use opioids. These are aspects of addiction that otherwise significantly hinder you from getting sober.
Opioid Addiction Treatment Option: Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET)
Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) is an approach in counseling that encourages engagement in treatment after you as a patient has stopped using opioids or other drugs. MET is an internally motivating force rather than a step-by-step process for when recovering from addiction. MET spans multiple sessions, including an introductory session and multiple subsequent treatment sessions, expounding on an initial assessment and discussing your substance use in contrast to better understanding what motivates you. This process helps formulate a plan for your recovery — one that builds upon coping strategies, reviewing cessation strategies, and encouraging commitment to sobriety.
Opioid Addiction Treatment Option: Contingency Management (CM)
Contingency Management (CM) as a treatment option for opioid addiction is straightforward in its purpose. CM treatment acts as a positive reinforcement for abstaining from opioid or other drug use by providing you as the patient with tangible rewards. CM is an incentive-based intervention program that is highly effective in increasing treatment retention.
Every addiction is unique, and every addiction is a disease. Combating opioid addiction is especially dangerous and difficult for the sole reason that it often originates from legal means. You could go in for minor surgery and end up with an addiction to prescription medicines because of the addictive qualities of opiates. Opioid addiction has become a widespread epidemic within the United States that needs attention. The program that we offer at Real Recovery Sober Living includes building a personalized program and working with you in treatment to conquer your opioid addiction.
Your addiction is not one to compare with another. Every journey is unique, with you holding the reins. How you started, where you are now, and where you are heading is all up to you. Are you seeking change? Is treatment for opioid addiction in your future? Reach out now, and call us at (727) 290-9156 to learn more about our program and facilities.
