Oxymorphone, a potent painkiller sold as ‘Opana’ is a highly opioid medication. The use of Opana was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2006 which led to Opana becoming a hugely popular drug among the drug abusers as a quick replacement for OxyContin. The approval was made after OxyContin was revealed to be hatched as a more able-to withstand drug. The drug got more and more related to thieveries, its prices plummeted to the sky. This made the doctors become vary of the drug to prescribe to the patients. That’s where Opana came into the big picture and it has been gaining popularity as a substitute for ‘OxyContin’ in the drug abuse community since then.
The Opana rests among the highly opioid painkillers but still, the drug is largely popular with drug abusers. It’s one of the painkillers of that field. The National Institute of Drug Abuse claims that about 207 million prescriptions were made for opioid painkillers in 2013. However, Opana is used to treat moderately severe pains making it a strong variation of opioids.
From behavioral and genetic predisposal to mental instability, the grounds of the drug abuse vary. The majority of all addicts have more than one factor at play that influences their substance abuse. The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence reveals that 90% of opioid drug abusers use the drug mainly to modify their moods. A high number of drug abusers also have more than one reason to use the drug
Who Abuses It?
NIDA states that around 1.9 million people were addicted to prescription opioids such as Opana in 2010. Many people among these are former OxyContin users. The drug has become more prone to be abused.
The studies show that teenagers are more vulnerable to be persuaded in using these drugs. The 8th, 10th, and 12th graders show usage of 1%, 3%, and 3.3% of the total users of OxyContin in 2014. The NIDA has reported all of these statistics and making American teenagers look at the unfortunate events. The prescription drug usually starts in the early teen years.
However, teenagers aren’t the only ones suffering from this Opana subordination. The number of adults who are abusing the usage of opioid painkillers is concurrently rising. In 2012 USA Today reported that a good amount of 336 thousand senior citizens were shown to be addicted to the painkillers.
People believe that some sort of chronic illness might make you more cautious towards your health and less cautious to become a drug abuser, but that’s just a belief. Truth is, many of the people who have now become drug abusers got started from a single prescription to cure their relentless pain. They might be at more risk of getting addicted to the drug if they use it more than they supposedly should. More than 100 million people suffer from chronic pain, per WebMD.
The rest suffers from a whole new kind of pain. Mainly, they suffer from mental issues. The National Alliance for Mental Illness states that about 42.5 million people from the USA suffer from mental illness and about one-third of those are either addicted to drugs or alcohol in a Huffington Post.
What Does Opana Addiction Look Like?
You would think that an opioid-based painkiller used by teenagers to senior citizens might exhibit some different symptoms of drug abuse. You’ll be surprised to know that in this case of opioids, maximum people exhibit almost similar symptoms of poly-drug abuse. These are some of the various symptoms one might portray:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Constipation
- Slurred speech
- Euphoria
- Extreme fatigue
- Slowed breathing
- Poor judgment
The implications of the misuse of Opana last longer than expected. People who misuse Opana ER as an IV drug are more likely to be at risk of blood-borne infections, like thrombocytopenia and hemolysis, as stated by The Blood Journal. Medpage Today claims the ER version of Opana is the one to blame for preceding only two blood-borne infections in the Opana users.
Opana Extended-Release (ER) is used to relieve severe ongoing pain. It is a variation of long-acting opioid painkillers. It usually starts working in the brain to modify how the body feels and then starts to respond to pain. You should not use the ER version of Opana to help the pain that is mild and will vanish in a few days. These painkillers are not for regular use. If this medication is used for a long period, it might start to work not well. Consult with your doctor if this medication stops working well.
A little incident happened a while ago Two cases are reported involving two juvenile women who were found unconscious and we’re drugged by a man acquaintance. The three have snorted the Opana ER painkillers. One of the females was found dead on the scene and the other was able to get back to life. The cause of this incident happened to be a misuse of extended-release Opana hydrochloride tablets in conjunction with alprazolam tablets.
If you are pregnant or you have any plans of doing so shortly, you need to consult your doctor. If you misuse the drug regularly, your offspring may have to face some life-risking situations after their birth. Tell your gynecologist right away if your baby exhibit any signs of insomnia, uncontrollable shaking hyperactivity, gets easily irritated, doesn’t gain weight, vomiting, etc.
The immediate risks of abuse include respiratory depression that leads to death. Opana’s huge fan-following has become a reason for important events resulting from the misuse of the drug. Around 5000 people in 2010, were treated for the Opana misuse, and that number increased to almost 12000 in the next year, as reported by the Drug Enforcement Administrator’s Office of Diversion Control.
Where Can I Get Help?
Treating any kind of drug addiction need to stop using that drug and begin detoxing. About 169,868 people have been admitted to healthcare among the nation in 2012 because of the misuse of non-heroin opioids. Many of the patients have chosen a maintenance program for methadone or buprenorphine. These are the long-term treatments and these help the patients to detox the Opana and go for either of the treatment drugs. Slowly, the addicted person would grow out of using Opana would any harmful side effects that might occur during the treatment.
It can also create serious life-threatening situations. The first 72 hours of the treatment are always risky. Any time a dose is extended, it’s risky too. Your doctor will observe you closely. If you feel anything like slowed breathing or having a problem in breathing, you need to tell your doctor immediately. They might ask you not to take the Opana medication.
Consult with your doctor if you have any lung disease like COPD, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, heart disease, or brain tumor. Breathing problems may happen if you’re malnourished or older. If you get any of these conditions you may want to consult your doctor. These conditions can cause life-threatening situations and it’s better to take care of them right away.
Methadone is said to be more effective and efficient as compared to buprenorphine. In a study, 26 out of 54 patients (13 opting for methadone and rest opting for buprenorphine) have never once relapsed in conjunction with the five who had in fact, relapsed in the buprenorphine group, as noted by the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health.
There are cons of using methadone too. Methadone is an expensive treatment drug and it comes with rules to follow. The treatment program related to methadone is very complicated as the patients need to visit the comics for their regular doses. However, Buprenorphine can be easily taken at home.
Relentless pain can halt your daily activities and even make them unbearable. The more cause of frustration is when you find a drug to cure your pain only to find it not working. There are my medications available to help your pain. If you have found that one drug that is perfect for you but you’re getting more and more addicted to it, you need to step up now. Opana is one of the highly addictive drugs that can cause life-threatening situations for you if you don’t take the right step at the moment.
Regardless of which treatment module you choose, therapy and support groups are advisable in tandem with detox care, overseen by consulting physicians. The first step to getting help is accepting that you need it. You’ve come this far; take the next step and call us today to learn more about how you can overcome Opana abuse and addiction. Whichever treatment program you choose, the support groups are available to help you and advise you at all steps, be it detox care or consulting some doctors. You need to accept that you need help is the first step. The next step is to ask for help. You’ve read this through and now you need to call us today to know more about the treatment of Opana addiction and abuse.
Ben Lesser is one of the most sought-after experts in health, fitness and medicine. His articles impress with unique research work as well as field-tested skills. He is a freelance medical writer specializing in creating content to improve public awareness of health topics. We are honored to have Ben writing exclusively for Dualdiagnosis.org.