“Hi, I’m Jeff, and I have been in recovery for five months now. I abused drugs, especially prescription drugs like OxyContin®, for many years. It started in my teenage years and gradually escalated to the point that I was always high. It got really bad. My health was suffering. I was thin as a rail, I couldn’t sleep at night and I found it hard to keep a job. It’s hard to work when you feel like death all the time.”
A friend’s mom, who had seen her own son die from drug addiction, saw Jeff was in trouble and encouraged him to go to rehab. She even found a place for him, where he stayed for 90 days in full pursuit of addiction recovery.
“Here’s a piece of advice I would like to share with others,” Jeff says in his Heroes In Recovery story, “You can’t be clean while living dirty. You can’t run with the same people, keep secrets or be dishonest with yourself.”
Opioids, Like OxyContin, Are at the Root of a National Drug Abuse Epidemic
An escalation in prescriptions of OxyContin and other opiate-based drugs is fueling a crisis in this country. It’s a crisis that has overtaken so many people, like Jeff.
Today, nearly half of all U.S. opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid, like OxyContin (generically known as oxycodone). Back in 2015 alone, more than 15,000 people died from overdoses involving OxyContin and similar prescription narcotics.1
OxyContin is a highly potent pill that can trigger addiction and chronic health problems, as well as coma or death by overdose, in users who take the drug regularly or in large amounts.
Though the pills may initially come from a doctor’s prescription for severe pain, they’re not safe for people to use in any fashion they see fit. Doses are to be based on a patient’s pain level and pain management history. Patients who take the pills beyond their doctor’s advice and those who take them without a prescription are taking huge risks with their – and other people’s – safety.2
The Code of Addiction
How can you tell if someone you love is abusing OxyContin? One way is to listen. Does he often speak in a coded language to others or on the phone? Do you find cryptic texts with meanings you can’t discern? Most addicts and dealers alike use slang terms to refer to their drug of choice in an effort to cover up their dealings, but families who get to know what these words mean can move a step closer to identifying their loved one’s drug of choice.
Some common nicknames for OxyContin heard on the street include:
- Hillbilly heroin
- Blues
- Kickers
- OC
- Oxy
- OxyCotton
- OX
- Oxy40 or 40 (specifically for 40-milligram pills)
- Oxy80 or 80 (specifically for 80-mg pills)
Additionally, there are often colloquial terms for OxyContin that vary by region, city, neighborhood…or even among groups of friends.3
“Jammed” is a term that some users throw around. It simply means being high on OxyContin.4
Other Signs of OxyContin Abuse
No matter what it’s called, a pill containing oxycodone or any addictive opiate is dangerous when abused. How can you tell if someone is simply following their prescription and suffering from side effects, or if they are living with an active addiction to their medication?
Addicts might:
- Crush their pills before swallowing or snorting them
- Dissolve pills in water and then inject them
- Get multiple prescriptions for narcotic pill from different doctors
- Go to the emergency room for more pills
- Request emergency refills for their medication because they say they lost some of their pills.
- Drink alcohol or use sedatives or other painkillers with their prescription
- Use more of the drug than recommended by the doctor (e.g., larger doses than recommended or more frequent doses throughout the day)
- Take prescription painkillers without a prescription for any reason5
How Does OxyContin Work in the Body?
Prescription painkillers are powerful drugs that interfere with the nervous system’s transmission of the nerve signals that the body perceives as pain. Most painkillers also stimulate portions of the brain associated with pleasure. Thus, in addition to blocking pain, they produce a “high.”
The most powerful prescription painkillers are called opioids, which are opium-like compounds. They are manufactured to react on the nervous system in the same way as drugs derived from the opium poppy, like heroin. The most commonly abused opioid painkillers include oxycodone, hydrocodone, meperidine, hydromorphone, and propoxyphene.
Among these, oxycodone has the greatest potential for abuse and the greatest dangers. Coming in pill or tablet form, it affects the nervous system in the same way as heroin. Oxycodone is sold under many trade names. OxyContin is just one. It is also sold under these brand names: Percodan, Endodan, Roxiprin, Percocet, Endocet, and Roxicet.6
An Addiction by Any Name
In the end, it doesn’t matter what your loved one calls the pills or whether or not he has a prescription. If he has a physical dependence characterized by a tolerance for the drug and withdrawal symptoms when without his pills as well as a psychological addiction defined by cravings, then it’s time to find a professional drug rehab that can help. Call now to talk with one of our admissions coordinators about how Michael’s House can help you or your loved one begin a new life in recovery.
Here at Michael’s House, we offer a comprehensive detox program followed by intensive psychotherapeutic treatment and aftercare support. To learn more about how we can help your loved one to overcome his OxyContin addiction, contact us today at 760.548.4032.
Sources
1 “Prescription Opioid Overdose Data.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 December 2016. Web. Accessed 24 July 2017.
2 “Improving the Quality of Care Through Pain Assessment and Management.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. Web. Accessed 24 July 2017.
3 “Profile: Oxycodone.” The Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR), University of Maryland. Web. Accessed 24 July 2017.
4 “The Opioid Epidemic’s Deadliest Substances and Their Street Names: A Primer.” New York Daily News, May 20, 2017. Web. Accessed 24 July 2017.
5 “Oxycodone.” MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine. 15 January 2017. Web. Accessed 24 July 2017.
6 “The Truth about Painkillers.” Foundation for a Drug-Free World. Web. Accessed 24 July 2017.