Increasing Awareness About The Cycle Of Semi-Synthetic Analgesic Addiction
Pain is experienced in different levels and is also determined by the pain tolerance of every person. Nobody wants to experience pain because it hinders a person’s work and concentration. Some pain can be easily remedied by simple over-the-counter drug but prolonged and re-occurring pain needs to be checked by skilled healthcare professional. When mild to severe pain is experienced, a prescribed medicine is always given.
The most popular analgesics or pain relievers are opioid drugs. They work by binding with opioid receptors in the brain which leads to an increase in pain tolerance. Using these drugs is properly monitored because they can be very addictive when misused. Opioids’ target action is to decrease pain due to chronic diseases and post operation. It also creates feelings of euphoria. The latter is usually misperceived as elation making it more addictive. When there is opioid addiction, whether it is mild or severe, therapy is the next course of action.
Buprenorphine is an opioid drug used in the treatment of opiate addiction. Many Opiate abusers couldn’t bear the adverse withdrawal effects when there’s a sudden stop of opioid use. Buprenorphine is utilized in the detoxification process because it prevents extreme withdrawal symptoms. Progress of the treatment is better with the use of this medication because it is very effective. According to study, the application of this drug in detoxification is much better as compared to methadone.
Moreover, buprenorphine is also an analgesic which means that it can also be used in treating pain just like all other opioid drugs and because it is so, it also has the potential to be addictive. Addiction from buprenorphine usually occurs when its usage is uncontrolled and unmonitored. The condition becomes a cycle. A drug used for treatment of a prevailing problem becomes the cause of another more severe problem. The cycle goes back to treatment again.
Buprenorphine is popular in Sweden and Finland. In 2007, authorities have discovered that there are more cases on buprenorphine addiction as compared to cocaine, heroin and ecstasy. The mode of usage is either swallowed as a pill, insufflated or at extreme cases injected. The cases of addiction from buprenorphine are relatively low in the US compared to other opiate drugs abused in the market. It is for this reason that this specific medication is still used in the treatment of opioid addiction among patients. Potential danger is also relatively low when this medicine is used during detoxification
