Pain is one of the reasons why you would go to a doctor and seek medical treatment. Even if you are not fond of taking medicines, you will most likely visit the hospital if the pain is too much for you to handle. Doctors prescribe different drugs to relieve pain. One of the most common and potent pain-relieving medication today are narcotics.

But did you know that narcotics use can be abused? Narcotics addiction is a serious disorder. Isn’t it ironic that a drug supposedly prescribed to cure pain can also result to a disorder when abused?  It’s a good thing that narcotics abuse can be treated by the use of certain drugs.

How Narcotics Work

At its most basic, narcotics are useful in relieving pain. It works on the pain receptors found on the nerve cells to relieve the pain. It actually depresses the central nervous system, reducing a person’s perception of pain. Narcotics can also cause drowsiness. The etymology of the word is the Greek word narkotikos which means “numbing.”

Heroin is the most commonly abused narcotic, although all narcotics that are prescribed by physicians may be abused. Some of the prescription narcotics that have caused deaths due to abuse are Vicodin, Percocet and OxyContin.

Signs of narcotic abuse

How would you know that you or someone close to you is abusing narcotics? There’s the urgent need to use the drug on a regular basis. It could be once a day or several times during the day. The urge to use the drug is so strong that you find yourself spending money on it even if you can no longer afford it. If you find yourself doing extraordinary things to get the drug like stealing, then you are certainly abusing the drug.

Aside from these psychological symptoms, you can also tell that you are abusing narcotics if you notice shallow breathing. You also regularly experience constipation, vomiting, itching skin, slurred speech and small pupils. You may also notice that there are needle marks on your skin.

Drugs for Narcotic Abuse

Suboxone is one of the prescription drugs your doctor may require you to take if you have been diagnosed as being narcotic dependent. This has been a FDA-approved medication for narcotic addiction since 2002.

When you take suboxone, you will no longer feel the urgent need to use narcotics. Aside from that, you won’t be experiencing narcotic withdrawal symptoms like agitation, anxiety, muscle aches, insomnia, sweating, and runny nose. The drug can also block the effects of the narcotics you just took for at least 24 hours.

One advantage of suboxone over other drugs for narcotic abuse is the low probability that the said drug will be abused by patients. This is due to the fact that suboxone does not cause euphoria in patients. According to some studies, the drug has a 60% success rate in making a person dependent on narcotics sober for an entire year. This basically explains why this drug is considered one of the best medications for narcotics abuse.