Hydrocodone is a prescription opioid painkiller. Like codeine and morphine, hydrocodone can be an effective treatment for severe pain, such as that caused by surgery or severe illness. Like other opioid drugs, it can be highly addictive. Therefore, a hydrocodone addiction treatment program may be necessary to overcome this drug.
Between the years of 1997 and 2005, retail sales of five major painkillers rose 90%, according to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration statistics. Hydrocodone, in particular, seems to be a painkiller associated with high levels of abuse and addiction, and those concerns can be devastating for a person’s long-term physical and mental health. For example, the Drug Abuse Warning Network reports that emergency department visits due to hydrocodone products increased 123% between 2004 and 2008. Sadly, some people died due to their abuse of the drug.
How do you know if this drug is a problem for you? Let’s take a closer look.
Signs and Symptoms of Hydrocodone Misuse
Taking hydrocodone (even according to prescription) can cause undesirable side effects such as confusion, constipation, sleepiness, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness. Regular use of hydrocodone will lead to tolerance, which means that a person will have to take more and more of this drug to get the same effects. Ultimately, overdose death becomes a serious risk.
Any use of any hydrocodone drug that is not prescribed by a doctor is considered abuse. If you take a hydrocodone-containing medication more often than prescribed, in larger doses than prescribed, in any way other than prescribed (such as chewing pills instead of swallowing them) or without a prescription, this is abuse.
If many of the following symptoms are present, there might be a problem with opioid use:
- Frequently requesting medication refills
- Visiting many different doctors to get prescriptions (“doctor shopping”)
- Exaggerating or feigning symptoms to receive a prescription
- Quickly running out of money
- Spending increased amounts of time in isolation
- Losing interest or focus on normal activities and directing attention to hydrocodone
Dependence begins when the body begins to feel aches, pains, or withdrawal without hydrocodone. Addiction begins when drug use becomes compulsive. Even if hydrocodone causes problems in relatively all areas of life, an addicted person will still consider the drug use necessary.
Overdose becomes more likely when there is a habit of abuse or addiction. The symptoms of an overdose include:
- Weak muscles
- Heart beating slowly
- Decrease in breathing or depth of breaths
- Clammy or cold skin
- Coma
- Death
How a Hydrocodone Addiction Treatment Program Works
The most appropriate way to treat opioid addictionsis with inpatient care. This guarantees that the drug will not be available during the treatment process. A person in inpatient care will have to stop focusing his or her attention on hydrocodone, as the drug will not be available. Dedicated detox services, combined with individual and group therapy, help heal both body and mind.
Detox from hydrocodone can be very uncomfortable, but it is by no means impossible. Inpatient care can smooth the symptoms and address any medical concerns that may arise along the way.
If a person chooses to go through detox in the inpatient care setting, he or she might decide to spend the rest of the rehabilitation experience in his or her own home environment by pursuing outpatient care. This might mean spending a few hours a day at treatment, then spending the rest of the day in normal activities. This is an excellent way to learn to manage day-to-day anxieties and responsibilities with a sober lifestyle.
A Hydrocodone Addiction Treatment Program in Augusta, MI is the Answer
At Skywood Recovery, we have the therapeutic methods and the programs that have proven to work. But it isn’t about the programs. It’s about you and your family.
We have unique, comfortable accommodations and special features to our campus, but all of these are a side note compared to the experience you or your loved one can expect to have with us.
Remember that our compassionate staff are beside you each step of the way. They know how scary it can be to move forward into a new future, and they know how the magic of recovery happens. They are ready to show you the way.
Contact us today at 269.280.4673 to find out about Skywood Recovery and what we can do for you and those you love. Stay encouraged—healing is within reach.