Do you feel anxious about getting your prescription filled before it runs out? Do you need to take more pills than before to achieve the effect you desire? Do you get your prescriptions from many doctors? Perhaps you are, like many others, a sufferer of a drug addiction. One of the most common addictions in the American society today is a relatively unheard of drug called hydrocodone. So, why haven't you heard of it before? Because, pure hydrocodone is seldom sold on its own.

Why is hydrocodone addiction so common?

Evidence shows that hydrocodone addiction is increasing amongst habitual users in the United States. Perhaps one of the most important factors causing this alarming rise is the fact that hydrocodone is consumed with drugs whose use and distribution is not as severely restricted. Pure hydrocodone is classified as a Schedule II substance, whereas when it is mixed with other non-narcotic ingredients to create other medicines, it is classified as a Schedule III drug. Schedule III drugs, such as Vicodin and Lortab, which contain hydrocodone, are not as strictly restricted as pure hydrocodone would be if it was sold as is. Thus its easy availability becomes one of the root causes for its devastating addiction. The lack of regulation makes these drugs susceptible to misuse and addiction.

Painkillers containing hydrocodone are available in tablet, capsule and syrup forms. Chief sources of hydrocodone's easy availability can be traced to forged prescriptions, large scale thefts at pharmacies and deviations by unprincipled pharmacists from ethical medical standards.

Treating Hydrocodone Addiction

The good news is that hydrocodone addiction is definitely treatable. Methods for treating hydrocodone drug addicts are similar to treatment given to heroin addicts. In most cases long-term abuse of the drug changes the brain in a fundamental manner in that the drug starts controlling the brain's role in establishing pleasure and motivational hierarchy. The drug effectively moves itself to the highest priority in the person's motivational hierarchy, superseding all other drives. Thus a person feels compelled to use the drug to derive pleasure and this slowly leads to a persistent addiction. It is in this state that people may start pretending to be ill to obtain prescriptions, steal from pharmacies and even go "doctor shopping". So, much so that it may become impossible to quit the drug on one's own accord and the person may have to resort to undergoing treatment to get cured.

Fortunately, there are a number of treatment options to treat hydrocodone addiction and to help mange the withdrawal symptoms associated with the treatment. These options include medications, such as methadone, levo-alpha-acetyl-methadol (LAAM), and counseling. Usually, a patient is detoxified prior to any treatment for hydrocodone addiction. This, although not a treatment in itself, can help to alleviate the withdrawal symptoms while the patient learns to live a drug free life.

Commonly prescribed for its effectiveness as an analgesic or pain reliever, addiction to hydrocodone is today being viewed as a mounting crisis. While addiction to illicit drugs, like cocaine, marijuana and heroin that claim national headlines ever so often, is widely talked about, we scarcely know about hydrocodone abuse and addiction. For instance, did you know that hydrocodone is perhaps the most widely abused prescription drug in the United States of America? Or, that nationwide its use has quadrupled over the last decade?

Sales and production of hydrocodone have been rising significantly in the past few years. Presently, in the United States alone about 20 tons of hydrocodone products are manufactured and sold.

What is Hydrocodone?

Simply put, hydrocodone is an effective anti-cough agent. It is also an opiate, due to which it is of often prescribed for mild to moderate pain control. Often weighed against morphine for its pain control abilities, many studies have shown that when hydrocodone is taken within the prescription parameters, it is considered safe and seldom causes any addiction. In fact, under these conditions it can be used to mange pain quite successfully. Hydrocodone is sold under several brand names such as Anexsia, Hycodan, Hycomine, Lorcet, Lortab, Tussionex, Tylox, Vicodin, and Vicoprofen. It is available as tablets, capsules, and/or syrups. By and large, it is abused orally rather than by intravenous administration.

Why is Hydrocodone addictive?

Narcotics like hydrocodone act by attaching themselves to particular proteins called opioid receptors. When they attach themselves to receptors in the brain, spinal cord and gastrointestinal tract, they have the ability to alter the manner in which a person feels pain. Drugs such as hydrocodone also have the ability to affect parts of the brain that control sensory perceptions such as pleasure, which results in the initial feeling of euphoria that is produced.

Persistent use of opioids leads to the body's increasing tolerance towards such medication. Thus higher doses have to be taken to achieve the same initial effect. Continuing use can also lead to physical addiction. Persons undergoing treatment using such drugs should be medically supervised during administration as well as appropriately overseen when discontinuing medication to avoid and reduce withdrawal symptoms associated with this drug.

Side Effects of Hydrocodone

There are many side-effects of hydrocodone. These include, but are not limited to, allergic reactions, such as hives, constipation, decreased mental and physical performance, lowered sex drive, breathing problems, dizziness, seizures and many more.

Heroin is a highly addictive, illegal drug. It among the most abused and fastest acting of the opiates (opiates, also called narcotics, are a family of drugs which are used in the medical profession to relieve pain, but are also highly abused due to this very property). It induces a feeling of intense ecstasy and brings on this effect with rapidity, making it the drug of choice among recreational users seeking a quick "rush".

It is more often than not injected. Alternatively, it can also be sniffed, snorted or smoked.

Direct short and long term effects of heroin use:

Addiction itself is one of the most devastating side effects of heroin. It is especially addictive because it finds its way into the brain extremely rapidly. It causes neurochemical and molecular changes in the brain. Soon after taking the drug, users may feel drowsy for a few hours. Mental function becomes hazy due to its effect on the central nervous system. Heroin addicts tend to expend most of their energies in procuring and using the drug; it becomes their life's foremost motive. Heroin literally alters their brains.

The body gradually becomes used to the presence of the drug, and withdrawal symptoms occur if drug consumption is abruptly terminated. The symptoms manifest as restlessness, pain in muscles and bones, insomnia, diarrhea and vomiting, to name a few. Mostly, peak withdrawal symptoms are seen 24 to 48 hours after the last dose and fade out after a week or so. However, people have been known to persistently display withdrawal symptoms for several months.

Consistent heroin abuse has several debilitating medical consequences, some of which include collapsed veins, liver and kidney disease, respiratory problems (and sometimes a fatal collapse of the respiratory system), boils, blood clots which clog blood vessels leading to the lungs, liver, kidneys or brain. Heroin abusers often exchange used syringes, exposing themselves to a heightened risk of contracting infections such as HIV and Hepatitis B and C.

During pregnancy, heroin use can cause severe complications such as miscarriage and premature delivery. Babies of addicted mothers are more likely to die of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) than their counterparts whose mothers are not addicts.