Addiction to pain relievers cause a person to take such medicines more than he should. A lot of negative effects can happen to people who are addicted to such chemicals. Before the abuse of the pain killers cause long term damage to these individuals, they should first be identified and immediately provided proper treatment.
Increase in drug dosage
The loved ones and other individuals close to persons who’re addicted to pain killers would notice that these people are increasing the dosage of the pain killers that they’re taking. In addition to that, these addicted individuals would also be taking the pain medications much often and longer than the length of time that they should be having the pain killers. These people who’ve become dependent on these medications would oftentimes complain of continued pain despite having just taken the medicine, and would even consult from a number of doctors so they could acquire more prescriptions of the pain killer medication.
Changes in personality
Another evident sign for abuse of pain killers is a change in the addicted individual’s personality as well as the presence of mood swings. People who have become addicted and dependent on pain medications could have a tough time trying to concentrate on anything other than their medicines. And these people may even become irritable if they are unable to acquire that particular medication they’re addicted to.
Changes to normal routine
Side effects of pain killer addiction would include changes to the affected person’s usual routine. This person would stop taking care of his physical appearance. He may even drastically lose weight as he loses his appetite for food. People who are addicted to pain relievers would not care much for anything else anymore other than those that are directly related to their intake or acquisition of the pain medication which they are addicted to.
Social withdrawal
Individuals who are chemically dependent on pain relievers would also lose the desire to interact with other people. They’ve a tendency to withdraw from the public circle which they used to be actively part of, including their families, close friends and loved ones. They could actually be doing this on purpose to keep other people from taking notice of their drug dependency. And in addition to that, these people may even neglect their social responsibilities so they could focus on how they can continue to acquire their pain medications.
If you know of someone who’s addicted to pain relievers, you must seek medical help immediately to be able to help this person.