Prescription Drugs and Pain Medications
Prescription drugs make complex surgery possible, relieve pain
for millions of people, and enable many individuals with chronic
medical conditions to control their symptoms and lead productive
lives. Most people who take prescription medications use them responsibly.
However, the non-medical use of prescription drugs is a serious
public health concern. Nonmedical use of prescription drugs like
opioids, central nervous system (CNS) depressants, and stimulants
can lead to abuse and addiction, characterized by compulsive drug
seeking and use.
Addiction rarely occurs among people who use a pain reliever,
CNS depressant, or stimulant as prescribed; however, inappropriate
use of prescription drugs can lead to addiction in some cases.
Patients, healthcare professionals, and pharmacists all have roles
in preventing misuse and addiction. For example, if a doctor prescribes
a pain medication, CNS depressant, or stimulant, the patient should
follow the directions for use carefully, and also learn what effects
the drug could have and potential interactions with other drugs
by reading all information provided by the pharmacist. Physicians
and other health care providers should screen for any type of substance
abuse during routine history-taking with questions about what prescriptions
and over-the-counter medicines the patient is taking and why.
In 1999, an estimated 4 million people, about 2 percent of the
population age 12 and older, were currently (use in past month)
using prescription drugs non-medically. Of these, 2.6 million
misused pain relievers, 1.3 million misused sedatives and tranquilizers,
and 0.9 million misused stimulants.1 While prescription drug
abuse affects many Americans, some trends of particular concern
can be seen among older adults, adolescents, and women.
The misuse of prescribed medications may be the most common form
of drug abuse among the elderly. Older people are prescribed medications
about three times more frequently than the general population,
and have poorer compliance with directions for use.
The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse1 numbers
indicate that the sharpest increases in new users of prescription
drugs for non-medical purposes occur in 12 to 17 and 18 to 25 year-olds.
Among 12 to 14 year-olds, psychotherapeutics (e.g., pain killers,
tranquilizers, sedatives, and stimulants) were reported to be one
of two primary drugs used.
The 1999 Monitoring the Future Survey2 of 8th, 10th,
and 12th graders nationwide, showed that for barbiturates, tranquilizers,
and narcotics other than heroin, general long-term declines in
use in the 1980s leveled-off in the early 1990s, with modest increases
again in the mid-1990s.
Overall, men and women have roughly similar rates of nonmedical
use of prescription drugs, with the exception of 12 to 17 year
olds. In this age group, young women are more likely than young
men to use psychotherapeutic drugs nonmedically. Also, among women
and men who use either a sedative, anti-anxiety drug, or hypnotic,
women are almost twice as likely to become addicted.3
The Drug Abuse Warning Network,4 which collects data
on drug-related hospital emergency room episodes, reported that
mentions of hydrocodone as a cause for visiting an emergency room
increased 37 percent among all age groups from 1997 to 1999. Also,
mentions of clonazepam increased 102 percent since 1992.
While many prescription drugs can be abused or misused, these three
classes are most commonly abused:
Opioids - often prescribed to treat pain.
CNS Depressants - used to treat anxiety and
sleep disorders.
Stimulants - prescribed to treat narcolepsy
and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Opioids are commonly prescribed because of their effective analgesic
or pain relieving properties. Many studies have shown that properly
managed medical use of opioid analgesic drugs is safe and rarely
causes clinical addiction, which is defined as compulsive, often
uncontrollable use. Taken exactly as prescribed, opioids can
be used to manage pain effectively.
Among the drugs that fall within this class - sometimes referred
to as narcotics - are morphine, codeine, and related drugs. Morphine
is often used before or after surgery to alleviate severe pain.
Codeine is used for milder pain. Other examples of opioids that
can be prescribed to alleviate pain include oxycodone (OxyContin-an
oral, controlled release form of the drug); propoxyphene (Darvon);
hydrocodone (Vicodin); hydromorphone (Dilaudid); and meperidine
(Demerol), which is used less often because of its side effects.
In addition to their effective pain relieving properties, some
of these drugs can be used to relieve severe diarrhea (Lomotil,
for example, which is diphenoxylate) or severe coughs (codeine).
Opioids act by attaching to specific proteins called opioid receptors,
which are found in the brain, spinal cord, and gastrointestinal
tract. When these drugs attach to certain opioid receptors in the
brain and spinal cord they can effectively block the transmission
of pain messages to the brain.
In addition to relieving pain, opioid drugs can affect regions
of the brain that mediate what we perceive as pleasure, resulting
in the initial euphoria that many opioids produce. They can also
produce drowsiness, cause constipation, and, depending upon the
amount of drug taken, depress breathing. Taking a large single
dose could cause severe respiratory depression or be fatal.
Opioids may interact with other drugs and are only safe to use
with other drugs under a physician's supervision. Typically, they
should not be used with substances such as alcohol, antihistamines,
barbiturates, or benzodiazepines. These drugs slow down breathing,
and their combined effects could risk life-threatening respiratory
depression.
Chronic use of opioids can result in tolerance to the drugs so
that higher doses must be taken to obtain the same initial effects.
Long-term use also can lead to physical dependence - the body adapts
to the presence of the drug and withdrawal symptoms occur if use
is reduced abruptly.
Symptoms of withdrawal can include restlessness, muscle and bone
pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps
("cold turkey"), and involuntary leg movements.
Options for effectively treating addiction to prescription opioids
are drawn from experience and research on treating heroin addiction.
Some examples follow.
Methadone, a synthetic opioid that blocks the effects of heroin
and other opioids, eliminates withdrawal symptoms, and relieves
drug craving. It has been used for over 30 years to successfully
treat people addicted to opioids.
Other medications include LAAM (levo-alpha-acetyl-methadol), an
alternative to methadone that blocks the effects of opioids for
up to 72 hours. Naltrexone is a long acting opioid blocker often
used with highly motivated individuals in treatment programs promoting
complete abstinence, and also to prevent relapse.
Buprenorphine, another synthetic opioid, will soon be available.
Also, naloxone counteracts the effects of opioids and is used to
treat overdoses.
CNS depressants slow down normal brain function. In higher doses,
some CNS depressants can become general anesthetics.
CNS depressants can be divided into two groups, based on their
chemistry and pharmacology:
Barbiturates, such as mephobarbital (Mebaral) and pentobarbital
sodium (Nembutal), which are used to treat anxiety, tension, and
sleep disorders.
Benzodiazepines, such as diazepam (Valium), chlordiazepoxide HCl
(Librium), and alprazolam (Xanax), which can be prescribed to
treat anxiety, acute stress reactions, and panic attacks. Benzodiazepines
that have a more sedating effect, such as triazolam (Halcion)
and estazolam (ProSom) can be prescriped for short-term treatment
of sleep disorders.
There are many CNS depressants, and most act on the brain similarly
- they affect the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).
Neurotransmitters are brain chemicals that facilitate communication
between brain cells. GABA works by decreasing brain activity.
Although different classes of CNS depressants work in unique
ways, ultimately it is their ability to increase GABA activity
that produces a drowsy or calming effect. Despite these beneficial
effects for people suffering from anxiety or sleeping disorders,
barbiturates and benzodiazepines can be addictive and should
be used only as prescribed.
CNS depressants should not be combined with any medication or
substance that causes sleepiness, including prescription pain medicines,
certain over-the-counter cold and allergy medications, or alcohol.
The effects of the drugs can combine to slow breathing, or slow
both the heart and respiration, which can be fatal.
Discontinuing prolonged use of high doses of CNS depressants can
lead to withdrawal. Because they work by slowing the brain's activity,
a potential consequence of abuse is that when one stops taking
a CNS depressant the brain's activity can rebound to the point
that seizures can occur. Someone thinking about ending their use
of a CNS depressant, or who has stopped and is suffering withdrawal,
should speak with a physician and seek medical treatment.
In addition to medical supervision, counseling in an in-patient
or out-patient setting can help people who are overcoming addiction
to CNS depressants. For example, cognitive-behavioral therapy has
been used successfully to help individuals in treatment for abuse
of benzodiazepines. This type of therapy focuses on modifying a
patient's thinking, expectations, and behaviors while simultaneously
increasing their skills for coping with various life stressors.
Often the abuse of CNS depressants occurs in conjunction with
the abuse of another substance or drug, such as alcohol or cocaine.
In these cases of polydrug abuse, the treatment approach needs
to address the multiple addictions.
Stimulants are a class of drugs that enhance brain activity - they
cause an increase in alertness, attention, and energy that is
accompanied by increases in blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration.
Historically, stimulants were used to treat asthma and other respiratory
problems, obesity, neurological disorders, and a variety of other
ailments. As their potential for abuse and addiction became apparent,
the use of stimulants began to wane. Now, stimulants are prescribed
for treating only a few health conditions, including narcolepsy,
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and depression
that has not responded to other treatments. Stimulants may also
be used for short-term treatment of obesity, and for patients with
asthma.
Stimulants such as dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine) and methylphenidate
(Ritalin) have chemical structures that are similar to key brain
neurotransmitters called monoamines, which include norepinephrine
and dopamine. Stimulants increase the levels of these chemicals
in the brain and body. This, in turn, increases blood pressure
and heart rate, constricts blood vessels, increases blood glucose,
and opens up the pathways of the respiratory system. In addition,
the increase in dopamine is associated with a sense of euphoria
that can accompany the use of these drugs.
Research indicates that people with ADHD do not become addicted
to stimulant medications, such as Ritalin, when taken in the form
prescribed and at treatment dosages.5 However, when
misused, stimulants can be addictive.
The consequences of stimulant abuse can be extremely dangerous.
Taking high doses of a stimulant can result in an irregular heartbeat,
dangerously high body temperatures, and/or the potential for cardiovascular
failure or lethal seizures. Taking high doses of some stimulants
repeatedly over a short period of time can lead to hostility or
feelings of paranoia in some individuals.
Stimulants should not be mixed with antidepressants or over-the-counter
cold medicines containing decongestants. Anti-depressants may enhance
the effects of a stimulant, and stimulants in combination with
decongestants may cause blood pressure to become dangerously high
or lead to irregular heart rhythms.
Treatment of addiction to prescription stimulants, such as methylphenidate
and amphetamines, is based on behavioral therapies proven effective
for treating cocaine or methamphetamine addiction. At this time,
there are no proven medications for the treatment of stimulant
addiction. Antidepressants, however, may be used to manage the
symptoms of depression that can accompany early abstinence from
stimulants.
Depending on the patient's situation, the first step in treating
prescription stimulant addiction may be to slowly decrease the
drug's dose and attempting to treat withdrawal symptoms. This process
of detoxification could then be followed with one of many behavioral
therapies. Contingency management, for example, uses a system that
enables patients to earn vouchers for drug-free urine tests; the
vouchers can be exchanged for items that promote healthy living.
Cognitive-behavioral therapies are proving beneficial, and recovery
support groups may also be effective in conjunction with a behavioral
therapy.
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Reference - National Institute on Drug Abuse, Research Report
Series: Prescription Drugs/Abuse and Addiction, April 2001.
1 These data are from the 1999 National Household Survey on Drug
Abuse (NHSDA), funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA). NHSDA is an annual survey on
the nationwide prevalence and incidence of illicit drug, alcohol,
and tobacco use among Americans age 12 and older. The 1999 NHSDA
also provides estimates of State and Washington, D.C. data. For
detailed information from of the latest survey, visit www.samhsa.gov
or order a copy from 1-800-729-6686.
2 The Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey is conducted by the University
of Michigan's Institute for Social Research and is funded by National
Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health. The survey
has tracked 12th graders' illicit drug use and related attitudes
since 1975; in 1991, 8th and 10th graders were added to the study.
For the 2000 study, 45,173 students were surveyed from a representative
sample of 435 public and private schools nationwide. The student
response rate was 86 percent. For the latest survey results, please
visit the NIDA website at www.drugabuse.gov.
3 L. Simoni-Wastila, The Use of Abusable Prescription Drugs: The
Role of Gender, Journal of Women's Health and Gender-based Medicine
9(3):289-297, 2000.
4 The latest findings on drug abuse related hospital visits (emergency
room data) and deaths (medical examiner data) are from the 1999
Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), produced by the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). For detailed
information from of the latest survey, visit www.samhsa.gov or
order a copy from 1-800-729-6686.
5 Nora Volkow, et al., Dopamine Transporter Occupancies in the
Human Brain Induced by Therapeutic Doses of Oral Methylphenidate,
Am J Psychiatry 155:1325-1331, October 1998.
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