OxyContin Detox May Become Growth Industry In Affluent Mukilteo
04/07/2009
In the city of Mukilteo, an affluent suburb at the northern extremes of Seattle, WA, soccer moms and corporate-exec dads are learning the hard way about a disturbing new aspect of living the American dream -- the growing need for OxyContin detox and drug rehab for their school-age kids.
OxyContin, related to morphine and heroin, is a powerful narcotic painkiller originally intended for terminal cancer patients. It has become the drug of choice among many teens and young adults all across America, and from all walks of life.
A recent feature article in the Mukilteo Beacon reveals that the need for OxyContin detox and rehab programs among young high-schoolers may become surprisingly common in that American-dream community.
The article tells the story of how, not long ago, a local soccer mom’s idyllic world of “soccer matches, Little League games, fund-raisers and ferrying her children between school and their various activities, a universe away from the harsh realities of opiate addiction -- crime, constant sickness and sacrificing family and friends for that next fix”-- came to a crashing halt.
That was the day that Jeanmarie Trapp, a “scout leader, PTA president, and stay-at-home mom got the phone call no parent wants to hear. Her child was addicted to OxyContin, in legal trouble, and that was just the beginning of the nightmare.”
OxyContin use has expanded from its originally intended cancer pain to any chronic pain, even moderate pain. Although OxyContin comes in time-release tablets of varying strengths, most addicts eventually start crushing the tablets into powder to defeat the time release mechanism, and snort it, or dissolve and inject the drug, for an immediate high. If you’re a new user, death can occur following a single dose. And even if you’re an experienced and habitual user, mixing it with other drugs or alcohol can also bring a swift end to life.
OxyContin is so addictive, in fact, that Purdue Pharmaceuticals, the drug’s maker, was fined $634 million by the government last year for deceiving regulators and physicians about how addictive and dangerous it can be in the wrong hands. And those wrong hands in Mukilteo are affluent teens and college kids.
“No one is immune to this,” Trapp said. “People need to take their blinders off and quit thinking that it can’t happen to them. Typically, kids start experimenting with prescription drug abuse around 12 to 14 years old. Kids that age are so naïve – they have no clue about the dangers and side effects of prescription drugs. It’s important to reach and educate impressionable young kids before it’s too late.”
“This is everywhere, not just ‘somewhere else,’” Trapp said. “Every economic level, every household is at risk; it’s a problem that’s not going to be solved by myself. It’s a complex problem, and to solve it, people may have to rethink their opinions and their prejudices about the entire issue.”
Trapp has created a support group that meets once a week at her real estate office, and is organizing public outreach projects to spread the word. “This isn’t a support group where we talk about our stories,” she said. “We’re an action group.”
When someone has become addicted to OxyContin, they’re in a grip that can seem impossible to get free of. Kids especially don’t understand the power of the drug, and the difficulty of getting clean, Trapp told the Beacon. In fact, kids often progress to heroin from OxyContin addiction, she added. Many addiction experts call OxyContin “heroin in a pill”, and in the Appalachian region of the south-east U.S., it’s nicknamed “hillbilly heroin”.
OxyContin addicts looking for their next fix are long past enjoying a pleasant high. Without a timely dose, withdrawal inevitably sets in, and the body automatically starts the detox process. Addicts find themselves “fighting nausea and vomiting, muscle and joint pain, heart palpitations, hot and cold sweats, depression and other withdrawal effects,” Trapp told the Beacon.
Yet OxyContin detox is the must-do first step on the journey to becoming drug-free. But it is so agonizing that many addicts can’t face it. They may try, but usually abandon the idea and return to their addiction.
Most detox centers aren’t much help. They offer a pretty much “one size fits all” approach to OxyContin detox. Putting someone in a room and denying them any OxyContin is not the most successful method of OxyContin detox.
And enlisting the aid of the family doctor is rarely more successful. What’s usually offered by a doctor is the advice to start “tapering off” the drug until you are drug free -- in other words, try to live for weeks or months with constant withdrawal symptoms. For obvious reasons, very few addicts ever complete such a program.
There is a much more successful approach to OxyContin detox that offers a shorter, more comfortable withdrawal period. Called medical drug detox, it provides 24/7 medical supervision, along with the latest technology in medically assisted opiate detox, that reduces or eliminates much of the discomfort of opiate withdrawal.
Make sure you don’t confuse medical drug detox with what’s called “rapid detox”, a dangerous approach that should be avoided. Medical drug detox assesses all aspects of an addict’s life, including their unique metabolism and health needs, adds in the latest proven medical assistance, and reduces OxyContin detox to a matter of days for most people.
From there, it’s a much easier road to a long-term drug rehab program and full recovery from OxyContin addiction.
Rod MacTaggart is a freelance writer who contributes articles on health.
info@novusdetox.com
http://www.novusdetox.com
Technorati Tags: OxyContin detox, OxyContin addiction, medical drug detox, drug detox, drug rehab, narcotic painkiller