When we talk about substance dependencies, we usually mean the use of illegal substances. However, it is a much wider term that encompasses the abuse of many perfectly legal and normal prescription medicines.
The abuse of pills is becoming common because taking multiple pills for every small amount of pain is considered normal.
Particularly, the rate of prescription drug dependence is fast climbing as a huge number of people are popping pills for one ailment or the other.
This is partly because pills are readily available. Moreover, the general perception is that only illicit substances can be detrimental to health while pills are considered harmless.
What these people fail to realize is that the abuse of pills that might be of benefit can, at times, become harmful depending on their use.
Following are a few risks associated with making pill-popping a part of your lifestyle.
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Our bodies can become used to certain medicines if they are ingested over a long period. When the said medicine is not taken, the person can start to crave it relentlessly.
They start feeling feel nauseous and develop a fever.
These are called withdrawal symptoms and can be harmful, depending on how serious the dependence is. To get rid of these withdrawal symptoms and feel some relief, people keep on using the same medicines.
This leads to the classic vicious cycle that we know occurs with established users. When this goes on for a long time, the body develops a dependency on the medicine.
What was once a medicine prescribed to address a health issue becomes a crutch needed for everyday survival. In cases like these, it is best to consult with recovery facilities like the Delphi Health Group to learn how to fight dependencies of all kinds before they leave any lasting effects.
Substance dependencies sap one of the energies to think about anything other than the substance in question. People with substance dependencies spend most of their time thinking about their next fix and start neglecting their family duties and work responsibilities.
This kind of behavior leads to their estrangement from family members and friends. The consequences are that many lose their jobs, neglect their many other responsibilities, and fall into loneliness and despair.
These difficult times, instead of motivating the user, can instead push them deeper into their pill-popping lifestyle, which in turn makes them neglect their duties even more.
The cycle continues as the person digs themselves into a deeper and deeper hole.
The medicine that was first taken for its benefits can turn against the body when it is over-ingested. The abuse of different pills may lead to many different types of side effects.
Overuse of sleeping pills can lead to drowsiness and lethargy during the day while also making you an insomniac who struggles to sleep at night without the pills.
Pain killers have an adverse impact on many different organs, mainly the liver and kidneys. They make people drowsy, which can lead to life-threatening accidents.
They can also cause severe acidity, which leads to the formation of painful ulcers in the stomach. The acidity medicines, in turn, may cause a vitamin deficiency.
Taking too many antibiotics can kill healthy bacteria in your body and upset your gut health.
Recent years have seen a major over-diagnosis problem when it comes to ADHD in kids. The drug that is prescribed to children with ADHD can lead to depression in adulthood.
Prescription medications rank the highest in terms of abused substances. It’s ironic that these are the same medicines that are prescribed by healthcare professionals to help their patients.
Usually, health practitioners also give directions in regards to the dosage and duration of treatment. People with a dependency on these pharmaceuticals may find it hard to procure them on their own without a doctor’s prescription.
Such a predicament may lead them to resort to illegal means to satisfy their cravings.
Additionally, pill-popping is an expensive habit to maintain, which, if continued, could leave the person financially crippled and in debt. It may even lead them to turn to a life of crime to fund their habit.
When antibiotics are casually prescribed and ingested, they can lead to antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria, through overexposure, develop the ability to resist the pharmaceutical drugs meant to kill them.
When bacteria develop resistance, they start to thrive despite the antibiotics. These bacteria then multiply and infect other people.
Even if the bacteria infecting a person is only immune to one drug, the patient suffers because they have to go through more than one course of antibiotics, which can wreak havoc on their immune systems. In extreme cases, infections from these bacteria become untreatable.
You may have been pill-popping for a long time now without ever facing even minimal side effects. However, even if you’re sure you will not develop a dependency, it’s still best to stay away.
Different kinds of medicines may not interact well with one another. For example, if you contract some sort of an illness or face an accident for which you have to take some other medicines, your prescribed medicines may contain chemicals that may react with your routine pills, leading to side effects.
It is considered normal these days to take a pill for any and every small discomfort you might feel. However, this can lead to serious health issues as you become dependent on a certain pill. This dependency can negatively impact your work and family life. You might struggle to pay for your pill-popping habit and resort to illegal means to acquire more money or pills to maintain the habit. You can face serious health issues from the abuse of even the most harmless substances, and they might interact with each other to exacerbate the matter even more. You may develop antibiotic resistance and succumb to an untreatable infection. Hence, medicines should always be taken with care and under the guidance of a healthcare professional to avoid further complications.