People who become addicted to their prescription medications put themselves in very difficult situations. If they truly need the medications their doctors or therapist are prescribing for them, they are effectively turning their salvation into the enemy, the enemy being a substance that’s causing them great harm.
If you have resorted to abusing your prescription medications for pain or mental health issues, you have a two-pronged problem with which to deal. You need to get help for your addiction and subsequently, you need to figure out how to manage the physical or mental health issues that requires you to take prescription medication in the first place.
There’s no point in trying to soften the blow. This is a very difficult task that you are about to undertake. It’s great news that you are considering getting treatment for the addiction issue. However, that’s just half the battle you are going to be waging if you have any realistic designs of a recovery from your addiction.
Clearly, your addiction took hold for one of two reasons. You either have been careless in the way you have been managing your prescription medications, or you have intentionally sought to abuse said substances for a particular reason. The initial part of addiction treatment will help you figure our exactly what the driving force has been behind your addictive behavior. At the same time, you and the addiction treatment professionals you would be working with have to figure out how to address your physical/mental issues post addiction treatment.
Will Detox from Prescription Drugs Make Me Lose My Access to Medications?
Focusing on prescription painkillers, these products contain opioids as the primary active ingredient. Opioids are highly addictive and capable of forcing someone into an addiction with just a few weeks of abuse.
If you have been living your life with chronic pain issues, there is a good chance your doctor has been anticipating your would need medicinal intervention for perhaps the rest of your life. Now, you have fallen prey to an insidious disease that’s going to be with you forever. That creates a conflict for you and your doctors.
Because of your addiction, the first thing you have to do is go through the detox process to cleanse your mind and body of the opioid dependence. If your addiction is substantial, the detox process offers challenges. You will have to encounter withdrawal symptoms that can be downright scary. Take a look at this partial list of potential opiate withdrawal symptoms:
- Breathing difficulties
- Increase in both heart rate and blood pressure
- Hallucinations and nightmares that adversely affect sleep
- Body convulsions and tremors in the extremities
- Severe muscle cramping
The list goes on. It’s because of the danger associated with opioid withdrawal that you will want assistance with the process. A reputable addiction treatment center like ours would likely place you in a medically monitored detox program. In said program, you would get help with any discomfort you might experience while your body detoxes. Would that include pain medication?
Therein lies the rub. The medical staff is going to be wary of giving you prescription pain medications during and after the detox process. To answer the titled question, it is possible you might have to stay away from opiates for the rest of your life. Remember, your addiction can never be cured. It can only be arrested and rendered dormant until you make the mistake of awakening the sleeping giant.
What is possible is your doctors could decide to employ alternative techniques to help you deal with your pain issues in the future. There are some holistic options that might help in this regard. It’s also possible you might have to undergo surgery or take on a significant rehabilitation program. The last alternative is always going to be giving you legal access to prescription painkillers. If that’s the only remaining option to help you manage your pain, it’s a good bet you would be placed under constant scrutiny by your doctors. Pain is pain, but an addiction to opioids holds the potential of killing you.
If you have been abusing your prescription medication to the point of addiction, saving your life is far more important that worrying about how you are going to manage your pain issues in the future. We need you to call us immediately at 833-846-5669. By you doing so, it will give us an opportunity to talk to you about a strategy to help you with your addiction and anything that comes after treatment.