Potentially addictive prescription drugs are widely used in the U.S. That’s true because, despite their risks, they play an essential role in treating numerous health conditions. Before developing full-blown addiction, you may become dependent on medication. Your doctor can manage dependence. However, if you’re addicted, you may need prescription drug treatment. Learning about the symptoms of addiction and dependence makes it easier to spot problems and get help for them.
What Are the Signs of Prescription Drug Dependence?
The term prescription drug dependence typically refers to physical dependence. This state occurs when your brain starts treating the presence of a given medication as an operating norm. Regarding prescription drugs, dependence is not a synonym for addiction. However, it is a cause for concern, and you should tell your doctor if it develops.
The classic sign of prescription drug dependence is withdrawal. Dependent people experience withdrawal when they do such things as:
- Wait too long between medication doses
- Make quick, drastic cuts in their medication use
- Stop taking their medication entirely
Dependence can be managed and kept from turning into an addiction. But to do this, you need the expertise and oversight of an experienced doctor.
Ways of Recognizing Prescription Drug Abuse
In most cases, medication addiction stems from prescription drug abuse. This is the common term for behaviors that lead to your use of a medication in unintended ways. You may also see these behaviors referred to as prescription drug misuse.
What are the best ways of recognizing prescription drug abuse when it occurs? Several kinds of indicators may be present. For example, you or someone you know may take more of your medication than prescribed. You may also take it more often than prescribed. In addition, you engage in misuse or abuse when you take someone else’s medication. That’s also true when you attempt to modify a medication and intensify its effects on your system.
Prescription Drug Addiction Symptoms and Substance Use Disorder
If you’re addicted to a medication, you have a substance use disorder (SUD). That’s the term experts now use to identify and diagnose addiction symptoms. But the SUD definition isn’t limited to addiction alone. It also encompasses non-addicted substance abuse that significantly interferes with your daily function.
Why is SUD defined in this way? Physical prescription drug addiction symptoms often overlap with physical symptoms of prescription drug abuse, and the same holds true for the psychological and behavioral effects of addiction and abuse. The SUD definition was created with this interconnected reality in mind.
Physical symptoms of prescription drug abuse or addiction include withdrawal. They also include increasing tolerance to the effects of your medication. Psychological and behavioral symptoms include:
- Loss of the ability to set limits on your medication use
- Adherence to a level of medication use that you know is harming you
- Creation of a daily routine that prioritizes medication-related activities
- An inability to stop your medication abuse after multiple efforts
- Cravings for more of your medication when you’re not taking it
You may also find yourself disregarding the negative impact of your medication use on your key relationships.
Learn More About Prescription Drug Addiction Symptoms at Northpoint Colorado
Have more questions about the signs and symptoms of prescription drug problems? Talk to the specialists at Northpoint Colorado. We’re happy to help you become more aware of these important indicators.
Northpoint is also your trusted source for prescription drug detox and rehab services. Our personalized, state-of-the-art care plans support your recovery from any medication-related SUD. Call us today at 888.231.1281 for more information. We’re also available online via our convenient message form. We’re here to help.