Oxycontin Addiction Treatment Centers Charleston WV

Since its introduction in 1995, Oxycontin is now considered to be the most popular non-generic narcotic pain reliever of its kind. Oxycontin is the commercial name for oxycodone hydrochloride which is the chemical agent used to treat patients with complaints of chronic and moderate-to-severe levels of pain. Oxycontin was initially intended for use by terminally ill cancer patients with severe and chronic pain. The product was later reformulated and remarketed under other drug brand names such as Percocet, Percodan and Depalogos.

Oxycontin not only effectively relieves and reduces pain on a time-release basis; it also produces profound states of euphoria. For this reason, Oxycontin is highly addictive and difficult to kick. This has kept addiction services and drug rehab centers expanding beyond their capacity as they try to deal with an increasing number of patients seeking relief from their addiction.

Most Oxycontin detoxification services are either residential treatment programs or are part of an extended outpatient treatment and recovery facility. To this end you will want to be certain that the local rehabilitation and treatment program you select is operated by experienced and state-accredited mental health care professionals.

Treatment And Detox Services – Inpatient or Outpatient

Treating Oxycontin addiction usually requires medical intervention and follow- up care and supervision by licensed drug therapists and drug-rehabilitation counselors. This can be done in an inpatient or outpatient setting.

Most Oxycontin treatment services are medically customized towards the individual needs and preferences of the patient. Detox from Oxycontin usually takes between one and two weeks assuming there are no other serious medical or health complications involved.

Unfortunately, most health insurance plans do not cover reimbursement for detoxification treatment services and care. However, it is widely anticipated that this type of care will be included under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010.

Prescription Drug Abuse - Pain Killer Madness

In 2008 reported sales of Oxycontin in the United States alone toped $2.5 Billion. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration determined that between 1997 and 2005, retail pharmacy sales of oxycodone increased six-fold. While prescriptions for Oxycontin continues to rise, the drugs benefits must be balanced against the risk of abuse and addiction to the drug.

Physicians write thousands of Oxycontin prescriptions every month, and pharmacies are content to fill them. This has made the availability of the drug common and therefore widely accessible in the medicine cabinets of our homes and on the streets and playgrounds of local communities.

Pain Killer Addiction – Withdrawal Symptoms

Oxycontin works by blocking pain signals to the brain and nervous system. Oxycontin also operates to increase the levels of dopamine in our system. Dopamine is the natural chemical agent responsible for the experience of pain-numbing pleasure and euphoria that is so commonly reported by Oxycontin patients. For most addicts, losing the euphoria brings about an insatiable craving and need to renew the euphoric experience again and again. It is an ugly and vicious cycle that begins with euphoria and pain reduction and ends with an insatiable need to continue taking the drug indefinitely.
Withdrawal symptoms surface as the body seeks to compensate for the increased levels of dopamine and the resulting increase in medicated euphoria. Oxycontin addiction slowly but surely creeps up on the individual until feeding the addiction becomes a full time obsession. Withdrawal symptoms often include high levels of anxiety and nervousness, perspiration, chills, insomnia, anorexia, diarrhea and increased heart and repertory rate.

Withdraw from Oxicontin often requires the love, care and support of friends and family. If no familial support or friendship network is available to the patient, he or she is asked and indeed encouraged to seek out a local support group that will share the patients concerns and goals in the recovery process.

For more information on drug abuse, controlled substances, addiction and recovery services and treatment centers, including the criminal laws and legal consequences for using narcotics and other types of controlled substances, go to GotTrouble.com.