Addiction to prescription pain medicines is a growing problem in the United States. The National Institute on Drug Abuse, or NIDA, lists the following painkillers among the most frequently abused medications: Vicodin, OxyContin, Stadol, Demerol, Percocet and Tylenol with codeine. All of these are listed in the category of "opioids and morphine derivatives," better known as narcotics. For the person who is wondering if he, or a loved one, may be addicted to a narcotic painkiller, it helps to identify the common medical symptoms.
Constricted Pupils
A patient who is addicted to narcotics will have pupils that are constricted, or smaller than normal. She will also tend to have bloodshot eyes. These are direct biochemical effects from the high, long-term doses of painkillers she is consuming.
Tolerance and Dependence
With chronic use of narcotic pain medicines, physical tolerance will develop. This means that the body gets desensitized to the original dose and frequency of taking the medicine, and pain returns more often and with greater intensity. This results in the patient craving higher and higher doses of the narcotic. Physical tolerance often leads to what physicians call "drug-seeking behavior," in which the narcotic-addicted patient will do anything he can, such as forging prescriptions, to get larger quantities of the medication.
Emotional Agitation
The narcotic-addicted patient will often exhibit emotionally disturbed behaviors, such as severe anxiety, paranoia, extreme mood swings and sudden bursts of anger. He may also demonstrate antisocial behavior, becoming involved in altercations and other illicit activities.
Withdrawal
Another symptom by which to identify whether someone is addicted to narcotic painkillers is the presence of "narcotic withdrawal" symptoms. If she is indeed addicted, she will start withdrawing if she misses a couple of doses or if her physician suddenly tapers her off the narcotic drug. Such withdrawal symptoms include runny nose and teary eyes, night sweats, severe agitation, nausea and tremors. Severe body aches, chills and muscle spasms also may occur.
Cognitive Changes
A patient addicted to pain medications will often exhibit slurred speech, and he may have difficulty concentrating or focusing. Many students who are addicted will see a sudden drop in grades as a result. With worsening of addiction, chronic drowsiness or even lethargy may occur.
Breathing Problems
If a patient is at an extreme stage of narcotic addiction, she will develop respiratory depression, which means that she has very shallow and slow breathing. This is a life-threatening symptom, and such a patient needs to be rushed to an emergency room by calling 911. Cases of death from narcotic addiction are usually due to respiratory arrest.
