Overcoming Addiction: Which Substance is the Hardest to Kick?

Symptoms of Delirium Tremens

Because an individual who has delirium tremens can become dangerous to himself or others, can lapse into extreme periods of sleep and may suffer from heart problems or seizures, it’s important that they are monitored and treated by medical professionals. Part of their care is balancing electrolytes, ensuring they stay hydrated, and making sure any potential seizures or serious episodes are treated properly.

Benzodiazepines

Benzodiazepines (“benzos”) are more commonly known by their brand name pills: Valium, Xanax, Klonopin, Ativan, Librium, Versed, Halcion, Tranxene, Serax, and many others. These anti-anxiety drugs were originally introduced to replace barbiturates as a “less addictive” option.

Benzodiazepines work by increasing the effectiveness of a calming brain chemical called GABA. An unfortunate consequence of using these drugs is that they rapidly cause the individual to become tolerant to their effects. Even when using the drug under the care of a doctor, the user will likely become dependent and suffer withdrawal symptoms if they try to suddenly quit or change medications.

It’s hard to get an actual count on the number of individuals who are abusing or addicted to benzodiazepines. This is major because a certain percentage of people have prescriptions for the drugs but are functionally addicted to them.  For these individuals, overcoming addiction is just as hard as overcoming addiction to illegal drugs.

During the seven years from 2005 to 2011, almost a million (an estimated 943,032) emergency department (ED) visits involved benzodiazepines alone or in combination with opioid pain relievers or alcohol and no other substances.

Another, more shocking statistic, is the number of benzo-related overdose deaths in the US. 30% of pharmaceutical overdoses in the U.S. involved benzodiazepines.

Withdrawal from benzos must be made gradually. Rapid withdrawal when one has used benzodiazepines extensively can cause death.

Opiates

Opiates are powerful pain-relieving alkaloids that are derived from the poppy plant. Some of the most common drugs of this class are morphine, heroin, opium, and codeine. One might think that heroin would be the hardest drug to kick, but some of the synthetic opiates, known as opioids, are often just as difficult to quit. The most physically dangerous opioid to quit is methadone. Methadone is used mainly in the treatment of addiction to opiates such as morphine or heroin. Someone who has been using methadone for an extensive period must not attempt to quit without trained medical supervision; otherwise, the resultant withdrawal symptoms can be fatal.

There are some different types of synthetic opiates (aka opioids) offered under prescription and sold illegally on the street or over the internet. These include Fentanyl, Oxyfast, OxyContin, Zohydro ER, Percocet, Targiniq ER, Lorcet, Vicodin, and Demerol. All of these drugs are addictive and are very difficult to withdraw from.

After alcohol and marijuana, prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications are the most commonly abused drugs by 12^th graders, representing just one segment of the U.S. population.

One of the common reasons Americans choose prescription medications is that they are prescribed by a doctor and are thus considered “safe”. This can be the perception even when the individual using the drug is not the person to whom it is prescribed.

There has been a new trend emerging over the last year or two: When individuals hooked on prescription opioids have trouble finding pills or they can’t afford it, they are likely to try heroin due to the lower price and its availability. Once on heroin, physical and mental deterioration is accelerated.

Many individuals can get through the toughest part of such withdrawal symptoms within the first few days of detox. This varies depending on what drug the person was taking and for how long. Medical detox procedures considerably reduce the number and severity of opiate withdrawal symptoms. Since unsupervised methadone withdrawal can be fatal, addicts are often eased off with lower and lower doses over a long period of time. In the end, it’s easier to withdraw from other opiates than it is to go through extended withdrawal from methadone. Regardless, certain precautions must be followed for the safety of the individual.