{"id":36448,"date":"2021-04-15T16:13:02","date_gmt":"2021-04-16T00:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coastlinerehabcenters.com\/?p=36448"},"modified":"2021-10-17T05:44:01","modified_gmt":"2021-10-17T05:44:01","slug":"the-long-term-effects-of-opiate-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coastlinerehabcenters.com\/drug-addiction\/the-long-term-effects-of-opiate-abuse","title":{"rendered":"The Long-Term Effects Of Opiate Abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drug abuse refers to the use of any substance without your doctor\u2019s authorization. It poses both short-term and long-term effects - getting help sooner rather than later is important.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>What Are Opiates?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Opiates are substances people derive naturally from the opium poppy plant. Doctors usually prescribe opiates as a pain medication. Examples of opiates include morphine, codeine, and opium.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Opiates are similar to opioids because they have the same effect, and people cannot often distinguish them. However, opioids are substances manufacturers synthesize fully or partially to imitate the effects of opiates. We can say that all opiates are opioids but not all opioids are opiates. Examples of opioids include oxycodone, heroin, methadone, hydrocodone, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>What Is Opiate Abuse?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Opiate abuse is the use of opiates without a prescription for recreational purposes or as a coping mechanism. In the United States alone, there are over<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/opioids\/about-the-epidemic\/opioid-crisis-statistics\/index.html#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20an%20estimated%2010.1,and%20745%2C000%20people%20used%20heroin.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 10 million people with at least 12 years<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have misused opioids in the past year. People usually abuse opiates in the following ways:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Taking an excessive dosage&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using another person's dosage&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Taking the medication for euphoric purposes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using it in a way other than how your doctor instructs you.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People tend to abuse opiates a lot because of their calming and pain relief effects. However, opiate abuse is very risky. Its effects can shift from mild to severe in a short time. Moreover, the effects of opiate abuse could be short-term or long-term. Some of the short term effects of opiate abuse include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Respiratory depression<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Slowed breathing<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Constipation<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nausea<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drowsiness<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Paranoia<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lethargy<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><b>What Are the Long-Term Effects of Opiate Abuse?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some of the long term effects of opiate abuse include:<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Addiction<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Opioids are some of the most addictive drugs, and you can easily get addicted even after you first use them. Moreover, opiates prescription medications are among the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/coastlinerehabcenters.com\/the-most-addictive-prescription-drugs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">most addictive prescription medications.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> They interfere with the reward system of your brain, which results in intense cravings. There is a high rate of opiate abuse and addiction in the&nbsp; United States which has caused an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/coastlinerehabcenters.com\/the-challenges-of-co-occurring-opioid-and-covid-19-epidemics\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">opioid epidemic.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Moreover, people find it hard to resist the cravings opiate destroy brain cells. The intense cravings increase the risks of a relapse. It will help to understand how to avoid Relapse if you are getting or already have opiate addiction treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Tolerance<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The more you abuse opiates the more your body builds tolerance to the drugs. Tolerance means that you will need more substance to experience the calming or pain-relieving effects you desire. A high substance tolerance is dangerous because you will hardly know your limits. Therefore, you are at a high risk of an overdose.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Overdose<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People who abuse opiates often are at a higher risk of overdose. You can overdose from opiates abuse if you:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take another person's medication&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take too much opiates&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mix opiates with other substances such as alcohol.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the Centers for Disease <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/drugoverdose\/epidemic\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Control and Prevention (CDC),<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> opiate overdose was responsible for the death of almost half a million people between 1999 and 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Risk of Developing Various Long Term Illnesses<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Opiates can cause long-term effects such as brain damage, liver damage, suppressed immune system, and depressed central nervous system. You may also develop the following ailments from the use of intravenous opiates HIV, Hepatitis, skin infections like gangrene, blood infections, and heart infections &amp; problems.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Risk of Developing Mental Health Issues<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/coastlinerehabcenters.com\/substance-abuse-treatment\/opiate-addiction\/\">Long term opiate abuse<\/a> also can cause various mental health issues, including anxiety and depression. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3466038\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Research<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> shows a 38% higher risk to develop serious depression among individuals who abuse opiates.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Strained Family Relationships<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Long-term opiate abuse often leads to strained family relationships. It is usually because opiate addiction has affected your family and friends in one way or another. It is important to try and mend these relationships because <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC4835237\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">research<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> shows that family helps in faster and long term recovery.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Legal Issues<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are legal and illegal opiates. You face various legal risks if you get reported or caught abusing illegal opiates. Furthermore, you face various legal risks if you have opioids without a prescription. Moreover, doctor\u2019s who give out opiate prescriptions illegally face serious professional and legal implications.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Financial Implications<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drug abuse affects on your financial well-being as well. People addicted to opiates will prioritize their finances on getting the drugs. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/coastlinerehabcenters.com\/addiction-disease-or-choice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Addiction is a disease<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that compels someone to abuse drugs despite their effects. Therefore, you may find that you are actually getting debts to finance your abuse. Financial issues may also cause unrest and conflicts with family members.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Opiates are highly addictive substances that people derive naturally from the opium poppy plant. They have contributed to the opioid epidemic in America and the rest of the world. Doctors prescribe them because of their pain-relieving effects. However, people also abuse them for the same reasons and calming effects.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Opiate abuse has some short term and long term effects. Some of the short term effects include constipation, nausea, lethargy, drowsiness, paranoia, and more. The long term effects of opiate abuse include addiction, tolerance, overdose, risk of long term illnesses, risk of mental health issues, stained family relationships, legal, and financial implications.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In many cases, people deny drug abuse and give various excuses to avoid drug abuse and addiction treatments. You can take various steps to help a loved one get opiate abuse and addiction treatments.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>Do You need Opiate Abuse and Addiction Treatment in California?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can get opiate abuse and addiction treatment at Coastline behavioral Health in Orange county. We offer addiction for various other substances including alcohol, amphetamine, heroin, and more. Our team also helps individuals to address underlying issues such as dual diagnosis, codependency, anxiety, trauma, and more.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We customize addiction treatment to the needs of our patients.&nbsp; For example, the treatment programs available for opiate abuse and addiction treatment include opiate detox, inpatient opiate addiction treatment, Outpatient, opiate addiction treatment, <a href=\"https:\/\/coastlinerehabcenters.com\/\">Luxury addiction rehab<\/a>, and executive opiate addiction rehab.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Call us today at (714)841-2260 to get opiate abuse and addiction treatment for yourself or someone you love.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Drug abuse refers to the use of any substance without your doctor\u2019s authorization. It poses both short-term and long-term effects - getting help sooner rather than later is important.&nbsp; &nbsp; What Are Opiates? Opiates are substances people derive naturally from the opium poppy plant. Doctors usually prescribe opiates as a pain medication. Examples of opiates [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,15,16,20],"tags":[77,78,79],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coastlinerehabcenters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coastlinerehabcenters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coastlinerehabcenters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coastlinerehabcenters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coastlinerehabcenters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coastlinerehabcenters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coastlinerehabcenters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coastlinerehabcenters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coastlinerehabcenters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coastlinerehabcenters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}