OxyContin Information

ON THIS PAGE

What is OxyContin?

OxyContin is the brand name for an opioid analgesic (a medication or substance that relieves pain), containing the active ingredient oxycodone (also found in Percocet and Percodan). OxyContin is a legal narcotic that is available, by prescription, to treat severe pain.

OxyContin is a controlled-release medication that, when used correctly, provides extended relief of pain associated with cancer, back pain, or arthritis. However, often when the drug is abused, the tablets are crushed and snorted, chewed, or mixed with water and injected–eliminating the time-release factor and allowing for a quick and intense rush to the brain. This practice can lead to overdosing on OxyContin’s active ingredient, oxycodone, by releasing too much of the medication into the bloodstream too quickly. OxyContin is highly addictive, so higher doses of the drug must be taken when a tolerance develops. Illicit users of the drug have risen drastically and steadily over the last few years.

For the patient in severe pain, OxyContin was a godsend. When nothing else could make life livable, OxyContin could. But when the higher-dose form of OxyContin was released in 1995, it became a frequent drug of abuse and addiction. In those instances, the effects of OxyContin were not so positive. The ability of OxyContin to quickly establish addiction in the user created a trap from which it was agonizing to escape.

To understand, oxycontin is basically slow-release heroin. It takes longer for the body to process, hence is much harder to come off.

What Does OxyContin Look Like?

OxyContin most commonly exists in tablet form. These round pills come in 10mg, 20mg, 40mg, 80mg and 160mg dosages. OxyContin also comes in capsule or liquid form.

OxyContin Street Names

OxyContin is also known as Oxy, OxyCotton, Oxy 80 (for the 80mg dose), or OC.

Painkillers: What You Need to Know.

Get the information about Painkillers that may help you prevent a disaster for your or your loved one.

DOWNLOAD NOW

New Formulation of OxyContin

Several years ago Purdue Pharmaceutical released a new form of OxyContin that is supposed to eliminate the abuse potential of the old form. It is called OxyContin OP. The original formulation could be easily smashed into a powder for snorting or injecting but the components in these new tablets are bound together with a glue-like substance. But shortly after its release, you could find information on the Internet on how to circumvent these new protective measures.

There is a place in the world for strong pain relievers but indiscriminate prescribing, both legitimate and illegitimate, has created widespread abuse and hundreds of thousands of new addicts. In 2007, more than 1.7 million people were dependent on or addicted to pain relievers, OxyContin in its various strengths being one of the most popular. By 2016 the U.S. was in the midst of an opioid crisis that many attributed to the overprescribing of prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin. That year it was estimated that between 26.4 million and 36 million people were abusing opioids.

Short-term Effects of OxyContin

The most serious risk associated with OxyContin is respiratory depression. Because of this, OxyContin should not be combined with other substances that slow down breathing, such as alcohol, antihistamines (like some cold or allergy medication), barbiturates, or benzodiazepines. Other common side effects include constipation, nausea, sedation, dizziness, vomiting, headache, dry mouth, sweating, and weakness. Toxic overdose and/or death can occur by taking the tablet broken, chewed, or crushed. People who abuse the drug (by removing the time-release coating) will experience effects for up to 5 hours. The high that is felt is opiate-like - a sedate, euphoric feeling.

Long-term Effects of OxyContin

Using OxyContin chronically can result in increased tolerance to the drug in which higher doses of the medication must be taken to receive the initial effect. Over time, OxyContin will become physically addictive, causing a person to experience withdrawal symptoms when the drug is not present. Symptoms of withdrawal include restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps, and involuntary leg movements.

Side Effects of OxyContin Abuse Can Be Life Threatening

When using OxyContin medically, some people may experience allergic effects of OxyContin which include seizures, fainting, confusion and cold, clammy skin. Other users may experience constipation, itching, dizziness, headaches, insomnia, vomiting and nausea.

But just crushing and snorting OxyContin or its generic form oxycodone bypasses the time-release protection in the tablet and creates a high equivalent to heroin.

Thwarting the time-release mechanism pours all the painkiller into the body at one time. For someone who has not developed a tolerance, this can easily result in an overdose. An OxyContin overdose may cause severe respiratory depression. When OxyContin is coupled with any other drug that acts as a depressant, such as a benzodiazepine valium or alcohol, breathing may slow down far enough to cause death.

Those Seeking a High Do Not Worry about the Negative Effects of OxyContin

It’s too common that those who become addicted to a drug or who just want to get high give little thought to the damaging health effects of the drug use. Then those who become addicted must focus their whole lives on how they will be able to buy OxyContin to get them through the day—whether to lie to a doctor to get a prescription or find a street dealer who will let them buy OxyContin from him. The drug is the drug wherever you get it.