How Opiates Affect The Human Body
Chris Channing
The poppy flower P. somniferum has been cultivated for centuries due to the opium resin that the seed pods produce. Narcotics known as opiates are derived from opium, and include heroin, morphine, and of course, opium. Opiates are all extremely effective depressive analgesics, which has led to the creation of synthetic opiates called opioids as prescription painkillers. Opiates however, are not wonder drugs, as they possessive an extremely addictive nature, and abuse of opiates is very common. Opiate withdrawal can be an excruciating experience, and in some cases, death can occur after as little as two days.
Short-Term Side Effects Resulting from Opiate Use
After using a powerful opiate such as heroin, opium, or morphine, users usually feel the euphoric effects of the opiate induced high after a short time, depending on the method of dosing. Decreased reaction to pain, as well as to just about any other external stimuli takes place. Vomiting is not uncommon among heroin users, and blackouts are often experienced by addicts who inject themselves with especially potent heroin.
Opiate users, especially heroin, opium, and morphine addicts, often feel very apathetic to anything taking place around them as long as they have the drug in their system. Opiate addicts will sometimes do anything to attain a high and avoid withdrawal symptoms, which is problematic in itself because tolerance to opiates builds extremely quickly.
Opiate Withdrawal
Withdrawal from opiates usually begins about four to six hours after the drug has last been used, starting with feelings of general discomfort. If an opiate addict cannot obtain a fix for their addiction, painful side effects often take place. Nausea and digestive problems are frequent, with inability to digest food properly, diarrhea, and excessive vomiting being the most prevalent. Painfully aching joints and muscles, hot and cold flashes, and depression will occur if the user does not acquire a fix, and after twelve hours, withdrawal symptoms begin to become severe and possibly life threatening.
Although opiate withdrawal can last for days, the harshest symptoms are felt after about seventy-two hours. At this point the urge to vomit due to sheer nausea is so overwhelming that an addict can lost ten to twenty pounds in a day. To make matters worse, the body temperature will slowly rise. Twitching of the muscles, usually the legs, takes place. This is where "kicking that habit" originated as a term.
The introduction of the painkiller oxycontin has been cause for alarm within the past decade. Similar to opiates in many ways, prescription painkillers are often just as addictive as illegal opiates like heroin and opium. Heroin cut with synthetic opiate such as ones commonly found in painkillers has lead to many overdose deaths. Though pharmaceutical companies have tried to separate the medicinal aspect of opiates from the addictive side, almost no breakthroughs have been made and painkillers are being abused more and more often. When an opiate overdose does occur, shallow breathing and cold skin can often lead to a coma which ends the life of the user. Although opiates do provide a temporary high, the risk of addiction is so high that it is better to avoid them altogether. When prescribed powerful painkillers, do not abuse them and make sure you follow your physician's instructions.
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