Opiate withdrawal

Opiate withdrawal is caused by stopping, or dramatically reducing, opiate use after heavy and prolonged use (several weeks or more).

Opiates include heroin, morphine, codeine, Oxycontin, Dilaudid, methadone, and others. The reaction frequently includes sweating, shaking, headache, drug craving, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, diarrhea, inability to sleep, confusion, agitation, depression, anxiety, and other behavioral changes.

About 5% of the population is believed to misuse opiates, including illegal drugs like heroin and prescribed pain medications such as Oxycontin.

These drugs can cause physical dependence. This means that there is a reliance on the drug to prevent symptoms of withdrawl. Over time, greater amounts of the drug become necessary to produce the same effect.

The time it takes to become physically dependent varies with each individual.

When the drugs are stopped, the body needs time to recover, and withdrawal symptoms result. Withdrawal from opiates can occur whenever any chronic use is discontinued or reduced.

Some people even withdraw from opiates after hospitalization for painful conditions without realizing what is happening to them. They think they have the flu, and because they don't know that opiates would fix the problem, they don't crave the drugs.

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