If you crave this medicine or feel that you cannot control the urge to take it, you may have an opioid addiction. If you continue to use the drug without your doctor’s consent, you may become addicted even if the drug causes problems for you. The problem may be related to your health, money, work or school, law, or your relationship with family or friends. Your friends and family members may discover your addiction problem before you. They can notice changes in their behavior.
What is opioid addiction?
Opioid addiction is a strong urge to consume certain medications called opioids. But what are opioids? What is addiction? Opioids are medications that doctors often prescribe to help relieve pain. Addiction is a strong desire to do something. In this case, there is a strong desire to use opioids. Addiction is a disorder that has an impact on the behavior and brain.
At first, you can control your choice of opioid use. But if you don’t take the drug as directed by your doctor, its effects will eventually make you want to continue using it. Over time, your brain changes, so you will have a strong urge to take opioids.
Opioids are used to treat many problems, including:
- Toothache and dental surgery
- Injuries
- Surgery
- Chronic diseases such as cancer
Some prescription cough medicines also contain opioids. The effect of opioids is to reduce the number of pain signals that the body sends to the brain. They also alter the manner your brain reacts to pain. If used correctly, opioids are safe. But when people abuse drugs (opioid use disorder), they can become addicted. People can also become addicted to opioids due to illegal opioid use.
Some opioids include:
- Opium
- Codeine
- Fentanyl
- Heroin
- Hydrocodone and Oxycodone
- Hydromorphone and Oxymorphone
- Methadone
- Morphine
What causes opioid addiction?
Opioids change your brain by making artificial endorphins. Besides preventing pain, these endorphins can also make you feel good. Overuse of opioids can make your brain dependent on these artificial endorphins. Once your brain does this, it may even stop producing its endorphins. The more the duration of opioid usage, the more probable it is to occur. Due to drug tolerance, you will need more opioids over time.
Drug tolerance means that your body gets used to the effects of drugs over time. When this happens, you may need to take a higher dose of the drug to get the same effect. Over time, when you take opioids, you need higher doses to get the same pain relief.
If you stop using opioids for some time, your tolerance will start to drop. If you need to start taking it again, you probably don’t need the highest dose you had previously. This can be a lot for the body. If you stop taking medicine and then continue taking it, discuss the dosage with your doctor.
Will Lack of Vitamins Lead to Opioid Addiction?
A new study led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) found that vitamin D (VitD) deficiency strongly amplifies the cravings and effects of opioids and may increase the risk of dependence and addiction. The findings also link vitamin D deficiency to sun exposure, suggesting that taking vitamin D supplements to address common vitamin D deficiency problems may help combat what scientists call the “current opioid epidemic.”
It is a huge problem even in developed states, which millions of patients fall prey to it annually. The social stigma associated with it adds to the difficulties in looking for treatment. Solving this problem requires more effective treatments, including drug treatments for OUD and interventions to reduce harm and measures to address social and economic factors.
Human studies have also shown that ultraviolet (UV) tanning can be addictive, the researchers continued. Studies have shown that some people have a desire to sunbathe and visit a tanning salon that reflects the behavior of opioid addicts. In 2007, Fisher and his colleagues found something that was not expected.
Exposure to ultraviolet light, especially UVB, causes the skin to produce endorphins, which are chemically related to morphine, heroin, and other opioids. It can activate the same receptors in the brain. Endorphins are sometimes called “feel good” hormones because they cause a mild euphoria. A later study by Fisher found that UV exposure increased the levels of endorphins in mice and then showed behavior consistent with opioid addiction.
Fisher’s Theory
According to Fisher, the only reason humans and other animals need to bask in the sun is that exposure to ultraviolet radiation is necessary for vitamin D production, and our body cannot synthesize vitamin D on its own. Vitamin D promotes calcium absorption, which is necessary for bone formation. As human tribes migrated north during prehistoric times, evolutionary changes may be required to force them to leave the cave and into the sun on extremely cold days. Otherwise, young children will die from chronic vitamin D deficiency (the cause of rickets), and when people flee from predators, the fragile bones may fracture, making them fragile.
Based on this theory, Fisher and colleagues hypothesized that seeking sunlight is caused by vitamin D deficiency, and its goal is to increase the synthesis of survival hormones, and deficiency of vitamin D might also increase sensitivity to opioids, which may help because of addiction. The study also found that morphine is more effective as an analgesic in vitamin D-deficient mice, which means that opioids are overreacted in these mice.
Hence, lack of vitamins may contribute to opioid addiction. Vitamin supplements can aid opioid addiction. Clinicians can also consider vitamin deficiency as the cause of opioid addiction while treating the patients. However, it is important to take the vitamin supplements as directed by your physician and not make decisions according to your whim.