Explain to me why opioid pain pills are addictive.

[Clint45]

When my wife broke her back after getting hit by a runaway truck at work and was confined to bed for over a year, the doctor refused to prescribe any pain medication... told her to "take Tylenol and Motrin together, it's the same thing." Fortunately a friend of ours had an unused bottle of Tramadol to help get her through the bad days.

[BushMasterBoy]

I've had opioids prescribed to me several times. Each time I told them "Don't bother". I hate them. They do nothing for me to alleviate pain. I suppose if I took a dangerously high dose, they might. But even at 2 or 3 times the prescribed level they do nothing for me in terms of pain relief. Side effects, on the other hand, are horrible. Constipation, insomnia and constantly tickles all over my body like someone has a few hairs they're tickling me with. I have several bottles full of oxy and hydro codone. I'm just hanging on to them in case something happens where they come in handy. I have that problem with lots of meds, though, that are supposed to relieve pain of one sort or another. I'm going through what seems like a never-ending trial and error process with a neurologist right now to find something that works for the neuropathy issues in my legs.

Have you tried magnesium sulfate in bathwater. AKA Epsom Salts. 4 cups in really hot bathwater. Sir with spatula. Wait for water to cool to your comfort level. Soak until water is too cool for comfort. Ask your doctor if it ok. It is worth a shot!

[TFOGGER]

After my big bike crash in 2013 they had me on dilaudid and fentanyl in the hospital. They wrote me a prescription for a 90 day supply at 4 2mg dilaudid per day. I ended up taking exactly 2 pills, 1 each night the first 2 nights home. Yeah, I had some pain, but on a scale of 0-10, it was about a 2 or 3. I was so zoned when I was on dilaudid that I was utterly useless, so I just stopped. Never understood the appeal of being high on drugs that make you stupid.

[bczandm]

Addiction is a very complex subject. The short answer is narcotics have both physiological and psychological aspects of addiction. Each category has many subsets and each subset impacts individuals in many different ways. As an example your DNA alone can have a huge impact as your DNA can impact on how long it takes to metabolize the drugs. The metabolism rate has significant impact on how much of a high you get or how bad an overdose can be. That's just one example, there are hundreds of more. Opiates are more problematic for addiction than other drugs as they can feed both the physiological and psychological needs. That's the addictive end.

From a danger aspect they can stop important things (like breathing) if too much is in the blood stream. This year will likely see over 100,000 Americans die from drug overdoses and will be a record year for deaths. With the current trends more people will die next year than this year. More addictive plus greater likelihood of dying certainly means more problems.

[Clint45]

After my big bike crash in 2013 they had me on dilaudid and fentanyl in the hospital. They wrote me a prescription for a 90 day supply at 4 2mg dilaudid per day. I ended up taking exactly 2 pills, 1 each night the first 2 nights home. Yeah, I had some pain, but on a scale of 0-10, it was about a 2 or 3. I was so zoned when I was on dilaudid that I was utterly useless, so I just stopped. Never understood the appeal of being high on drugs that make you stupid.

A junkie will just sprawl on the ground, shit all over themselves, then giggle about it.

Some Psychologists posit that junkies crave "a return to infancy."

Never really saw the appeal of sleeping all day and not caring about anything.

[eddiememphis]

Never really saw the appeal of sleeping all day and not caring about anything.

[.455_Hunter]

Thank to all for providing your perspectives.

[rondog]

I've had opioids prescribed to me several times. Each time I told them "Don't bother". I hate them. They do nothing for me to alleviate pain. I suppose if I took a dangerously high dose, they might. But even at 2 or 3 times the prescribed level they do nothing for me in terms of pain relief. Side effects, on the other hand, are horrible. Constipation, insomnia and constantly tickles all over my body like someone has a few hairs they're tickling me with. I have several bottles full of oxy and hydro codone. I'm just hanging on to them in case something happens where they come in handy. I have that problem with lots of meds, though, that are supposed to relieve pain of one sort or another. I'm going through what seems like a never-ending trial and error process with a neurologist right now to find something that works for the neuropathy issues in my legs.

THIS! I've had several kinds of the damn things prescribed for injuries and surgeries, and I HATE them! The insomnia, the itching, the paranoia and mind bullshit - no thank you! Got several of different kinds tucked away, no plans to use them a-tall. I'd rather just hurt.