Lortab addiction falls into the category of the white collar opiate painkiller addiction that is sweeping the country. It permeates the entire fabric of society, cutting across economic and ethnic lines. Lortab is a prescription medication that combines acetaminophen and hydrocodone tarterate. It is very often prescribed by doctors for mild to moderately severe, post surgical, arthritic, or injury related pain.
The hydrocodone component of Lortab, binds to the pain receptors in the brain, reducing the sensation of pain drastically. The acetaminophen component works by stopping the body from producing prostaglandins, which cause the sensation of pain. While a properly managed, medically supervised use of Lortab is quite safe and almost never causes addiction, it needs to be used carefully, taken exactly as prescribed by the doctor, and neither extending the time duration of use nor increasing the dosage beyond that which is recommended by the physician.
Lortab attaches to certain opiate receptors in the brain, spinal cord, and the gastrointestinal tract and change the way the user experiences pain. Opiate medications like Lortab also act on the regions of the brain that deal with the perception of pleasure. This is the reason that so many opiates produce an initial, sharp euphoria known as the rush or the high that many opiates produce. They also typically produce side effects such as drowsiness, constipation, etc. In larger doses, they may sharply depress breathing which, in large single doses may even cause death.
Long term use of Lortab results in the body building up a tolerance so that the user must take higher and higher to obtain the same effects. Chronic Lortab use leads to physical dependence and withdrawal symptoms result if dosage is reduced or stopped abruptly. It is essential that people who use lortab be given the medication under strict medical supervision. Because of the physical dependence ad withdrawal, they also need to be medically supervised for the process of stopping the use. If they stop abruptly, the physical withdrawal symptoms are likely to send them right back into the habit. Withdrawal symptoms can include restlessness, generalized pain, difficulty in sleeping, diarrhea and vomiting, and involuntary muscular spasms in the leg.
Long term abuse of Lortab changes brain chemistry in a semi-permanent way, and makes it impossible for people struggling with Lortab addiction to stop on their own, making proper treatment for Lortab addiction absolutely essential. The chemical changes brought about in the users brain by Lortab use, lead to a compulsion and craving to find and use the drug. This is the stage that can be labeled Lortab addiction and users in this phase will get multiple prescriptions from doctor shopping, pretend to be in pain to their own doctors, or even steal just to get the next dose.
Lortab addiction can be treated in a number of effective ways, including the prescription of an alternate medication instead of the drug of abuse. Options for the effective treating of Lortab addiction or the addiction to other painkillers or prescription opiates, have been deduced as a result of research about the treatment of heroin addiction, since they are all in the same category of opiate addiction.
There are many programs available now to treat Lortab addiction all of which help the user to manage the severe physical and psychological withdrawal that may arise from stopping the use of the drug, combining detox treatments, and therapy.
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Information on this page last updated on 09/28/2007