Teen Addiction To Prescription Drugs

Teens experiment with prescription drugs for many different reasons. Some teens think the drugs will help them to have more fun or to be happier, or lose weight. Because family members could have the prescription, these drugs can be easier to get than street drugs. Prescription drugs are very commonly sold on the street like other illegal drugs as well. Some teens even think a prescription drug, regardless of whom it was prescribed to be safer than an ordinary street drug.

Cynthia may take her brother’s ADHD medicine to curb her appetite because she had been told how bad diet pills could be. Cynthia thought the ADHD drug would be safer. After all, it was prescribed by a doctor for her brother – - but not for her – - and not for the condition in which she is taking the ADHD drug.

Prescription drugs are only safe for the people who actually have prescriptions for them. A doctor has examined the person and told them exactly how to take the drug, and most likely, the person has also been told those things to avoid while taking the drug such as alcohol or other medications. Cynthia would most likely not have the same type of information and may combine this drug with another substance that could cause her significant health problems and/or even death.

Cynthia did not know that taking her brother’s ADHD medicine was also illegal. Taking drugs without a prescription – or sharing a prescription drug with friends – is breaking the law.

There are three classes of most commonly used prescription drugs which include:

•Opioids

•Central Nervous System (CNS) Depressants

•Stimulants

Opioids include:

•Oxycodone (OxyContin), hydrocodone (Vicodin) and meperidine (Demerol)

Opiodis are prescribed to treat pain or relieve coughs or diarrhea.

Central Nervous System (CNS) Depressants include:

•Valium and Xanax

Medical uses of CNS drugs are to treat anxiety, tension, panic attacks and sleep disorders.

Stimulants include:

•Ritalin and Strattera

Stimulants are used to treat narcolepsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, obesity and asthma.

Drug abusers usually have trouble at school, at home, in relationships with friends or significant others and the law. A person abusing drugs is more likely to commit a crime or have an accident regardless of whether the drugs are prescribed medications or street drugs.

As with all types of drug abuse, using prescription drugs for the wrong reasons has serious health risks. A single dose of an opioid can lower breathing rate and even kill if taken by the wrong person in the wrong circumstances. These health risks are increased when taken with other substances such as alcohol, antihistamines, and CNS depressants. The most common result of prescription drug abuse is addiction.

Signs of prescription drug addiction:

•The need to have a particular drug or substance

•Changes in mood, weight, or interests

There are two kinds of treatment for persons addicted to prescription drugs, they are:

•Behavioral

•Pharmacological

Behavioral treatments teach people how to function without the drugs, how to handle cravings, how to avoid drugs and situations that could lead to drug use and preventing and handling relapses.

Pharmacological treatments involve giving a patient a special type of medication to help him or her overcome withdrawal symptoms and drug cravings.

If you are worried about becoming addicted to a drug prescribed for you, this most likely will not happen. Doctors know how much medication to prescribe so that you do not receive too much. The prescribed drug for you will be the correct amount and the drug will relieve your symptoms without making you addicted.

If a doctor prescribes a pain medication, stimulant or CNS depressant, follow the directions exactly. Keep all your doctor’s appointments. Your doctor will monitor how well the medication works for you and will make necessary adjustments. Some medicines will need to be stopped or changed after a while so the person does not become addicted. Follow all the instructions given regarding drugs and activities you should avoid while taking your prescription medication. Never increase or decrease the dose of your medication without checking with your doctor first regardless of how you feel.

Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The information in this article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. All health concerns should be addressed by a qualified health care professional.

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The link between stress and sleep disorders

My reaction to stress is to fall asleep. About ten times a day. I have narcolepsy and stress, for me, is the biggest contributing trigger to my cycle of episodes of narcolepsy. So I know that there is a relationship between stress and sleep disorders, at least in my case.

Stress is a part of everyday life. A certain amount of stress is healthy. It keeps us going, alert and focused on the job we need to get done. It’s when we cross that line, the stress line shall we say, that stress becomes bad and the body starts reacting accordingly. The biggest link between stress and a sleep disorder would have to be insomnia, something suffered by millions of people, who flock to their doctors looking for a cure. Often, even after the stress is gone the insomnia remains because poor sleeping habits have become the norm for the person and it becomes a vicious circle.

In order for people to cope with the stresses of everyday life they need an adequate amount of sleep. Most sleep disorders will leave you feeling sluggish, tired and cranky exacerbating the stress in your life. You can do all of the things such as exercise, deep breathing, no caffeine after 4:00 pm, have sex all night long (but then who would care if you had a sleep disorder?), read, etc. but the fact remains, if you have a pre-existing condition, such as a sleep disorder stress is going to make it worse. So treat the sleep disorder, find ways to lessen the stress and I wish you all a good night’s sleep.

An overview of sleep disorders in adults – Part 6

“Golden Slumbers fill your eyes. Smiles awake you when you rise. Sleep pretty darling do not cry, and I will sing a lullabye.”

For too many people, these Paul McCartney lyrics ring only in their daydreams. Insomnia, sleep apnea, night terrors, restless leg syndrome and narcolepsy interrupt the peaceful cycle of sleep and wreak havoc on the productivity of millions of Americans.

Insomnia is not just the inability to fall asleep. It includes waking in the middle of the night or waking too early. All three are equally disruptive to normal functioning. Specialty prescription drugs such as Lunesta or over-the-counter medications including Tylenol PM have shown effectiveness in combating the problem.

Sleep apnea is the cessation of breathing during sleep. People can stop breathing for minutes at a time, but treatments as conventional as Breathe-Rite strips or as physical as the C-PAP machine can help conquer that problem as well. C-PAP is a mask the sufferer wears over the face at night that forces air into the nose after the person is trained to breathe through their nose.

Night terrors make nightmares seem relatively docile. Night terrors are the pervasive and unrelenting feelings of being chased by beings or creatures. The night terror sufferer might walk around the room with open eyes and appear wide awake, but they are locked in the visions of their terror. While not considered particularly dangerous, therapy to deal with the stress-induced terror might be required.

While creepy-crawly things create the night terror, restless leg syndrome sufferers feel those things crawling on their legs. Most of the time, the discomfort, burning and itching are relieved by walking, but mild pain relievers, iron supplements and some drugs used in Parkinson’s Disease treatment have shown some positive effects.

Narcolepsy is a pervasive sleepiness in the daytime, and a perpetual sleepy feeling. Other sleep disorders include advanced or delayed sleep phase syndrome, sleep paralysis, sleepwalking/sleep talking and violent sleep sex, which ranges from sexual moaning to rape-like behaviors.

Research is making vast headway into understanding sleep and sleep disorders, if only they were covered by health insurance.

Narcolepsy symptoms – Part 1

Falling to sleep while working, cooking, or even driving, you may have narcolepsy, the second leading cause (after obstructive sleep apnea) of excessive daytime sleepiness. Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder in the part of the brain that regulates when to be asleep and when to be awake.

The main symptoms of narcolepsy are Excessive daytime sleepiness to sudden episodes of falling asleep, from several seconds to more than thirty minutes.

Researchers continue to seek the root cause of narcolepsy. General consensus is that genetics accompanied by an environmental trigger of some sort may affect brain chemicals and contribute to the disorder.

Scientists recently discovered that people with narcolepsy are lacking in hypocretin (also called orexin), a chemical in the brain that activates arousal and regulates sleep. Narcoleptics generally do not have as many Hcrt cells or neurons that secrete hypocretin, inhibiting the ability to fully control their alertness and tendencies to fall asleep. Scientists are working to develop treatments to increase hypocretin levels, as well as toalleviate narcolepsy symptoms by addressing the cause of the disorder.

Even though heredity appears to be a factor in narcolepsy, environmental triggers also play a strong role. Research is also investigating these triggers

Know The Facts What Are Some Provigil Side Effects

Whether youve recently been prescribed Provigil for the treatment of your narcolepsy or hypersomnia, or you are just looking for more information on the drug before pursuing it as a means to treat what ails you, its important to consider what effects it can have on your body before you start taking it.Provigil is commonly prescribed for patients who suffer from a wide variety of ailments relating to hypersomnia. These ailments include narcolepsy, shift work sleep disorder and obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome. It treats these illnesses by providing a stimulant to the patient that increases alertness and enhances the mood. Unlike other types of stimulants, like amphetamines, Provigil will not cause anxiety, irritability or moodiness. Is Provigil Right for You? Provigil side effects increase when the drug is taken before, during or after alcohol consumption. Like with any potent medicine, doctors will advise you to stay away from alcohol while on this medication. Other lesser known Provigil side effects include the inability to reason or control reaction time and motor skills. This is why doctors also recommend that patients avoid this drug while driving or operating heavy machinery. Where to Turn for Answers Seeking treatment for your illness, whatever it may be, is a great step toward your overall health. Visit your doctor as soon as possible to discover your options with Provigil. Dont let your illness keep you from enjoying the life you deserve.

Turn Out the Lights on Sleep Disorders

Some of us have no trouble falling asleep, taking as little as one to two minutes to enter twilight zone sleep. As in the case for all human functions, there is quite a bit of variation among us as to our capacity to sleep. Some are simply better at it than others, being able to dim their arousal switches with annoying ease and have their sleep center dominate within minutes. The vast majority of us take sleep for granted. It is just something that we do, like eating or taking a shower. But as we have learned, getting a good night’s sleep is a problem of major proportions for a substantial part of our population.

Optimal human health only exists if sleep is entirely healthy. More than fifty percent of Americans suffer from one or more chronic sleep disorders. “I am tired,” “I have fatigue,” “I have no energy,” “I am exhausted” are all the phrases used by people to describe how they feel when discussing a sleep problem with their doctor.

There are different types of sleep disorders:

* Sleep Apnea – Between 70-90 percent of those who suffer from it are men, mostly middle-ages, and usually overweight. The vast majority snore heavily. The problem is a neuromuscular one that results in partial closing of an airway called the nasal pharynx while one sleeps. Apnea is Greek in origin and that literally means “without breath.” It is estimated that 30 million Americans snore, and of that, 2.5 million of them suffer from sleep apnea. Those who suffer from sleep apnea actually stop breathing as they sleep, perhaps as often as several hundred times per night.

* Narcolepsy – It is a chronic neurological disorder caused by abnormal brain chemistry, which leads to a perplexing constellation of symptoms that may include on more of the following: severe sleepiness, vivid dream imagery upon falling asleep or waking up (hypnagogic hallucinations), waking up paralyzed (sleep paralysis), and sudden onset of temporary muscle weakness (cataplexy). The most common symptom is falling asleep at inappropriate times and places. Narcolepsy most often comes in the mid-teenage years and affects women and men equally.

* Insomnia – Failure to get an entire night’s sleep on most nights. It affects one out of ten Americans, which is about 40 million. Insomnia can take the form of being unable to fall asleep when you first go to bed or waking during the night and being unable to go back to sleep. While insomnia can be very frustrating, it is hardly dangerous and is usually only a temporary annoyance. Chronic insomnia is often a symptom of a serious underlying medical disorder. Fifty percent of insomnia cases can be attributed to depression and psychological disorders, such as anxiety, stress, or grief.

* Restless Legs Syndrome – The onset of an attack usually accompanies inactivity such as occurs on long drives, sitting fir an extended period, and in sleep. Women are afflicted more often than men because of a correlation with menses, pregnancy, and menopause. When restless legs occur during sleep, it awakens its victim, causing insomnia. Suffers are known as nightwalkers since they are aroused by their aching legs that they walk the floor night after night, an activity that tends to relieve the symptoms.

For each of us, every single day of our lives, the need for sleep is a powerful biologic force. Every twenty-four hours or so, we simply must lie down and rest for a period of time or we will be unable to continue to function. This regular requirement for sleep is so pressing, so demanding that, though it may be delayed or deferred, sleep cannot be denied completely. We all spend one-third of our lives asleep, it is a basic requirement of life. Sleep disorders mean poor sleep which limits the ability to function and to enjoy life.

Narcolepsy treatments – Part 1

Although there is no cure for narcolepsy, a sleep disorder that can cause sudden attacks of daytime sleepiness to cataplexy (a symptom of abnormal rapid-eye movement sleep involving sudden muscle weakness), treatment options as well as changes in lifestyle can help a patients condition greatly. Current treatment options available, however, only deal with the symptoms of narcolepsy and narcolepsy/cataplexy, and do not address the core problem as to the cause of narcolepsy, which is still under investigation when narcolepsy occurs without additional disorders. However, scientists believe that they have found

the cause of narcolepsy and cataplexy in conjunction, and that is undetectable levels of hypocretin 1 and 2 peptides (although measured in the cerebrospinal fluid via a spinal tap, hypocretin cells are located in the hypothalami of the brain). The fact that our knowledge with regard to the core cause of narcolepsy and cataplexy and the undetectable hypocretin, and the fact that scientists did not make this discovery this until 2000 along with the minimal amount of information we have as to how to address this issue in patients and whether hypocretin replacement therapy could be possible or even beneficial, makes a cure for narcolepsy and

cataplexy a remote possibility for a very distant future.

The symptoms of narcolepsy, however, can be addressed and can be treated with different classes of medications. For sleepiness, the narcoleptic symptoms are treated with amphetamine-like stimulants. The current stimulants used in treatment for sleepiness are:

Medication (Brand) / Recommended Prescription Strength / [Notes]

Modafinil (Provigil) /100-400mg / [Newest Medication - may be used in conjunction with another due to low potency.]

Methylphenidate HCI (Ritalin) / 10-60mg / [Short duration, also available in extended release tablets.]

Dextrophetamine-Sulfate (Dexedrine) / 5-60 mg / [Used in the United States - variable duration.]

Methamphetamine-HCI (Desoxyn) / 5-60 mg / [Used in the United States - better brain

distribution of the drug in comparison to the periphery and more effective than amphetamine.]

Pemoline (Cylert) / 20-115mg / [*Toxic and can cause liver damage* and long duration.]

Mazindol (Sanorex) / .5 – 6mg / [Not very effective and rarely used except in the United Kingdom.]

There are different notes on each of the medications and in which circumstances they might be preferable in treating a patient for narcolepsy versus using

Narcolepsy Treatments – Part 9

Most commonly, Narcolepsy presents itself as an illness called EDS – Excessive Daytime Sleepiness. This is the persistent feeling being tired, lacking real energy and wanting to sleep. The sufferer has to make concerted efforts to remain awake, but even if he or she is able to do so, it is often only to achieve a semi-wakeful state that onlookers often describe as ‘trance like’ or as if the individual is ‘on auto pilot’. At unfortunate moments, the feeling can be so strong that it appears to anyone looking on that the sufferer may be drunk.

Typically, people suffering from Narcolepsy and Excessive Daytime Sleepiness need to have a period of sleep before attempting and specific task. Failing to prepare in this manner can result in a sudden attack of sleep while performing said task. EDS is regularly treated with stimulants, such as Ritalin, in America. This drug helps to stimulate the central nervous system to keep the individual alert and awake. Other newer drugs are in development that work as similar ‘wake promoters’.

The second main characteristic of narcolepsy is cataplexy, the sudden loss of control over the muscles in your body. This can vary in severity from individual to individual, and most good doctors suggest that if the symptoms are not severe enough, treatment should simply be avoided. The drugs commonly used to treat this problem are those in the antidepressant range. Cataplexy is not directly linked to depression, but the side effects of these drugs happen to affect the neurological pathways that themselves cause cataplexy.

These drugs are usually either tricyclic agents, or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, SSRIs. Paralysis during sleep and hallucinations can also be left without treatment from drugs unless they are particularly severe or extreme. As they typically only occur during the night, they cause less of a problem to the sufferer. Regardless, the treatments for cataplexy will usually also reduce the severity of these two auxiliary symptoms. Strong advice comes from other sufferers of narcolepsy – take naps!

There is good clinical evidence that taking some frequent naps during the day will help offset the symptoms of EDS and cataplexy. Many claim that simply sleeping for a few minutes at a time before performing a task can guard against a sleep attack happening during that task.

Drugs and their impact on the world

Consciousness Altering Drugs

Depressants

Depressants are drugs that diminish the behavioral output and activity in the central nervous system. The majority of depressants increase the activity of a particular neurotransmitter known as gamma-aminobutyric acid, although other neurotransmitters are affected to a lesser extent by different depressants. Gamma-aminobutyric acid normally acts to relax the central nervous system and aid sleep, but when artificially activated by a depressant it results in slower brain activity and a drowsy feeling. Increased levels of depressants in the body can cause the parts of the brain that deal with basic physiological activities to slow down or stop entirely, resulting in lack of breathing or heart rate.

Examples of depressants include Carisoprodol (Soma), a muscle relaxant, and Methaqualone (Quaalude), an oft-abused sedative.

Stimulants

Stimulants are drugs that stimulate the central nervous system, and frequently the sympathetic nervous system also. This produces feelings such as energy and alertness. The physiological symptoms of stimulants often include elevated heart rate, breathing and blood pressure. Stimulants can be used to alleviate symptoms of tiredness, treat narcolepsy or reduce appetite. Overdoses of stimulants can lead to agitation, increase in body temperature, hallucinations, convulsions, and death.

Examples of stimulants include nicotine (a stimulant in small doses) and Methylphenidate (Ritalin).

Opiates

Opiates are drugs derived from the opium poppy, or from morphine, which is itself derived from the opium poppy. Opiates work by binding to opioid receptors, which are found chiefly in the central nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract. Opiates can have many effects, and are typically prescribed as a sedative or to relieve pain. Opiates can also result in euphoria, sometimes simply because severe pain has finally been relieved. They also cause constipation, flushed or warm skin and lowered blood pressure, itching, constricted pupils, slow, shallow breathing, a slow heart rate, and low body temperature. Overdoses of opiates can result in slow breathing, convulsions, coma and death.

Examples of opiates include codeine and heroin.

Psychedelics and Hallucinogens

These drugs cause changes in the user’s perception, thought, emotion and consciousness. Psychedelics alter sensory perception and are sometimes termed mind expanding’. Hallucinogens

Testimonies: How cataplexy helped me to get a diagnosis of narcolepsy

I am narcoleptic, and it has taken me most of my life to get a diagnosis. Now I have that, and receive medication, my quality of life has improved beyond measure. This article focuses on my personal experience of just one of its symptoms, cataplexy, which I hope will be useful to others who think they might be experiencing it. I also offer some advice on how to get this difficult to diagnose condition recognized by your physician.

Cataplexy is one of the four main symptoms associated with the sleep disorder, narcolepsy. The other symptoms are excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep paralysis which may be accompanied by hypnagogic or hypnopompic hallucinations, and automatic behavior. Although it is at least as common as multiple sclerosis, narcolepsy is thought to be under-diagnosed, and many patients endure symptoms for over a decade before they can be successfully diagnosed and treated. The exact set of symptoms varies from one individual narcoleptic to another, both in severity and the order in which they appear. Cataplexy, however, is almost only associated with narcolepsy, and so it is a very useful way of distinguishing narcolepsy with other causes of fatigue.

My cataplexy started at the end of 2001, and I remember my first attack. I was with a university friend, and we were walking around the corridors of our university department, looking at posters in the hope of finding design ideas for one we needed to produce. As we looked, we were joking, and when I started to laugh, me knees buckled slightly each time. I didn’t drop completely, but felt as if I must seem to be bobbing up and down, as my knees sagged and then recovered repeatedly. I felt embarrassed, but my friend didn’t seem to notice.

As weeks went by, these kinds of attacks seemed to happen more often, and different muscle groups were becoming involved. At first it was my neck muscles, making me nod or drop my head onto my chest when laughing, then it was my jaw sagging, then my shoulders dropping. So it went on, getting worse all the time. The most common trigger was laughter, but early on, a sudden temper would cause cataplexy, too.

Physicians find it very difficult to diagnose cataplexy, and can misdiagnose it as fainting or even epilepsy. It is hard to explain what the attacks are like, and it is a condition that physicians do not hear about very often. Even sleep specialists may never have seen a cataplectic attack in real life, because in clinical conditions it is very difficult

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