Huckleberries Online

HMOSuite: Oxycontin Clogs Things Up

Posted by DFO

Oct. 20, 2010 8:29 a.m. • 6 comments

HMOSuite: That is a question I would like answered (“What is it about Oxycontin that makes people in respectable positions lose it?”). I took the stuff like M&M’s when I had my knees replaced. I hated it and got off on to some other meds as soon as I could. Imo, the worst part about taking Oxy is that it clogs up your digestive system, if you know what I mean. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to use it. There must be a ‘high’ there, somewhere, but I never found it.

Question: Anyone have the answer re: the lure of Oxycontin?

Six comments on this post so far. Add yours!

moscow_minidoka on October 20 at 8:36 a.m.
It’s encapsulated heroin. Numbs the pain. Gets you hooked. Seems simple enough to me - it’s addictive for the same reason as all other opiates.
Frum Helen Back on October 20 at 8:43 a.m.
Here’s what I learned from my daughter who was addicted to opiates. When I have had to take a pain pill, I can barely function and it makes me sick. I could never get addicted to it. My daughter on the other hand, took a pain pill and felt a fantastic euphoric high. One pill and she was hooked. Of course then she wanted more and more and got them one way or another. It was so sad to watch what happened to her over a 20 year period. Many rehabs didn’t help for long either. Her battle didn’t end until she died.
littlered on October 20 at 10:04 a.m.
Oxycontin is a timed-release narcotic. Narcotics “numb the pain” by binding with pain receptors in the brain. If you actually have physiologic pain when you take a narcotic, the drug binds with these receptors and gives you pain relief. If you do NOT have pain, the free-floating narcotic gives you that high feeling. The timed-release aspect of oxycontin is such that only a small but effective level of medication is in effect, and the level of the drug stays relatively constant (rather than the roller coster effect of, for example, hydrocodone taken every 4 hours.) Oxycontin is usually prescribed once every 12 hours.

Those who abuse this drug, of course, do not take it as prescribed. They take more than one at a time, and crush it to get a huge sudden rush.

I think part of the lure is the belief that it is not a “street drug,” We all know people who have used this commonly prescribed drug, so it seems safe. Initially you may get your “supply” legally. It is kind of the “white-collar crime” drug.

Helen: thank you for sharing your personal loss of your daughter. Drug abuse effects every one of us, and the loss is real. Drug abuse is particularly painful because we experience our losses over years, with ups and downs and repetitive loss of hope and trust, as well as the loss of our beautiful children.
Peace and comfort for you and your family.
Kage_Mann on October 20 at 2:44 p.m.
What most people don’t understand is: you have to get rid of the inflammation before you can effectively, kill the pain. Ibuprofen is good at doing that, then you can take pain pills to kill the pain. I would take them seperately, to avoid any complications.
Howard_Martinson on October 20 at 9:18 p.m.
I had a bottle of oxycontin left over from my shoulder surgery 4 years ago. My doctor persuaded me to surrender it to him today, so it’s no more oxycontin for me. I do think it’s an effective painkiller.
Mr_Bloggy on October 20 at 9:41 p.m.
@Howard

Hopefully your doc disposed of these in your presence. Or, better yet, had you do it. Otherwise … oxycontin euphorics up all kinds of people - including medical professionals.

« Back to Huckleberries Online

You must be logged in to post comments.
Please create a profile or log in here.

About this blog

D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.