2.
OxyContin (Oxycodone) is a derivative of opium
poppy. Typically found in tablet form. Semisynthetic
drug. Schedule II drug.
Chemically interacts with opioid receptors in the
body and brain.
Moderate-high potent analgesic.
Oral or injection administration is most
common.
First synthesized in 1916.
What is OxyContin?
3.
Effects: Pain relief, euphoria, anxiolysis, feelings of relaxation, and
respiratory depression.
Adverse effects: Constipation, nausea, vomiting, somnolence,
dizziness, itching, dry mouth, and sweating.
No known long-term effects. May contribute to liver and kidney
issues.
OxyContin may affect a woman’s pregnancy.
Older adults or elderly adults may be at risk for misuse and/or abuse.
Effects of OxyContin
4.
Deadly synergistic effect on your body.
Slows all metabolic pathways, leading to
widespread depression.
Can lead to devastating acute problems.
Slows circulatory system.
Slows breathing.
OxyContin in Combination
with Alcohol
5.
It started as a miraculous drug causing relief of pain,
to a ticking time-bomb in its addictive nature.
Due to it’s time-releasing ability, physicians and
pharmaceutical scientists told the population it was
not addictive.
Purdue Pharma published a video describing 6
people who had chronic pain and were treated with
OxyContin.
Misinterpretation of data and of facts.
OxyContin as a Wonder Drug
to Epidemic
6.
Time-release characteristic of OxyContin allows for
12+ hours of pain relief.
Chewing/injecting/snorting tablets produces more
intense high, compared to heroin.
These methods greatly increase the risk of addiction.
Due to prescriptions of OxyContin become more and
more prescribed, the potential for illegal distribution
becomes higher.
OxyContin’s Addictive Potential
7.
Preoccupation to obtain the drug and desire more.
Confusion, fatigue, weakness, dizziness, apathy,
nausea/vomiting.
Insomnia, tremors, anxiety/restlessness, aching
muscles, abdominal cramps, flu-like symptoms,
increased BP/HR, seizures and convulsions.
Symptoms of OxyContin
Addiction
8.
OxyContin plays a great role in our society.
Be sure if you are prescribed this medication to be
careful about who knows where it is.
Flush any unused tablets down the rain once your
pain has subsided or you have recovered from your
injury.
Anyone can become addicted to OxyContin.
Questions to Consider
Editor's Notes
----- Meeting Notes (2/4/17 11:33) -----
Greetings, everyone.
OxyContin has changed the way modern medicine works in the 21st century. We have adopted narcotics widespread use in clinical and recreational areas. During it's initial discovery, it was seen as the "wonder drug."
In 1996, Purdue Pharma introduced OxyContin, a controlled release formulation of oxycodone. The product has been a commercial success, and since its introduction, Purdue has earned more than $31 billion from OxyContin.
Schedule II drug – Controlled substances. High potential for abuse.
Semisynthesis or partial chemical synthesis is a type of chemical synthesis that uses compounds isolated from natural sources (e.g. plant material or bacterial or cell cultures) as starting materials.
Moderately-high analgesic --- a drug to alleviate pain.
In the United States, oxycodone is only approved for oral use, available as tablets and oral solutions. When first introduced in Germany during World War I, IV and IM oxycodone was commonly used for post-operative pain management of Central Powers soldiers
Oxycodone can be administered orally, intranasally, via intravenous, intramuscular, or subcutaneous injection, or rectally. The bioavailability (administered dose of unchanged drug that reaches the systemic circulation) of oral administration of oxycodone averages 60–87%, with rectal administration yielding the same results; intranasal varies between individuals with a mean of 46%.
It was discovered in 1916 by scientists Martin Edmund Freund and Speyer of the University of Frankfurt in Germany, developed as an alternative to morphine and heroin for the reduction of pain.
Anxiolysis – the reduction of anxiety.
The adverse effects of OxyContin are typically surrounded by more than just one single side effects. Constipation, nausea, and somnolence (strong desire to sleep) are the most common adverse effects, aproximately 25%. Dizziness, itching, dry mouth, and sweating are all between 5-13%.
Pregnancy: Miscarriage, low birth weight, neonatal abstinence syndrome. Neonatal withdrawal or neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is a withdrawal syndrome of infants, caused by the cessation of the administration of licit or illicit drugs. Tolerance, dependence, and withdrawal may occur as a result of repeated administration of drugs or even after short-term high-dose use—for example, during mechanical ventilation in intensive care units.
Older adults: higher risk of accidental misuse or abuse because many older adults have multiple prescriptions, increasing the risk of drug-drug interactions, and breakdown of drugs slows with age; also, many older adults are treated with prescription medications for pain. Risk of HIV, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases from shared needles.
Alcohol and prescription painkillers like hydrocodone, oxycodone, and morphine are particularly deadly when individuals mix them. This type of overdose has been on the rise due to an increase in opioid drug addictions in the US in the past few decades. Many people have become addicted to prescription painkillers that are based on hydrocodone, oxycodone, and morphine, and sometimes, people who become addicted to these drugs also abuse alcohol. That being said, even if a person takes a painkiller as prescribed and drinks a small amount of alcohol, the drugs can enhance each other’s effects, leading to dangerous intoxication and possible overdose.
Synergism- the combination of two or more things that creates an effect which is greater than the sum of each separately.
If a person takes these two substances together, both alcohol and the opioid medications can slow down the person’s breathing rate. Without enough oxygen, the brain will begin to shut down organ systems, and the person can eventually suffer brain damage or death due to lack of oxygen.
OxyContin is the time-released version of oxycodone, which is the active drug in painkillers such as Percodan and Percocet. Tolerance builds quickly, so many OxyContin users need ever-increasing doses for the same effect. When their dose “maxes out,” some desperate patients turn to the streets. Many people say today that OxyContin is the gateway drug to heroin. My neighbor had a back injury years ago and is now addicted to painkillers due to his tolerance building too quickly.
2) The drug company’s unprecedented “brainwashing” campaign got OxyContin propaganda into the hands of physicians and patients alike, and even into medical school classrooms, giving them hope that a safe, user-friendly pain treatment was finally available. Purdue Pharma reps wined and dined physicians, showering them with expensive gifts and a blitz of flashy marketing materials, from brochures and videotapes to a promotional publication cleverly disguised as a “physician’s desk reference” for treating pain.5
3) In 1998, Purdue Pharma created a video promotion called "I Got My Life Back." It followed six people who suffered from chronic pain and were treated with OxyContin. The company distributed (PDF) 15,000 copies of the video to be used in in "physician waiting rooms as a 'check out' item for an office's patient education library.” A year after the video came out, the overall number of opioid painkiller prescriptions filled jumped by 11 million from 3 million. 4) Purdue Pharma allegidely made the claim that less than 1% of their patients prescribed with OxyContin actually developed an addiction. This is a grosely incorrect statement, because there are many studies done to counteract that claim that they don’t necessarily cause addiction.
1)Some of you may be asking by now, what’s the big problem with OxyContin? Why is it an epidemic? Why so addictive?
2) The time-release characteristic of OxyContin allows it to effectively manage pain over a period of several hours. Abusers of OxyContin have found that chewing OxyContin tablets or injecting or snorting crushed tablets produces an intense high that has been compared to heroin. Circumventing the time-release mechanism by breaking up OxyContin tablets greatly increases the risk of addiction and overdose.
3) Many people who become addicted to OxyContin are introduced to it when it’s prescribed by a doctor for relief from severe or chronic pain. Anyone who takes OxyContin can become dependent, but those who are prone to addictive behavior are at even greater risk.
4) Law enforcement officials and emergency room personnel report that OxyContin abuse is higher among teenagers and young adults. Because of the high incidence of OxyContin addiction in rural areas, especially in the Appalachia area of the U.S., OxyContin is sometimes referred to as “hillbilly heroin.”
The most obvious sign of OxyContin addiction is a engrossing behavior with obtaining the drug and a desire to increase dosage frequency. A person who has been legally prescribed the drug but has become addicted will continue to want it in greater doses even though pain management has been achieved.
NONE.
OxyContin depresses respiration, causing a slowing in breathing. Those with respiratory problems who abuse OxyContin are at risk of respiratory failure. What are the treatment options for OxyContin addiction? Caution should be exercised when stopping use of OxyContin. Since OxyContin is an opiate, abruptly reducing consumption can bring on the following withdrawal symptoms:
1) Be sure to be careful.
2) Typical places such as bathroom mirror.
3)
4) Myth: you cannot be addicted to prescribed medication.
