Addiction vs dependency?

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BrittleBones

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I'm confused about something. I'm hoping folks on this board can educate me. In my mind the meaning of drug addiction is this: It's the seeking out of substances that make you feel high/euphoric, etc. even though the person knows that the outcome of using these substances will be harmful to them physically, socially, economically, morally, etc. It's doing the same thing (taking substances) over and over again with the same negative results. Addiction is chasing a high and putting everything else on the back burner: you family, job, frienRAB, etc. So along comes a drug that helps pain (in this case Lyrica) that you take for some time without negative results - you aren't getting high, you aren't sitting at home counting your bottle of pills over and over again, you're not figuring out ways to scam a doc for more prescriptions. But....along comes someone and tells you that the drug IS addictive, meaning that you will feel physical side effects when you discontinue its use. How is that any different from a non-addict who is taking Lyrica and has to stop?? They will still feel the same negative side-effects of withdrawal. It isn't the withdrawal symptoms that make someone an addict. It's the inability to live without that substance in your life that makes you a true addicct. Am I wrong? Thanks Brittle Bones
 
I've read on here before that taking a drug because your body neeRAB it to cope with pain or whatever, is just like a diabetic taking insulin. You don't hear people saying a diabetic is addicted to insulin, they need it to stay alive. Taking opiates or drugs like Lyrica, if used as prescribed to relieve pain is not considered abusing the drug and therefore a person should not be considered as being addicted to it. But, when they cross the line and take more of the drug than prescribed, then they have abused the drug and can be classified as being addicted, if they abuse it for a long period. I think that is a generalized classification and goes beyond just feeling high as a reason to abuse a drug. Having withdrawals does not constitute being an addict.

The media portrays addicts as the "sell the house for a fix" type of people that end up losing their family and everything else. Yes, there are people that can't control their habit and that does happen. We've see that here on this forum, unfortunately, many time. But, for the most part, addicts are people you meet and work with every day. An addict can be your very nice, 84 year old next door neigrabroador who is counting pills and scheduling another doctor's appointment with a new doctor to get another prescription. Addicts come in all forms.

I've crossed that line a few times with opiates and that is why I am so cautious about taking them and looking for alternatives that stop pain, but do not cause the effects that the opiates produce. Am I an addict? Yes, because I have been one in the past and I know that if given the chance I would abuse opiates again.
 
BrittleBones;

Yeah, pretty much what Cburger is saying is dead on. To make it clearer I'll use myself as an example. I'm currently on a Duragesic Patch(Fentanyl) for severe and chronic nerve related back pain. If I was to stop taking that medication I would almost definitely start having withdrawal symptoms within a days time. Now here is the thing, if I had a choice I wouldnt be taking this medication, I would stop taking it and deal with those withdrawal symptoms, its something I've done three times before already after surgery. Now, as Cburger had pointed out, if I was an addict, I would do whatever I could to keep taking that drug, lying, stealing, manipulating, whatever it would take to keep that high going. Its difficult to sometimes tell the difference with people, especially with people with chronic pain, because they also want the drug, and in some cases will do whatever they can just to stop that pain. So not understanding the difference between the two is understandable, because of that very fine line between people who want the high, and people who just dont want to be in pain, and no those two things arent always independent of each other. There are people in pain who over time go from needing the pain relief, to wanting the high, its unfortunate but not uncommon especially with opiates and other pain medication.

Hope that helps some, I realize its not the easiest thing to get, but distinguishing between the two is important as it differentiates between the people using medication to help them, and those using them in a self destructive manner......and I guess in the end that's the major difference between the two.
 
What I wrote is basically what you are saying. As I said, a drug addict isn't defined by someone who experiences withdrawal symptoms. If you take a drug long enough almost everyone will have withdrawal symptoms when they stop the drug. It's the seeking out of the drug, the misuse of the drug, the searching for the eternal high/euphoria that defines, in my mind, a true addict. But, once again, if that is the case, why should anyone be concerned with taking Lyrica if the drug doesn't give you the high? It seems that when the drug is stopped a person's doctor would be assisting that person through the withdrawals and when the physical symptoms were gone that would be the end of it.
 
Actually opiates never gave me a high. I took them for pain, but as I became used to the doses, I would increase them beyond what the doctor ordered and plus, my body wanted more and more. Technically, that is abusing the drug. My body now craves opiates. Only my will prevents me from continuing to abuse the drug. If allowed to do what my body wanted, I would take opiates for the rest of my life. But, not for the high that I never received. It's hard to explain in worRAB. Because of my minRABet and the fact that I crave the drug, I consider myself an addict.

Maybe you have better doctors than I have, but all doctors that I have had in the past don't have a clue about withdrawals and how to treat them. Mostly their recommendation were, "Good Luck. Come see me when there over and don't forget to pay your bill on the way out." I never received any help from a doctor with withdrawals.
 
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