Prescription Addiction Part 2: (Grand)Mother's Little Helpers
By Connie Matthiessen, Caring.com senior editor
If you're caring for seniors, they're likely to be taking a variety of prescription medications. Are there some medications that carry more risk for abuse and addiction than others?
All medications -- prescription and over-the-counter -- can be misused, but three particular classes of drugs have the highest potential for abuse, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). These include: Opiods, Central Nervous System depressants, and Stimulants.
Opiods are prescribed for pain relief, and include morphine and codeine, as well as drugs like Oxycontin, Darvon, and Vicodin.
Central Nervous System (CNS) depressants are used in the treatment of anxiety and sleep disorders, and include tranquilizers and sedatives. Two common CNS depressants are Valium and Xanex.
Stimulants boost energy and focus and include the drugs Ritalin and Dexedrine, among others. In the past, stimulants were often used to treat obesity and asthma, but because they were found to be extremely addictive, their use is now principally restricted to treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and narcolepsy.
If your parents are on any of these medications, chances are they're taking a CNS depressant. Over half of all the drugs prescribed for the elderly include some form of sedative, according to experts at the renowned Hazelden addiction treatment center in Minnesota. Physicians write 16.9 million prescriptions for tranquilizers for their elderly patients each year, according to Hazelden -- second only to heart medications. Elderly patients may also be given an opiod if they have surgery or suffer from a painful condition.
When used responsibly, prescription medications can measurably improve lives. But these drugs also carry the risk of dependance and addiction -- and seniors are particularly vulnerable. The changing metabolisms of older people can intensify the effects of drugs and alcohol for one thing. And aging in America is often characterized by loss and loneliness -- two conditions that increase the risk of substance abuse.
Stay tuned for more on this subject – including information on how to identify a prescription drug problem and what to do about it -- in next week’s post.
Image by Flickr user Divine Harveste r, used under the Creative Commons licensing agreement.
My mother was given Lortab after surgery for a broken hip, that was in May of 07 and by July 07 she was still on them per Dr's orders, why I don't know. The surgery was healed and all she had was back pain from scoliosis for which she had never taken pain medication. I went round and round with them about it, I wanted the dosage reduced to help get her off of them; her personality changed and she seemed to be in more pain when she was on them between her "fixes" On top of that she was on a laxative and 2 stool softeners and was so constipated she had to dig it out with her finger. She was losing weight and so they had her take Ensure and she had 2 seizures in a row. She had never been on any type of medication and hadn't even taken an aspirin in over 20 years so I started looking at the medications. One of the stool softeners can cause seizures in people prone to them. So using that as my leverage I told the Dr I wanted her off of the Lortab because it was causing the constipation and all the laxatives too. They told me she would get an obstructed bowel. I told them I knew what to do for the constipation. I went to the store and bought her prunes, cashew nuts and yogurt, she had a bowel movement the next day and no more seizures. She was in the hospital a year later for pain in her bladder which turned out to be too much calcium it was blocking her urethra from the Caltrate she was taking, I put her on liquid calcium and give her cranberry for UA health. They found out she needed a pacemaker and put her on Prolosec like the first time and wanted to give her Lortab and all the laxatives again and I told them no. I went out to the nurses desk and told everybody sitting there what I just typed here and when I came back to the hospital the next day she had 2 armbands on NO Opiates, No stool softeners or laxatives. We had no problems and she has been fine ever since. My husband was in the hospital and was taking the highest dose of Lortab and they wouldn't let him leave until he had a bowel movement, I went to the grocery store and bought a six pack of Texun Ruby Red Grapefruit juice and he drank a couple of cans of that and had a bowel movement and then worked to get off of the Lortab, he's not on any pain medication no. They were both so grouchy and hateful until they got off the meds all together and they are normally very kind and loving. I can't take Lortabs, I'm allergic to them. It just seems that organized medicine wants to put you on drugs and keep you on them. I believe our food is our medicine and if you eat well you won't need the drugs, that is the approach I use for my family.