Damason-P Abuse

Damason-P is a brand name for a combination of hydrocodone and aspirin used to treat severe, chronic, and acute pain. The medication changes how your central nervous system responds to pain signals, in order to keep you from suffering the sensation of pain.

Hydrocodone products such as Damason-P are highly addictive with a high potential for abuse. For this reason they are classified as Schedule II controlled substances by the FDA.

Understanding Damason-P Abuse

Although only available by prescription, Damason-P is sometimes taken recreationally, which can easily lead to addiction. Street names for hydrocodone medications include:

• fluff
• hydros
• v-itamin
• vic
• vike
• Watson-387

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency’s fact sheet on the drug, “hydrocodone is the most frequently prescribed opioid in the United States and is associated with more drug abuse and diversion than any other licit or illicit opioid.”

The hydrocodone in Damason-P binds itself to opioid receptors in your brain, blocking pain signals, and causing a release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps to control your brain’s pleasure and reward centers, as well as regulate emotion and movement.

Dopamine allows us to recognize rewards and then move towards them. This is why dopamine plays such a huge role in addiction. When taken in high doses, opiates like Damason-P cause the release of abnormally large amounts of dopamine, creating a sensation of euphoria and deep relaxation. Due to how dopamine functions in the brain, this process leads most users to immediately seek to repeat the experience, which the brain sees as a reward.

Signs and Symptoms of Damason-P Abuse

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “as many as one in four patients receiving long-term opioid therapy in a primary care setting struggles with opioid addiction.” This usually happens with patients fail to follow a doctor’s instructions for their prescription.

Some signs and symptoms of Damason-P addiction may include:

Social isolation is a sign of Damason-P abuse.

• running out of pills earlier than scheduled
• pretending to lose pills to obtain new prescriptions
• visiting multiple doctors or pain clinics
• self-harming or faking injury
• changes in appearance or hygiene
• changes in eating habits
• apathy and foggy thinking
• isolation from family and friends
• secretive behavior
• nervousness and restlessness
• unexplained mood swings
• lack of interest in activities the user previously enjoyed

Dangers of Damason-P Abuse

Continual use of Damason-P will lead to drug tolerance. When this happens, you will need to take more of the drug just to experience the same high. The greater amount of the drug you take, the greater your chances of experiencing adverse side effects and complications, including fatality.

The Mayo Clinic states that you should seek immediate medical help if any of the following side effects occur while you are taking a product containing hydrocodone:

• bloating or swelling of the face, arms, hands, lower legs, or feet
• body aches or pain
• chills
• cough
• depression
• difficult or labored breathing
• ear congestion
• fear or nervousness
• fever
• headache
• loss of voice
• nasal congestion
• rapid weight gain
• runny nose
• sneezing
• sore throat
• tightness in the chest
• tingling of the hands or feet
• unusual tiredness or weakness
• unusual weight gain or loss

Who Abuses Damason-P?

Damason-P abuse may occur for a variety of reasons. You may have taken more than indicated after receiving a prescription, and/or continued to take it even after you no longer needed it for pain. You may have been given a pill by a friend to treat a mild pain, and the unnecessary potency of the medication led to an experience of euphoria that you immediately longed to repeat.

Perhaps you may use Damason-P to self-medicate insomnia, anxiety or depression. This will work, at first, but soon side effects and withdrawal symptoms will cause you to experience the exact opposite of what you want from the medication.

Damason-P Addiction

Anyone can become addicted to Damason-P if they abuse it. When used responsibly, you may become addicted, but it is unlikely. Addiction usually occurs with higher than prescribed doses. Psychological addiction can occur quite rapidly, followed by physical addiction over time.

Physical addiction means that whenever levels of the drug in your system begin to wane, you will experience withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawing from opioids is both physically and emotionally exhausting, which makes you unlikely to quit once a dependency develops.

The MedlinePlus page on opiate and opioid withdrawal explains that early symptoms of withdrawal include:

• agitation
• anxiety
• muscle aches
• increased tearing
• insomnia
• runny nose
• sweating
• yawning

Late symptoms of withdrawal include:

• abdominal cramping
• diarrhea
• dilated pupils
• goose bumps
• nausea
• vomiting

Am I Addicted to Damason-P?

Perhaps you aren’t sure if you have a substance abuse problem. How can you tell if you are an addict?

Addiction is characterized by repeated drug-seeking behavior, even in the face of negative consequences such as accidents or injury, failures at school or work, losing friends and alienating family members, and/or health complications.

Other signs of addiction include:

• Using daily, or even multiple times a day
• Feeling as if your life revolves around drug use
• Avoiding people or places that discourage drug use
• Engaging in risky or immoral behavior to obtain drugs or while under the influence of drugs
• Experiencing withdrawal symptoms when you try to quit or cut down
• Having friends and family confront you about your drug use
• Getting angry and hostile when they do
• Needing to take more drugs now than when you started using
• Taking drugs to escape unwanted emotions or conflicts
• Lying about when or how much you use
• Feeling incapable of quitting on your own

Damason-P Addiction Treatment

Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “as with most other chronic diseases, such as diabetes, asthma, or heart disease, treatment for drug addiction generally isn’t a cure. However, addiction is treatable and can be successfully managed.”

Drug use leads to changes in brain chemistry that increase your desire to use and discourage your efforts to quit. This is why addicts have the greatest success when they find a qualified treatment program to supervise, guide and support them as they work on overcoming addictive behaviors.

Except in extreme cases, these changes in brain chemistry can be healed, just like the damage drug use has done to your body can be healed—but the first step is physically ridding yourself of addictive substances by getting sober.

Detox

When it comes to drug addiction, giving up drugs isn’t a simple process. Even without the psychological part of addiction begging you not to quit, physical addiction means that your entire system has become literally dependent upon your drug of choice.

You can overcome this, but to do so is a process. First of all, you should never abruptly stop taking opiate drugs like Damason-P. Your dosage has to be gradually tapered before you can quit. This will reduce the severity of your withdrawal symptoms.

It is best to detox with medical supervision. A doctor can make sure you are safe throughout the process, and may prescribe medications that can alleviate withdrawal symptoms and support your continued sobriety.

Recovery

As soon as you have a clear mind and a drug-free body, you will be ready to get the full benefit of therapy.

Addiction treatment should address your healing holistically, meaning it should treat your body, mind and spirit. To this end, your recovery plan will include a variety of different therapies:

• Counseling: including individual, group and family therapy, is crucial for uncovering and addressing any mental health issues that may be fueling your addiction, for teaching more effective communication to you and your family members, and to help you learn from the experience of other addicts struggling with similar issues.
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy: CBT teaches you to retrain your brain to use new ways of thinking about drug use, and how to avoid trigger situations.
• Nutrition, fitness and recreational therapy: a strong body is just as important as a strong mind when it comes to long-term recovery. Studies have shown that exercise effects the same reward pathways in the brain as drug use, giving you a natural high that will make you healthier, and give you a positive outlet to turn to when dealing with stress and cravings.