Long Term Effects of Oxycodone on Your Health

Oxycodone is a semi-synthetic opioid found in many prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, Percocet, and Roxicodone. Opioid medications containing oxycodone are designed to alleviate pain in various measures through immediate release versions to treat acute pain and extended release versions (OxyContin) that generally contain higher amounts of oxycodone to treat chronic and severe pain such as occurs in cancer patients.

The long term effects of oxycodone on your health is a cause for concern because they often lead to serious physical, emotional, and psychological health issues such as addiction and an untimely death.

Unintentional Overdose

Oxycodone overdose is an unfortunately common occurrence.

Misuse of opioid medications and inappropriate prescribing practices account for a large number of prescription drug overdose deaths which now exceed motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of injury death in the United States, according to the CDC. Oxycodone is powerful pain reliever that acts as a central nervous system depressant and can potentially cause respiratory and cardiovascular failures that can lead to severe organ damages even in non-fatal overdoses.

Taking too much oxycodone, naivety, consuming it via rapid delivery methods such as IV injection, smoking, or snorting, using it in combination with other medications or alcohol, and compromised health issues are the main causes for unintentional oxycodone overdoses.

Tolerance and Increased Abuse

Tolerance is your brain’s way of attempting to compensate for the changes that occur within your mind and body. It leads to continuous dosage increases to elicit the desired effects whether it is for pain relief, to get “high”, or to stave off withdrawals. Increasing tolerance levels contributes to increased abuse, dependence, and addiction and increases the withdrawal and other difficulties you will go through when you attempt to cease use of the drug.

Extended release versions of oxycodone are in high demand for individuals who have developed an increased tolerance to oxycodone. They are not recommended to be prescribed in opioid naïve individuals or for acute pain although a large proportion of these medications are being prescribed and used inappropriately increasing tolerance levels among many who should never have been prescribed the drugs in the first place. In 2010 research studies, according to the CDC, “Acute pain is not an indication for an LA/ER opioids and such use is considered inappropriate by clinical guidelines and yet in this study, 21.8% of those who received a LA/ER opioid, did so for acute pain.”

Addiction to Oxycodone

While research has focused on the risks variables including genetics, age, environmental factors and others, there is no single factor or variable set of factors that explain why one person becomes addicted to oxycodone and another one doesn’t. According to the Institute of Medicine (US), “There is no reason to believe that the same factor will affect all individuals in the same way, nor is there any reason to believe that the factors responsible for initiation of drug use are of equal importance in the continuation or escalation of use.”

Evidence shows that oxycodone addiction as a brain disease can best be understood as an adaptation process where impulsive use becomes compulsive and the person goes from using the drug for its pleasurable effects to losing control over the use and using it to avoid the negative effects (withdrawals), despite the consequences.

Respiratory Problems

Oxycodone depresses breathing by exerting its main effect on the mu opioid receptors in the brain and central nervous system. Low oxygen, increased carbon monoxide, and fluctuations in breathing rate can have a large impact on your overall health damaging vital organs including the brain, heart, and lungs. Respiratory failure is a primary concern for those who use oxycodone long term because of increased compromises in general health associated with its use.

Cardiovascular Problems

Decreased heart rate and blood pressure can lead to cardiovascular failure and several long term effects of cardiovascular problems. If you are an IV user, the risks of bacterial infections and diseases are exponentially increased leading to damaged heart valves, muscles, and circulatory problems. Heart attacks, arrhythmias, and stroke are commonly associated as long term effects of oxycodone.

Long Term Effects in Brain Functioning and Systems

Oxycodone is a powerful narcotic that causes sedation, euphoria, and calming effects in the brain and changes the way it operates. The brain is the control center for everything else about us and the accumulated effects of long term oxycodone use can have an impact on how you think, feel, or act and your ability to control those variables and on how other organs and systems of your body function to keep you well.

Some of the long term effects of oxycodone on your health from a psychological perspective may involve:

• Psychological dependence and cravings
• Cognitive difficulties
• Memory loss
• Reduced inhibitions and increased risk of dangerous, negative, or immoral behaviors
• Anxiety, depression, mood swings, and other emotional instabilities
• Loss of interest in once enjoyable activities
• Dysfunctional behaviors (According to the NIDA, “the dysfunctional behaviors that result from drug abuse can interfere with a person’s normal functioning in the family, the workplace, and the broader community.”)

Other Organ Impairments

The long term effects of oxycodone on your health has no limits in the amount of damages it can cause in you liver, kidneys, gastrointestinal,l and immunological systems. Most people who use opioids for a long time have some deteriorated health issues as a result and deter seeking treatment for those issues complicating their risks.

Withdrawals and Relapse

Long term effects of oxycodone on your health inevitably involve withdrawals when you suddenly decrease your oxycodone intake or attempt to cease using it. Depending on how long you have been using oxycodone and the amount of neuro-adaptations that have taken place as a result, withdrawals can be significantly painful and unpleasant.

Prevention and relief from withdrawals are contributing factors to ongoing use and relapse. In fact, the majority of individuals who detox from oxycodone resume using them within a matter of days or weeks even when they feel better from not taking the drugs.