Prescription medication, especially painkillers, abuse has increased in the US in the last few years. Painkillers not only delay pain signals from injured body parts to the brain, thereby numbing pain, but they also induce an increased production of dopamine (the feel good hormone) by the brain, in essence inducing a high/ rush. Opana, morphine, Oxycontin, oxycodone and buprenorphine comprise some of the pain medications that have similar effects to that of heroin and other depressant drugs. In the absence of heroin and other potent depressants, some people ingest high quantities of analgesics/ painkillers, or alter the prescribed dosage form to a form that gets the drugs directly into the bloodstream for an instant high.
Injecting Opana
Opana is a painkiller whose prescribed mode of intake/ ingestion is oral. Oral intake of Opana takes the drug hours to get released into the bloodstream, and even then, the drug seeps into the bloodstream, from the digestive system, in controlled quantities. Abusers of Opana crush the pills, dilute the powder/ or heat it into liquid, and directly inject the liquid into the bloodstream. The effects are immediate and deadly.
Deadly blood disorders from injecting Opana
Clotting: Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura
The human blood circulatory system is composed of the blood, blood vessels (capillaries, veins and arteries) and the heart. The heart receives and pumps blood from and into other body organs through the blood vessels. The highly potent injected Opana causes the conglomeration of platelets (the blood's clotting component) inside the blood vessels, in essence blocking those vessels. Blocked blood vessels limit blood flow and force the heart to overwork to pump blood throughout the body. Clotted platelets and blocked blood vessels can lead to an instant and massive heart attack or the damage/ death of organs that do not get oxygenated blood supply.
Internal bleeding
The human blood is made up red blood cells, platelets and white blood cells. The platelets conglomerate on injured tissues to stop bleeding. When Opana induces platelets clotting inside the blood capillaries, it limits the number of platelets that other body tissues receive. Inadequate platelets lead to internal bleeding, and or excessive bleeding from injured external tissues. Insufficient blood flow to the brain can cause stroke and death, and low blood pressure (from reduced volume of blood in the capillaries) can lead to a heart attack.
A high American population has turned to prescription medicine for recreational use. Since prescription medications are made to be ingested and released into the bloodstream gradually, abusers of these drugs alter their (drugs) forms to release high quantities of the drugs into the bloodstream instantly. Crushing and injecting Opana into the bloodstream causes massive blood vessels clotting and blockage, as well as internal/ excessive bleeding that result in stroke, heart attack and instant death. Follow us for more information and resources on drug abuse and treatment.
