Prescribed drugs

• Constipation
• Confusing thoughts
• Dizziness
• Blurred vision
• Low or very high pulse
• Darkened urine
• Constipation

ADVERSE EFFECTS:

• Chest pain
• Loss of consciousness
• Abnormally low blood pressure

Codeine is also a pain killer made from opium plants, it is also used in treatment of diarrhea and in cough syrups.

Recently codeine cough syrups were banned in India because of the extreme addiction menace it created in the country.

It is the most widely used drug in narcotic drug in medical treatment, it is mostly found in pill form.

D S,  age 15, first started experimenting with smoking cigarettes; he was mentally disturbed and was unable to deal with the estranged relationship between his parents. D S once had cough and cold, he knew where his mother used to keep all the medicines, so he found a cough syrup bottle and took it directly, but the quantity he took was way more than his mother used to give him. He got a high, he felt dizzy and euphoric in a good way, he slept soon after that and felt after waking up, that it was the best he had slept in his whole life. He then started purchasing codeine cough syrup of a particular brand, by paying a little more than the mrp from a chemist and started with half a bottle every day before sleeping. His behaviour changed completely as he became dependent on the codeine cough syrup, he soon started taking the cough syrup 3-4 times in a day. He became extremely depressed and anxious without the substance and felt euphoric after consuming the cough syrup. He started suffering from memory problems and had a severe seizure, and when pressed hard to speak the truth by the doctor and his parents, all his emotional problems and the addiction to codeine syrup came to light. His parents were shocked to hear about all this and readily agreed for regular counselling and family therapy sessions alongside D S.

• Headache
• Bad dreams
• Hallucinations
• Eye sight problem
• Depression
• Retention of urine

ADVERSE EFFECTS

• Abnormal nervous system functioning
• Not breathing for periods of time
• Asthma
• High blood pressure
• Kidney problems

It is a very powerful form of synthetic opiate, it is used to treat cancer patients or patients with high level of chronic pain. This type of drug is more potent than morphine. It is commonly administered into the body through snorting, smoking, injection or a skin patch.
This drug builds up tolerance in the body very fast and the user has to increase the dose constantly to feel the same effect as after the first dose. High doses of Fentanyl can be very lethal and even life threatening.

Mr R G Y, age 38 an orthopaedic surgeon, often used fentanyl patch and injections before performing complicated and painful surgeries. He smoked heavily, but was not addicted to any substance. He was stressed over the past few months because of the huge EMI’s that he was paying for his house and car loans, he was facing a financial crunch. While sitting in his clinic one day, an impulsive streak came out and he put on a fentanyl patch on his body. He felt dizzy, accompanied by mild hallucinations, but felt relaxed after that. He soon started injecting fentanyl, which was meant for surgeries whenever he felt stressed out. Soon this became his dependency and a gateway for running away from stress. He started feeling depressed, whenever he avoided a dose of fentanyl, after a period of time while performing surgeries, he started experiencing excessive sweating and shaking of hands. At night while sleeping, he started encountering several disturbing dreams of being chased by men for money, and in another he is not able to pay of his debts, and to save himself from the humiliation he commits suicide. He got worried about his condition and asked a friend for help, he was referred to the clinic by his friend, where he was diagnosed with anxiety, depression and dependency on cigarettes and fentanyl. His treatment and counselling began soon after, on a week to week basis.

• Impaired mental performance
• Poor judgement
• Being unaware of the surroundings
• High tolerance
• Serious withdrawal symptoms
• Loss of appetite
• Anxiety
• Nausea
• Headache
• Reduced desire for sex
• Nausea
• Constipation

ADVERSE EFFECTS

• Bipolar disorder
• Anxiety disorder
• Depressive disorder
• Borderline personality disorder
• Antisocial personality disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Post- traumatic stress disorder

It is one of the main psychoactive chemicals in opium, and is one of the most efficient pain killer as it directly acts on the central nervous system (CNS) to relieve pain.
It is primarily used to treat both acute and severe chronic pain, the chances of getting addicted to morphine are very high and it has a number of side effects on the body.

Mr A S, age 28 had a knee surgery done, when he was injected for morphine for the first time. That injection gave him relief from the pain and the high he experienced gave him a soothing comfort. He hid one thing from the doctors, that previously he had been a cocaine addict. He after his surgery got discharged from the hospital, but before that he bribed a hospital worker and gathered a sufficient stock of morphine. Mr A S started injecting himself multiple times in a day, he had frequent constipation but enjoyed the slight dizziness and confused state of mind, and he felt funny about it and enjoyed the feeling. Later he was out of his morphine stock and due to discontinuation of morphine, he started encountering several withdrawals like acute back pain, trouble in sleeping, severe stomach cramps and vomiting. He went to his surgeon, who operated him and begged for morphine, upon seeing his condition he was referred to the clinic. He was highly irritated and anxious, when made to sit down for evaluation and kept on begging for morphine.

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Dizziness
• Headache
• Disturbance in sleeping cycle

ADVERSE EFFECTS

• Extreme hallucinations
• Rebound insomnia
• Anterograde amnesia
• Impaired judgement

It is a hypnotic form of sedative drug, it is primarily used by patients suffering from insomnia (sleeping disorder) and other brain disorder. It takes immediate affect within 15-20 minutes after the intake of the tablet.
This drug builds tolerance in the body and has serious withdrawal symptoms after the user stops taking its dose.

Ms P P, 29 was suffering from stress and depression due to the loss of her mother, she was on prescribed Alprax pills of 0.5 mg per day, so she could have a good night sleep and not think excessively about her loss. She felt better initially, when she was taking the prescribed amount of ambient at night, but after a few weeks, Ms P P started to increase the quantity of Alprax, and started taking doses, during day time also. She felt good about herself and thought while intoxicated, that she is finally in charge of things. Her doses increased to more than 10 mg of Alprax, and she visited multiple doctors to get the prescribed Alprax. She then started abusing Alprax with alcohol on a daily basis and started encountering hallucinations, while watching T.V that people are coming out of it, while lying on the bed she would feel that her bed is flying in the air. She used to feel drowsy all day, accompanied by memory problems and poor personal hygiene. Ms P P depression started to surface again with suicidal thoughts. One night during the times of such suicidal thoughts, she took ambient pills of more than 70 mg, with a bottle of alcohol. She was taken to the hospital by her landlord, after he knocked on her door continuously and didn’t get a response. Ms P P after treatment at the hospital was shifted to a rehabilitation centre and her counselling began on a day to day basis.