Klonopin and Alcohol

Klonopin is a benzodiazepine that many doctors prescribe to people who have moderate to severe anxiety. There have been many cases where people were mixing Klonopin and alcohol. The dangers of doing this are serious.

If you have a prescription for Klonopin, it is vital to know the drug can be addictive. It becomes more of a problem when mixing it with other substances. The good news is there are treatment programs for people who need to stop using Klonopin and alcohol.

For now, it might be a good idea to learn more about the symptoms of mixing these substances, the withdrawal process and other aspects of this type of addiction.

Symptoms of Mixing Klonopin and Alcohol

Klonopin like alcohol and all depressants, causes depression of the central nervous system. If you have both these substances in your system, the effects will be amplified. Sometimes, the consequences can be deadly.

Some symptoms of mixing Klonopin and alcohol include:

Slower breathing
Reduced heart rate
Coordination issues
Dizziness
Slurred speech
Nausea
Vomiting
Memory issues
Cognitive function issues
Moderate to severe headache
Loss of appetite
Sleep problems

In most cases, Klonopin is a safe prescription drug. Doctors control how much of this medication each patient gets. The problem is that many people mix it with other substances such as alcohol. Some people will buy more Klonopin from others when they don’t get the effects they want from their prescription.

If you have been mixing alcohol with Klonopin and you’re struggling to quit, we can help.

Who Abuses Klonopin and Alcohol

Anyone can be at risk of abusing Klonopin and alcohol. However, studies show that undergraduate students have the highest rates of mixing Klonopin and alcohol. In the studies, 12.1% of the students were abusing one or more medications and alcohol.

Some of the others who commonly abuse alcohol and Klonopin include:

People 25 and younger
Those who don’t have their high school diploma
Single people
People who have a history of drinking a lot

If you have been abusing these substances, you aren’t alone. You can get the help you need to stop using alcohol and Klonopin.

Signs of Addiction

Many people who mix alcohol and a benzodiazepine like Klonopin don’t think there is a problem with what they are doing. Do they all have an addiction? There is no guarantee that everyone who takes these substances at the same time has an addiction. However, it is still dangerous to do so.

There are so many risks of mixing harmful substances such as alcohol and benzodiazepines. People who continue to mix them may have an addiction.

If you combine these substances and can’t seem to stop, contact us today. We can help diagnose whether you have an addiction. If so, don’t worry. We can get you the treatment you need to overcome that addiction.

Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Symptoms

Some people avoid going to a treatment program because they worry about withdrawal. It can be tough to go through this process on your own. However, you can get help managing the symptoms of withdrawal when attending a treatment program.

Some withdrawal symptoms a rehab center team can help you manage include:

Raised body temperature
Hallucinations
Coordination problems
Irritability
Insomnia
Nausea and vomiting
Rebound anxiety
Profuse sweating
Seizures
Increased heart rate
Panic attacks
Tremors

Thinking about these withdrawal symptoms can be scary. However, if you enroll in a treatment program, you won’t have to deal with these symptoms yourself. You will get around-the-clock care if you go to an inpatient rehab center. There are other treatments you can receive, as well.

Get Help to Stop Using Klonopin and Alcohol

Mixing alcohol and a benzodiazepine can be dangerous. The side effects will be much worse if you have both substances in your system simultaneously. You could have side effects such as nausea and vomiting to tremors and seizures. Even if you don’t experience most of the side effects above, the damage these substances do to your body can be substantial.

The important thing is to get help to stop using these substances if you need to do so. Many professionals have experience and training to deal with addiction such as this one. Once you detox from these substances, the treatment program can help you learn techniques to manage your anxiety. Those techniques can give you a natural way of managing anxiety, so you don’t feel the need to use Klonopin and alcohol.

Have you been mixing alcohol and a benzodiazepine? We don’t want to see you struggle with substance abuse. Contact us today to get help with your Klonopin and alcohol addiction.

Painkillers such as Codeine, Oxycodone, Hydrocodone and Morphine are all narcotics from the same family of drugs as Heroin. Opiates are derived from Opium derived from Poppies while Opioids are synthetically made versions that mimic Opiates. Because of this connection, painkillers can often lead to heroin.

This class of drugs act as depressants, relieving pain by binding to receptors in the Brain and Central Nervous System. They work by mimicking the effects of pain-relieving chemicals that are produced naturally in the body, but to a much higher degree. When opiates bind to opiate receptors in the body, they block the perception of pain.

While excellent for short-term pain mitigation and management, opiates create both tolerance and dependence in the longer-term. Not only does a patient need higher and higher doses to get the same effect as before, but they also become addicted and dependent on the medication to function normally. It takes less than a month to develop a dependence on opiates, after which a person will experience withdrawal without it.

Furthermore, Opiates are also known for producing feelings of euphoria, which then leads to recreational abuse.

The Opioid Crisis

Most people know that Opiate and Heroin use, abuse and overdose has increased over the years. The Opioid Crisis regularly makes national headlines. In response to the Opioid Crisis, regulators cracked down on production and prescriptions of opiates. They demanded that manufacturers decrease production by 25% and made it harder for doctors to prescribe them for pain. On the surface, this makes sense. Reduce the amount of people getting opiates and you will reduce the amount of people addicted to opiates. However, this did not answer the problem of people experiencing chronic pain nor those are already hooked on prescription opiates.

Turning to the Streets

Imagine you are a person with a chronic back injury and your doctor has been prescribing Oxycontin to help manage your symptoms for months. As we know, it takes less than a month to develop dependency, so you are fully addicted to your Oxycontin prescription. Now, due to regulations, your doctor can no longer prescribe your dose. Your pain has not subsided, nor has your addiction to opiates. Thus, you head to the streets. Unfortunately on the streets the price of prescription opiates, which was already high, has now spiked significantly. The street price of Oxycontin is $1 per milligram. If you have someone who takes 80mg per day, suddenly they find themselves with an $80/day habit. In order to get your fix, your painkillers can lead to heroin, a much cheaper option. 75% of all people with an opioid addiction end up switching to heroin as a cheaper source of opioids.

Statistics on Use and Abuse

Opiate use, and substance abuse in general, is on the rise all over the world, not only in the United States. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that:

In 2017, opiate painkillers were prescribed more than 190 times
Roughly 21 to 29% of patients prescribed opiates for chronic pain misuse them.
Between 26 and 36 million people worldwide abuse opiates
Over two million people in the U.S. suffer from substance abuse problems related to opiate painkillers
In 2010, the overuse of opiate painkillers resulted in nearly 17,000 deaths in the U.S.
About 80% of people who use heroin first misused prescription opioids.
Overdoses from opioids increased 30% from July 2016 to September 2017 in 45 states.
The Midwest saw the highest increases overall, with overdoses increasing by 70% from July 2016 to September 2017.

Signs of an Opiate or Heroin Overdose

Early treatment can save a life. If you or someone else experiences these signs or symptoms after consuming Codeine or any other opiate, call 911 immediately:

Loss of consciousness
Unresponsive to outside stimuli
Awake but unable to talk
Body goes limp
Light skinned people: skin turns blue or purplish
Dark skinned people; skin turns grayish or ashen
Fingernails or lips turn blue or purple
Vomiting
Sounds of choking or gurgling in the throat
Pale and clammy face
Slow, weak or non-existent pulse

People who survive overdoses do so because someone was there to respond. It is rare that someone dies immediately from an overdose, getting them help can save their life and prevent permanent damage. The longer you wait, the more damage can occur. It is vital to act quickly.

Getting Help

We hope this article has helped you better understand how prescription painkillers can lead to Heroin. If you or a loved one are struggling with Opiate or Heroin addiction, please reach out.

Call us today and find out how we can help.

Sources

https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/heroin.html

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/relationship-between-prescription-drug-heroin-abuse/prescription-opioid-use-risk-factor-heroin-use