5 Common Opiate Addiction Symptoms

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Opiates are very addictive drugs that can lead to serious problems in an addicts life. Opiate drugs have become a serious problem in America. Research has shown that about 9% of the population that has tried an opiate drug sometime in their lifetime. There are many different opiate addiction symptoms that a loved one should look out for if they expect someone they care for is using the drug.

Financial Problems

Opiates are very expensive drugs but that doesn’t stop the person that is addicted to not spend the money on the drug. Financial problems are one of the most common opiate addiction symptoms that an addict will encounter. They will often start to spend their money on the drug rather than pay their financial obligations. Sometimes if the addict runs out of money, they will borrow money from someone or sell items of value for a deep discount. It is even possible that they will resort to illegal activity and steal items to resell for the drug money.

Excessive Sleeping

Opiate Addiction Symptoms

Opiate addiction symptoms can be alleviated with the right treatment!

Another one of the common opiate addiction symptoms is excessive sleeping. Once the person has came down from their high, they will start to become very drowsy. This will lead them into sleeping for a long period of time. The length of time they will want to sleep may vary from person to person but most of the time it will be about 20 to 24 hours.

Physical Appearance Changes

Physical appearance changes are no stranger to a person that is experiencing different opiate addiction symptoms. You may notice the addict is wearing pants and long sleeve shirts even in the summer time to avoid anyone noticing their track marks or injection wounds. They will also often look pale and have an unhealthy look to their skin. Most addicts also don’t take care of their physical appearance like the once did when they were living a clean lifestyle. According to the US National Library of Medicine, weight loss and weight gain are other opiate addiction symptoms that are commonly noticed on an addict.

Paranoid

Many addicts that are experiencing other opiate addiction symptoms, will also experience paranoia. This is common due to the drug making their brain believe that something or someone is out to get them. The drug will send out signals to the brain and the person will become very paranoid and start to become isolated. It is common for opiate addicts to stick with other addicts and not want to associate with other people or their loved ones.

Health Problems

There are a number of health related problems that an opiate addict may experience. A few of the health related opiate addiction symptoms are collapsed veins, dry mouth, infections in the heart, and contracting infectious diseases. Health related problems can start to occur at different stages of the person addiction. When a person has been using the drug for a longer length of time they may start to experiencing fatal organ failure in the lungs, liver, kidneys and the brain. It is important to look for new health related health problems in a person that doesn’t have any personal or family history of these problems.