Drug addicts use many drugstores to get high. To such medicines is Tramadol. The danger of this drug lies in the fact that in high doses it causes dependence after the first intake and leads to irreversible violations of internal organs and psyche.

Tramadol as a drug

Tramadol belongs to the group of narcotic opioid analgesics. Earlier it could be bought in a drugstore, though with difficulty, but now the drug is everywhere withdrawn from circulation.

Tramadol is available in capsules for oral administration, ampoules for injections and rectal suppositories. In Russia, he is prescribed only to a fatal patient who experiences unbearable pain in the late stages of illness.

In the past, the drug was used in the treatment of drug addiction. Due to the fact that it has an effect on the central nervous system, it alleviates the pain in the withdrawal syndrome, but other manifestations of withdrawal only aggravate. Therefore, now restrictions are imposed on the use of the medication.
Currently, half of the patients in the narco-dispensaries are people who are dependent on Tramadol. According to statistics, the drug is consumed by thousands of schoolchildren.

As a synthetic heroin opiate, Tramadol often causes an overdose. It leads to paralysis, limb amputation, serious CNS lesions and death. But is he a drug? Indeed, many drug addicts use the drug as a single drug or use it at a time when they can not find heroin.

Composition

The composition of Tramadol differs slightly depending on the form of release. The active substance of the drug is tramadol hydrochloride. As auxiliary components in the capsules, magnesium stearate and milk sugar are contained, and in injection solutions, sodium acetate and distilled water are contained.

Mechanism of action

The mechanism of action of the drug Tramadol After penetration into the bloodstream Tramadol begins to affect the activity of the nervous system. It inhibits pain impulses and stimulates opioid receptors in the brain and spinal cord. As a result, a person has pain relief.

The use of the drug for its intended purpose and compliance with the recommendations of the doctor, rarely leads to side effects.

However, exceeding the therapeutic dose causes drug intoxication and related side effects:

• retardation;
• hallucinations;
• cardiopalmus;
• dizziness.

Properties

As a narcotic analgesic, Tramadol has a powerful analgesic effect. The effect of the drug begins almost immediately after administration inward or parenterally and lasts a long time. By activity inferior to morphine, so it is used in higher doses.

Effect

The effect of Tramadol begins one to two minutes after ingestion. There comes a euphoria, which lasts 12-36 hours, but as it gets used to the drug its duration gradually decreases. After a while, narcotic intoxication becomes weak, passes through 1-5 minutes.

Drug addicts usually use Tramadol in capsules, less often they use injectable solutions for artisanal drug production. After taking the drug develops an empathic state, similar to what causes “ecstasy.”

It is accompanied by:

• emotional susceptibility;
• desire to help others;
• sympathy and sympathy for all, even for the enemies;
• the tide of vivacity;
• looseness.

After one or two days intoxication comes to naught. A person has a fear of being alone, nightmares begin to haunt him. As you get accustomed to the drug, euphoria and empathy practically disappear, but paranoia and mania develop, as well as as a result of prolonged use of heroin.

By the end of the first week of taking Tramadol against the background of euphoria, the first hallucinations appear. The patient can hear or see certain creatures. He talks to them, watches them from outside in extreme situations, perceiving what is happening as an exciting adventure.

The development of dependence

Therapeutic doses of Tramadol, as a rule, are not addictive. However, even with a slight excess of it, even after the first use of the drug, both physical and psychological dependence develops.

During three months of regular use, Tramadol is the only or the main drug for a person. If the patient wants to be treated and gets rid of physical dependence, the psychological craving for the drug will still remain. It persists to 10-15 years, so very often failures occur.

Even with the help of detoxification in the hospital it is impossible to completely purify the body of Tramadol. The products of its decay are deduced within 20-25 years.

The process of inpatient treatment itself occurs quite quickly and takes from a week to a month. However, in practice, 75% of people who at least once tried Tramadol, go back to taking the drug for 4-5 years. This in most cases ends with death.

After a dramatic withdrawal of Tramadol, the drug addict experiences the most severe of all possible abstinence symptoms. The break takes 20-25 days.

Hallucinations in the period of the abstinence syndrome do not vanish, but, on the contrary, become more frequent and realistic, the gloominess of their plots increases.

In parallel, the patient manifests other mental disorders:

• severe depression with suicidal tendencies;
• aggressiveness;
• hysteria;
• irritability.

In a state of abstinence after Tramadol, a person’s feelings of guilt and shame are greatly exacerbated not only for their actual actions, but also for their invented ones. As a result, the patient begins to get angry, afraid for themselves and their loved ones, although there is no reason for this.

At the same time, a person experiences painful physical symptoms:

• headache;
• high blood pressure;
• fever and chills;
• sweating;
• an ache in a body;
• muscle pain;
• cardiopalmus.

The patient is so weak that she can not even sit down without help. Appetite is completely absent. As a result, the addict spends all the breakdown in bed.

Symptoms of withdrawal usually become worse in the evening and at night. The patient can not fall asleep, but even if it turns out, realistic nightmares arise. They are intertwined with hallucinations, since when breaking a person can not fully fall asleep, and intoxication is still present.

Signs and symptoms of consumption

Tramadol is a psychoactive drug, so its use primarily causes behavioral abnormalities. They can be different and depend on the personality characteristics of the patient.

In different cases:

• excessive motor activity or lethargy;
• drowsiness or insomnia;
• inability to concentrate;
• self-isolation and indifference to everything;
• reluctance to communicate with loved ones;
• decreased memory and attention;
• absenteeism of study or work without a clear explanation;
• acute reaction to criticism;
• sharp mood swings;
• falsity and avoidance of direct answers to questions;
• untidy appearance;
• the appearance of suspicious acquaintances, jargon;
• interest in specific music and films;
• constant requests to borrow money;
• loss of values.

The dependence on Tramadol can also be recognized by physiological characteristics. They can also vary depending on the characteristics of the body.

Most often in people who take the drug, there are:

• enlarged or narrowed pupils;
• red squirrel eyes;
• clouded look;
• pale or reddened skin;
• rash;
• slow and incoherent or simply accelerated speech;
• lack of appetite or gluttony;
• strong weight loss or a large weight gain;
• digestive disorders;
• excessive gesticulation;
• unstable gait.

Within a month on the background of the reception of Tramadol, the patient’s appetite gradually comes to naught. At the same time, an unquenchable thirst develops.

Within three months of regular use of the drug develops physical, emotional and mental exhaustion. The person becomes more and more sluggish. He is often in a good mood, but laughter can suddenly turn into tears or a flash of aggression.

Because of the increased pressure in the patient, there are more intense headaches, with him there are fainting. Opportunities to learn and work are reduced, because memory worsens, absent-mindedness grows. As a result, a person has to exert more effort to perform the usual actions.

Effects

Consequences of prolonged use of TramadolAfter one year of misuse of Tramadol, bone tissue is significantly weakened in humans. This increases the risk of fractures and related injuries. Loss of teeth and hair can also occur.

If the patient does not throw Tramadol, then, as a rule, he dies within 3-4 years. However, even after a successful rehabilitation, people have the consequences of dependence that they will have to struggle with for the rest of their lives.

After two years of continuous use of the drug, severe consequences develop:

• epilepsy;
• toxic hepatitis;
• dementia;
• cirrhosis of the liver.

Among other consequences of long-term use of Tramadol, mental abnormalities are noted:

• alternation of euphoria and depression;
• bouts of irritability;
• obsessions;
• paranoids.

Only a quarter of tramadol addicts survive after undergoing rehabilitation. The rest die from causes that are directly or indirectly related to the consequences of dependence.

According to statistics, most patients die as a result of overdoses, which occur during breakdowns. Up to 9% of all those who use this drug commit suicide during withdrawal, slightly less people die from diseases of internal organs. With 3% of patients in a state of drug intoxication, accidents occur that lead to death.

Overdose and poisoning

Overdose Tramadol causes a strong intoxication of the body, with characteristic symptoms. Among them:

• vomiting;
• difficulty in swallowing function;
• respiratory depression, up to apnea and coma;
• visual and taste disorders;
• bullous eruptions;
• cyanosis of the skin and lips;
• deep dream;
• no response to pain and sound stimuli;
• loss of consciousness;
• rapid breathing;
• falsely epileptic seizures;
• slow heart rate;
• violation of coordination of movements.

Tramadol poisoning requires immediate hospitalization of the patient to the hospital. There he will be organized pulmonary ventilation and pick up symptomatic therapy.

Treatment of dependence

Drug dependence on Tramadol is treated by the same methods as opium addiction. The patient needs rehabilitation in the medical center.

Regardless of the condition of a person, he is hospitalized. However, this requires personal consent of the patient.

Treatment is carried out in several stages:

• Detoxification.
• General strengthening therapy.
• Active drug treatment.
• Antiretroviral therapy.

Detoxification lasts 3-4 weeks, during which the patient takes glucose, vitamin-mineral complexes, blood substitutes, nootropics and other drugs. In parallel, symptomatic treatment is performed. If necessary, prescribe analeptics for the normalization of respiratory functions, medications to restore the work of the heart and blood vessels.

An important condition of treatment – a sharp and final refusal to use Tramadol. The withdrawal syndrome, which causes this drug, is removed with clonidine and pyrroxane. To eliminate psychoses, tranquilizers and haloperidol are usually prescribed.

As part of the antinarcotic treatment, the body functions that are damaged as a result of Tramadol’s administration are restored, the behavior of the patient is corrected and the cravings in the drug are suppressed. At this stage, antidepressants and antipsychotics are used, in parallel treatment continues with nootropic drugs.

Also, the patient is affected by psychotherapeutic methods. Individual and collective classes are held in different centers. Hypnosis can be used with the development of aversion to the drug at the subconscious level, acupuncture, electrostimulation.

The longest stage is maintenance therapy, aimed at maintaining the achieved result and preventing breakdowns. After discharge from the medical institution, the patient should continue to attend psychotherapy sessions and take fortified preparations. The duration of anti-relapse treatment can be up to five years.