Prescription Drug Misuse: Risks, Treatment and Prevention

Prescription drug misuse means taking a medicine in any way other than your health care provider prescribed. That includes:

• taking medicine prescribed for someone else;
• taking a bigger dose than you're supposed to;
• taking it a different way — for example, crushing tablets and snorting or injecting them instead of swallowing them;
• using it for another purpose, such as getting high.

Misusing some prescription drugs — opioids, sedatives, tranquilizers and stimulants — can lead to addiction, a chronic brain disease that drives a person to take drugs again and again despite the harm.

Who is at risk

Misuse can affect anyone at any age, including teenagers and older adults. It can begin when someone needs medicine for a medical condition, for pain after an injury or surgery, or for chronic pain. Risk factors include:

• not knowing enough about the drug and its risks;
• a past addiction to other substances, including alcohol and tobacco;
• certain mental health conditions.

Why it's dangerous

Misuse can have serious medical consequences. Every medicine carries some risk of side effects, which providers weigh when they prescribe. People who misuse a drug may not know those risks, and some medicines may be unsafe for them — especially at higher doses or combined with other medicines.

Treatment

Treatment often combines medicine and counseling, depending on the drug and the person's needs. Counseling may be individual, family or group therapy, and can help you:

• understand why the misuse began;
• change unhealthy patterns of thinking and behavior;
• handle personal problems and build positive relationships;
• manage cravings and avoid situations that could lead to relapse.

Stopping or cutting back on a drug you've taken for a while can cause withdrawal, with symptoms that differ from drug to drug. Your provider will help manage them as your body adjusts.

Using prescription medicines safely

Providers and pharmacists help prevent misuse, but you can lower your own risk too:

• Tell your provider about everything you take — other prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines and supplements — to check that the new drug is safe alongside them.
• Follow the directions carefully and take the medicine exactly as prescribed.
• If a pain medicine isn't working, don't stop it or change the amount without talking to your provider.
• If you're prescribed opioids, ask about the risks and benefits, and whether a medicine with a lower risk of addiction could work instead.

Sources

Based on "Prescription Drug Misuse," MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, drawing on the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH); a work of the United States government in the public domain.