Is this your symptom?
- You use recreational drugs or abuse prescription drugs and find it hard to stop
- You are pregnant and abusing drugs
Drug Use, Abuse and Addiction
- The harmful use of drugs for non-medical reasons is drug abuse.
- Many of the drugs people abuse are illegal. But prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) drugs can also be abused.
- Drug abuse can lead to drug addiction. Drug abuse and addiction can cause health, career, legal, and social problems.
- People with a drug addiction can be treated. They may need help to do this. Detox followed by 12-step programs can help a person to recover.
Types of Drugs
- Anabolic Steroids. Some people use these drugs to increase their strength or muscle size. People may take these drugs to do better in sports. However, steroids have bad side effects. Steroids can cause strange behavior, delusions or anger. They can also cause heart and liver damage.
- Club Drugs. These drugs are often used at night clubs or parties. They act like a stimulant. A well-known example is Ecstasy (MDMA). Users feel a sense of great self-confidence and energy. The drugs can allow users to dance for hours. This can lead to severe dehydration and over-heating. After using these drugs people can feel anxious and depressed.
- Dextromethorphan (DM) is found in OTC cough medicines. It can cause hallucinations (when a user sees or hears things that are not really there). It can make a person feel confused, agitated, and excited. Abuse can lead to coma and death.
- Hallucinogens (LSD, mescaline). These drugs can make a person see or hear things that are not really there. They can cause strange visions and changes in perception.
- Inhalants. Fumes of some household products are inhaled because of their mind changing effects. Users may feel giddy or happy. These fumes can alter the user's normal heartbeat. The heart can speed up or get out of rhythm. This can cause heart damage, or even sudden death. Inhalants include glue, gas, butane, White-Out, and air fresheners.
- Marijuana (cannabis) is the most widely used drug. It is now legal to use in many states; illegal in others. It is much stronger than it was in the 1960s/1970s. It causes users to feel happy or mellow and sleepy. In higher doses it can cause paranoia and delusions. A user can hear or see things that are not really there.
- Narcotics. Another name for this class of drugs is opiates. They are addictive. Examples include heroin, morphine, codeine, pentazocine, and methadone. Narcotics can make a person feel calm and "high." Overdose can cause breathing to slow or stop. This will cause coma or death. A person will not die from opiate withdrawal. However, it is very unpleasant. It can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and muscle cramps.
- Sedative-hypnotics. These drugs are used by doctors to treat anxiety and stress. They are also used to help people sleep. Two examples of these drugs are Ativan (lorazepam) and Valium (diazepam). Overuse of these drugs can lead to addiction. Overdose can cause coma.
- Stimulants. These drugs include amphetamine, methamphetamine, cocaine and crack cocaine. Some stimulants are called "uppers" because they can make a person feel excited and "high." These drugs can also cause hyper-activity, paranoia, and anxiety. They are addictive. Abuse can lead to stroke and heart damage. It can cause coma and death.
When to Call for Drug Use and Abuse
Call 911 Now
Go to ER Now
Call Doctor or Seek Care Now
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Contact Doctor Within 24 Hours
Contact Doctor During Office Hours
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Self Care at Home
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Call 911 Now
- Seizure
- Unconscious or hard to wake up
- Long pauses between each breath or breathing has stopped
- Can't speak, slurred speech or acting confused
- You think you have a life-threatening emergency
Go to ER Now
- Severe headache
- You have a new head injury
- Non-stop shaking
- You have a fever and use IV drugs
- Seeing, hearing, or feeling things that are not there
- Feeling lightheaded, dizzy or faint
- Pregnant and having opiate (heroin, morphine and codeine) withdrawal symptoms, such as vomiting or muscle cramps
Call Doctor or Seek Care Now
- Repeated vomiting or stomach pain
- Your drug use has made you feel suicidal (or call 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline)
- Your drug use has led to violence
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You are having withdrawal symptoms, such as:
- trembling
- muscle pain or aches
- sweating
- anger
- nausea or vomiting
- Fever or chills; feeling hot or shivery
- Your skin or whites of the eyes look yellow
- Urine is very dark
- You feel weak or very sick
- You think you need to be seen, and the problem is urgent
Contact Doctor Within 24 Hours
- Your legs or stomach are swollen
- Pregnant or could be pregnant
- You bruise or bleed easily for no clear reason
- You think you need to be seen, but the problem is not urgent
Contact Doctor During Office Hours
- Drug use keeps you from working or other activities
- You want help to quit taking drugs
- You have other questions or concerns
Self Care at Home
- Questions about staying off drugs
Care Advice for Stomach Pain
What You Should Know About Stomach Pain:
- Mild stomach pain can be caused by something simple. It could be from gas pains or eating too much.
- Sometimes, stomach pain signals the start of a viral infection. This will lead to vomiting or loose stools.
- Watching your child for 2 hours will help tell you the cause.
- Here is some care advice that should help.
Lie Down:
- Have your child lie down and rest until feeling better.
Clear Fluids:
- Offer clear fluids only (such as water, flat soft drinks or half-strength Gatorade).
- For mild pain, offer a regular diet.
Prepare for Vomiting:
- Keep a vomiting pan handy.
- Younger children often talk about stomach pain when they have nausea. Nausea is the sick stomach feeling that comes before they throw up.
Pass a Stool:
- Have your child sit on the toilet and try to pass a stool.
- This may help if the pain is from constipation or diarrhea.
- Note: for constipation, moving a warm wet cotton ball on the anus may help.
Do Not Give Medicines:
- Any drug (like ibuprofen) could upset the stomach and make the pain worse.
- Do not give any pain medicines or laxatives for stomach cramps.
- For fever higher than 102° F (39° C), acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) can be given.
What to Expect:
- With harmless causes, the pain is most often better or gone in 2 hours.
- With stomach flu, belly cramps may happen before each bout of vomiting or diarrhea. These cramps may come and go for a few days.
- With serious causes (such as appendicitis), the pain worsens and becomes constant.
Call Your Doctor If:
- Pain becomes severe
- Constant pain lasts more than 2 hours
- Mild pain that comes and goes lasts more than 24 hours
- You think your child needs to be seen
- Your child becomes worse
Extra Help - Worried Stomach:
- Help your child talk about events that trigger the stomach pain. Talk to your child about how to cope with these the next time around.
- Help your child worry less about things she can't control.
- To treat the pain, help your child get very relaxed. Lying down in a quiet place and taking slow deep breaths may help. Make the belly go up and down with each breath. Then try to relax all the muscles in the body. Think about something pleasant. Listening to audios that teach how to relax might also help.
- Make sure your child gets enough sleep.
- Make sure that your child doesn't miss any school because of stomach pains. Stressed children tend to want to stay home when the going gets rough.
- Caution: your child should see her doctor for an exam. Do this before concluding frequent stomach pains are from worrying too much.
