Prescription occurs when a person continues to take a prescription drug long after it is needed. This frequently occurs with drugs that are intended for pain relief or that are prescribed to adjust serotonin levels.
Drugs that are used for serotonin level control are usually prescribed for such conditions as depression, bipolar disorder, and other conditions that are caused by a chemical imbalance. When used correctly, these drugs allow a person to function normally without being too “doped up” or “out of it”.
It may be necessary for a person to remain on a serotonin adjustment drug for the rest of one’s life. However, the least possible amount necessary to control symptoms should be prescribed by a health care professional, and the patient should not attempt to increase the dosage unless it the health care professional feels this should be done.
Drugs for pain are, of course, prescribed for acute or chronic pain. In acute pain, once the source of the pain has been discovered and alleviated, the pain medication should be stopped. Even if it is necessary to lower the dosage gradually, the goal should be to stop taking the medication as soon as possible.
Those who suffer from chronic pain may require a daily dosage of a narcotic pain medication. However, just as with any drugs, the smallest possible dosage should be prescribed, and directions given that only a certain amount of the drug should be taken in a 24-hour period. Dosage adjustments should not be made by a patient, only a health-care professional.
If addiction to these and other drugs occurs, the health-care professional should not hesitate to stop prescribing the drug, and to refer the patient to a drug addiction treatment center. The health-care professional must do his part by refusing to write any more prescriptions, and then allow the addiction treatment center to help the patient control the addiction.
Addiction treatment is not hard to find, and a health-care professional should not allow a patient to use the excuse that there is no drug addiction treatment center close by to take advantage of. The health-care professional can go online to http://drugaddictiontreatmentcenter.net/ or call 1-866-923-1134, and get information on an addiction treatment center that is readily available to the patient, or give the contact information to the patient, if the health-care professional feels that the patient will take advantage of it.
