Teen Hydrocodone Addiction

Table of Contents
Signs and Symptoms
Street Terms
Why Abuse Hydrocodone
How Dependence Hurts
Detox and Rehab
Benefits of Treatment
Get Treatment Help

If your teenaged son or daughter is battling an addiction to hydrocodone – sold under the brand names Lorcet, Lortab, Norco and Vicodin – early intervention and treatment are some of the best ways that you can help them fight the problem successfully. Because many teens have access to the unused prescriptions of family members as well as the medications of family members with ongoing prescriptions for opiate medication like hydrocodone, the problem of teen dependence upon the drug has rapidly risen over the past 10 years. Even if no one in your family has a hydrocodone prescription, old or new, their friends may be sharing what they find at home. Is hydrocodone addiction a problem for your child?

If your teen is addicted to hydrocodone, it is not recommended that he or she abruptly stop taking the medication at home without medical supervision. At Newport Academy, we offer hydrocodone detox and teen addiction treatment designed to meet the needs of growing teenagers. Call now to find out more.

Hydrocodone Addiction Signs in Teens

Addiction to hydrocodone may not be readily evident; however, the observant parent or guardian of a hydrocodone-abusing teen may see some or all of the following physical and behavioral signs of addiction to the drug:

• Abnormal restlessness
• Change in friends or social behaviors
• Confusion or lack of mental clarity
• Constipation
• Difficulty with urination
• Dry throat
• Itching
• Sluggishness
• Unusual anxiety
• Withdrawal from friends and family

Not all of these addiction signs will be evident in all teens abusing hydrocodone, and in some cases, the true issue may be another illness or disorder. However, if your teen exhibits the signs listed above and you know that he or she is also using painkillers like hydrocodone, then prescription drug abuse and addiction may be a growing problem and your immediate intervention is warranted.

Street Terms for Hydrocodone

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), hydrocodone is commonly referred to on the street as Vikes, hydro or Norco. Because hydrocodone is the active ingredient in commonly prescribed prescription drugs like Vicodin, Percocet, Percodan and OxyContin, your teen may use terms that refer to these drugs specifically during active hydrocodone abuse and addiction. Other slang terms include oxys, hillbilly heroin, OCs, Percs, happy pills and more. Every group of teens will come up with their own slang references in order to code their speech and prevent parents and teachers from discovering their drug use, so be on the lookout for ‘coded’ or secretive language when your teen is talking to or texting friends.

Why Hydrocodone Abuse?

The reasons why teens abuse hydrocodone, and eventually become addicted to the drug, are varied. Some may cave to peer pressure and indulge in experimentation that becomes more and more frequent until an addiction develops, while others may want to escape or smother feelings of emotional or physical pain. Still others may just be interested in experimenting with the forbidden and are alarmed to realize how overpowering hydrocodone can be. Teens who are diagnosed with co-occurring mental health, behavioral or social issues may have an increased risk of drug abuse simply because they want to fit in with peers or quell the symptoms of their original disorder. Also, teenagers who are the victims of domestic violence, sexual trauma or physical attacks may be more likely to develop a drug dependence.

The relative ease with which teens are able to access the drug makes it prone to misuse and abuse, and for that reason, it is important to pay attention to changes in a teen’s demeanor, appearance, interests and school performance in order to detect issues with hydrocodone early on.

What Hydrocodone Dependence Steals From Your Teen

Normally prescribed as a painkiller, hydrocodone causes light-headedness or a drug-induced “high” that many abusers find addicting. It can also cause sleepiness, muscle weakness and memory loss. Overdoses of the drug can cause many severe and life-threatening physical conditions, including a reduced or slowed heartbeat, difficulty with breathing, seizures and coma.

When hydrocodone abuse becomes frequent or turns into an addiction, these physical effects become an issue for your teen on an almost daily basis, risking every positive thing in his or her life. You’ll quickly begin to see personality changes and changes in behaviors that will infect every part of his or her experience. Decreased energy will mean less focus and therefore less progress made on academic fronts, in community efforts, or in extracurricular activities and sports. With a loss of progress in goals, happiness and overall mood tend to dip significantly for your teen as well. It can make your home a depressing place to be for everyone in the family.

• Energy. Hydrocodone is an opiate painkiller that provides sedative effects in addition to relieving pain. Though initially it triggers the pleasure response, it also saps your teen of any energy or drive to do anything. In most cases, teens under the influence will lay around the house, watching TV or listening to music. Some may play video games. Few will be able to engage in conversation at length or focus on anything that requires their attention like books, writing or schoolwork. Without treatment, hydrocodone addiction will steal your teen’s energy and focus.

• Progress. Without energy, your teen will find it difficult to get much done while living with an active hydrocodone addiction. Rather than attend school or go to work, your teen will generally be late if he shows up at all. Instead of doing homework, books and assignments will likely be ignored. If your teen can’t focus and keep up with their responsibilities, consequences will soon develop as a result of his lack of progress. Your teen will likely begin to fail classes and be forced to repeat them, if he is allowed to continue attending school at all. It’s likely that your teen will also be fired from his job and be unable to find a new one. If your teen is on a sports team or involved in an extracurricular activity, he will likely lose their spot as well if hydrocodone addiction is allowed to continue untreated.

• Joy. Your teen needs to see herself doing well in order to boost her self-esteem. Without progress, there is no tangible evidence that she is succeeding in life and without success, there is little motivation to create new goals and work to achieve them. Without self-esteem, there is no joy. The depression that results due to untreated teen hydrocodone addiction can steal her ability to pull herself out of addiction without effective treatment.

Hydrocodone Detox and Rehab

When a person intentionally stops taking hydrocodone, they go through a process called detoxification, or detox. During detox, the body experiences many unpleasant symptoms as it adjusts to the lack of the drug. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the process is not easy to go through without professional supervision and guidance; that is one reason that you need to find an established drug detox and rehabilitation facility for your addicted teen.

Following detox, which may require round-the-clock supervision, your teen needs to enter into a rehab treatment program. Some rehabilitation programs are inpatient or residential and others are outpatient-based; which option is best for your teen will depend on many factors. However, you should follow the advice of a rehab advisor who has assessed your teen’s addiction to hydrocodone.

While in rehab, your teen will learn to identify the reasons they first experimented with hydrocodone and come to understand their addiction. They will also learn the skills they will need for returning to full health and being regular members of their community; healthy, communicative, engaged community members.

Benefits of Teen Hydrocodone Addiction Treatment

There are almost too many benefits of teen hydrocodone rehab to count. Helping your teen to stop abusing hydrocodone immediate removes the danger of overdose that is at issue every time he or she takes prescription drugs non-medically. It also stops the progression of chronic health issues in development due to the toxins found in the medications.

All the social problems and issues at school that develop as a result of drug addiction will begin to fade as well. Though it may take time to get back on track academically and to work on fixing or creating new and positive friendships, hydrocodone addiction treatment is the first step on both fronts. In fact, working on academics and making up for lost time can start during treatment itself as can the development of new peer relationships.

Family relationships, too, have the opportunity to mend when the addicted teenager undergoes treatment. Family therapy begins during teen drug rehab and can continue as long as necessary. Initially, the focus may be on specific issues that occurred during your teen’s active addiction but over time, the focus will shift to include the mechanics of effective communication and learning how to help your teen effectively avoid relapse without inadvertently enabling their addiction.

According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the cost of untreated drug and alcohol addiction is high, not just for the addict and his or her family but for the community at large. Health care costs; the costs of court time, law enforcement, incarceration, and victim care related to crimes perpetrated in the pursuit of maintaining drug addiction; social welfare; damage to property – all this can add up to quite a hefty bill. One of the many benefits of getting your teenager the help he or she needs to fight hydrocodone addiction is that you enable your child to avoid becoming an adult living off of others and instead help your teen to heal and become a productive member of the community.

Give Your Teen the Chance to Fight Hydrocodone Addiction at Newport Academy

You need to know that you and your child are not alone: there are many families dealing with teenage hydrocodone abuse and addiction. Help is available; all you need to do is reach out. Contact us at Newport Academy today to learn more about the options we provide for teen hydrocodone addiction. Call now.