Percocet Addiction, Abuse, and Symptoms

How Percocet affects the brain

Percocet blocks your brain’s perception of pain and causes feelings of euphoria and relaxation. Like other opioid medications, Percocet activates the reward center of the brain, so it produces a sense of well-being and pleasure. Over time, Percocet can slow your brain’s production of natural chemicals that help your body relieve pain. Your body can also develop a tolerance to the drug’s effects, which makes you need more of the drug to achieve the same results.

Behavioral signs of Percocet usage and abuse

Because you can build a tolerance to Percocet and begin taking higher doses more frequently, you may develop a pain reliever use disorder that causes changes in your behavior. According to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 1.7 million people ages 12 and older had a pain reliever use disorder, representing 0.6% of this demographic. Pain reliever use disorder can cause persistent or increased use, physical withdrawals, health problems, and failure to meet major responsibilities at home, work, or school.

A Percocet abuser may develop an uncontrollable urge to take the drug and keep using it without a doctor’s consent, even if it’s causing health, legal, financial, or relationship difficulties. Because it requires a prescription, it can be difficult to obtain Percocet through legal means, so people addicted to Percocet may seek other ways to locate it. This may lead to forging prescriptions or stealing medication from family members, friends, or even strangers. Abusers may pretend to lose their prescription so they can get another one and visit multiple doctors and/or pharmacies to keep from being caught.

Other behavioral signs of Percocet abuse can include continued use even after experiencing negative effects during prior use, taking the drug even when you’re not in pain, or taking the drug not as intended or prescribed. Abusers may try to borrow or steal Percocet from others or borrow or steal money to buy more Percocet. They may attempt to reduce or quit using Percocet but find themselves incapable of doing so. Abusers may withdraw socially and exhibit mood swings, irritability, anger and aggression, poor decision making, changes in sleep patterns, anxiety, and depression.

Percocet can be a gateway drug because the oxycodone in Percocet affects the body similarly to heroin. Someone addicted to Percocet may be more likely to use heroin, because it’s often easier and cheaper to get on the street. According to the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, in 2011, an estimated 4% to 6% of people who misused prescription opioids switched to heroin, and about 80% of heroin users misused prescription opioids first.

How Percocet affects the body

The oxycodone in Percocet binds with natural receptors in your brain to diminish your body’s ability to feel pain, while the acetaminophen strengthens the painkilling effect. Like any opioid, the oxycodone also increases dopamine, which regulates your body’s ability to feel pleasure. Therefore, you not only feel relief from pain, you’re also flooded with a feeling of well-being or euphoria. It’s this effect on your body that often leads to Percocet abuse and addiction. Negative impacts on the body can include weight loss, insomnia, slurred speech, difficulty with balance and motor skills, constipation, exhaustion, shallow breathing, slowed heart rate, and withdrawal symptoms.

Early physical effects of Percocet

You should feel relief from pain within 15 to 30 minutes of taking Percocet, but it typically reaches its peak in about an hour. Effects generally continue for three to six hours. Physical side effects can be unpleasant and potentially life-threatening.

Severe and long-term physical effects of Percocet

Long-term abuse of Percocet can lead to addiction, which can negatively impact your health and well-being. The oxycodone in Percocet may cause hypotension (low blood pressure), especially if you already have difficulty maintaining blood pressure. If you also have an alcohol use disorder, the acetaminophen in Percocet can stress your liver and cause long-term damage, increasing your risk for acute liver failure.

Chronic users may experience serious adverse reactions, including decreased respiration, respiratory arrest, decreased circulation, and shock. If you take more than prescribed, chew the tablets, or combine Percocet with other sedatives, including alcohol or sleeping pills, an overdose may occur. Combining Percocet with alcohol, benzodiazepines, other central nervous system depressants, or other opioid medicines can also cause breathing problems, severe drowsiness, coma, and death.

Long-term use of Percocet puts you at a high risk of dependence and/or addiction with severe withdrawal symptoms that make relapse more likely. Individuals who follow prescribed doses may also have withdrawal reactions if they stop taking it abruptly. Talk to your doctor about tapering off your medication to prevent opioid withdrawal, which can include dangerous symptoms.

Global prescription opioid usage has increased with prevalence remaining in North America

According to the 2019 World Drug Report, in 2017, an estimated 53 million people globally used opioids at least once. This represented 1.1% of the global population between the ages of 15 and 64. North America had the highest prevalence of nonmedical opioid users, with nearly 4% of the population between 15 and 64 using opioids, representing one-quarter of opioid users worldwide. Pharmaceutical opioids remain the biggest concern in North America, which includes nonmedical use of oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, and tramadol.

Prescription opioid misuse remains high in the U.S. among all age groups

According to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, approximately 10.3 million people age 12 and older misused opioids in the past year, representing 3.7% of the population. Opioids in the survey included heroin and prescription pain relievers containing oxycodone, hydrocodone, or morphine. However, a majority of people who misused opioids in 2018 misused prescription pain relievers. While 9.9 million people over the age of 12 misused prescription pain relievers, only 808,000 were heroin users.

Comparing opioid misuse in 2018 by age group, about 699,000 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 and 1.9 million young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 misused opioids. However, adults ages 26 and older represented the largest age group of misusers with 7.7 million people.

The percentages of 2018 misusers in all three age groups were lower than the percentages in 2015 and 2016. The 2018 percentage was also lower than those in 2017 for the 18 to 25 age group but similar to 2017 percentages for the 12 to 17 and 26 and older age groups. While the decreases are encouraging, the numbers remain high.