# What's the big deal about Oxycontin? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 8, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939 "2008-10-08T02:02:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Euthanasiast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Euthanasiast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euthanasiast)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/21 "2008-10-08T11:43:14Z")
> [@Indygrrl](#): > > These “junkies” you talk about would know better than to try to snort Percocet, Vicodin, and anything else that has a bunch of acetominophen in it. The only pills worth snorting are small. Anything else would be taken orally. I’m not referring to acetaminophen. The chemical I’m referring to (and admittedly I am going by a failed memory) either prevents intravenous injection or prevents snorting. It is a chemical specifically designed for this purpose. It is supposed to cause great irritation for the abuser. I’m still looking for the specific name for this chemical. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/22 "2008-10-08T11:47:09Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Nothing happened. Nothing. I was aghast. I wasn’t stoned. I wasn’t high. I wasn’t buzzed or loopy or woozy. It might take some more use. My first dozen or so doses of synthetic morphine did nothing except alleviate the pain. The next few made me apathetic. Then I started getting high. Mmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/23 "2008-10-08T14:24:25Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > It might take some more use. My first dozen or so doses of synthetic morphine did nothing except alleviate the pain. The next few made me apathetic. Then I started getting high. Mmmmm. It’s my understanding that when the drug is working on the pain receptors, the user doesn’t get high. When the pain goes away, and the use continues, the user begins to get high. Finding that critical point before the pain ends and before the addiction begins is the key to responsible pain management. Am I off base here? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/24 "2008-10-08T14:47:29Z")
**RickJay** you get extra points for working a reference to Croesus in your opening post. Kudos, good sir, kudos. Odesio ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/25 "2008-10-08T14:53:31Z")
> [@Euthanasiast](#): > > I’m not referring to acetaminophen. The chemical I’m referring to (and admittedly I am going by a failed memory) either prevents intravenous injection or prevents snorting. It is a chemical specifically designed for this purpose. It is supposed to cause great irritation for the abuser. > > I’m still looking for the specific name for this chemical. … Right, but those pills ALSO have acetaminophen in them. **Indygrrl** is saying they wouldn’t bother snorting these (the ones that have the chemical irritator and acetaminophen) because why would you snort a pill that has a bunch of lame acetaminophen instead of a more small, concentrated dose of just the good stuff? ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/26 "2008-10-08T15:00:35Z")
Having taken many prescription painkillers, oxycontin included, after a while they lose their effectivness. I used to take 80 mg oxycontin, but in addition to relieving the pain, they also made my temper razor sharp. Any thing could set it off. I have never gotten high from them, but I suspect it’s because of the pain. Bottom line, I asked for a decreased dosage, only recently, my wife didn’t deserve to deal with my attitude. You can’t take them forever, and I routinely go off of them for a year at a time. I only recently started taking them again. Whenever I feel sorry for myself, pain wise, I think of the people who can’t live without them. That’s got to suck. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/27 "2008-10-08T15:11:37Z")
My neurologist briefly considered prescribing Oxycontin for my migraines, but then decided to keep me on Vicodin. It works pretty well when I can keep it down, but often when I have a migraine, Vicodin won’t stay with me. I was thinking Oxycontin might be better on my stomach, but he really wants me to take the Vicodin. I have never gotten any kind of buzz or high from it, even when I’ve taken two as the directions say I can. Even on those rare occasions when I’ve had to go in to the ER for Demerol, it only removes me to the point where I can outlast the pain. There is no pleasure. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/28 "2008-10-08T15:24:36Z")
Short-acting opiates have a “spike” in concentration that causes euphoria and leads to a lot of the psychologic addiction. Oxycontin doesn’t do that. It was initially marketed as an opiate that you could give out all you wanted because people wouldn’t abuse it. By the time people figured out how to beat the time-release mechanism, it was being handed out like candy, especially in areas like mine where there’s a high prevalence of serious chronic pain and doctors who are often overly eager to please. The rest is history. I’m wondering why a dentist would give out oxycontin after a root canal instead of regular old oxycodone. You probably want to be quiet about it unless you want a mass exodus from Perry County, KY to Ontario. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/29 "2008-10-08T15:50:31Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > It’s my understanding that when the drug is working on the pain receptors, the user doesn’t get high. When the pain goes away, and the use continues, the user begins to get high. Finding that critical point before the pain ends and before the addiction begins is the key to responsible pain management. > > Am I off base here? A little bit. There are two sides to a drug addiction, usually called psychologic and physiologic. Psychologic addiction refers to the brain’s need to experience the positive effects of the drug, i.e. the high. Physiologic addiction refers to the need to stop the negative effects of not taking the drug, i.e. withdrawal. The high from opiates (and hence the psychologic addiction) is largely a function of how fast the opioid receptors can take up the drug. That’s why injecting heroin causes that intense “arms of God” sensation and slow-release Oxycontin gets a “meh”. But they’ll both satisfy the opioid receptors so they won’t get cranky and send you into withdrawal. When you use narcotics medically, you’re usually using them in small enough doses or for a short enough period of time that the high doesn’t lead to psychologic dependence. (It does happen.) If you use just about any regular dose for long enough, though, you’ll get some physiologic dependence and some degree of withdrawal if you stop it. There’s not a point where the good stuff stops and the bad stuff starts. You just have to understand all the aspects of the beast and manage them accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/30 "2008-10-08T16:15:57Z")
Thanks, **DoctorJ**. Can you address my understanding, or lack thereof, that one doesn’t get the high when they’re actually in pain. I rather enjoy Percocet, but after the way they made me feel when I actually needed them after an ACL reconstruct this summer, I never even want to see them again. I’m sure part of it was due to the accute tolerance buildup, but I was also under the impression that I didn’t get the same high as when taken recreationally because the drug was bonding to the pain receptors, and not the opiod receptors (or something like that… help me out here?). ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/31 "2008-10-08T16:23:15Z")
> [@Euthanasiast](#): > > Gotta get me some of that! Is it legal in the states? Perhaps **neutron star** and I could go in on a kilo of pure, uncut. Go hang out with Tripler. I got him hooked on Tim’s coffee when he was up in Canada. He’s in Georgia now, land of No Tims At All. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/32 "2008-10-08T16:23:40Z")
I was sitting in a bar with a woman a few years ago. Next to me sat a woman who was slouching and drooling. She perked up just enough to tap me on the shoulder and mumble, “hey, you like oxies?”. For fun, I replied that I did. She then asked if I wanted to go to her place where she would share what she had. I pointed to the woman I was with (who was watching the TV over the bar) and mentioned that she would probably not appreciate my leaving. A short while later, drooly got up to leave. On her way to the door, she tapped the woman I was with on her shoulder and said, “Bitch!”. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/33 "2008-10-08T17:13:11Z")
Oxycontin seems to do a good job taking my pain away. It doesn’t seem to make me high. I do believe that I have gone through withdrawal after taking it (especially this last time.) I don’t really like the way opiates make me feel (although the pain relief is a blessing.) They make it hard for me to think and I have trouble reading (one of my great pleasures.) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/34 "2008-10-08T17:26:12Z")
The big deal is addiction, as others have noted. My son is a recovering opiate addict, who started taking them as prescription meds for his back pain. It got out of hand very quickly and ended up with him being fired from his nursing job for stealing meds (not from patients) and his subsequent arrest. He comes from a long family history of alcoholism/addiction and it will be a lifelong fight for him to stay off the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/35 "2008-10-08T17:36:40Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > It’s my understanding that when the drug is working on the pain receptors, the user doesn’t get high. When the pain goes away, and the use continues, the user begins to get high. Finding that critical point before the pain ends and before the addiction begins is the key to responsible pain management. > > Am I off base here? Ain’t got no cites, but it doesn’t jive with my experience. I started getting high way before the pain went away. ---
**Author:** ![Peanut\_Gallery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/838e76/32.png) [@Peanut\_Gallery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanut_Gallery)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/36 "2008-10-08T17:39:31Z")
> [@Euthanasiast](#): > > I’m not referring to acetaminophen. The chemical I’m referring to (and admittedly I am going by a failed memory) either prevents intravenous injection or prevents snorting. It is a chemical specifically designed for this purpose. It is supposed to cause great irritation for the abuser. > > I’m still looking for the specific name for this chemical. [Capsaicin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsaicin#Proposed_drug_abuse_deterrent) Brutal idea, but hey whatever works. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/37 "2008-10-08T17:42:04Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > You’re in pain. > I was in the hospital after being hit while riding my bicycle.(4 years ago) I spent 2 months in the hospital on morphine, hydrocodone, demerol,… I’ve made an entire weekend out of demerol and clean sheets. ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/38 "2008-10-08T18:11:45Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > It’s my understanding that when the drug is working on the pain receptors, the user doesn’t get high. When the pain goes away, and the use continues, the user begins to get high. Finding that critical point before the pain ends and before the addiction begins is the key to responsible pain management. > > Am I off base here? I’ve had this same experience. Right after knee surgery, the opiates would reduce my pain, but I was awake and clear-headed. Five days later, I would take a dose, and it would knock me out and make me dopey for hours. That’s how I knew to reduce the dosage. I’m not a fan of recreational opiates. I don’t get the “warm arms of God” stuff, I just fall asleep and have TERRIBLE dreams about suffocating (presumably due to the respiratory depression they cause). I’m okay with being a poor candidate for addiction to opiates; I make up for it in the caffeine department. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/39 "2008-10-08T18:27:56Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > Ain’t got no cites, but it doesn’t jive with my experience. I started getting high way before the pain went away. Was the pain still present _while_ you were high? ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939/40 "2008-10-08T18:50:46Z")
Hey, if you don’t want 'em anymore, hook a brother up! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-oxycontin/466939.md?page=3)