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Complications
By Mayo Clinic staffMisusing prescription drugs can cause a number of problems. Prescription drugs can be especially dangerous when taken in high doses, when combined with other prescription medications, or when taken with alcohol or illegal drugs.
Direct consequences
The list below contains examples of some of the more serious consequences of prescription drug abuse.
- Opioid painkillers can cause an increased risk of choking, loss of menstrual periods and fertility, and a slowed breathing rate and potential for breathing to stop.
- Sedatives and tranquilizers can cause memory problems and abnormal body temperature. Overdose can cause coma or death.
- Stimulants can cause seizures or tremors, hallucinations, and increased risk of stroke.
Addiction
Because commonly abused prescription drugs activate the brain's reward center, it's easy to become addicted to them. People who are addicted continue to use a drug even when that drug makes their lives worse - just like people addicted to nicotine continue smoking cigarettes even when it harms their health and they want to quit.
Other consequences
In addition to medical problems and risk of addiction, consequences of prescription drug abuse can include sedation and poor judgment. Further consequences can range from motor vehicle accidents to decreased academic or work performance.
- Parran TV. Prescription drug abuse. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 11, 2010.
- NIDA InfoFacts: Prescription and over-the-counter medications. National Institute on Drug Abuse. http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/PainMed.html. Accessed May 11, 2010.
- Prescription drugs facts and figures. Office of National Drug Control Policy. http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/prescrptn_drgs/rx_ff.html. Accessed May 17, 2010.
- Prescription drug abuse chart. Office of National Drug Control Policy. http://www.drugabuse.gov/DrugPages/PrescripDrugsChart.html. Accessed May 11, 2010.
- Preventing and recognizing prescription drug abuse. National Institute on Drug Abuse. http://www.drugabuse.gov/researchreports/prescription/prescription6.html. Accessed May 11, 2010.
- McCabe SE, et al. Motives for nonmedical use of prescription opioids among high school seniors in the United States. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. 2009;163:739.
- Prescription drug abuse. Nemours. http://kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/drugs/prescription_drug_abuse.html. Accessed May 17, 2010.
- Youth risk behavior surveillance - United States, 2009. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss5905.pdf. Accessed June 8, 2010.
- Proper disposal of prescription drugs. Office of National Drug Control Policy. http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/pdf/prescrip_disposal.pdf. Accessed May 11, 2010.
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