Or at least as normal as can be expected considering the condition of my spinal cord. Deer, the patient said, has refused to increase his OxyContin dose, despite the patient's requests. Medically speaking, dependence is not the same as addiction. A person taking OxyContin for legitimate pain may develop tolerance and gradually need more medicine to achieve the same result. Likewise, if he stops the drug, withdrawal symptoms will follow.
Addiction is a blind, ceaseless pursuit of the drug, in an obsessive-compulsive rush to stay high.
Harris referred one of his patients to a Charleston pain specialist. He says she wants to step down from the 100 milligrams a day she takes for shingles pain but can't because of withdrawal symptoms. The drug does control the woman's pain, Harris acknowledges. OxyContin withdrawal involves diarrhea, vomiting, sweating and other flulike symptoms. Even among recreational users, anecdotal evidence suggests that some people are able to keep their OxyContin use in check.