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. Others fall into an abyss, stealing prescription pads, robbing pharmacies and forging checks to fuel their habits. Like yesterday's crack cocaine, OxyContin is becoming today's drug du jour, in West Virginia and beyond. Here, its popularity seems to be spreading from the southern half of the state, steadily sweeping through Kanawha County and other more urban areas. A recent issue of Newsweek magazine carried an item on the drug.