Anyone can potentially become addicted to prescription drugs and this is especially true if you suffer from chronic pain and get hooked on prescription painkillers.
Many doctors do not realize the addictive potential of some of these powerful drugs and it definitely traps some people into active addiction when they unwittingly take these medications.
The reasons for this to occur are numerous.
It can happen to nearly anyone, simply from suffering from a random injury or an illness that has pain associated with it.
Most people who take prescription medications will not become addicted to them, but a certain percentage of people will develop dependency.
If that happens, there are a couple of things you should do.
The first thing is to talk about it with your doctor and if he is not willing to help you out with finding a solution then you should find a new doctor.
There are almost always alternatives to a medicine, and this is especially true when it comes to painkillers.
Not only are there other medications, but there are also other treatment methods for pain in general, including drug free therapies such as physical therapy, message, or tens units that might be able to treat pain as well.
If you are not exploring these options in an effort to reduce your dependence on opiates then you are probably not trying hard enough to avoid addiction.
If you can explore some of these alternative therapies then you might be able to avoid the issue of dependency altogether.
Some people who become addicted to opiate pain pills will need to go to rehab in order to get clean from them.
There is no shame in doing so and you should not give in to the stigma that is typically associated with treatment.