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‘I can't be an addict. I am.’ Over-the-counter medicine abuse: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVES: Over-the-counter (OTC) pharmacy medicines are considered relatively safe in contrast to prescribed and illicit substances, but their abuse and addiction potential is increasingly recognised. Those affected represent a hard to reach group, with little known about their experiences. Study...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Cooper, Richard J
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3693421/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23794565
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002913
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author Cooper, Richard J
author_facet Cooper, Richard J
author_sort Cooper, Richard J
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description OBJECTIVES: Over-the-counter (OTC) pharmacy medicines are considered relatively safe in contrast to prescribed and illicit substances, but their abuse and addiction potential is increasingly recognised. Those affected represent a hard to reach group, with little known about their experiences. Study objectives were to describe the experiences and views of those self-reporting OTC medicine abuse, and why medicines were taken, how they were obtained and associated treatment and support sought. DESIGN: Qualitative study using in-depth mainly telephone interviews. PARTICIPANTS: A purposive sample of 25 adults, aged 20–60s, 13 women. SETTING: UK, via two internet support groups. RESULTS: Individuals considered themselves ‘addicted’, but socially and economically active and different from illicit substance misusers. They blamed themselves for losing control over their medicine use, which usually began for genuine medical reasons and not experimentation and was often linked to the cessation of, or ongoing, medical prescribing. Codeine, in compound analgesics, was the main medicine implicated with three distinct dose ranges emerging with decongestant and sedative antihistamine abuse also being reported. Subsequent use was for the ‘buzz’ or similar effects of the opiate, which was obtained unproblematically by having lists of pharmacies to visit and occasionally using internet suppliers. Perceived withdrawal symptoms were described for all three dose ranges, and work and health problems were reported with higher doses. Mixed views about different treatment and support options emerged with standard drug treatment services being considered inappropriate for OTC medicines and concerns that this ‘hidden addiction’ was recorded in medical notes. Most supported the continued availability of OTC medicines with appropriate addiction warnings. CONCLUSIONS: Greater awareness of the addiction potential of OTC medicines is needed for the public, pharmacists and medical prescribers, along with appropriate communication about, and reviews of, treatment and support options, for this distinct group.
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spelling pubmed-36934212013-06-26 ‘I can't be an addict. I am.’ Over-the-counter medicine abuse: a qualitative study Cooper, Richard J BMJ Open Addiction OBJECTIVES: Over-the-counter (OTC) pharmacy medicines are considered relatively safe in contrast to prescribed and illicit substances, but their abuse and addiction potential is increasingly recognised. Those affected represent a hard to reach group, with little known about their experiences. Study objectives were to describe the experiences and views of those self-reporting OTC medicine abuse, and why medicines were taken, how they were obtained and associated treatment and support sought. DESIGN: Qualitative study using in-depth mainly telephone interviews. PARTICIPANTS: A purposive sample of 25 adults, aged 20–60s, 13 women. SETTING: UK, via two internet support groups. RESULTS: Individuals considered themselves ‘addicted’, but socially and economically active and different from illicit substance misusers. They blamed themselves for losing control over their medicine use, which usually began for genuine medical reasons and not experimentation and was often linked to the cessation of, or ongoing, medical prescribing. Codeine, in compound analgesics, was the main medicine implicated with three distinct dose ranges emerging with decongestant and sedative antihistamine abuse also being reported. Subsequent use was for the ‘buzz’ or similar effects of the opiate, which was obtained unproblematically by having lists of pharmacies to visit and occasionally using internet suppliers. Perceived withdrawal symptoms were described for all three dose ranges, and work and health problems were reported with higher doses. Mixed views about different treatment and support options emerged with standard drug treatment services being considered inappropriate for OTC medicines and concerns that this ‘hidden addiction’ was recorded in medical notes. Most supported the continued availability of OTC medicines with appropriate addiction warnings. CONCLUSIONS: Greater awareness of the addiction potential of OTC medicines is needed for the public, pharmacists and medical prescribers, along with appropriate communication about, and reviews of, treatment and support options, for this distinct group. BMJ Publishing Group 2013-06-15 /pmc/articles/PMC3693421/ /pubmed/23794565 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002913 Text en Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non commercial and is otherwise in compliance with the license. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ and http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/legalcode
spellingShingle Addiction
Cooper, Richard J
‘I can't be an addict. I am.’ Over-the-counter medicine abuse: a qualitative study
title ‘I can't be an addict. I am.’ Over-the-counter medicine abuse: a qualitative study
title_full ‘I can't be an addict. I am.’ Over-the-counter medicine abuse: a qualitative study
title_fullStr ‘I can't be an addict. I am.’ Over-the-counter medicine abuse: a qualitative study
title_full_unstemmed ‘I can't be an addict. I am.’ Over-the-counter medicine abuse: a qualitative study
title_short ‘I can't be an addict. I am.’ Over-the-counter medicine abuse: a qualitative study
title_sort ‘i can't be an addict. i am.’ over-the-counter medicine abuse: a qualitative study
topic Addiction
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3693421/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23794565
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002913
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