ADD/ADHD Medication for Pain

Sometimes when an adult or adolescent person has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or attention deficit disorder he turns to prescription pain medications, not necessarily for pain but for the opiate release given by the drug.

Types

• People with ADHD sometimes try to self-medicate their symptoms by turning to pain medications such as vicodin, cocaine, percocets or any pain reliever with oxycodone. These are medications that have codeine, and all are narcotics that release opiates, the feel-good chemicals in the brain. These chemicals are often out of balance for some individuals with ADHD.

Warning

• The goal of an ADD and ADHD drug abuser is to soothe the part of his brain and body that are restless; this, however, leads to a larger problem of drug addiction. What begins as a solution to the restlessness creates a series of other problems with impulsiveness and, sometimes, crime. The ADDers website refers to this method as "putting out a fire with gasoline."

Significance

• According to ADDers, Dr. Ned Hallowell and Dr. John Ratey, who co-wrote "Driven to Distraction," estimate that of the 8 million to 15 million Americans who suffer from ADD and ADHD, as many as 30 percent to 50 percent of them use pain medication and alcohol to self-medicate their ADHD symptoms.