Over-the-counter drugs can be abused without thought
While they appear to be the average drug you use to get rid of that overwhelming headache, over-the-counter drugs are actually the most commonly abused drug in the U.S.
This is largely because of two main reasons.
First, people think it’s OK to take three or four pills at a time, when the label on the bottle clearly reads one or two pill doses. This happens a lot with medicine like Aspirin or Advil.
People often think that they have to take as many pills as possible in order to get the quickest results. They may also think that doing this does not pose a threat to their health, but they are completely wrong.
Taking more than the suggested dose of Advil can cause severe damage to your stomach or intestines.
Aspirin has even more harmful effects from overdosing than most would expect.
When consuming too much Aspirin, people can experience nausea, vomiting, confusion, the possibility of collapsing and a rapid heart rate or breathing. This is true even for a chronic overdose, which is the irregular symptoms people feel from an over-intake of the drug.
A large overdose consists of temporary loss of hearing, hyperactivity, dizziness, seizures, and in some cases, even a coma. Though a coma might seem a little drastic, it doesn’t mean it isn’t a possibility.
Now, I understand that most people may not be trying to intentionally overdose on these OTC drugs. But that still doesn’t mean that they they won’t.
And unfortunately for some people, intentionally overdosing is their goal. This is the second reason why over-the-counter drugs have the high statistics they do with overdose consumption.
Those who purposely try to abuse medicine are those who consume large amounts of drugs such as Benadryl and cough syrup for the purpose of getting high.
Dr. Drew Pinsky, an expert on addictions, said that last year there were 14 deaths reported due to the overdose of cough medicines. Adding to this, several hundreds experienced lengthy hospital stays.
This statistic is frightening and also devastating, especially since children and adults have access to these drugs because drugstore aisles exist everywhere – aisles that allow anyone and everyone to access the medicine on their shelves.
So, for the purpose of avoiding these situations and avoiding loss that doesn’t have to happen, people need to wake up and realize the dangerous effects that abusing these OTC drugs can cause.
If someone is using these drugs to get high, stop and think about the consequences this could have on your own life.
And if someone is using the drugs more then suggested on the bottle, take a second to think that the label is there for a reason. Abusing OTC drugs should not be overlooked.
Often times, people fail to realize that even just doing something so easy can prevent something so horrible.
Instead of risking your own health, even minimally, simply choose to not abuse. Don’t become the statistic that unfortunately many have succumbed to.
