How Long Does It Take To Get Addicted to Opioids?

The opioid crisis is regularly reported in the media, but it often doesn’t truly hit home until it happens to you or someone you love. People have a lot of questions about the dangers of this type of drug, including, “How long does it take to get addicted to opioids?” The answer varies because of different factors, but the bottom line is once a person develops an addiction, they will need professional help. Tampa Bay Recovery provides structured treatment available through multiple levels of outpatient care that help people learn to live without opioids. From detox to completion of our treatment program, we partner with each person to help them learn to avoid relapse and put their lives back together without substance abuse.

What Are Opioid Drugs?

While news of opioid addiction makes the rounds constantly, many people aren’t sure which drugs fall into this category. The most commonly abused opioid drugs are:

• Codeine
• Morphine
• Methadone
• Fentanyl
• Oxycodone
• Oxymorphone
• Buprenorphine
• Buprenorphine/Naloxone
• Codeine
• Hydromorphone
• Meperidine

How To Tell If You’re Addicted to Opioids

Someone who has become addicted to opioids will demonstrate signs that they are in trouble. Common symptoms of opioid addiction include:

• Trying to stop using opioids but can’t do it
• Withdrawal symptoms when not using opioids
• Weight loss
• Loss of appetite
• Lethargy
• Sleeping a lot
• Cognitive difficulty
• Career, relationships, and hobbies are negatively impacted
• Moodiness
• Doctor shopping (visiting multiple doctors to get several prescriptions for a drug)
• Purchasing opioids from illegal sources or taking someone else’s prescription

How Long Does It Take to Get Addicted to Opioids?

Someone who is contemplating taking opioids for pain or has been taking any variety of different types of opioids may feel concerned about developing a reliance on them. How long does it take to get addicted to opioids? The answer depends on several contributing factors. First, it can depend on the type of opioid drug and what it is initially used for. For example, many people take prescription opioids to help ease pain from surgery, an injury, or a chronic illness. Doctors typically prescribe opioids for short-term usage, in part because of the potential for someone to develop an addiction. 

A person taking them for pain may come to rely on them not just for pain relief but for the sensation of being high and relaxed. This can trigger over usage or doctor shopping to get a larger supply. The individual’s addiction can begin to develop after using prescription opioids for only a week or two. 

In other cases, a person becomes addicted to illegal opioid drugs, such as heroin. Addiction to these types of opioids can happen just as quickly as prescription drugs. In fact, many people begin to feel the urge to abuse illegal opioids after just one or two uses. Regardless of the type of opioid, once a person begins abusing them, they will develop a tolerance. This causes them to increase their dosage, which increases their risk of overdosing.

Whether or not a person becomes addicted to opioids can be influenced by a few factors. These include:

• How much they take and how often
• A history of prior substance use disorders
• Family history of drug or alcohol addiction
• Untreated mental health disorders, including PTSD, anxiety, depression, and more
• Lack of healthy coping skills to use when life becomes challenging

How Is Opioid Addiction Treated?

Treatment for any drug addiction begins with a detox program. Detoxification takes about five to seven days and provides medical support to help ease a person into living without drug abuse. Some people then move into a residential facility for extended care. Others transition to outpatient care and attend therapy sessions during the day or evening. The levels of outpatient care include regular outpatient (OP), intensive outpatient programs (IOP), and partial hospitalization programs (PHP). Which level a person needs will be determined when they are evaluated by the admissions staff at a treatment facility.

Does Insurance Cover Treatment for Opioid Addiction?

Regardless of how long someone took to get addicted to opioids, they will have questions about how to pay for treatment. Most insurance plans offer coverage for treatment for substance use disorders, including opioid addiction. Anyone interested in using their insurance to pay for treatment can contact a representative for the company to find out their options. In addition, many treatment centers offer free insurance verifications to help their potential clients know what levels of programs are covered. It’s important for anyone to receive prior approval from their insurance company before admitting themselves into a treatment facility.

Get Help For Opioid Addiction Today

Opioid addiction takes its toll on a person’s physical, mental, and emotional health. While healing from addiction to this particular drug can seem impossible, people begin recovery from it every day. Tampa Bay Recovery creates a welcoming environment in our facility that helps ease people into the hard work of overcoming substance use disorders. We provide access to world-class therapists who teach people to make the connection between why they became addicted to drugs and how to stop.

Have you had enough of opioids ruling your life and want to find out how to get the help you deserve? Visit our admissions page now and start a conversation with us.