Over the Counter Drug Abuse Archives

Diet Pills

Diet pills are popular because they aid in helping users control or maintain their weight. But how safe are they? What are the dangers associated with diet pills? This post addresses these questions.

Diet pills are both prescription and over-the-counter supplements which inhibit body processes that affect weight by increasing metabolism, suppressing appetite or preventing fat absorption.

In fact, many prescription diet pills are Schedule III or IV drugs which helps to prevent abuse and helps to keep diet pills being prescribed to individuals who truly need and benefit from them. Regardless of these regulations and rules, diet pills are abused at a disturbing rate.

So many individuals in the U.S. are constantly setting goals and making promises to lose weight so it’s not shocking knowledge that diet pills are common and available in several forms. Some of the most commonly abused diet pills as identify by addictioncenter.com include:

“Benzphetamine (Didrex)
An anorectic closely related to amphetamines. Benzphetamine is most commonly sold under the prescription name Didrex, and its main function is to reduce appetite in obese individuals.

Diethylpropion
(Tenuate, Tepanil) Prescribed on a short term basis to suppress appetite.

Mazindol
(Mazanor, Sanorex) (Currently only approved for use in the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, mazindol prescriptions may be abused for their appetite suppressive properties)

Phentermine
(Adipex, Ionamin) Reduces appetite. (Used short term to reduce weight in overweight individuals)”

Last, diet pills were designed to take the place of amphetamines as appetite suppressants and as such, they have a potential for addiction and dependence. Further, diet pills may cause heightened energy and feelings of euphoria, making the likelihood of addiction more prevalent. Also from addictioncenter.com, “common side effects of diet pill abuse might include:

Insomnia

Dizziness

Hallucinations

Chest pain

Rash and itching

Swelling of legs and ankles

Vomiting

Yellowing of skin or eyes

Dark urine or light-colored stool”

source: addictioncenter.com

New Teen Drug: Triple C

Many teens no longer turn to the shady school dealer for their highs these days. In fact, most just reach inside the medicine cabinet. Across the country, kids are taking dangerous handfuls of cold medicines known to them as “triple C.”

Cold, cough and congestion medications that are based on dextromethorphan, such as Coricidin are the new drug of choice for teens. The dangerous part is that they can find them at any grocery store or even in your home medicine cabinet – without parental permission.

Most teens take this triple C drug cocktail because it gives them euphoric effects. When they take these medicines at a dose higher then recommended, they feel very happy and may have hallucinations.

However, the hard truth is that although these over the counter drugs seem harmless to teens, the long term effects of abuse can include: psychosis, coma, movement problems, liver damage, and even heart trouble.

Parents need to be aware that cold medicines are being abused by kids. They should openly discuss the effects and long-term problems associated with taking too many pills or too much syrup devised to treat colds like in the triple C cocktails that are being experimented with.

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