Signs Of Prescription Drug Use
Some signs that your teen might be using prescription and/or over-the-counter drugs include constricted pupils, slurred speech, or flushed skin. Other signs and symptoms may vary, but parents should be alert to the following:
- personality changes
- mood swings
- irritability
- excessive energy
- sleepiness or avoiding sleep
- sweating
- loss of appetite
- forgetfulness
- or clumsiness
Watch for signs around the house such as missing pills, unfamiliar pills, or empty cough and cold medicine bottles or packages. If your teen has a prescription, keep control of the bottle. Be alert to your teen running out of pills quickly, losing pills, or requesting refills. Other signs might include secretiveness, loss of interest in personal appearance, borrowing money or having extra cash, skipping classes, or not doing well in school.
What are the dangers?
A single large dose of prescription or over-the-counter painkillers or depressants can cause breathing difficulty that can lead to death. Stimulant abuse can lead to hostility or paranoia, or the potential for heart system failure or fatal seizures. Even in small doses, depressants and painkillers have subtle effects on motor skills, judgment, and ability to learn, which can increase the risk of injury. The abuse of over-the-counter cough and cold remedies can cause blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, coma, and even death.
Teens who first abuse prescription drugs before age 16 also have a greater risk of drug dependence later in life.