A Percocet addiction can develop very quickly. Within three weeks, a person who takes this drug is at risk of becoming dependent or addicted to it. Percocet is an opioid and is a prescription medication given for pain. Doctors often prescribe it when a persons has had a serious injury or after surgery. Unfortunately, it is very, very addictive. For this reason doctors often prescribe two painkillers so that persons can alternate their use. This is supposed to reduce the risk of addiction.

Overtime, if a person uses Percocet enough then they can become physically addicted and will begin to feel terrible when they are not able to obtain it. Subsequently, these strong cravings will drive them to attempt to get the drug even if it requires doing something illegal. They will also develop physical symptoms that can only be quelled by taking the drug again. When this occurs, an addictive cycle has developed.

Percocet is a mixture Tylenol also known as acetaminophen, and the narcotic Oxycodone. It is very similar to Oxycontin, another, commonly abused prescription pain reliever. While both men and women suffer from Percocet addiction, it seems to affect women a little more then their male counterparts. It can be taken in pill form and swallowed or crushed up and snorted. The age group that appears to be hardest hit are those between 12 and 17 and 18 and 25.

The abuse of pharmaceuticals such as Oxycontin, Vicodien and Percocet has increased nearly 100% between the years 2000 and 2004. Some drug research organizations have found that prescription abuse is second only to the popular drug marijuana.

Percocet addiction must often times be treated in a drug rehab facility. During this time, an individual is likely to experience withdrawals which are very serious, possibly painful and very uncomfortable. Specific Percocet withdrawals include vomiting, diarrhea, the shakes, not being able to sleep, having a high level of anxiety and irritability, profuse sweating, yawning, runny nose and eyes and a decrease in appetite. Some of these withdrawals symptoms also occur when individuals try to stop using other drugs as well.

Being in a rehab facility while a person is going through this process might make things easier and is very helpful. The addict might be to secure some type of medication to make withdrawal symptoms less severe, if the rehab center makes it available.

There is more than one way to treat a Percocet addiction and there’s no method that is considered 100% correct. Individuals with a strong Percocet addiction may need to first go through detoxification. This often times involves receiving some type of medication to again, ease their withdrawal symptoms. This might occur in a hospital or in a specialized treatment centers. Sometimes people are given Suboxone also known as buprenorphine. This is a maintenance therapy drug. Individuals are given this in replace of Percocet, eventually being weaned off of the drug completely. This helps to ease the withdrawal symptoms, which makes the process of getting of Percocet much less difficult.