Side Effects and Tolerance
Side effects increase with dosage and include drowsiness, mild stomach ache, lethargy, urinary retention, bradypnea, constipation, and nausea. Nausea can be attributed to the presence of noscapine and is more common in first-time or inexperienced users. At high doses, the side effects are dangerous and can cause death through respiratory arrest or inhalation of vomit. Constipation often results from use (as with any opiate).
Additionally, frequent use results in high tolerance and dependence. Chemical dependency builds in relation to the frequency of use, dose used, age, gender, weight, and medical condition. Once chemical dependency has developed, abrupt cessation of use will cause withdrawal; symptoms include leg and abdominal cramps, mydriasis, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, insomnia, cravings, lethargy, and anxiety. As users are addicted to all the different alkaloids found in the opium poppy, withdrawal symptoms can be worse and/or more prolonged than those experienced by users of just one opioid. Symptoms of withdrawal usually fade after 4–10 days but cravings and psychological dependence may continue for longer, in some cases up to a year. Treatment methods for addiction are generally the same for any opioid.
Read more about this topic: Poppy Tea
Famous quotes containing the words side, effects and/or tolerance:
“We lay there without moving. But under us all moved, and moved us, gently, up and down, and from side to side.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)
“Let us learn to live coarsely, dress plainly, and lie hard. The least habit of dominion over the palate has certain good effects not easily estimated.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“In full view of his television audience, he preached a new religion—or a new form of Christianity—based on faith in financial miracles and in a Heaven here on earth with a water slide and luxury hotels. It was a religion of celebrity and showmanship and fun, which made a mockery of all puritanical standards and all canons of good taste. Its standard was excess, and its doctrines were tolerance and freedom from accountability.”
—New Yorker (April 23, 1990)