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Stimulants While stimulants may fall under the painkiller category, they are heavily abused as prescription drugs. They can cause feelings of exhilaration, mental alertness, increased heart rates, intense focus, euphoria, slurred speech, rapid breathing, loss of coordination, and even impulsive behavior. They may help manage pain but are typically prescribed for obesity management and conditions such as attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder. Stimulants are important to list here because of their prescription status and their abuse with many painkillers. As mentioned in the previous section, stimulants (or uppers) can be abused with painkillers to create an even more intense high. Therefore, it is important to understand how they affect the body and the different ways that they may be abused by people, along with painkillers. Opiates or Opioids Opiate or opioid painkillers are by far the most commonly abused painkillers. Approximately 9.3 million people in the United States misused prescription pain relievers in 2020, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Note that this is just the number of people self reporting their abuse, meaning the real number is much higher. Opioids cause a release of endorphins that can create extremely pleasurable sensations in the body. They are potently addictive, because they can make the opiate receptors in your brain become dependent on them to feel pleasure. Opiates create a higher level of pleasure than your body can naturally produce, meaning it may become reliant on drugs to experience these feelings. Understanding these prescription painkiller types is critical when considering their abusive potential.

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What Are Painkillers?