Aspirin Addiction

What is addiction?

The National Institute on Drug Abuse states that “addiction is the inability to stop doing a compulsive behaviour regardless of the consequences.”  Everyone understands addictions to heroin, cocaine, alcohol and the many other illegal substances but there is little understanding around a number of drugs that people are addicted to that  would normally not be considered to be addictive.  Such a drug is Aspirin, where the drug is not what the person is addicted to – but the action of taking aspirin has become a powerful and compulsive behaviour that they are unable to stop.

What is aspirin used for?

Aspirin is known as acetylsalicylic acid. It is a very common everyday painkiller for aches and pains such as headaches, toothache and period pains. It can also be used as a blood thinner for anyone with a heart condition.  

Aspirin addiction and poisoning

Aspirin dependence was first defined and recognised in the Journal of The American Medical Association in 1940 and again by the World Health Organisation  in 1964. Since then the disorder has been poorly reported on.  However, Aspirin Salicylism, which is the term used for aspirin poisoning and is the acute or chronic poisoning with a salicylate such as aspirin has been more fully reported on. This is a direct result of deliberately misusing aspirin to try and create an aspirin induced euphoria but has resulted in the body becoming poisoned instead.

How aspirin addiction develops

Certainly, there will be a percentage of people who have taken medication for example, such as aspirin, for a headache and the headache will return when they stop taking aspirin.  Rather than stopping the self-medicating and seeing their GP, they will continue to take aspirin and potentially in increasing quantities due to the body becoming tolerant to its effect as a painkiller and their needing more of a daily dose which takes us above the recommended healthcare limits.  It can be purchased anywhere so is very easy to obtain and there are no restrictions on buying it and it is cheap to buy.  It is not viewed as a dangerous drug and, in part, that is quite possibly one of the reasons that we do not approach our GP for help and further why we increase the recommended daily dosage .  The only time help is sought is when urgent medical advice is needed for an aspirin overdose. 

The time when we start to increase the daily dosage will be different for everyone and the period for an aspirin  addiction to develop will also be different for everyone.  It can partly depend on age, weight and gender. The dependency involves more psychological than physical reliance on aspirin and this leads to harmful consequences for both health and well being within all life areas.

Causes of aspirin dependency

• Seeking continuous relief for pain and prolonging the medication use beyond recommended guidelines.
• Mentally not engaging with the fact that aspirin is still a drug that should have short term use and to stick to recommended dose.
• Self-medication as aspirin is a drug that is easy to obtain  and people turn to it for various physical and emotional needs
• Certain genetic factors could increase an individual’s vulnerability to developing an addiction to substances like aspirin
• Underlying mental health issues such as anxiety and depression can lead to an aspirin dependency where individuals self-medicate with over the counter nonprescription medication.
• Family history of addiction or exposure to drug misuse from environmental influences 

Physical effects of aspirin dependency

• Aspirin misuse can lead to damage to the kidneys and liver and especially if combined with alcohol
• Excessive aspirin use can lead to gastrointestinal problems, such as stomach ulcers, internal bleeding and inflammation
• Aspirin can be medically prescribed to thin the blood to help with heart conditions but over or prolonged use can have the opposite effect and be the cause of a stroke or other heart problems
• Non known or declared use of aspirin can create medical problems with surgery as the blood is thinned which increase the risk of excessive bleeding or with any form of cut or injury.
• Aspirin overdose brought on from taking an increased dose.

Residential rehab help for aspirin addiction

At The Haynes Clinic we have found that anyone misusing “over the counter medications” such as aspirin needs to consider residential help. This is in order to break the addictive cycle and have the professional supportive help that The Haynes Clinic has to offer. It is important to be able to break the addictive thinking and behaviour within a safe environment, and to leave treatment with a daily Recovery plan to help us move to a life of normal living. Any drug, including aspirin, when misused will have a complete negative effect on our life and in order to get our life back we need to be asking for help and not allowing our dependency, to whatever substance, continue to dictate a negative daily life.

The Haynes Clinic treatment modality is based on the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous which, having proven to be so successful in helping people,  has also been adopted by Narcotics Anonymous or NA. The format of the NA  support groups is the same as AA but with the word alcohol changed to the name of your drug of choice.  A local NA meeting can be found by inputting your home postcode into the NA website.  Regular attendance at NA meetings is highly recommended and it takes a while for some people to fully understand and accept the important decision in maintaining regular attendance at NA support groups in helping the individual with their ongoing Recovery. Another form of ongoing support is that, for those that complete the recommended residential treatment period of 28 days, there is free Aftercare at either the clinic once a week or via Zoom meetings for up to 12 months.  

Free assessment for aspirin addiction

When taking the first step of asking for help, The Haynes Clinic offers a free telephone or face to face assessment at the clinic which enables the individual to have, possibly for the first time, a completely non-judgemental conversation to discuss their situation and to process a way forward with an addiction professional.