Question

How does half-life and pattern of self administration affect withdrawal response?

Answer 1

The withdrawal response referring to drug withdrawal is the physiologic response to a significant lowered drug intake in a patient who is tolerant to drugs.

Half life refers to the amount of time it takes for half of a subtance (drugs) to be cleansed from the body, naturally. Many factors play a role for a substance to get totally flushed out from one's body naturally. Such as, body fat, metabolism, age, gender, condition of liver and kidneys, etc. Some withdrawal symptoms during half life are:

1) Vomiting and Nausea

2) Fatigue and Sleeplessness

3) Anxiety and Depression

4) Tremors and sweating

5) Halluncinations

6) Body pain and irritations.

Pattern of self administration on drugs have been researched upon using animals. It has been found that since drugs are addictive, their self administration might act as an operant conditioning for the drug user. Moreover, it might also result in binge using a particular substance while withdrawing.