“You Want a Description of Hell?” reads the headline of the L.A. Times‘ new investigation of one of Purdue Pharma’s most popular drugs: OxyContin.

In an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Wednesday, reporter Harriet Ryan and editor Matt Lait share the results of their year-long investigation of the controversial analgesic’s “12-hour problem”—which the investigative team claims “wears off hours early in many people.”

This difference of just a few hours is central to the Times‘ investigation.

“OxyContin is a chemical cousin of heroin,” Ryan and co-authors Lisa Girion and Scott Glover write, “and when it doesn’t last, patients can experience excruciating symptoms of withdrawal, including an intense craving for the drug.”

In a short, explanatory video accompanying their investigation, the team summarizes their research, including first-hand accounts from patients prescribed OxyContin, one of whom says this of his experience with withdrawal symptoms:

“It’s like the worst flu you’ve ever had … All you can think about is, ‘I’ve gotta get more medicine, I’ve gotta get more medicine.'”

To further address the details of their investigation and spread awareness of their research, Ryan and Lait replied to several rounds of questions from redditors. Here are a few of their top responses.

Deviating From the Label

Finding Addicts for Their Research

Strangest Route to Addiction

Teen Access to Painkillers

Purdue’s Response to These Lab Results

A “Manhattan Project” for Non-Addictive Meds

To read all of Ryan and Lait’s answers to redditors’ questions, check out the original AMA discussion.