Saturday, August 19, 2017

Be Careful With Prescribed Opioid Dosing

By Edward Sanders


The largest problems related to strong painkillers are their misuse and abuse, and this often include overdosing. Lately, it's strongly recommended to reduce prescribing higher doses in general, because of really high probabilities for addiction development, as for accidental overdosing. Here are some worries related to prescribed opioid dosing.

Strong painkillers are needed when you have to manage intensive pains. They can easily cause addiction, or lead to several other issues. Without finding the accurate diagnosis first, and without finding underlying causes of existing pains, there is a high possibility that these prescribed doses would not be quite appropriate.

Another problem related to prescribing strong painkillers is in unrealistic expectations. Patients sometimes think these drugs will immediately remove their pain, and, if the pain is only reduced, they tend to use more drugs than it was prescribed. Higher doses are related to different dangers, and all patients should be appropriately informed about them.

Opioids are often used for reducing acute pain, in prescribed doses and in short term. For treating acute and sub-acute pains, in controlled conditions, these strong pain killers are really useful. The problem is when you use them for treating chronic pain, in longer periods of time. In such cases, this prolonged therapy may result with various unwanted consequences, including addiction, overdosing, different health issues etc. In such cases it might be appropriate to use alternative therapies.

Musculoskeletal pains are often treated using such strong pain killers. They cannot improve health condition, they are used for their ability to ease the pain. In time, the effect of primarily prescribed dose will be gradually reduced, and your patient may require higher dosages. This is potential danger, both if higher doses get prescribed, or if the patient decides to take higher dose without it being prescribed.

Strong painkillers can be great for reducing pain instantly, if they are used in a short term. After some time, their effect is expected to decrease, because most patient will develop some level of tolerance. Dose escalation may cause various health issues, including addiction. There are several examples of accidental overdoses, and that is something to become worried about.

Needless to say, there is no opioid dose that could be considered as completely without risks involved. Different conditions may affect the process of prescribing the appropriate dose for any strong painkiller. All physicians should take all these conditions into consideration when calculating this appropriate dose. After taking these medications for longer periods of time, further assessments are needed. Prescribed doses should never be changed without medical assistance.

Opioids, as strong pain killers, quickly reduce acute pain and are widely used for this purpose. On the other hand, if they are used as a long-term therapy, this might be connected to various problems, including fatal overdoses and addiction. They should be taken wisely, when they are needed, and under medical supervision only. The substance that makes your life easier may also kill you. Take care of your health and your life, you have only this one.




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