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The Problems Related To Prescribed Opioid Dosing

By Edward Sanders


An epidemic of opioid misuse, overdose and abuse is something everyone should be aware. There is a strong initiative to reduce prescribing high doses of these strong pain killers, and with a very good reason. With high rate of accidental overdosing and addictions, the question of appropriate opioid dosing became more important.

Opioids might be really useful when it comes to pain management, but their misuse or abuse often results with addiction, serious health issues or even death. Effective treatment of any type of pain should start with an accurate diagnosis. Sometimes it might be hard to recognize the real cause of ongoing pain, and this might result with inappropriate dosing.

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.

When opioids are used for acute and sub-acute pains, in appropriate prescribed doses, and under medical supervision, this is not so harmful, but, when it comes to so called chronic opioid analgesic therapy, here is entirely different situation. This type of therapy may easily result with addiction, as well as with other health issues. In this case, there are several alternative pain treating therapies that should be considered.

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.

Short-time pain relief is something that can be expected, as well as the development of tolerance. Because of that, it is really important to consider different therapies, and not only to prescribe higher doses every once in a while. This could result with various health issues, addiction or even fatal overdoses. On the other hand, if you use these painkillers wisely, they can make your life so much easier, on a long-run.

There are several things to be considered here. First, the fact is that there is no completely safe opioid dose. Your physician should calculate the most appropriate dose for you, taking all circumstances into consideration. If you have to take prescribed drugs for longer periods of time, your medical conditions should be reassessed regularly, to avoid unnecessary risks. And you should never change the dose without seeking for medical opinion first.

Although strong painkillers also known as opioids might be really helpful in certain medical conditions, alternative pain therapies are often less harmful and should be taken into consideration. In any case, you should not expect miracles, just the pain reduction of a certain level. These drugs are here to bring you pain relief only, not to improve your health in any way. Use them sensibly, without endangering your health or your life.




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