Harmful Effects of Opioid Medicine and Preventive Measures

White prescription pills spilled onto a table with many prescription bottles in the background. Concepts of opioid addiction and doctor shopping for prescription pain killers

According to research, back pain is one of the most common problems among Americans in the United States. When you go to a back specialist, they may prescribe you medicine from the opioid family including oxycodone, codeine, hydrocodone which are really effective to reduce pain. But these medications are not the ultimate solution for pain management. According to a research in 2018, opioid has created an epidemic in the United States and two out of three death regarding drug overdose because of opioid.

How do Opioids work in Our Body?

Our body naturally produces opioids. We have opioid receptors in the nerve cells of the spinal cord, brain and other organs. When we take opioid, the medicine activates the receptors and prevent nerve cells to send message to the specific organs that the body is pain.

Opioids do not only reduce pain bus also create feelings of happiness in the human mind. When individuals will feel good after taking opioids, then there may be a possibility of overdosing opioid medicine.

Side Effects of Opioid

  • While constantly using this med, your thought process becomes dozy and impair. This situation is called brain fog.

  • According to research, almost 60% of patients suffer from vomiting and nausea.

  • If you take opioids on a daily basis, then you can suffer from constipation because of a lack of fluid in the intestine.

  • If the patient takes an overdose of opioids, then you breathe slowly, this is called hypoxia. If you ignore this situation, it may lead to death.

Withdrawal Symptoms of Opioid

When you continuously take opioids, you become addicted to this medicine. If you do not take the medicine for few days, then you may feel few symptoms. The symptoms are,

  1. The patient becomes anxious without any valid reason.

  2. You may face insomnia or difficulty while sleeping.

  3. You may also experience sweating as well as muscle cramps and body aches.

Symptoms of Overdosing Opioid

  1. Your skin becomes pale.

  2. Vomiting

  3. Lose consciousness

  4. Face difficulties while breathing.

Other Treatment Options

According to research, opioid medicine is not the ultimate solution to reduce pain and there are a lot more opportunities to manage pain without taking opioids. These options are:

  • Medial branch blocks

  • Radiofrequency ablation

  • Intrathecal pain pump

  • NSAIDs

  • Non-drug therapies

  • Topical formulas.

If you want to reduce back pain without any harmful side effects, you should visit Oklahoma Pain Treatment Centres and consult with a back specialist. They will guide you to manage your pain and offer various services according to your need in OKC.

**Disclaimer: This blog post does not establish terms of a doctor-patient relationship and is not intended to be taken as a doctor's advice

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