The Appropriate 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.

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.

There might be hidden causes for chronic pains as well. Without identifying them first, prescribed doses might not be enough to meet patient's expectations. In fact, these expectations might be quite unrealistic. The goal is to reduce pain, not to remove it completely, and some patients might expect something else. If they try to double their doses by themselves, it might be dangerous. You have to warn them about this.

These medications are successfully used for reducing pain related to numerous acute and sub-acute medical conditions. If the doses are accurate, and used accordingly, during shorter periods of time or only occasionally, there will be no significant problems. Chronic pains, and long-term therapies are something different. They may lead to addiction, or severe health issues. Finding alternative therapies is highly advisable.

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.

While various strong painkillers can really provide significant pain relief in the short term, a decrease of analgesic effect with the same dose over time is certainly something that can be expected. The development of tolerance is inevitable in some cases. When this problem is solved by ongoing dose escalation, it might lead to serious outcomes, and this includes addiction and possible fatal overdoses.

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.

Opioids are in fact really strong painkillers, and can be used for reducing pain in various medical conditions. Even so, when there is a chance these painkillers will be used for longer periods of time, it is advisable to find alternatives. Their sole purpose is reducing the pain, they cannot cure your illness, they can only make your life easier for a while. Misuse can endanger your life.




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