Be Careful With Prescribed Opioid Dosing

By Edward Sanders


Numerous experts agree that the level of misuse, abuse and overdose of different prescribed opioids is alarmingly high. That's why they think that all physicians should be really careful when prescribing high doses of these strong painkillers. They can cause addiction, and other health problems, as well as accidental overdoses. The question of accurate opioid dosing became really important.

The whole purpose of taking opioids is to manage the pain. Nevertheless, the accurate diagnosis is something that should be set first, because it is really important to identify the underlying causes before prescribing the appropriate treatment. This might be difficult in some cases, but, without it, there is a possibility for prescribing inaccurate doses.

Chronic pains might also have different underlying causes. Prescribed doses might not meet patient's unrealistic expectations regarding their effect. Patients often expect greater pain reduction, and they might try using higher doses than those that were prescribed to them, just to achieve greater pain relief. This might be very dangerous, and their physician should inform them about these issues when prescribing those drugs in the first place.

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.

As with any other strong medicament, there is no dose that could be considered as absolutely safe for anyone. There are several factors that should be included in calculating the accurate dose for every single patient. Intensive use and high doses over longer period of time may cause unwanted consequences, and this might include addiction as well. Carefully calculate the appropriate dosage and warn your patients about all risks involved.

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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