Strong Opioids for Pain
This section about strong opioids for pain
is not intended as a comprehensive source of medical information,
but as a hub for links to other more detailed sources.
If you find this section
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Opioids are painkillers used for moderate and severe
pain. They are used for pain after surgery. They are effective
at controlling cancer pain.
They can be used for chronic non-cancer pain. Codeine is a
weak opioid often used for moderate pain. Morphine is a strong
opioid used for severe pain. There are other strong opioids
such as pethidine (now rarely used) and oxycodone.
Many people have chronic pain (about 12% of the population).
Everyday painkillers such as paracetamol and ibuprofen, do
not help everyone with pain. Pain can prevent people functioning
normally and their lives can be badly affected by pain. Opioids
can lessen the pain in some people and enable them to lead
a more normal life.
Some people are considered by their doctor to be suitable
to try strong opioids. You may try them and find that they
do not work for you. Your doctor will prescribe opioids for
you in increasing doses to see if your pain can be reduced.
They will not work for everyone and there may be side effects,
such as constipation, drowsiness and nausea.
Addiction: Addiction is the need to take a drug repeatedly
for a feeling of pleasure and well-being it gives, even though
it can cause harm. This is very different from taking medicine
in controlled amounts for pain. It is very rare for people
prescribed opioids by their doctor for pain relief to become
addicted even if they are taken for long periods of time.
If you have a pain problem, which needs treatment
you should contact your own doctor who can refer you to a
pain clinic in your area. This site is for information only
and cannot be treated as a substitute for the medical advice
of your own doctor. The Pain Relief Foundation is not able
to offer individual medical advice.
Dealing with Pain Series: Strong Opioids
The Pain Relief Foundation has produced it's own leaflet
containing some simple information on strong opioids for
chronic pain which is available to download in PDF format:-
N.B. Requires Adobe
Acrobat Reader to view. If you don't have
the Acrobat reader you can download it here
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Useful Websites:
There are many sites on the World Wide Web
offering information to people about chronic pain and its
treatment. The suggested links, to websites providing such
information, from this website are considered by the doctors
at the Pain Relief Foundation to be useful and informative.
If you know of a good web site about chronic pain then we
would be pleased to hear your recommendation.
The Pain Relief Foundation is not responsible
for the content of these web sites, and does not endorse any
commercial product or service mentioned or advised on these
sites.
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