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Pat Oreilly

The following is a series of articles by Pat Oreilly

We will be adding new articles on a regular basis

About the Author

Chronic pain is not just pain that lasts a long time...
Doctor, PLEASE...
Oxycontin
Multidisciplinary Pain Management...Why?
Pain Relief? You need to read this!
Addiction, Tolerance, and Other Nasty Wives Tales
More articles coming soon...

Addiction, Tolerance and Other Nasty Wives Tales

Pat Oreilly

Many people that live with chronic pain are afraid to take narcotic pain medicine because they don't want to become addicted to it. They have also been told that they will develop tolerance to narcotic medicines and need more and more and more of it to achieve pain control. These beliefs are wives tales that can actually cost the pain sufferer a great deal in terms of quality of life and controlling pain in the body.

Less than 1% of the people that take narcotic pain relievers become addicted to the medicine. This is due in part to the fact that people with legitimate pain do not get that "high" feeling when they take these drugs. The medicine is metabolized differently and goes directly to the pain. The person may get tired but they do not get high. Therefore there is no "reward" for taking the medicine for any reason other than keeping the pain at bay.

Opiates are not highly dangerous or destructive drugs. In general they are safer than many over the counter medications that we use every day. Anti-inflammatory medications such as Aspirin, Naproxin, even Vioxx can be hard on the stomach.

Another important consideration when evaluating pain medications is to remember the longer the pain is untreated or under-treated the more likely the pain will cause destructive and permanent changes in the nervous system of the person experiencing the pain. Taking the heroic position is not only not necessary, it is also dangerous to your body.

Tolerance is another misunderstood myth. Taking narcotic medicine can produce a type of tolerance but the truth is most often what looks like tolerance is actually an increase in the pain rather than a decrease in the effectivenes of the medication. Morphine has no dose "ceiling." It can be increased in small increments to relieve pain with no fear of overdose or loss of effectiveness. Another approach is to switch to another opiate for a short time to give the body a "holiday." Once the body has time to rest from the medication then switched back it will be effective once again.

Opiates have been used for pain relief for centuries. They are the most effective medications doctors have in treating pain and when handled properly they are safe. Perhaps some day science will come up with something better, but today narcotics can be our best friend.

Pat Oreilly, 2001

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