Long-term abuse of pain relievers can lead to serious cardiovascular problems, heart attacks, and heart disease. Abuse of pain relievers can lead to constipation, bloating, intestinal obstruction, and hemorrhoids. Opioids are important medications for the treatment of pain, opioid dependence, and terminal illnesses. However, these drugs also have the potential to produce physical dependence, abuse, and addiction.
Opioids include heroin and prescription drugs, such as oxycodone and methadone. Opioids work by blocking the sensation of pain in the brain. They can also affect the pleasure center of the brain and cause a feeling of euphoria. Compound pain relievers can reduce pain, but they can cause more side effects.
If you have breathing problems, such as sleep apnea, asthma, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), talk to your doctor before taking opioid pain relievers. However, over time, your brain will develop a tolerance to pain relievers and you'll need to take higher doses of the drug to achieve the same effect, putting you at risk of overdosing. Because they weren't originally designed to treat pain, your doctor may first want to discuss the benefits and risks of prescribing them before deciding if an antidepressant would help ease your condition. However, if you have long-term pain or swelling, the underlying problem that's causing them is unlikely to improve.
They are usually recommended to treat isolated areas of pain and inflammation caused by osteoarthritis, especially in the hands and knees. Because each of the ingredients can cause different side effects, compound pain relievers can increase the risk of having an unpleasant reaction. Complementary treatments, such as herbal remedies, vitamins, and supplements, aren't tested in the same way as pain relievers and NSAIDs, making it difficult to determine if they're safe to take together. However, be careful if you take medicines for migraines, coughs, colds and flu or compound pain relievers, as these medicines usually contain paracetamol.
Health professionals are unlikely to prescribe compound pain relievers containing the opioids codeine and dihydrocodeine for more than a few days, because there is little evidence that they relieve long-term pain. Acetaminophen is usually the recommended pain relief option if you're pregnant or breastfeeding, but it's a good idea to talk to your healthcare professional about any medications. These powerful pain relievers were able to quickly control moderate to severe pain and, apparently, were not habit-forming. If you think that pain relievers aren't helping to relieve your symptoms or are causing you unpleasant side effects, it might be a good idea to reduce or stop them.
Never chew, cut, crush, or dissolve opioid tablets or capsules and talk to your doctor if you need to take more medication than prescribed to relieve pain; you may need a different dose or type of medication. If you're taking blood-thinning anticoagulants, such as aspirin or warfarin in low doses, it's best to avoid taking other NSAIDs or compound pain relievers.
