Understanding Your Pain Medication

Pain Medication

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, pain is the oldest medical problem, but has been little understood by physicians throughout history. Pain in most cases is more than just a feeling of discomfort. It can affect the way you feel overall. It may also lead to mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. The amount of pain you experience can tell your doctor a lot about your overall health. Acute pain happens suddenly, usually in a matter of days or weeks. It tends to resolve within a few weeks. Chronic pain is ongoing. Some guidelines consider pain to be chronic when it lasts beyond three months. Others say pain is chronic when it lasts longer than six months.

Pain-relief methods range from at-home treatments and prescriptions to over-the-counter (OTC) medications and invasive procedures like surgery. Pain relief doesn’t usually happen overnight, but it can. Each person’s pain experience is unique to them. To treat the source of chronic pain, you may need to visit your doctor. Use this easy scale to help you describe your pain so you can get the relief you need.

Some healthcare providers recommend the use of opioid medications to help patients manage pain. If your healthcare provider has prescribed an opioid medication for you, it is important that you understand the benefits and risks involved with taking these medications as well as the danger of taking counterfeit medications like the N 358 10 pill fake currently in circulation.

Being treated with an opioid medication may offer certain benefits. These potential benefits include: better control of pain, which may improve how you feel and function physically; an increased ability to function in personal and professional relationships, as well as an improved sense of overall well-being; and or a decrease in the intensity of pain.

Health Risks

Being treated with an opioid medication increases certain risks. These potential risks include:

Physical Dependency – if you use opioid medications;

Addiction – being unable to control your use of the drug, is different from physical dependency, You are especially at-risk if you have had previous problems with drug or alcohol abuse.

Ineffectiveness – A chance that this drug might not help improve your functioning or decrease your pain

Withdrawal symptoms – including yawning, sweating, watery eyes, runny nose, anxiety, tremors, aching muscles, hot and cold flashes, “goose flesh,” abdominal cramps, and diarrhea — when you try to stop using this drug. These symptoms might begin 24 to 48 hours after your last dose and might last for up to three weeks

Side effects – such as skin rash, constipation, sexual dysfunction, sleep abnormalities, sweating, edema, sedation, or the possibility of impaired cognitive (mental status), and/or motor ability, among others. These side effects might interfere with your ability to do what you normally do.

Drug Overdoses – If you take a higher dose than what is prescribed to you, you might experience excessive sleepiness, trouble breathing, or even die It should be noted that if you take these drugs too often, you can get serious side effects. In rare cases, if you often take acetaminophen a number of days in a row, you can damage your liver. This can happen even if you take just a little over the recommended dose. Rarely, these drugs can also cause kidney problems.