Opioid-Induced Constipation Paper

Opioid addiction is so prevalent in the healthcare system because of the countless number of hospital patients being treated for chronic pain. While opioid analgesics have beneficial painkilling properties, they also yield detrimental dependence and addiction. There is a legitimate need for the health care system to provide powerful medications because prolonged pain limits activities of daily living, work productivity, quality of life, etc. (Taylor, 2015). Patients need to receive appropriate pain treatment, however, opioids need to be prescribed after careful consideration of the benefits and risks.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5, opioid use disorder (OUD) is characterized by patterns of opioid use that are problematic and persist for at least one year (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Evidence of problematic use of opioid is demonstrated through the presence of at least 2 symptoms which include withdrawal, craving, and continued use of opioids despite the disruptions it causes in personal and professional life. The substances used by persons with OUD are heroin and nonmedical pain relievers ([NMPR]; i.e. nonmedical use of opioid pain relievers), and estimates for DSM-5-defined OUD tend to combine the prevalence of use for each of these substances to determine overall

Mike Alstott knows first-hand how opioids, when used correctly, can play an important role in managing pain and helping people to function, but he is also keenly aware of the growing crisis of opioid misuse and overdose. More American adults are dying from misusing prescription narcotics than ever before. An estimated 35 people die every day in the U.S. from accidental prescription painkiller overdoses resulting from things like not taking a medication as directed or not understanding how multiple

Considerable cautions have been obtained throughout the United States to decrease the misuse of prescription opioids and helps to minimize opioid overdoses and related complications. Even though the pain medications have a significant part in the treatment of acute and chronic pain situations, it sometimes happen that the high dose prescription or the prescribed medications, without having enough monitoring, can create bad outcomes. It is always a dilemma for the providers to find who is really in need of pain medications and to identify those who are questionably misusing opioids.

As better and more comprehensive education is provided both to the general public and practicing clinicians the hope is to reduce the negativity surrounding the users of opioids, and to eliminate demeaning language coupled to them as well. This could improve patient morale and help the needless continuation of physical suffering within patients, as they would be more comfortable approaching and using opioids for therapeutic purposes1. That being said there are those within our communities who do abuse these substances and pharmacists must recognize the signs of abusers, it is important for them to reach out, without comment, to help those suffering from opioid abuse once they have been

As we all have researched and found out the devastating numbers to the opioid epidemic “the abuse of prescription and non-prescription opioids is one of the greatest threats facing public health in the United States today. It is estimated that as many as 2.5 million people in the US are suffering from opioid addiction related to prescriptions, and an additional 467,000 are addicted to heroin”(2017).

Following the guidelines by policymakers and the CDC to limit prescription of opioid medications, there have been numerous instances that highlight the pharmaceutical industry’s role in propagating initiatives that are contrary to these guidelines hence thwarting the fight against opioid abuse (Bement et al., 2014). The opioid pharmaceutical market is worth about $ 10 billion in sales annually which explains why the pharmaceutical industry would be reluctant in joining the fight against opioid abuse. The pharmaceutical industry perceives the fight against opioid use as a setback. As a result, the industry is constantly looking for measures to earn more profits by aggressively expanding the market for more drugs that are related to opioid use such that the answer to opioid addiction is to use more pills. The pharmaceutical industry is aggressively manufacturing alternative drugs to treat the side-effects of opioid use like constipation. Historically, the pharmaceutical industry has been accused of providing misleading information concerning the addictive features of some opioid medications which further frustrates the initiatives to stop opioid abuse since the addiction levels will be high for

The use of opioid-based prescription medications to treat non-terminal chronic pain can cause side effects from short term use, and is overly common and ineffective. Firstly, opioid usage can induce negative short-term effects. According to William A. Darity, Jr., short-term opioid usage causes negative effects such as “euphoria, drowsiness, and impaired motor and cognitive functioning” (“Drugs”). The short term effects of the opioids may cause the patient to isolate him or herself socially due to being self-conscious about his or her friends and peers seeing the individual in their current condition. Due to his or her fragile emotional state, however, if the patient isolates him or herself during a time in which he or she should have increased

Opioid addiction is a condition that is preventable as well as one which individuals display several noticeable risk factors before the actual addiction prognosis to the point of causing death. There is a strong correlation between the early misuse of prescription opioids, which are prescribed for non-cancer pain management, and the development of a dependence on such opioids. Early detection of risk factors such as the misuse of opioids that are prescribed will help indicate that a patient is developing an addiction.1 Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers must closely monitor patients and the rate at which opioids are consumed as well as refilled.

Opioids, otherwise known as prescription pain medication, are used to treat acute and chronic pain. They are the most powerful pain relievers known. When taken as directed they can be safe and effective at managing pain, however, opioids can be highly addictive. Ease of access helps people get pain medications through their physician or by having friends and family get the medication for them. With their ease of access and being highly addictive the use and misuse of opioids have become a growing epidemic. Patients should be well educated on the affects opioid use can have. More importantly instead of the use of opioids, physicians should look into alternative solutions for pain management. While pain medication is helpful with chronic pain, it is also highly addictive, doctors should be more stringent to whom and how often they prescribe pain medication.

Opioid abuse is a growing epidemic within the United States. Not only are people abusing the prescription forms of opioids (such as oxycodone - OxyContin, hydrocodone - Vicodin, codeine, and morphine) by taking more than they are supposed to, but they are also being bought, sold, and used on the streets illegally; such as heroin. Opioids are highly addicting because of the high they can induce in a person, causing a dependence and yearning for continued use (NIDA, n.d.) In 2007, the United States was responsible for over 99 percent of the global consumption of hydrocodone and 83 percent of the global consumption of oxycodone (United Nations Publications, 2009).

Patients would regularly take their prescribed opioid medications in order to relieve the symptoms of their pain. In

Living with pain is a daily struggle for many among us. We as a society push our bodies past the breaking point and live to tell the tale through opioid pain relievers. What did the many generations before opioids were created do, how was the pain relieved? That’s easy enough to answer they lived with it, or they didn’t. Medical and pharmaceutical interventions have come a long way in the treatment and management of pain, so much so that now we have run into another problem, the epidemic of opioid addiction and abuse. Out of this problem a far greater problem is being seen and that is the health risks associated with any drug used in a recreational form.

Next, there is an extensive history of opioid use for pain management, and other symptom management as well. Morphine can be traced back to Civil War veterans trying to manage pain and, consequently, being addicted. “‘Drugs were already on the scene and being consumed at alarming rates long before the start of the war,’ said Mark A Quinoes, a scholar who studied drug abuse during the Civil War.” It was not until 1898 that heroin was on the market for commercial sale, considered a “wonder drug,” it began to spread in use along with users that found out injecting it would increase its effects. There was little known about these new opioids, they were even used as cough suppressants. Heroin worked for what is was being used as, a pain suppressant, and there were few other options. In 1914 the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act imposed a tax on importing and selling opium or coca leaves. In 1924 doctors were avoiding using opioids after being aware of their addictive nature which lead heroin becoming illegal. Without this opioid, doctors had to get creative when treating World War II soldiers, this sparked research into nerve blockers. These nerve blockers managed pain without the use of surgery. This was, unfortunately, not the end of the opioid. While these results were shocking the pharmaceutical industry still faces much leniency from the federal

Article 11: Chronic pain is associated with impairment in sleep. The relationship between using prescribed opioids and sleep is unclear. The focus of the study was to examine differences in self-reported sleep quality between groups of patients who were different by chronic pain and prescribed opioid status. The use of opioids with chronic non-cancer pain continues to increase. Common adverse effects associated with the initiation of opioids including constipation, nausea, somnolence, and vomiting. Up to 50% of patients stop taking opioid therapy because of intolerance or insufficient pain relief. Research shows that pain often results in disruptions to sleep and impaired sleep itself a risk factor for pain. In a comprehensive review