Join the 'Opium' group to help and get support from people like you.
Opium Blog
| Tweet |
Erectile Dysfunction Tied to Long-Term Narcotic Use in Men
Posted 6 days ago by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, May 15 – If you're a man, the pain-killing medications known as opioids may do more than relieve pain – they may also put a damper on your sex life. A new study found that men who were prescribed medications for erectile dysfunction or low testosterone levels were more likely to be taking opioid (narcotic) medications for chronic back pain. "People who have persistent pain problems need to know that a potential side effect of long-term opioid use may be erectile dysfunction," said lead study author Dr. Richard Deyo, a clinical investigator for the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore. "This is not a well-known potential side effect among patients, and it should be considered when thinking about treatment." Deyo also noted, however, that "the nature of this study as an observational study limits our ability to make a causal [cause-and-effect] ... Read more
Related support groups: Suboxone, Methadone, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Opiate Dependence, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Opana, Subutex, Codeine, Erectile Dysfunction
Neurology Group Lists Procedures That May Be Unneeded
Posted 8 Mar 2013 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, March 8 – Five tests, procedures and treatments that neurologists and their patients should question are outlined in a list released by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) as part of the Choosing Wisely campaign. "With one in six people affected by a brain disease, such as headache, multiple sclerosis and stroke, our goal is to have patients discuss our Choosing Wisely recommendations regarding medical procedures, therapies, and tests with their neurologists," AAN president Dr. Bruce Sigsbee said in an academy news release. The American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation-led Choosing Wisely campaign involves about 35 medical specialty groups and is intended to encourage patients and doctors to discuss appropriate care while avoiding unnecessary tests and treatments. The AAN is one of 17 medical societies that recently released advice lists. Here are the AAN's five ... Read more
Related support groups: Suboxone, Methadone, Headache, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Migraine, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Opana, Subutex, Codeine
Program to Spot Painkiller ODs Saves Lives: Study
Posted 1 Feb 2013 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Feb. 1 – Teaching people how to recognize and respond to prescription painkiller overdoses could significantly reduce the number of overdose deaths, a new study suggests. Overdoses of these powerful opioid drugs are a major cause of emergency hospital admissions and preventable deaths in many countries. Opioids include hydrocodone (brand name Vicodin), oxycodone (OxyContin and Percocet), morphine and codeine. Since 2005, Massachusetts has had more opioid-related overdose deaths than motor vehicle deaths, so the state introduced several strategies to tackle the problem, including training drug users, their families and friends, and potential bystanders to prevent, recognize and respond to opioid overdoses. The participants in the overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) programs received instruction in how to recognize signs of overdose, seek help, stay with victims ... Read more
Related support groups: Pain, Suboxone, Methadone, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Opana, Subutex, Codeine, Dilaudid
Parents Not Too Worried About Kids' Use of Pain Meds: Poll
Posted 28 Jan 2013 by Drugs.com
SATURDAY, Jan. 26 – Many American parents are not very concerned about the misuse of narcotic pain medicines by children and teens, despite the fact that rates of abuse and overdoses involving these drugs are rising in all age groups, a new survey finds. The number of drug overdose deaths attributed to narcotic pain medicines such as Vicodin or Oxycontin is greater than overdose deaths from heroin and cocaine combined, according to national data. The survey, conducted last September, included over 1,300 parents with children aged 5 to 17. Among the participants, the investigators found that only 35 percent of parents were very concerned about the misuse of narcotic pain medicines by children and teens in their communities, and only 19 percent were very concerned about the misuse of these medicines in their own families. Black parents (38 percent) and Hispanic parents (26 percent) were ... Read more
Related support groups: Suboxone, Methadone, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Opana, Subutex, Codeine, Dilaudid, Opana ER
FDA Panel Weighs Tougher Restrictions on Some Prescription Painkillers
Posted 24 Jan 2013 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Jan. 24 – A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel will meet Thursday and Friday to discuss the fate of certain painkillers that contain an opioid known as hydrocodone. At issue is whether to reclassify some of these drugs – which include the commonly prescribed Vicodin (hydrocodone plus acetaminophen) – into a higher category of danger for misuse or abuse. Other opioid painkillers, such as Oxycontin and Percocet, are already classified in that higher category. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration requested that an FDA advisory panel undertake the review; currently the drugs are classified as Schedule III drugs but the agency wants them placed within the more tightly controlled Schedule II designation. The FDA is not required to follow the recommendations of its advisory panels, but it typically does. The painkiller issue has become a contentious one. ... Read more
Related support groups: Suboxone, Methadone, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Opana, Subutex, Codeine, Dilaudid, Opana ER
Blood Disorder Cases Tied to Prescription Painkiller Abuse
Posted 10 Jan 2013 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Jan. 10 – Tennessee health officials report cases of a rare blood-clotting problem among people who injected the painkiller Opana ER (extended release) after crushing pills meant to be taken by mouth. Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a disorder that causes blood clots to form in small blood vessels around the body and is usually seen in about one in 100,000 people. From August to October, however, there were 15 cases seen in Tennessee. All were associated with intravenous drug abuse, with 14 specifically related to Opana ER. "I don't think anybody has a figure for the percentage of people who are crushing these drugs to inject them; nobody really knows how commonly people do that," said Dr. Leonard Paulozzi, a medical epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are, however, many reports of people crushing these pills to make them ... Read more
Related support groups: Suboxone, Methadone, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Opana, Subutex, Codeine, Dilaudid, Opana ER
Prescription Painkillers Trail Only Marijuana in Abuse Rates, Report Shows
Posted 10 Jan 2013 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Jan. 10 – Prescription painkillers are second only to marijuana when it comes to drug abuse, a new government report claims. Some 22 million Americans have misused prescription painkillers since 2002, according to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). "Any time you have 2 percent of the population using medications like this there is a lot to do, but we are doing a lot with a combination of putting tighter controls on who can get these drugs and public education," said Peter Delany, director of SAMHSA's Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. Also, programs such as the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, which allows doctors to track patients who may be getting painkillers from several sources, has helped get a handle on the problem, he added. And although the misuse of prescription painkillers has remained fairly constant ... Read more
Related support groups: Suboxone, Methadone, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Opiate Dependence, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Opana, Subutex, Codeine, Dilaudid
FDA issues draft guidance on abuse-deterrent opioids
Posted 9 Jan 2013 by Drugs.com
January 9, 2013 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued a draft guidance document to assist industry in developing new formulations of opioid drugs with abuse-deterrent properties. The document “Guidance for Industry: Abuse-Deterrent Opioids – Evaluation and Labeling,” explains the FDA’s current thinking about the studies that should be conducted to demonstrate that a given formulation has abuse-deterrent properties, how those studies will be evaluated by the agency, and what labeling claims may be approved based on the results of those studies. “The FDA is extremely concerned about the inappropriate use of prescription opioids, which is a major public health challenge for our nation,” said FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. “This draft guidance is an important part of a larger effort by FDA aimed at preventing prescription drug abuse and misuse.” Opioids can ... Read more
Related support groups: Pain, Suboxone, Methadone, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Opiate Dependence, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Opiate Withdrawal, Lortab, Opana, Subutex
Painkiller Abuse by Kids Way Up, Study Finds
Posted 17 Oct 2012 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 17 – The rate of prescription painkiller abuse among American youth is 40 percent higher than in previous generations, and it is now the second most common type of illegal drug use after marijuana, according to a new study. The current generation's abuse of prescription pain medications such as vicodin, valium and oxycontin is "higher than any generation ever measured," study author Richard Miech, a professor of sociology at the University of Colorado, Denver, said in a university news release. The researchers analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 1985 to 2009, and found that prescription painkiller abuse led to: A 129 percent increase in emergency department visits between 2004 and 2009. A more than 500 percent increase in the number of people seeking treatment for addiction to prescription opioids between 1997 and 2007. A threefold ... Read more
Related support groups: Suboxone, Methadone, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Opana, Subutex, Codeine, Dilaudid, Opana ER
'Doctor Shopping' Tied to Fatal Prescription Drug Overdoses
Posted 16 Sep 2012 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Sept. 14 – People who visit multiple doctors and pharmacies to get medications are at greater risk of dying from a prescription drug overdose, according to a new study. Drug-monitoring programs might help identify patients who engage in what's known as "doctor shopping" or "pharmacy shopping," the researchers said. "These programs currently exist in most states, and efforts are under way to create one large program that would compile the controlled-substance prescription data from all participating states," Marie Abate, a professor at the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy and faculty affiliate in the university's Injury Control Center, said in a university news release. One such program, the West Virginia Controlled Substance Monitoring Program (CSMP), collects information on every controlled-substance prescription filled in the state. The study authors examined the ... Read more
Related support groups: Suboxone, Methadone, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Opana, Subutex, Codeine, Dilaudid, Opana ER
Teens Who Drink, Smoke More Likely to Abuse Painkillers Later: Study
Posted 21 Aug 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Aug. 21 – Teenagers who smoke or drink are two to three times more likely to abuse prescription painkillers later on in life, new research shows. Researchers from Yale University analyzed information collected from young adults aged 18 to 25 from the 2006-2008 U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health. About 12 percent of the young adults surveyed said they currently abused prescription opioids. Of those, 57 percent had abused alcohol as teens; 56 percent smoked cigarettes and 34 percent used marijuana. About 3.5 million young adults abuse prescription opioids, "and this number is growing," study lead author Dr. Lynn Fiellin, associate professor of medicine at Yale, said in a university news release. Gender was also associated with risk of opioid abuse, the investigators found. Among men, use of cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana when they were teenagers was associated with a ... Read more
Related support groups: Suboxone, Methadone, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Opana, Subutex, Codeine, Smoking, Dilaudid
'Abuse-Resistant' Oxycontin May Be Driving Addicts to Heroin
Posted 11 Jul 2012 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, July 11 – A new version of the prescription painkiller Oxycontin that makes the medication harder to abuse does not appear to reduce drug abuse. Instead, the drug seems to drive people toward more dangerous opioids, including heroin, a new study suggests. Oxycontin has been popular among drug abusers since the mid-1990s, when a slow-release version entered the market. Although this version was supposed to discourage abuse because swallowing it did not give people a "high," it had the opposite outcome. The pills contained a larger dose of medicine, and people quickly figured out how to crush or dissolve them in water to snort or inject for an even bigger payoff, the study authors said. "This had the effect of kicking off the epidemic of prescription-drug abuse that we have in this country right now," said Theodore Cicero, a psychiatry professor at Washington University in St. ... Read more
Related support groups: Methadone, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Opiate Dependence, Morphine, Fentanyl, Opana, Subutex, Codeine, Dilaudid, Opana ER, Roxicodone, MS Contin, Nucynta
Teach Prescribers About Dangers of Long-Acting Pain Meds: FDA
Posted 9 Jul 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, July 9 – As part of its efforts to curb the abuse of narcotic painkillers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is requiring drug makers to educate doctors about the risks of long-acting and extended-release forms of the drugs. "Prescription-drug abuse is our nation's fastest-growing drug problem," FDA commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg said during a Monday afternoon press conference. Commonly prescribed drugs that come in longer-acting forms include oxycodone, morphine and fentanyl. The continuing-education programs will be based on FDA-created blueprints. The agency expects the more than 20 companies that make these drugs to provide grants to firms that specialize in medical continuing education. These firms will, in turn, develop and administer the programs under FDA supervision and provide them to doctors for free. Although all opioid painkillers carry risk of abuse, ... Read more
Related support groups: Pain, Suboxone, Methadone, Oxycodone, Percocet, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Opana, Subutex, Codeine
Genes May Influence Reactions to Painkillers
Posted 20 Jun 2012 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, June 20 – Genetics play a major role in a person's risk for addiction or unpleasant side effects when taking opioid painkillers, new research suggests. Opioids, also called narcotics, are commonly prescribed to treat moderate to severe pain and include drugs such as morphine, methadone and oxycodone. Some people experience debilitating side effects when taking opioids, while others have no problems. Similarly, some people can take these medications for months with little chance of addiction, while others are at risk within weeks. To examine these patient differences, researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine assessed the responses of more than 120 twin pairs and non-related people who were given the opioid alfentanil, a short-acting painkiller prescribed by anesthesiologists. One finding of the study was that identical twins were more similar in their ... Read more
Related support groups: Methadone, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Opiate Dependence, Morphine, Fentanyl, Opana, Subutex, Codeine, Dilaudid, Opana ER, Roxicodone, MS Contin, Nucynta
Mental Health Woes Raise Odds for Prescription Painkiller Abuse
Posted 10 Jun 2012 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, June 8 – Teens and young adults with mental health disorders are at increased risk for long-term use of presciption painkillers such as Vicodin and Oxycontin, according to a new study. Researchers examined data from more than 62,000 young people, aged 13 to 24, in the Western, Midwestern and Southwestern United States. Those with mental health disorders were more likely to be prescribed opioids for chronic pain and 2.4 times more likely to become long-term opioid users than those without mental health disorders. Long-term opioid use was more common among males, older youth and those who lived in poorer communities with more white residents. Long-term use was defined as using opioids for more than 90 days within a six-month period, with no gap in use of more than 30 days. The study appeared June 6 in the Journal of Adolescent Health. "There are a number of reasons adolescents ... Read more
Related support groups: Methadone, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Lortab, Opana, Subutex, Codeine, Dilaudid, Opana ER, Roxicodone