Opioid

“In 2014 in the United States alone there were over 47,055 lethal drug overdoses, with 18,893 deaths related to prescription pain killers and 10,574 deaths related to heroin” (“National Opioid…”). Both prescription pain killers and the illegal drug heroin are linked by one key ingredient: opium. Opium is involved in the production of narcotics ranging from prescription medicine to illegal drugs. It has had an impact on many different points in history and on today’s world. From its impact in…

traced back to misuse and abuse of prescription painkillers. As this research has noted, narcotic painkillers are similar to heroin, both are opioids, and they act in similar ways in the brain, producing the same kind of euphoria and lead to the same devastating addiction. Consequently, drug dealers provided heroin as the cheaper alternative for prescription opioid addicts desperate for the next fix. Heroin is cheaper and easier to find than pain pills, so addicts naturally turned to this…

relapse while taking buprenorphine? I recognize that opioid addiction is an illness, so I increase the intensity of treatment if a patient should relapse. However, repeated relapses signify a major problem. Medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine requires a great deal of self-monitoring (self-policing). Patients who are unable to self-monitor are still in need of treatment, but at a higher intensity level. Options include treatment at an Opioid Treatment Program (methadone maintenance…

the only medically related issues co-occurring clients deal with in treatment. Another consideration that must be closely observed is found in the utilization of medication-assisted treatment (MAT). MAT is a harm reduction approach used with both opioids and alcohol treatment by substituting the drug of choice, with a lesser potent substance in order to weaken withdrawals through the detoxification period. This can be administered through in-patient or outpatient treatment, but the therapist…

understand the impact of opioids on clients’ counselors need to be familiar with the terminology used in the study of addictions. To understand the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of opioids knowing their meaning is essential. Pharmacodynamics explains the effects drugs like opioids have on the body and brain functions while pharmacokinetics focuses on the body’s interaction with the drugs and how it processes through the body (Lorenzini, Daali, Dayer, & Desmeules, 2012) .Opioids are…

Medical Marijuana: A Better Option to Pain Treatment over Prescription Opioid Narcotics Medical marijuana is a much healthier alternative to narcotics in most cases for the use of treatment of pain for epilepsy, nausea relief, multiple sclerosis, post-traumatic stress disorder, and cancer. Two of the main cannabinoids in medical marijuana are: delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidoil (CBD). CBD is the compound that has significant medical benefits and the fact that CBD-rich cannabis…

decreased the use of opioids and that overdoes with them. Marijuana as medicine can serve as a substitute for many different diseases and many different problems. About 92% of people that have used marijuana as medicine have claimed that it has worked for them in one way or another. With the many facts found during the process of research the conclusion has been made by many different states to allow marijuana as medicine. Marijuana as medicine has been shown to reduce the risk for opioid…

when considering on-going opioid management, several factors should be considered, including prescription from a single practitioner; lowest possible dose to improve pain; documentation of pain relief; functional status; appropriate medication use and side effects; documentation of misuse and continuing review of overall situation with regard to non-opioids means of pain control. The medication was within guidelines supported levels. The patient has been taking opioids for a long time and the…

Medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine is the newest evidence-based treatment for recovery from opioid addiction. I utilize buprenorphine extensively in my medical practice treating opioid addiction. As with methadone, medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine is an outpatient treatment, but with several important and valuable differences from medication-assisted treatment with methadone: • Medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine is approved for office-based treatment,…

Upon entering the brain, enzymes convert heroin back into morphine. Once in morphine form, it quickly binds to the opioid receptors in the brain. This binding action triggers sensations of pain relief and even euphoria – which are more intense than the sensations produced by the body’s own endorphins binding to these receptors. The duplication of endorphins slows down…