May 26, 2012
Topics A-Z Drugs Opiate resistance
Opiate resistance |
|
Dear Ask The Doctor: I am a 62 year old woman with a history of several knee surgeries, including two TKR's. I do not drink alcohol: never have. I do not abuse drugs:never have. I do not smoke: never have. I am 'allergic' to almost every form of codiene (causes severe abdominal pain for up to three hours after taking it). Morphine, Vicodin and Dilaudid simply do not work. I may as well be eating candy; no pain relief, no 'buzz,' nothing except a bit of nausea (if I'm dumb enough not to take it with food) and constipation. By this, I mean that aspirin works better...I could take three or four times the recommended oral dose of hydrocodone or hydromorphone and...nothing. Zip. Go get the ibuprofen. I've asked my Dr's, and they think I'm nuts...or lying to them. I am not. I have seen some anecdotal evidence on the internet, but except for one article regarding opiate resistance in AIDS patients, there doesn't seem to be much out there on this. Are there people who have a natural resistance or immunity to opiates? Is there some literature I could look at? What do I tell the Docs next time I need pain meds for something? What MIGHT work, if opiates don't? Dear Diana: Yes, in some people we can see opiates resistance; there are in fact research papers that present opiate resistance in AIDS patients and also Fibromyalgia patients. Possibly there are genetic factors that affect how any given person responds to the opiates or other analgesics and how they feel the pain stimuli. The available alternatives for those persons are the anti inflammatory medications (“Motrin”, “Aleve”, Aspirin). There are not too many research papers on this matter, most of them are experimental in animals. Also for chronic or intractable pain, low doses of antidepressant medication improve sleep and decrease pain as well as eliminate depression. You can try Biofeedback and relaxation techniques, these besides lessening pain, these therapies also decrease the number of tender points. Acupuncture may be another holistic treatment option for you to explore: Multiple studies have shown that acupuncture can decrease tender point pain. |
|
| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 22 March 2011 ) |
|
|
|
|
