Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Addiction: Substance Abuse Community
This community is a place to share information and support with others who are trying to stop using drugs, prescription drugs, alcohol, tobacco or other addictive substances. Discuss with others, the symptoms of addiction, addiction recovery, ways to quit like tapering and cold turkey, and withdrawal symptoms. If you are interested in general "chat", please visit our Addiction Social Community.
What are some medical risks with taking pain meds?
by Jennibean, Dec 17, 2002 12:00AM
What I am asking is this, I know that pain meds with tylenol in them can damage the liver or even cause liver failure when taken in excess. But what about pain meds without anything else in them? I am taking oxyfast, straight oxycodone in liquid form nothing else added. The reason I ask is that somewhere I read that somebody said hydrocodone etc. can cause heart attack and stroke if taken in high quantities. Is this true? Is there any organs that this stuff is particularly hard on? I realize an overdose could kill you but I am just asking about excessive long term use, what are the risks? What are we hurting? My Dr told me that the tylenol was the only dangerous part of these meds and that really there is no ceiling on the amount of opiates one can take as long as they are tolerant to the amount taken before increasing it. I am trying to wean and stay off so any info that might scare me as far as possibly killing myself might help me get clean and stay clean. I worked in the medical field for many years and know enough about alot of medications but have never heard about the heart attck and stroke before.
Thanks for your time.
Jen
Thanks for your time.
Jen
i have heard that if u take pills ,hydro , percs u know all that ****.and u abuse them(take in some other manner than is perscribed to us) as we all have done.you can depress your resparations . that dont sound like much however it means you have built up a toxic level in your system and its starting to shut down. this happened to me a couple of times the first time i thought i was dying. one moment i'm sitting there , the next i'm gasping for air. what had happened was i had passed out and come close to stop breathing i had to breath 3-4 times before i could get a hold of it(re-oxiginate) my blood . not to mention i was having a panic attack during this it scared the **** out of me.
STROKES-POSS RELATED BLOOD PREASURE ISSUES RELATED TO LONG TERM USE
I'M NOT SURE
HOPE THIS IS HELPFUL INSIGHTFUL?
HANG IN THERE AND KICK THIS CRUTCH TO THE CURB
CLEAN SINCE 11-28-02 7:00 P.M.
Oxycodone or any other opiate derivative due not cause any damage to your body.
When your doctor spoke of the opiate ceiling, and being stable on your dose before raising it : He meant that you can take a dose 10x higher than someone else as long as your body has adjusted to the dose, and you don't OD on it. That is mainly for people that have been on them for a while and their body adjusts to the dose and needs to raise it to get the same amount of pain relief from it. If your body can not handle the higher dose, you can overdose. This would be via respiratory distress, or any of the other symtoms indicated via the medical books.
So in short, opiates do not hurt your body, unless taken in amounts that cause overdose.
The tylenol is what really kills.
Regarding the info on hydro, or any other pain med causing stoke. This is caused via sudden cessation. You body goes into shock from not having this suddenly cut off. This can possibly occur in someone who is either on a very large dose, or someone with compromised health already.
In short, opiates do not cause harm taken in any dose as long as your body can handle the dose.
As always, talk to your doc, especially if you are on a HIGH dose and are thinking of stopping taking them. Or if you HAVE to stop taking them CT.
Better safe than sorry,
Chezz
To say that opiates do not damage your body...well I'm speechless. I was on them for four years and almost died. If being perpetually constipated is not damaging to your body, what is? You don't process nutrients, your food doesn't digest. Look at Elvis. Homeboy Died on the toilet, with his insides exploding, due to opiate painkillers.
Is the mind part of the body? What kind of damage is done to your seratonin balance by being on opiates? Your endorphin production?
I was 60 pounds overweight by the time I finally quit Oxycontin. My eyes were dead. My leg was always falling asleep. I had a few benign growths on my head! I used to wake up choking on vomit. 7 months later I am back down to 180 pounds, my leg is fine,my skin is fine, I STILL don't ******* sleep more that 5 hours at a time....
These things KILL you physically. They were all I was taking. I didn't drink or do other drugs (klonopin for awhile). Pretty damn clear to me that these things royally **** your body.
OPIATES, the opiod......does not cause harm to your body. Like tylenol does.
The SIDE EFFECTS of opiate use can cause harm, especially when abused.
Chezz
Absolutely true that the opioid itself doesn't attack and poison your organs directly, ala tylenol on your liver.
Your view on it was taken as it was. A diffent side of what happens with abuse, and the SIDE EFFECTS.
I was speaking of the direct correlation as to the OPIATE on the body.
That is the crappy part of taking meds. Too bad you couldn't just take "pure" opiates without any side effects. That would be nice.......
With everything in life, there is a balance. With pleasure comes pain......
The side effecs are there to keep the balance.
Chezz
That is the "balance" to this forum....There will always be someone with the "rest of the story"
Rex
Do you still have a lot of body pain?
Rex
Thanks!
I would be interested in medical effects of repeated withdrawals on the brain and nervous system.
Peace
As he put it, Tylenol (and Ibuprofren for that matter) are toxins in your system.
One of the compelling reasons for me to get off the drugs was that I was taking three things daily and sometimes 4:
Vicodin
Ibuprofren 800s 3x /day
Excedrin 2 tab 2x/day
Zanaflex
This can't be good for anyones system, and I am convinced it zapped my energy as well.
Now, I am just on the Ibuprofen and occasional zanaflex and Excedrin.
next week I am due to cut these as part of my taper plan.
We'll see...
Best of luck to you...
Rex
OPIATES are natually made by the body? Or is that endorphins?
Just curious, cause I should would like to find out how to talk to my receptors, like Mike did, and kick their ass into to gear. Then I could tell them where to find their own!!!
Kind of sucks when you have to live with pain