If you are taking opioids or talking with your health care provider about this treatment option, now is the time to plan for safe use and disposal of these medications. Practicing caution can mean the difference between life and death for you, your loved ones and your neighbors. Opioid painkillers are highly addictive. After just five days of prescription opioid use, the likelihood that you'll develop long-term dependence on these drugs rises steeply _ increasing your risk of eventual addiction and overdose. And you don't need a prescription to be at risk.
Most people who misuse prescription painkillers report getting them from a family member or friend. Find out what steps to take to keep you and your loved ones safe.
Opioids aren't safe for some people. Your medical, family and personal history of substance use all help determine whether opioids are safe for you. It's important that health care providers prescreen populations before they initiate these drugs. "So there are a variety of things that physicians need to consider when they initiate a course of opioid therapy," says Dr. Holly Geyer, a Mayo Clinic addiction medicine specialist. "It's always a concern when patients have histories that predispose them to having secondary complications from using opioids. Issues with drug and alcohol abuse, active issues, or prior issues, and family history issues with drug and alcohol abuse, problems with sleep disorders or primary lung problems can predispose a patient to issues."
Medical conditions that increase your risk of dangerous side effects from opioid medications include:
_Sleep apnea.
_Obesity.
_Anxiety or depression.
_Fibromyalgia.
Mental health and substance abuse problems that increase your risk of opioid abuse and addiction include: History of severe depression or anxiety.
_Heavy tobacco use.
_Prior drug or alcohol rehabilitation.
_Family history of substance abuse.
_Personal history of substance abuse.
Your health care provider will ask about all of these risk factors before prescribing any new opioid medication. Be honest, and don't be afraid to ask your own questions. The safest time to prevent opioid-related problems is before you start these medications. What to expect from your health care provider
When a health care provider begins a therapy for a patient related to a controlled substance, it's always important that, No. 1, they prescreen the patient and that, No. 2, they follow that patient closely throughout the course of therapy.
"There are many things that we as providers will likely do with a patient at the beginning of therapy," says Dr. Geyer. "That includes sitting down with them, and discussing the risks and the benefits of initiating either an opioid or another controlled substance. And then going through what we consider a prescription monitoring program, which is an online database of all the drugs that are controlled substances the patient may have received in the past year or past few years."
