Opioids

Proposed Opioid Reduction Guideline Reduces Depression, Pain-
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/810954

FDA Restricts Long-term Opioid Use to Combat Abuse-
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/810732

Post Edited (Mercy&Grace) : 9/14/2013 10:46:36 PM (GMT-6)

Thank you for the links. They are much clearer in helping understand the new guidelines for moderate versus severe that's going to effect many PM patients.
As for the taper article I was glad to see Drs finally understanding the effects of a taper that occurs too fast.

I also agree that there's a point that increasing nolonger is beneficial but harmful. The cases that they mention are past that point where you start to see remarkable system damage from the meds therefore causing more pain induced issues trying to treat the original one.

Seriously 600 mgs of morphine is in the galexy! Its a lethal dose to the majority of people. I've never understood the prescribing of a sole Med to that degree. If morphine isn't working at 400 mgs not much chance it will at 600 mgs and another Med should have been tried at a much earlier point.

None applies to pump patients as that's a totally different ballgame. What worries me is not one of these organizations,Drs, anyone has remotely mentioned pump patients and not one has differentiated between them and orally taken meds in any of these articles of change.

If PROP had gotten everything they asked for we would be seeing some really disturbing things happening, take a look at their website. They're going to continue to fight to get the FDA and lawmakers to adopt that which they denied this time.

It's my guess the Drs that performed the taper did so out of fear for their patients on the higher doses. One of PROP's requests were for morphine to be limited to 100 mgs taken orally. These Drs maybe see the winds of change blowing and know there's no way to avoid the coming storm.