Chronic Pain May Make Opioid Use Disorder Worse

Researchers following the data for people with fibromyalgia and opioid use disorder found that people with chronic pain may have more challenges when staying sober.

Chronic Pain and Opioid Exposure

Many people first use opioids to treat pain. Physical pain can significantly contribute to the development of opioid use disorder. Opioids are commonly prescribed to manage chronic pain; over time, people may develop a tolerance to the medication. They may require higher doses to achieve the same pain relief. As a result, individuals may become physically dependent on opioids, which can lead to opioid use disorder.

Most people’s first exposure to opioids is through an illness or injury where a doctor prescribes drugs like Percocet or Oxycontin.

Chronic Illness and Opioid Misuse

Chronic pain can increase the risk of addiction, overdose, and other adverse effects.

There is also a chance …

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FDA Studies On Opioid Education Were Flawed

Studies on doctor education in the opioid epidemic were flawed, and hindsight, as they say, is 20/20. And although the FDA has lobbied heavy criticism and the pharmaceutical industry has paid fines, they are not without blame. They took years to investigate the makers and distributors of Oxycontin. Instead of protecting consumers, the federal agency instead left its own bumbling paper trail for opioid education oversight, according to a New York Times report.

The FDA, documents reveal, did little to stop overprescribing and, in fact, created a study that failed to be accurate by design, according to Caleb Alexander, the senior author of the study. “It’s unclear why the FDA didn’t insist upon a more scientifically rigorous evaluation of this safety program.” This means that it’s unclear if any studies were correct.

What Studies Were Done on the Safety

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