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What Are Painkillers?

Last updated on: Friday, 29 September 2023
  • What You'll Learn

Painkillers or analgesic drugs are a group of drugs that help a person achieve relief from pain. These types of drugs act on the central nervous system and temporarily affect or eliminate the feeling of pain. Opioids are the most common type of painkiller and are prescribed in Canada to treat moderate to severe pain. There are many different types of opioids and morphine is the primary one which most other prescription opioids are derived from.

The dosing of opioids to treat pain is based on the patient, level of pain, and if they are taking any other opioids. For example, opioid-tolerant individuals have a higher dose ceiling than patients without tolerance. Opioid painkillers have many unpleasant side effects, such as nausea, vomiting, constipation, and causing sleep problems. Painkillers are widely used throughout Canada and are prescribed to Canadians across the country. All different types of painkillers are also abused and result in dangerous opioid addictions. Painkiller addiction is difficult to treat, and the use of opioids, whether legal or illegal has caused an epidemic across the country.

Painkiller drugs come in many different forms, including tablets, capsules, syrups, solutions, nasal sprays, and skin patches. The strength of these different drugs varies greatly, and most are only available with a prescription. Painkillers have a high potential for abuse, and essentially all opioids have the potential to become addictive. An addiction is a compulsive behavior, and an addict continues to use drugs despite the consequences. Painkillers create dangerous compulsive addictions, resulting in addicts going to extreme lengths to find ways to get the opioids they need. Because of the strong psychoactive properties and the high potential for abuse, opioid painkillers are heavily regulated in Canada under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. It is illegal to possess opioid painkillers unless you are a patient with a prescription. It is illegal to sell or even give away your prescription opioid pain medication to someone else. It is also illegal to doctor shop or seeks out more than one prescription for opioid painkillers from more than one doctor.

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NICKOLAUS HAYES

AUTHOR

More Information

Nickolaus Hayes has been working with Drug Rehab Services for the past ten years. Over the past 15 years, he has remained connected to helping people who have been struggling with addiction. He first started working as an intake counselor at a drug rehabilitation center in 2005. During the five years as an intake counselor, he was able to help hundreds of people find treatment. Nickolaus was also fortunate to be able to work with professional interventionists, traveling across the country performing interventions.