Veterans who were prescribed higher doses saw no improvements.
Sometimes the pain just won’t go away. Taking a higher dose of medication could be the solution that first comes to mind. Chances are, however, that it might not be your best.
Why? Ingesting a greater amount of opioid-based pain relievers doesn’t actually reap greater pain relief results, experts have found.
Researchers from Central Arkansas and Minneapolis Veterans Affairs healthcare systems analyzed prescribing data from more than 50, 0000 veterans taking opioids for pain control. It was found that those patients who had their opioid dosages increased did not show any significant improvements in perceptions of their pain.
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The study’s authors stated that “clinicians should exercise extreme caution when embarking on a path of increasing opioid doses to manage non-cancer pain.”
“What we found … was that the pain relief the provider and the patient are going for really isn’t there when they increase their doses,” said the study’s lead author Dr. Corey Hayes in a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences report . “You don’t see the benefit, but you do see the risk. Our overall message is, when you’re thinking about increasing the dose, you need to realize the risk it brings, too.”
It’s well known that patients relying on opioids for pain relief can develop a tolerance to their medication.
Time for alternatives?
Drug overdoses represent the leading cause of accidental death in the nation.
Opioids of all kinds account for 68% of all overdose deaths in the United States.
