NEWSBRIEF: Could the answer to the risk of opiate addiction be another drug? The U.S. Department of Defense is willing to spend $1.2 million to find out -- it awarded a grant in that amount to a team of neuroscientists who plan to conduct an animal study to see if a drug called vigabatrin can cut the risk of opiate addiction while not diminishing pain relief.
The DOD is concerned about pain management because of the growing problem of under-treatment of pain from war-related injuries, both in active-duty personnel and veterans. In addition, opiate addiction is a growing problem both in the military and the U.S. population.
Because of the risk of addiction, doctors frequently prescribe only low doses of opiate drugs such as hydrocodone, oxycodone and morphine. Some doctors refuse to prescribe opiates at all, in spite of evidence showing they're the best at managing pain. Fibromyalgia patients frequently report being denied opiates.
Vigabatrin is an anti-seizure drug that's been shown to raise levels of the brain chemical GABA. This could be of special interest as a fibromyalgia treatment because some doctors believe people with the condition have low GABA levels. However, this isn't proven and current research does not support GABA for treating fibromyalgia.
This study will look specifically at vigabatrin and morphine. Researchers say previous data show vigabatrin can reduce the likelihood of abuse while not reducing the pain-killing effect. Learn more: U.S. Department of Defense Awards $1.2 Million to Study the Use of Vigabatrin to Reduce the Addictive Liability of Opiates
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Chronic pain is very severe and this affects people’s life, long known to people who suffered from a strange disease, were strong back pains, which were intense and not let them work, as was what they said were the doctor and he prescribed vicodin, hydrocodone, norco for pain, but knew it was a very powerful medicine, and moreover, anxiolytics, and worry that they were doing things that previously did not like eating too much, smoking, etc, and read in findrxonline that this drug is well and that we must be very careful with their use, and everything must be under medical prescription.
The first paragraph scares me a little! Fighting drug addiction with more drugs..seems kind of counterintuitive, doesn’t it?
Kivlan,
Fighting drug addiction with more drugs does sound a bit counterintuitive, definitely! I know some other anti-addiction drugs have proven to be very effective, but of course each drug comes with its own set of risk. In fact, someone close to me used a drug to quit smoking a couple of years ago. She did quit, which cleared up an on-going problem with bronchitis and pneumonia; however, she developed insomnia, depression, a severe anxiety disorder and delusions of persecution that haven’t gone away, nearly 2 years after going off of the drug.
In our quick-fix culture, it’s easy to sometimes forget that we gamble every time we put a pill in our mouths.
People taking opiates for pain rarely get addicted – around 4%.
This is about taking the buzz out of painkillers without affecting the painkilling.
Good Luck. The euphoria one gets from a painkiller is due to the relief from pain, not the buzz from the drug.
Glen,
It’s true that few of us who use opiates correctly for pain become addicted. The larger problem is the perception of high risk in the medical community and the public at large, which results in a lot of pain being under managed.
The euphoria someone abusing a painkiller is different for that of someone taking it appropriately. For pain patients, yes, it’s the relief of not being in pain. For abusers, though, there is a “high.” Hopefully, taking the “high” out of the drug will remove the stigma and the barriers to treatment.
Opiates are being overly demonized as of late, tragic “hollywood” deaths and the so-called drug war are taking far too much precedence over a doctors credo of “Do no Harm”.The Dr and patient along with a battery of tests should determine whether painkillers are needed not some Government organization more interested in funding for its war.While I am lucky to receive some meds monthly, the price of admission is too high sometimes.
The drug tests, the guilt of asking for an increase when its obvious I am hurting more, peoples reaction at the pharmacy for needing real relief that opiates provide and honestly the fact that needing pain med’s gets me labeled as an addict by people who do not understand 24/7 pain.
I never asked for this and now “they” wanna replace one drug that works with another to get rich off of misery in the name of being a non addict, give me a break.A bit off topic but, this mentality of opiates = bad is getting absurd.There are legitimate uses and even if opiates are banned the abusers will get them while true patients will suffer as usual.
I have found that Low Dose Naltrexone is a better, and safer alternative than this medication.
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/LDNforFibro/ is the website to find info.
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