Narcotics for Back Pain - Limited Use, Serious Problems

At some time in their lives many people will experience back pain. For some it's nothing more than a few twinges. For others it's a major strain that occurs every few months - or years - but then eases up and fades away. But some people live with this pain every day of their lives. It can be severe enough to be disabling.

Many physicians recommend some type of medication for the treatment of chronic back pain. When the pain is severe some doctors automatically prescribe narcotics like Vicodin, Oxycontin, Demerol, or morphine. Now, a new review of more than 2,000 studies has shown that these drugs may create more problems than they solve.

These narcotics, which are called opioids because of their resemblance to the drugs made from the opium poppy, work by changing the way pain messages are interpreted by the brain. The messages are still there; it's just that the person doesn't perceive pain the same way. It's similar to the joke that people make about being "too drunk to care" about something.

Opioids are strong medicine. They can be very effective, but those effects can depend on individual factors like the patient's emotional state and whether they're combined with other medications or alcohol.

Opioids can also have serious side effects. These include dizziness, drowsiness (these are the drugs whose prescriptions come with warnings not to drive while taking them), depressed breathing, and even seizures. But the most dangerous problem may be that people build up a tolerance to them, requiring larger and larger doses to get the same effect. Add to this the problem of withdrawal (restlessness, insomnia, mood swings, and worse) when the drug wears off, and there's a huge risk of addiction.