Author: James Anderson
Tapering off opioids: When and how
Narcan and Revive are naloxone nasal sprays you can buy without a prescription. It’s important that your family members know how to use naloxone. Once your opioid taper starts and you’re taking a lower dose of opioids, you start to have a lower tolerance to opioids. If you suddenly take a higher dose of opioids, you’re at an increased risk of overdose. Ask your healthcare team if you’re not sure when you can stop your opioid medicine.
You may be eager to reach your goal, but your body needs time to adjust to lower levels of opioids, and then to none at all. A step-by-step plan to lower how much opioid medicine you take will help this process go smoothly. This slow tapering also helps ease the discomfort you may feel as you stop taking opioids. During this time, you can practice new skills to manage pain and other long-term symptoms too.
- If an opioid is prescribed, let your healthcare team know if you had any trouble tapering off opioids in the past.
- A step-by-step plan to lower how much opioid medicine you take will help this process go smoothly.
- This slow tapering also helps ease the discomfort you may feel as you stop taking opioids.
- You may be eager to reach your goal, but your body needs time to adjust to lower levels of opioids, and then to none at all.
- But ask about all nonopioid pain medicine options to treat your pain, including the benefits and risks.
Opioid withdrawal can be dangerous, and symptoms can be severe. When it’s time for you to stop taking opioids, ask for your healthcare professional’s help. Together you can create a plan to stop opioids slowly, called a taper. Tapering means slowly lowering over time the amount of opioid medicine you take until you stop completely. You may be tempted to take more opioid medicine than your taper recommends. Do not start taking any opioids you have at home that you received from other health professionals or visits to the emergency room.
Tapering off opioids: When and how
They are led by other people who have been dependent on addictive substances. These groups can be a powerful support network for those who find that they aren’t able to quit using opioids despite their best efforts. Talking with your religious or spiritual advisor may help too.
But there are risks linked to opioid use — including severe constipation, nausea, dependence, misuse, opioid use disorder and accidental overdose. For example, opioid medicines may help when the pain level is very high and short term. You may have withdrawal symptoms when you stop or lessen the use of opioid medicine. Symptoms may vary depending on several issues, such as the speed of the opioid taper and how long you’ve used opioid medicines. Tapering over time can help lessen withdrawal symptoms or keep you from having them.
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Opioid medicines also can play an important role in treating pain from cancer. Rarely, opioids may be used to treat long-term pain that’s not caused by cancer when other treatments have not worked. Especially follow your healthcare professional’s instructions about how and when to take medicines during the taper. Your healthcare professional may recommend that you have naloxone available to lower your risk of an overdose. Naloxone reverses the effects of opioids during an emergency if you stop breathing.
If you have withdrawal symptoms, tell your healthcare team right away. Follow all instructions about how to manage your withdrawal symptoms. If you feel the need to manage withdrawal symptoms, talk to your healthcare team right away. If you find yourself having difficulty during your taper, support from others can be very helpful. If you and your healthcare professional think you have an opioid use disorder, voluntary groups such as Narcotics Anonymous are structured support groups.
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Someday you may face a sudden, short-term health problem such as surgery or an injury. If an opioid is prescribed, let your healthcare team know if you had any trouble tapering off opioids in the past. But ask about all nonopioid pain medicine options to treat your pain, including the benefits and risks. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data.
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Extra opioids, alcohol and drugs can increase your risk of an overdose. Your healthcare professional may recommend combining your taper with counseling from an alcohol and drug counselor. Counseling can help you learn ways to cope with stress, identify early warning signs of relapse and keep you from taking opioids. Your healthcare professional may recommend continued counseling after you’ve completed your opioid taper. Your healthcare professional may prescribe opioids to help you get through a few days of severe pain after surgery or a serious injury.
The right length for an opioid taper varies with each person and each medicine. Your healthcare professional works with you to create an opioid taper schedule that meets your medical needs while keeping risks to your health low. How long it takes to taper off your medicine depends on the type and dose of the opioid you’ve been taking and how long you’ve been taking it. You may need weeks, months or even longer to slowly and safely lower your dose and stop taking your opioid medicine.