Amid a shift away from opioids — with prescriptions dropping 30 per cent between 2016 and 2021 — chronic pain sufferers like Daniel King are experiencing acute distress. abc730
"It's soul destroying," he says. "This entire episode has taken strips off of my hide."
Asked if he considered himself addicted, he said: "I always think that I probably physically am. Mentally I'm not. And I'll tell you why. Because if there was any other product that could provide me with the relief that I have most of the time, I'd be taking it."Long-term users of opioids will develop a degree of physical dependence. Some will also develop a substance abuse disorder, which is assessed by looking at the impact of the drugs on the person's life.
A survey by Chronic Pain Australia last year found 22 per cent of respondents had experienced tapering against their will. Professor Suzanne Nielsen, the deputy director of the Monash Addiction Research Centre, says the new guidelines are needed to avoid what has happened in the US, where studies show opioid de-prescribing has led to greater risks of suicide and shifts to other drugs, including heroin.
"I think we leave patients very vulnerable when they're already used to taking really high opioid doses, and then we pull the rug out from under them," Professor Nielsen says.
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