This mechanism of tolerance, combined with the side effects and dangers of opioids, is precisely why the medical literature now tells us something that initially came as a surprise to many in the healthcare community: opioids simply aren’t very good medications for many kinds of pain. Traumatic and postsurgical pain? Yes. Powerful opioids are important and effective. But as the patient builds tolerance to the analgesic effects of the opioid, she will need more and more of the drug, and the respiratory depression will become more dangerous (increasing one’s risk of overdose) while the digestive
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