Re: Speaking of ER visits/question

[Guest guest]

Forgive my ignorance..but why would a narcotic injection which would

theoretically fill the same receptors as the patch cause withdraw?

medusa

[Guest guest]

Because there are a few opiates that work on different receptors. THey cancel

out the med that is already on board making it not work. You can't just mix any

of them. Any 1st year med student should know that.

Carolyn Eddy

" Sweet Goat Mama "

[Guest guest]

>

> Forgive my ignorance..but why would a narcotic injection which would

> theoretically fill the same receptors as the patch cause withdraw?

>

> medusa

>

Medusa -

Narcotic pain medications can be one of two types, either AGONIST or

ANTAGONISTS. Antagonist narcotics, like nubain, will actually block or inhibit

the function of an agonist narcotic, like morphine (thus the " anta " part of the

name - it means " anti " or " against " ). They are both pain medications, but the

operate at cross-purposes. If you take both at once, you get no pain relief at

all and it can actually throw you into withdrawals from the drug you're normally

on.

(Actually, there are three types - there is also what is known as a partial

agonist, but that's getting really complicated.)

That's why making sure doctors know exactly which drugs you are taking is so

critical. Sadly, though, these kinds of mistakes can happen anyway because some

doctors are just not educated enough. I've known at least one patient who was

prescribed both an agonist and an antagonist together by their doctor in an

attempt to control their pain, and no surprise they were seeing no effect of

either drug!

Opiod antagonists are used to treat drug overdoses on opiod agonists - it

reduces the dangerous side effects like depressed respiration. Partial agonists

like methadone are also used to help long-term opiod addicts manage withdrawal

symptoms - that's why you hear about " methadone clinics " for herion addicts, for

example. Methadone is a perfectly fine pain medication in its own right, but it

is also helpful to counteract the effects of different kinds of drugs for

addicts.

If you want to know more, simply do a Google or Wikipedia search.

Cheryl in AZ

Moderator