Skyler Health Lookback: Must-Reads fo Prescribing Doctor
When it comes to prescribing pain treatments, many factors should be taken into consideration. The tendency to over prescribe painkillers–especially after surgery–can lead to unintended opioid addiction. What’s more, increasing the dose and duration of medication use can create a heightened risk of dependence. This 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that an estimated 10.1 million people aged 12 or older misused opioids (9.7 million of those people misused prescription pain relievers). The staggering statistics have continued as opioid addiction and misuse continue to fuel the country’s opioid crisis. According to the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, nearly 9.5 million people in the U.S. misused prescribed opioids.
Whether you’re prescribing pain relief treatment for post-surgery, cancer treatment, or other medical procedures, it’s important to understand what you can do to decrease your patients’ chances of developing a chemical dependency.
Look back on these Skyler Health blog posts for suggestions on how to reduce the risk of overprescribing pain treatments and what you can do to address the potential for addiction among your patients:
1 Get ahead of addiction with preventive measures
Preventing chemical dependency is better and preferable to treating it after the fact. Taking time to carefully consider the risks of opioids or benzodiazepines (benzos) for each patient and inform patients of those risks are key to a successful pain management plan. Review four reasons every provider should consider before prescribing opioids or benzos.
2 Educate patients on the risks of cancer/chemo pain treatment options
Benzos can help chemo patients with anxiety, insomnia, nausea, and vomiting. And, because they can treat multiple symptoms at once, the allure to prescribe them is strong. The “Benefits and Hidden Risks of Benzodiazepine Use for Chemo Patients” blog post offers important cautions when prescribing benzos after chemo treatments.
3 Know when it’s time to recommend tapering off of prescribed medications
While prescription pain treatments can be a beneficial part of a pain management plan, addiction can happen quickly. So their use should be short-term. Further, a patient needs to be given a proper plan for tapering their opioid or benzo use to avoid dependency. Skyler Health founder Adnan Asar wrote about his family’s personal story of the effects of benzo withdrawal. Read about why it’s important to taper benzo use for chemo patients.
Be sure to visit us at Skyler Health, where we empower people to prevent and stop anxiety, pain, or medication and substance abuse with professional, licensed, and vetted counselors that you can trust.
