Facts About Pain Medications (Analgesics)

• There are basically two kinds of analgesics: non-narcotics and narcotics.
• Acetaminophen is found in more than 600 over-the-counter drugs. It can be found in combination with other active ingredients in many cold, sinus, and cough medications.
• There is no upper limit for the dosage of opioids used to achieve pain relief, but the dose must be increased gradually to allow for the development of tolerance to adverse effects (for example, respiratory depression).
• Some experts believe opioids can be taken safely for years with minimal risk of addiction or toxic side effects.
• Analgesics should only be used when in date (the expiry date is on the packet). Paracetamol becomes toxic after its expiry date.
• Most analgesics take from 30 to 60 minutes to start working if taken in tablet form, although intravenous or injected painkillers are often much quicker to take effect.
• Analgesics provide only temporary pain relief because they do not affect the cause of the pain.
• Combining optimal doses of non-opioids with weak opioids produces an additive analgesic effect greater than that obtained by doubling the dose of either constituent administered alone, and that the adverse effects produced by such combinations are less than would be produced by an equi-analgesic dose of a single constituent.