During your assessment, we will work with you to develop a treatment plan that recognizes your concerns and your care preferences.
Sometimes, we may need to prescribe medication in the short-term to get the pain controlled, but we will monitor your pain levels and your medications very closely.
It may help to take a look at what can happen when you take medication. It can affect your body in three ways:
You can build up a tolerance to the medication. When you take medication frequently for a long time, you may need to take larger and larger doses to produce the same effect.
You can become physically dependent on the medication. Physical dependence is not addiction. Your body relies on the medication and develops withdrawal symptoms when the medication is stopped. If your body is dependent on the medication, you may experience sweating, a rapid heart rate, nausea, diarrhea, goose bumps or anxiety. It’s always important to check with your healthcare provider before you stop a drug or take a smaller dose.
In rare instances, you may become addicted to the medication. An addictive situation occurs when a person loses physical and mental control over the use of the drug. He or she will continue to use the medication even when the drug is harmful to the individual and to others. People who are addicted often engage in unacceptable behaviors, like obtaining pain medications from non-medical sources or altering oral formulations of opioids.
Unless you have a past or current history of substance abuse, the chance of addiction is very low when these medications are prescribed by a physician and taken as directed.
