Dangers for elderly patients who regularly take opioid painkillers

It is often the arthritis sufferers among elderly patients who most regularly take painkillers, because their pain tends to be chronic. Adverse side-effects are not uncommon, especially with the opioid painkillers, which include codeine, morphine, methadone and brand names such as Demerol, Percocet, Percodan, Darvon, , Vicodin, and Lomotil. The side-effects can be very serious, even dangerous, e.g. more fractured bones. Read this report on MedicalNewsToday.

Yet there is a completely safe and very effective way to reduce the pain/severity of osteo-arthritis, and it does not involve taking pharmaceutical drugs. - You just need to avoid salt and salty food as much as you can. - The less salt you eat, the less pain you will experience from your arthritis...(o: And, since you will also lose some excess water weight from your body which salt has been holding there, there will be less wear and tear on your joints, not having to carry so much water around. - So give salt the elbow, and say goodbye both to so much pain and to dangerous drugs. - See salt/sodium in foods.

Cough syrups containing codeine should not be given to children

Children under 18 should not be given cough syrups containing codeine, drugs regulators have warned, in a further clampdown on over-the-counter drugs. There is no evidence these syrups help children with a cough and the unpredictable side effects of codeine means they should not be used in under 18s, the UK drugs regulator has said.
Read article in the Daily Telegraph (UK)

Warning: OTC painkillers can be addictive

The Telegraph reports that OTC painkillers can cause addiction within as little as three days. Many thousands of people have become addicted to them. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is requiring that from next year labels on packets will read: “Can cause addiction. For three days use only”.

The painkillers involved contain codeine, and include Nurofen Plus and Solpadeine Plus. They will no longer be able to claim that they are a remedy for coughs and colds, only that they relieve pain. Some addicts, incredibly, have been taking up to 70 pills a day, putting themselves at risk of seriously damaging their health with complications such as stomach bleeding, liver problems, gallstones and depression.

It is important with pharmaceutical drugs not to exceed the stated dose, and even then painkillers are not without risk of doing you harm, quite apart from the risk of addiction.

If you would prefer not to use drugs to help with your pain, or if, like me, you find painkillers do not help with pain anyway, a drug-free way of reducing many types of chronic pain is to cut down on salt and salty food. - Why not give this a try? - Unlike drugs, it is completely safe to cut down on salt, or even to avoid added salt altogether.