It’s World Pharmacist Day (September 25th)!!
Did you just have surgery, do you live with chronic pain and use opioids to help you every day? Have you ever wondered how opioids work in your body to dull the pain you are experiencing? Well keep reading to learn more!
Opioids attach to small opioid receptors in the brain and body. These receptors are called mu, delta, and kappa. Each plays a different role and the one most commonly heard of is the mu receptor being responsible for the pleasurable effect and the ability to relieve pain. The receptors are found in different places in the nervous system including the limbic system (this controls emotions), the brainstem (this controls all the automatic stuff your body does like breathing), and the spinal cord (this receives the pain sensations before sending them to the brain). Opioids do several things to help you with your pain. By acting on the limbic system, opioids create feelings of pleasure, relaxation, and contentment. By acting on the brainstem, opioids will slow your breathing, stop coughing, and reduce feelings of pain. Finally, by acting on the spinal cord, opioids will decrease feelings of pain before they are ever passed to the brain! Because of these three areas that opioids act, you not only get pain relief, but you also get feelings of drowsiness and probably always want to go to sleep after taking them. Regardless if the opioid is a prescription medication (like Vicodin, Percocet, or Codeine) or if it is a street drug (like heroin), the effect is directly correlated with how much you take and how you take them. Injected opioids act much quicker and more intensely than a pill taken orally.
Pharmacists play a vital in pain management and opioid stewardship by consulting with patients and making them aware of the different effects they will feel when taking opioids. They also help patients to avoid the costs that might be associated with adverse side effects of opioids and increase patient satisfaction in taking their opioids.
I hope this was interesting to read! I am a 1st year pharmacy student at the University of Colorado Denver and find this stuff intriguing and love to share my knowledge with others!
Enjoy #TeamTrivida!
–Renee Johnson
