Opioids(HARMFUL)
Opioids (e.g., morphine, oxycodone, fentanyl) are potent analgesics acting on mu-opioid receptors, with strong evidence for acute, post-surgical, and cancer pain. They carry high risks of tolerance, dependence, and fatal respiratory depression, and their long-term use for chronic non-cancer pain is poorly supported and central to the overdose crisis. Benefit is clear in the right acute setting; risk rises sharply with dose and duration.
Too little may be associated with
No requirement outside medical pain control.
Too much may be associated with
Addiction, respiratory depression, fatal overdose.
Informational only — not medical advice.
Neurotransmitters
Related
- Reward Processing (↑)
- Alcohol(HARMFUL)
- Pain Perception (↓)
Books (1)
Podcasts
- Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction
Raw, honest stories of drug addiction and recovery.
- Take 12 Recovery Radio Network
Monty Reece interviews people in recovery from addiction.
Research (28)
- Medications for Opioid Use Disorder, Opioid Withdrawal, and Opioid Overdose: A Review Harris et al. (2026) Full text ↗ PubMed ↗
- Biochemistry, Endorphin Chaudhry et al. (2026) PubMed ↗
- Optimizing Restless Legs Syndrome Care: Integrating Rehabilitation into Multimodal Management Younas et al. (2025) Full text ↗ PubMed ↗
- Interactions Between Anesthesia and Sleep: Optimizing Perioperative Care to Improve Sleep Quality and Surgical Recovery Outcomes Patel et al. (2025) Full text ↗ PubMed ↗
- Evidence-based cesarean delivery: postoperative care (part 10) Mackeen et al. (2025) Full text ↗ PubMed ↗
- Caring for Hospitalized Adults With Opioid Use Disorder in the Era of Fentanyl: A Review Englander et al. (2024) Full text ↗ PubMed ↗
- Intraoperative Methadone in Next-day Discharge Outpatient Surgery: A Randomized, Double-blinded, Dose-finding Pilot Study Kharasch et al. (2023) Full text ↗ PubMed ↗
- Restless legs syndrome Videnovic et al. (2021) Full text ↗ PubMed ↗
- Clinical Pharmacology, Toxicity, and Abuse Potential of Opioids Grundmann et al. (2021) PubMed ↗
- Restless Legs Syndrome: Contemporary Diagnosis and Treatment Gossard et al. (2021) Full text ↗ PubMed ↗
- Methadone for Pain Management: A Pharmacotherapeutic Review Kreutzwiser et al. (2020) Full text ↗ PubMed ↗
- Acupuncture for Pain Management: Molecular Mechanisms of Action Chen et al. (2020) Full text ↗ PubMed ↗
- Medication Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder Bell et al. (2020) Full text ↗ PubMed ↗
- Drug-Drug Interactions (DDIs) in Psychiatric Practice, Part 6: Pharmacodynamic Considerations Preskorn (2019) Full text ↗ PubMed ↗
- Opioids and reproduction Seeber et al. (2019) Full text ↗ PubMed ↗
Links
Recovery resources
Help for opioids use and recovery. Not an endorsement or medical advice — see all recovery resources.
SAMHSA National Helpline (US)
A free, confidential, 24/7 US treatment-referral and information line for individuals and families facing substance use or mental health disorders.
Co-Anon Family Groups
Support for the families and friends of someone with a cocaine or other drug problem.
Families Anonymous (FA)
A 12-step fellowship for the relatives and friends of people affected by drug abuse or related behavioral problems.
Nar-Anon Family Groups
A 12-step program for the families and friends of people addicted to drugs.
Dual Recovery Anonymous (DRA)
A 12-step fellowship for people managing both a substance addiction and a co-occurring mental illness.
Heroin Anonymous (HA)
A 12-step fellowship for people seeking recovery from addiction to heroin and other opioids.
Narcotics Anonymous (NA)
A global 12-step fellowship for people recovering from addiction to any drug.
- Pills Anonymous (PA)
A 12-step fellowship for people recovering from addiction to prescription and other pills.
- Celebrate Recovery
A Christ-centered 12-step program for people working through addictions and other hurts, habits, and hang-ups.
SMART Recovery
A secular, science-based recovery program using cognitive-behavioral tools for any addictive behavior.
Community
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