Is Darvon a narcotic?!
Question: Is Darvon a narcotic!?
Does darvon relieve pain as well as vicodin or hydrocodone!? Why is it addictive!?Www@Answer-Health@Com
Answers:
Darvon is a narcotic, and is surrounded by controversy because it is extrememely addictive!. Part of the reason is that the difference between the prescribed dose, and a double dose is EXTREMELY dangerous and it interacts poorly with many commonly prescribed meds!.
Addictive means you can grow tolerant to something and require larger amounts to get 'relief'!. This is especially true of Darvon because it isn't a great pain reliever to begin with, so people cycle up pretty quickly with scary results!. Here is an excerpt from a web article:
Risks & Realities
When people run into problems with propoxyphene, it's often due in large part to the drug's ineffectiveness!.
Since it's most often prescribed for relief of pain, propoxyphene can easily be misused -- particularly when relief does not appear to be fast or forthcoming!. But pain sufferers who self-prescribe a double dose of Darvon when a first dose fails may be writing themselves a prescription for trouble!.
Reasons revolve around unusual properties of the drug itself!.
For one thing, the gap between a therapeutic dose and an overdose is small!. This margin of safety is so slight, in fact, that as little as four times the standard dose can trigger a dangerous slowing of breathing and heart rate!. Six times a therapeutic dose can cause seizures and symptoms of toxic psychosis!.
Darvon's small safety margin shrinks further if the drug is taken with alcohol or other depressants!.
In fact, more than 93 percent of all propoxyphene-related deaths in 1995 were the result of interactions with other drugs -- more than half involving alcohol or diazepam!. (Valium)
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!.!.Addiction and Other Dangers
Given propoxyphene's similarities to methadone, it's not surprising that the drug is as addictive as it is!.
In fact, the medical journal Clinical Pharmacology even argued that propoxyphene's "most prominent effect!.!.!.may be its addictive quality!."
And that danger hasn't been lost on a generation of users, either!.
Darvon produces psychological and physical dependence like other narcotics, and treatment for Darvon dependence is much the same, too!.
Other risks are tied to the presence of substances often found in propoxyphene preparations!. Aspirin and acetaminophen are particularly dangerous since they can damage the liver and kidneys when overused!.
Similarly, heavy doses of caffeine (found in Darvon Compound and Darvon Compound-65) can cause jitteriness, insomnia, and anxiety -- which some users relieve by taking tranquilizers or sleeping pills, which further compounds the risk of overdose!.
That brings us to a final danger of Darvon that's confronted too many users over the years: a potentially-fatal overdose syndrome!.
Symptoms are similar to other narcotics overdoses, and include convulsions, stupor, pinpoint pupils, respiratory depression, and coma!.
But propoxyphene overdoses are doubly deadly because they happen so quickly!.
In fact, one study has showed that 20 percent of fatal overdoses occurred in the first hour after ingestion of the drug!.
Due to the seriousness of a propoxyphene OD and the rapid onset of symptoms, medical help should be sought immediately!.
--------------------------------------!.!.!.
!.!.Darvon Today
Given the lumps that Darvon's been taking lately, it would seem to follow that propoxyphene would almost have disappeared as a drug problem by now, right!?
Wrong!.
Wrong!. Propoxyphene figured into 6,448 emergency room admissions nationwide in 2004, and was cited by medical examiners in four major U!.S!. cities as one of the ten leading causes of drug fatalities for 2002!.
And in spite of its limitations and hazards associated with its use, thousands of doctors still dash off prescriptions for propoxyphene for a range of ailments, great and small!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Addictive means you can grow tolerant to something and require larger amounts to get 'relief'!. This is especially true of Darvon because it isn't a great pain reliever to begin with, so people cycle up pretty quickly with scary results!. Here is an excerpt from a web article:
Risks & Realities
When people run into problems with propoxyphene, it's often due in large part to the drug's ineffectiveness!.
Since it's most often prescribed for relief of pain, propoxyphene can easily be misused -- particularly when relief does not appear to be fast or forthcoming!. But pain sufferers who self-prescribe a double dose of Darvon when a first dose fails may be writing themselves a prescription for trouble!.
Reasons revolve around unusual properties of the drug itself!.
For one thing, the gap between a therapeutic dose and an overdose is small!. This margin of safety is so slight, in fact, that as little as four times the standard dose can trigger a dangerous slowing of breathing and heart rate!. Six times a therapeutic dose can cause seizures and symptoms of toxic psychosis!.
Darvon's small safety margin shrinks further if the drug is taken with alcohol or other depressants!.
In fact, more than 93 percent of all propoxyphene-related deaths in 1995 were the result of interactions with other drugs -- more than half involving alcohol or diazepam!. (Valium)
--------------------------------------!.!.!.
!.!.Addiction and Other Dangers
Given propoxyphene's similarities to methadone, it's not surprising that the drug is as addictive as it is!.
In fact, the medical journal Clinical Pharmacology even argued that propoxyphene's "most prominent effect!.!.!.may be its addictive quality!."
And that danger hasn't been lost on a generation of users, either!.
Darvon produces psychological and physical dependence like other narcotics, and treatment for Darvon dependence is much the same, too!.
Other risks are tied to the presence of substances often found in propoxyphene preparations!. Aspirin and acetaminophen are particularly dangerous since they can damage the liver and kidneys when overused!.
Similarly, heavy doses of caffeine (found in Darvon Compound and Darvon Compound-65) can cause jitteriness, insomnia, and anxiety -- which some users relieve by taking tranquilizers or sleeping pills, which further compounds the risk of overdose!.
That brings us to a final danger of Darvon that's confronted too many users over the years: a potentially-fatal overdose syndrome!.
Symptoms are similar to other narcotics overdoses, and include convulsions, stupor, pinpoint pupils, respiratory depression, and coma!.
But propoxyphene overdoses are doubly deadly because they happen so quickly!.
In fact, one study has showed that 20 percent of fatal overdoses occurred in the first hour after ingestion of the drug!.
Due to the seriousness of a propoxyphene OD and the rapid onset of symptoms, medical help should be sought immediately!.
--------------------------------------!.!.!.
!.!.Darvon Today
Given the lumps that Darvon's been taking lately, it would seem to follow that propoxyphene would almost have disappeared as a drug problem by now, right!?
Wrong!.
Wrong!. Propoxyphene figured into 6,448 emergency room admissions nationwide in 2004, and was cited by medical examiners in four major U!.S!. cities as one of the ten leading causes of drug fatalities for 2002!.
And in spite of its limitations and hazards associated with its use, thousands of doctors still dash off prescriptions for propoxyphene for a range of ailments, great and small!.Www@Answer-Health@Com