2006-09-02 16:42:14 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ General Health Care ➔ Pain & Pain Management
I am currently on two different narcotics prescribed by my
doctor for relief of different kinds of pain I am having...
One is Vicoden or hydrocodone, and that's for my back nerve pain I have had for over 4 years now, and it works well for taking the burning and stinging away so I can sleep...
The other one I am on is Morphine pills which are relaxing my inflamed muscle in my back and it is pressing on a disc there and it somehow got swollen enough to cause me lots of pain...
Both probably work together to releive my pain in different areas as well...
2006-09-02 17:38:55 · answer #1 · answered by aspenkdp2003 7 · 6⤊ 0⤋
narcotics can be broken into two groups-opiates, including opium, heroin, morphine and codeine, which are derived from the opium poppy, and nonopiate synthetic narcotics such as Demerol and methadone. Their major medicinal use is as a painkiller and a tranquilizer. Outside of medicine, the recreational use of the drugs produces euphoria, although the exact pleasurable effect has not been identified. All narcotics are physically addicting, with the likelihood of addiction depending upon the drug, the frequency and duration of its usage, and its dosage. Symptoms of withdrawal from the addiction include weakness, depression, nausea, vomiting, irritability, insomnia, and anorexia. During the 19th century, opiates were common as a pain-reliever and as an ingredient in patent medicines. The U.S. First outlawed the sale of opiates except for medicinal purposes through the Harrison Act in 1914 because of trade difficulties with China and Britain.
2006-09-05 19:32:01 · answer #2 · answered by srihari_reddy_s 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A narcotic is an addictive drug, derived from opium, that reduces pain, induces sleep and may alter mood or behavior. The derivation of the word is from the Greek word narkotikos, meaning "benumbing or deadening," and originally referred to a variety of substances that induce sleep (such state is narcosis).
In U.S. legal context, narcotic refers to opium, opium derivatives, and their semi-synthetic or fully synthetic substitutes as well as cocaine and coca leaves, which although classified as "narcotics" in the U.S. Controlled Substances Act (CSA), are chemically not narcotics.
Many police in the United States use the word 'narcotic' to refer to any illegal drug or any unlawfully possessed drug. An example is referring to cannabis as a narcotic. Because the term is often used broadly, inaccurately or pejoratively outside medical contexts, most medical professionals prefer the more precise term opioid, which refers to all natural, semi-synthetic and synthetic substances that behave pharmacologically like morphine, the primary active constituent of natural opium poppy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcotic
2006-09-04 18:12:10 · answer #3 · answered by danielpsw 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Narcotics are mostly used as pain killers in the US that's their legal use which is regulated and prescribed! Narcotics are in the class of drugs as Morphine, Codiene, and yes Heroin!
http://www.total-knowledge.com/~willyblues/
2006-09-02 16:47:34 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
There are two main branches of narcotics: opiates, derived from opium, and cocaine, derived from coca leaf. There are numerous derivatives of each, used for everything from dental anesthetics to pain alleviation in cancer patients. In addition to the medically approved derivatives, there are a number of street derivatives such as heroin and crack cocaine. All narcotics are potentially addictive and must be used with caution; none can lawfully be used in the US without a prescription.
2006-09-02 17:03:28 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
a narcotic is physically addictive, like heroin, cocaine, codeine, morphine and the like.
2006-09-02 16:50:41 · answer #6 · answered by native 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋