Matthew's colon burst as a result of his addiction to drugs. He had to wear a colostomy bag for nine months after he was in a coma for two weeks.

Many people take prescription drugs to manage their pain. Can prescription drugs cause your colon to explode?

Opioids reduce gut activity, which is why they are used to treat a disease. People who take them are more likely to suffer from bicyle issues.

Over time, the body develops tolerance to many of the effects of opioids, but it can become more severe if it doesn't get better.

Sometimes the colon stretches irreversibly. Opioid can make the colon worse. There is a chance that the bowel can perforate, like it did in the case of Perry.

Opioids have been used for thousands of years to relieve pain. People who take them for pain don't become addicted to them.

They have some unforeseen effects. suppressing breathing is the most dangerous.

People stop breathing if enough are not taken. This is the most dangerous part of the drug. The effects on breathing do not decrease as much as the effects on the effects of drugs.

Low blood-oxygen levels can be developed after a person's dose is increased. It's possible that Tom and Prince died from the effects of the drugs.

The drug's effects on pain decrease with use. Increased doses are a result.

It becomes worse at 120mg of oral morphine a day or above. Opioid-induced hyperalgesia is a type of drug use. It's not known why this happens.

Opioids do not cause tissue damage but they do cause a fall in testosterone in men. Hypogonadism isn't as common in women as it is in men. It's not clear how much it is reversed.

Not just the body

Recurring cognitive and behavioral changes can be caused by high-dose drugs. People's ability to pay attention and concentrate is impaired by the effects of the drugs.

Opioids can make it difficult to understand situations from different points of view.

People lose interest in activities when pleasure is diminished. Family and social life can become more restricted. The underlying condition and pain may be the reason for this type of behavioral change.

It is not inevitable. There are solutions for people who have been on drugs.

Some people are better off with no pain medication at all. Once people are on high doses, it's hard to slow down.

Coming off opioids

It's not easy to know that a problem is developing until it's too late because it has been assumed that the doses of opioids rise very slowly.

In a recent study, my colleagues and I looked at the records of all patients in a practice in Wales. There was a slow increase. In every case, people were able to reach their maximum daily dose in weeks or even days. It can happen at the beginning of treatment, but it can also happen suddenly after a long time on low doses.

It appeared to be a one way process. None came back to low doses after crossing the high-dose threshold.

Patients on high-dose opioids were quickly changed to low-dose methadone. The choice of methadone was due to its slow elimination from the body. It helps minimize the dose by giving a steady blood level.

A group of patients reported improvements in their health. They were able to return to their previous drug regimen if they so chose, but they didn't. Some people reported improvements in their pain management.

When modest doses fail, high doses are not likely to work in the long term.

A professor at Bangor University.

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