Pentazocine (Pentazocine-Naloxone) Addiction And Abuse
The side effects of pentazocine are similar to other opioids. For example, side effects can include nausea, vomiting, constipation, itching or drowsiness. However, unlike many other opioids, Pentazocine can also cause hallucinations, bad dreams and delusions. What’s unique about Pentazocine along with these side effects is the ceiling effect. Once someone reaches a certain dose, pentazocine doesn’t provide any more pain relief or side effects. So, even if someone were to use a high dose of pentazocine to get high, there would be a ceiling on the potential effects. The ceiling effect in pentazocine is because naloxone is included with the formulation. If someone tries to crush or break the medication in any way, the naloxone prevents misuse. If pentazocine is taken as prescribed and used orally, the naloxone shouldn’t have any effect. While pentazocine acts on brain receptors to provide pain relief, naloxone helps prevent the misuse of the drug. For this reason, pentazocine’s official name is pentazocine-naloxone.
When someone is prescribed pentazocine, they’re usually instructed to take it by mouth every three to four hours as needed. If it causes nausea, patients should take it with food. If someone has already regularly been using an opioid medication, pentazocine may cause withdrawal. This is because when someone is opioid-tolerant and they use naloxone, it can trigger sudden withdrawal. Of course, this should only occur if the pentazocine is misused by physically disrupting the tablet. The medicine itself may also cause dependence and withdrawal symptoms in some patients.
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