Added: 01/30/2006 |
Do you Know What the Pseudo-Addiction Definition is?Pseudo-addiction definition. In 1989, physicians began speaking about pseudo-addiction for the first time. Before this time, any complaints about the dosage or interval of analgesic intake were considered as something close to addiction. Both the patient and the care team could not solve this problem because they were sure that it was concerned with such a serious and dreadful disorder as addiction. In 1989, the first and the main pseudo-addiction definition was formulated.
Pseudo-addiction is an iatrogenic syndrome caused by wrong treatment of pain. It is shown in increasing request of drug (analgesic), special mimics typical to an addicted patient, moaning, grimacing, etc. Usually it occurs in the case of acute pain. Unfortunately, such behavior seems like the behavior of an addicted patient and often the care team i.e. the doctor and the nurse takes it as drug addiction. But in reality it is caused by the wrong analgesic dosage and interval and can be stopped by the adequate and appropriate analgesic regime.
Pseudo-addiction information. The symptoms of pseudo-addiction include:
- Behavior typical for real physiological dependence i.e. addiction;
- The patient tries to demonstrate that he suffers from the acute pain;
- The patient requests for the medicine before the prescribed time.
In this case, the doctor should analyze the following point and see if the separate case complies with the pseudo-addiction definition. First of all, he should see if the symptoms respond to drug taking. Then he should see if the current regime of drug taking is appropriate i.e. the dosage and the interval. Usually pseudo-addiction improves and even stops when the dosage and interval or even the analgesic are changed and became adequate. If the patient suffers from the real addiction an increase of dosage only worsens the situation and his behavior.
Usually the main problem is comprehension and trust between the patient and the care team. First of all, the doctor and the nurse should get the patient's trust and trust him as well. In this case the patient won't demonstrate and try to prove that he suffers from the really acute pain. And the mutual trust and comprehension can help to define the pharmacologically appropriate intake regime.
The main distinguishing feature of the patient that suffers from pseudo-addiction is that he is seeking pain relief but not drug. Obviously, this evident feature should be added to the pseudo-addiction definition.
Usually the pseudo-addition may happen in the case of leukemia, pneumonia and chest wall pain.
Why does pseudo-addiction appear? The first and the main cause is inadequate tests data. The providers recommend the wrong dosage and interval. And the doctors are afraid to overdose the analgesic. But in many cases the patient should not suffer from the pain even from the medical point of view. The official medicine recommends relieving the pain in any case.
But surely there may be a risk of addiction. In this respect, the problem is very serious and wide spread all over the world. The patient and the physicians are afraid of physiological dependence and as a result cannot solve the problem of adequate medication dosage and interval and have the pseudo-addiction.
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