Not all people with cancer experience pain, but many do and when the pain goes to the bones, it’s often very severe. Currently, treatment for severe cancer pain includes a combination of medications, with a breakthrough medication – often morphine – that is given in between regular doses of the regular pain killer or analgesic .
The FDA has just approved a new medication, Onsolis, to help manage that breakthrough pain. It’s a novel way of giving medication. Onsolis is an opioid called fentanyl , which is often given as a patch to help manage severe pain. Onsolis, on the other …read more

Ok, let’s take a look at what’s really happening. Just today, I’ve read the following headlines:

US fentanyl deaths topped 1,000 over 2 years
Fentanyl deaths topped 1,000 over two years
Fentanyl deaths topped 1,000 over 2 yearsin US
Fentanyl deaths in the United States topped 1,000 over 2 years

Seems clear enough, right? Over 1000 people died in the US, over a 2-year period because of fentanyl, right? WRONG. It’s not clear at all.
Want to know what the real headline should be?
Click here to read more.

It’s time people started understanding the realities of narcotics and opioids, much-needed medications for so many people.
I don’t think the true action and benefit of narcotics and opioids (controlled prescription drugs) have ever been truly understood. And then, when the US government started its war on drugs, the people who needed the medications the most were the ones who found that they couldn’t get them.
What are the drugs in this group? They are the drugs like oxycontin, codeine, morphine, fentanyl, Demerol, and so on.
Click here to read more.
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Diapers! I just want to grab those little tushes….
Ok, so what does D stand for in the world of pain?
D is for:
Diabetic neuropathy: People who have had diabetes for a long time can develop the complication, diabetic neuropathy, that affects their nerves and causes great pain. The pain happens most often in the feet and toes, but can happen just about anywhere. The best way to keep this from happening is to maintain as good a blood sugar level as is possible.
Degenerative disc disease: This is a slow deterioration, loss of flexibility and function, of the discs found between the …read more

Breakthrough cancer pain can be very tough to treat. This is the pain that is felt when the regular pain medications don’t hold you as well as they should for as long as they should. So, if you are feeling pain, you can have a separate medication, or more of the original, on top of what you’re receiving.
A medication called Abstral* (fentanyl) is a  tablet that dissolves quickly under the tongue (called sublingual). The advantages of sublingual medications is that patients who can’t eat or drink can still have their medications and the reaction is usually pretty quick.
Cancer pain can …read more

The European Commission granted marketing authorization for a tablet formulation of the breakthrough cancer pain drug, fentanyl.
The approval allows Effentora to be marketed in the 27 member states of the European Union as well as Iceland and Norway.
Breakthrough cancer pain, an often debilitating condition, is characterized by its rapid onset, moderate-to-severe intensity and its relatively short duration. Research studies have demonstrated that as many as 89 percent of patients with cancer who are taking around-the-clock opioid therapy for persistent pain will experience breakthrough pain.
Effentora uses the company’s OraVescent drug-delivery technology to permit absorption of the opioid fentanyl across the inner …read more