Meperidine | What Kind of Drug Is It?
What Kind of Drug Is It?
Meperidine (meh-PER-ih-deen) is best known by its brand name, Demerol. It is a synthetic opioid, meaning that it is a drug created by chemists to imitate certain medicinal qualities of opium, a drug made from flowers called opium poppies. Opioids are narcoticA painkiller that may become habit-forming; in a broader sense, any illegally purchased drug. drugs that cause drowsiness and mood changes by interacting with the nerve cells in a person's brain. They can cause physical addiction with extended use. Physical addiction occurs when the body becomes dependent on a particular chemical substance or a combination of chemicals.
Opioids are controlled substances. This means they are available only with a doctor's prescription. Meperidine is a narcotic analgesic, or pain reliever. It is most commonly used in hospitals for patients who have just had surgery.
An analgesic is any chemical substance that has the ability to control or relieve pain. Many familiar analgesics, including acetaminophen (Tylenol), aspirin, and ibuprofen (Advil; Motrin), are sold in drugstores without a doctor's prescription. These over-the-counter (OTC) drugs must be taken with care to avoid unpleasant or dangerous side effects, but they do not have the power to create physical or psychological addictionThe belief that a person needs to take a certain substance in order to function, whether that person really does or not..
By contrast, meperidine and other narcotic analgesics are highly addictive substances. They are legal but controlled substances. The only people who are supposed to have access to them are those whose doctors have prescribed the medications to treat specific medical conditions. Some other well-known prescription analgesics include hydrocodone (brand name, Vicodin) and oxycodone (brand names, OxyContin, Percocet, and Percodan). (An entry on oxycodone is also available in this encyclopedia.)
As of 2005, drug treatment counselors and law enforcement officials were alarmed at the increasing use of prescription-only opioids such as hydrocodone, meperidine, and oxycodone for illegal, nonmedical purposes. Among those most likely to abuse drugs like OxyContin, Demerol, and Vicodin are teens and young adults who engage in recreational drug useUsing a drug solely to achieve a high, not to treat a medical condition., to experience the mood-altering effects of the drugs. Other abusers of prescription drugs include individuals who have become physically addicted to an opioid after using it to treat a legitimate medical condition.