Over-the-Counter Products

The most common painkillers are ones you can buy in a store without a prescription, or “over the counter.” These products include acetaminophen, aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen. People usually take them for mild pains or fevers.

Aspirin

Aspirin is the oldest of a family of medicines known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs. While they can relieve pain, they can also cause your stomach to bleed if you take them for a long time. (So can other NSAIDs.) This can cause problems from simple indigestion to stomach ulcers.

Taking a lot of NSAIDs may cause kidney damage.

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Prescription Painkillers

The most powerful of these drugs are called opioids. They block the nerve signals that transmit feelings of pain to your brain, bringing feelings of pleasure. Doctors usually give them to people who have had recent surgery, a painful injury, or are living with a serious, long-term condition like cancer that causes ongoing pain.

Common opioid painkillers include:

• Codeine
• Hydrocodone and acetaminophen combined in one drug (Vicodin)
• Hydromorphone, or Dilaudid
• Meperidine, or Demerol
• Morphine
• Oxycodone, often known by the trade name OxyContin
• Propoxyphene, or Darvon

Another very powerful opioid painkiller is fentanyl. It’s up to 100 times more powerful than other opioids, and it’s usually given to people who are near death from cancer and are in a lot of pain. But it’s also been abused or mixed into illegal drugs, resulting in many deaths.

Taking large amounts of opioid painkillers can stop your breathing. Because they’re addictive, they have become widely abused, and deaths from opioid overdoses have gone up sharply in recent years.

Only a small percentage of people who are prescribed opioids become addicted. But a lot more people are using them, and the risk goes up the longer you use them. If your doctor prescribes an opioid, follow the instructions carefully and ask your doctor if you have questions or concerns.