WHAT ARE OPIOIDS & OPIATES?

Opiates and opioids are extremely powerful and highly addictive painkillers and narcotics. While opiates in the narrower sense are those substances that contain opium or opium alkaloids (primarily morphine), the term opioids refers to all substances with morphine-like effects. Morphine is the oldest and most relevant opioid and is considered the reference substance in pain therapy against which the analgesic effect of the other opioids is measured. 

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The following substances are opiates

• Heroin / dimethylmorphine (Diaphin®)

• Morphine (Sevre-Long®, MST®, Sevredol®)

• Hydromorphine (Palladon®)

• Buprenorphine (Subutex®, Temgesic®, Transtec®)

• Methadone / levomethadone (Polamidon®)

• Pethidin (Pethidin®, Dolantin®)

• Tilidine (Valoron®)

• Tramadol (Tramundin®, Tramal ®)

• Codeine (Codocontin®)

• Oxycodone (Oxycontin®, Targin®, Oxynorm®)

• Fentanyl (Fentanyl MAT®, Actiq®, Effentora®)

• ...and others.
   

These drugs are sometimes also sold under other trade names abroad.

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A chemical distinction is made between natural opioids (morphine, codeine, thebaine, papaverine, noscapine), semi-synthetic opioids (heroin, hydromorphone, nicomorphine, dihydrocodeine, hydrocodone, buprenorphine) and synthetic opioids (methadone, dextromoramide, tilidine, pethidine, pentazocine).

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These substances cannot be treated with OPIOSTOP

Cocaine, amphetamines (crystal meth), cannabis, alcohol, benzodiazepines, ecstasy (MDMA) and other hallucinogenic party drugs are neither opiates nor opioids. These cannot be treated with OPIOSTOP.  

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OPIATE dependency

The outcome is always the same for the patient, who cannot stop taking the daily dose without incurring severe or even life-threatening withdrawal symptoms. The procedure is suitable regardless of whether the patient's dependency is the result of substance abuse (drug patients) or prescription drugs for chronic pain (pain patients). Withdrawal under anaesthesia with the OPIOSTOP treatment method is effective for both types of dependency. 

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