Reducing medication
If you have been taking pain relief for three months or longer, and find that your pain still prevents you from doing what you want to do, it is likely that the medication is no longer working effectively for you.
Safety first: the “Golden Rule”
The most important advice for anyone considering a change in medication, is that you should never simply stop taking pain medicines suddenly.
Stopping abruptly can lead to significant withdrawal symptoms and other health complications.
Instead, with the right support and structured planning, it is entirely possible to reduce or stop these medications completely.
Want to reduce your medication?
Make an appointment with your GP, practice pharmacist or nurse specialist to discuss how to reduce your medication.
Support for reducing medication
- professional support and planning: reducing medication requires a collaborative approach with healthcare practitioners. Your GP or pharmacist will be able to guide and support you while you are reducing your pain medication
- self-management skills: developing self-management skills is a core alternative to reliance on pills. The Ten Footsteps programme provides a structured approach to learning these skills
- education and understanding: understanding the science of pain – a process sometimes called Flippin’ Pain – can change how pain feels and help you feel more in control
- community support: Social Prescribers can provide health coaching and professional support to help manage your physical and emotional wellbeing, potentially reducing the need for medication
- the NHS campaign Painkillers Don’t Exist aims to raise awareness about the risks of long-term pain medication use and encourage alternative management strategies.
Opioids
Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire have produced a reducing and stopping opioids leaflet.
NHS England has produced two videos that illustrate the harms of strong opioid prescribing in chronic pain.
The National Pain Centre has also produced information for patients interested in opioid tapering.
Want to reduce your medication?
Make an appointment with your GP, practice pharmacist or nurse specialist to discuss how to reduce your medication.
