How does tardive dyskinesia affect my mental health?

What does it mean to be a self-advocate with TD?

5 Complications of Living With Tardive Dyskinesia

5 Tips for Finding the Best Treatment for Tardive Dyskinesia

When to Call a Doctor While Managing Tardive Dyskinesia

8 Risk Factors for Tardive Dyskinesia

5 Ways to Support Someone With Tardive Dyskinesia

What Are the Symptoms of TD?

Treating Tardive Dyskinesia

What Is a Drug Allergy?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 115 Americans die daily from an overdose of opioids, a class of drugs that includes prescription opioids, heroin and fentanyl. More than 42,000 people died of an opioid overdose in 2016, and about 40 percent of those deaths included a prescribed opioid.

Used appropriately, prescription opioids are powerful painkillers. They are also highly addictive and dangerous. Opioids make you feel euphoric and change the way nerve cells work, creating a physical dependence. They also depress your respiratory system, which is what causes a fatal overdose.

Experts believe the liberal use of opioids to treat chronic, non-cancer <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/chronic-pain/pain-management/opioid-free-ways-beat-pain">pain</a> has lead to the current public health crisis, and it&#39;s prompted an exploration as to whether medical marijuana (cannabis) might help reduce the number of opioid overdoses. Marijuana is believed by many patients to be an effective pain reliever, and is typically far less hazardous and addictive than opioids. &ldquo;Cannabis, and cannabis-derived compounds, deserve further study as non-opioid treatments for chronic pain,&rdquo; says <a href="https://med.nyu.edu/faculty/joshua-d-lee" target="_blank">Joshua D Lee, MD, MSc</a>, an associate professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone Health.

What is medical marijuana? 
Marijuana comes from the Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica plant, and in the United States, it&#39;s used more than any other illicit drug. Users inhale smoke, add it to foods (edibles) or use it in a vaporizer. The active ingredients enter the bloodstream and alter your senses, change your mood and impair your cognitive abilities. It&#39;s thought that between 9 and 30 percent of marijuana users may develop a disorder related to that use.

When people use marijuana for health issues, it&#39;s often to ease chronic or severe pain stemming from injuries and illnesses&mdash;and many find it to be effective. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved marijuana as a medicine (though it has approved synthetic cannabinoids), and the US government classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it&#39;s illegal on a federal level. Still, a growing number of states allow it for medical purposes. Doctors can recommend it, and patients can pick it up at a dispensary or grow it at home.

How medical marijuana could curb opioid use 
Chronic pain is common, and the number of people being prescribed opioids rose sharply in the 2000s. While prescription rates have fallen since then, many are still given the drugs to treat their pain. Several studies suggest that using marijuana to treat that pain&mdash;instead of opioids&mdash;might be linked to a lower rate of opioid overdoses and deaths.

For example, an analysis of death certificates between 1999 and 2010 found that states with medical cannabis laws had lower average rates of opioid overdose deaths. In another study, researchers looked at state-level hospitalization data between 1997 and 2014 and found significant reductions in opioid-related hospitalizations coinciding with the implementation of medical marijuana policies.

The potential problems 
&ldquo;There may be benefits [of using medical marijuana], but the research to date has been mostly observational, ecological and has important limitations,&rdquo; says Lee.&nbsp;&ldquo;Lower rates of overdoses, for instance, may have to do with factors other than cannabis reforms.&rdquo; For example, he says, rates of fentanyl, street heroin and counterfeit opioid pills have varied widely state by state. Over the last five years, it&#39;s been fentanyl that has largely driven the acceleration of overdose death rates.

What&#39;s more, some research suggests medical marijuana may not be as effective as hoped, and may have certain drawbacks. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), there is a lack of large clinical trials showing that the benefits of marijuana outweigh the risks. Some studies of people with chronic pain show that cannabis users don&#39;t lower their doses of opioids, either, compared to people who use opioids and don&#39;t use marijuana. And finally, other research shows using cannabis may actually increase the odds of non-prescription opioid use or addiction. That said, NIDA does accept that many studies show medical marijuana could play a role in opioid reduction.

Lee takes care to mention that any interventions which are safer and effective alternatives to chronic opioid pain treatments are urgently needed. &quot;Medical marijuana (by prescription), cannabis-derived compounds (like cannabidiol), and casual recreational cannabis use may or may not prove to help,&quot; he says. &quot;The studies to date have not yet adequately answered these questions.&rdquo;

Can Medical Marijuana Curb Opioid Addiction?

From lowering cancer risk to boosting your beauty regimen, aspirin&rsquo;s a versatile little pill. But it&#39;s important to know the potential side effects.

Surprising Reasons to Take Aspirin—and When to Skip It

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When it comes to a lingering case of the sniffles, your first instinct may still be to run to the family doctor for an antibiotic to knock them out.

The truth is, though, antibiotics aren&rsquo;t a one-size-fits-all solution when you aren&rsquo;t feeling well. And when you take them for the wrong reason, they can actually do more harm than good.

What Happens When I Take an Antibiotic I Don&rsquo;t Need? 
A doctor prescribes an antibiotic when bacteria, rather than a virus, causes the illness in question. This means if you&rsquo;ve got a cold, the flu, or even something like mono, an antibiotic isn&rsquo;t going to make you feel better.

They could also bring on some not-so-pleasant side effects, like an allergic reaction or upset stomach. Overuse and misuse of antibiotics also contribute to <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/superbugs/article/have-antibiotics-reached-their-expiration-date" style="line-height: 1.6em;">antibiotic resistance</a>, which is what happens when the bacteria adapt and make the medication ineffective. This means longer, more severe infections.

When Are Antibiotics the Right Choice? 
There are times when an antibiotic is still the best bet for getting you back on your feet, though, and if you have symptoms of these six illnesses, it could be time to head to your doctor for a prescription.

Bacterial sinus infection - may set in after a cold, but also can be hard to distinguish from a cold

<ul>
	<li>Symptoms: Cloudy or discolored nasal drainage is the big clue, along with headaches, facial tenderness, congestion, bad breath, fever and fatigue. Symptoms that last more than 10 days, or get better then worse again, suggest a bacterial infection.</li>
</ul>

Whooping cough - a serious bacterial respiratory infection that mainly affects infants younger than six months old, kids who haven&rsquo;t been immunized and older children and adults whose immunity is wearing off&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Symptoms: Early symptoms include runny nose, mild cough, low-grade fever and sneezing. After one to two weeks, severe coughing fits often appear. They can last over a minute, followed by a &ldquo;whooping&rdquo; sound, vomiting and exhaustion.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Strep throat -&nbsp;a contagious sore throat infection caused by Streptococcus bacteria, more common in children than adults

<ul>
	<li>Symptoms: A severe sore throat may be accompanied by a fever of 101&deg;F or above, swollen tonsils (sometimes with white patches), red spots on the roof of the mouth, headache, nausea, vomiting, swollen lymph nodes and a rash.</li>
</ul>

Bacterial ear infection - occurs when germs cause fluid buildup in the middle ear; it can also cause the tubes in the ear to become blocked or swollen

<ul>
	<li>Symptoms: Most ear infections, viral and bacterial, share common symptoms such as fever, headaches, ear pain, pressure in the ear, drainage, reduced hearing and dizziness.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Urinary tract infection (UTI) - an infection of the urinary tract&mdash;including the urethra, bladder and kidneys&mdash;most commonly caused by bacteria; affects more women than men.

<ul>
	<li>Symptoms: Symptoms of a UTI vary by age, but most commonly include an intense need to use the restroom, burning or pain during urination and cloudy or dark urine. In older adults, symptoms can be vague and include weakness, fatigue, muscle aches and abdominal pain.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Bacterial pneumonia - A serious bacterial infection in the lungs; often a complication of the flu

<ul>
	<li>Symptoms: Bacterial pneumonia often causes very high fever, sweating, increased heart rate and rapid breathing, along with a cough, shortness of breath, sharp chest pain, headache, loss of appetite and, in older adults, confusion.</li>
</ul>

6 Ailments That Call for an Antibiotic

Drug information