Hydromorphone | What Kind of Drug Is It?

Important!

What Kind of Drug Is It?

Hydromorphone is a prescription painkiller made by chemically altering morphine molecules. Morphine is an organic, or carbon-containing compound, extracted from opium, a strongly addictive drug that is made from the opium poppy. (Entries on morphine and opium are also included in this encyclopedia.) Available in pill and injectable form, hydromorphone is about five to eight times stronger than morphine and is sometimes used instead of morphine to regulate pain from injuries, surgery, cancer, and severe migraine headaches. Doctors generally do not prescribe hydromorphone products as a first course for pain relief. Its use is restricted to longer bouts of pain that do not respond to weaker analgesicsPain relievers or the qualities of pain relief. or over-the-counter (OTC) medicines.

Because hydromorphone is so addictive, doctors who prescribe it are careful to monitor their patients. Physicians also help their patients to gradually stop taking the drug when the medicine is no longer needed. For people who need help managing severe pain, hydromorphone carries few side effects beyond drowsiness and constipationAn inability to have a bowel movement..

Abuse of hydromorphone presents a completely different situation. Peddled on the street as "drug store heroin," the medicine, when crushed and snorted or injected, behaves like morphine in the brain. Since hydromorphone is stronger than morphine, however, its use as a recreational drugUsing a drug solely to achieve a high, not to treat a medical condition. can be deadly, even on the first dose. Abuse leads to addiction, a physical and psychological craving for the drug.

Official Drug Name: Hydromorphone hydrochloride [4,5-epoxy-3-hydroxy-17-methylmorphinian-6-one, dihydrohydroxycodeinone; dihydromorphinone; dimorphone]; brand names include Dilaudid and Palladone

Also Known As: Big d, d's, delantz, delaud, delida, dillies, drug store heroin, dust, footballs, juice, little d, lords, smack

Drug Classifications: Schedule II, semisynthetic opiate

According to the Monitoring the Future survey conducted in 2004, most types of illegal drug use have declined since the 1990s. The exception is abuse of prescription drugs, especially painkillers such as hydromorphone. Interestingly enough, abuse of prescription drugs is not limited to young adults but can affect all segments of the population—people of all ages, from teens to senior citizens. However, hydromorphone is not mentioned as frequently in the media as its related compound, oxycodone. (An entry on oxycodone is also

Purdue Pharma, maker of the painkiller Palladone, voluntarily recalled the new drug in July 2005 pending further research. The FDA asked for the withdrawal after receiving reports that Palladones extended release mechanism could fail if the use
Purdue Pharma, maker of the painkiller Palladone, voluntarily recalled the new drug in July 2005 pending further research. The FDA asked for the withdrawal after receiving reports that Palladone's extended release mechanism could fail if the user took the drug with alcohol. This failure could result in dose-dumping, or the dangerous rapid release of the drug into the bloodstream. AP/Wide World Photos.

available in this encyclopedia.) Nevertheless, abuse of hydromorphone has killed or sickened many thousands of people, including those who obtain it illegally and legally.