Substance abuse is the use of illicit drugs or the overuse of prescription drugs, or alcohol. The definition can include using drugs for other reasons than why they were prescribed, or in larger amounts than prescribed.
Patients with cancer need control of their pain. Mesothelioma especially causes severe pain for most patients. Patients with mesothelioma who have narcotics prescribed for them should not be afraid to take them. It is true that your body can become more tolerant to the narcotic, and you many need to take higher doses or switch to a different narcotic as time goes on. That is to be expected when treating cancer and your doctor will make sure you are getting safe and effective amounts.
If you already have a substance abuse problem when you are diagnosed with mesothelioma, you need to tell your doctor the complete truth about what you have been taking. That is the only way for you to get the medication that will control your pain. If you are already taking narcotics, you will need higher doses. If you have a problem with something else, such as alcohol or tranquilizers, the doctor needs to know this.
If you find yourself having trouble with medication like narcotics, if for example you want to take more than you actually need for your pain, and you have had a substance abuse problem in the past, you need to be completely frank with your doctor.
But when narcotics are used to treat cancer, their abuse is rarely a problem. It would be worse for people who need a narcotic to not take it because of fears of substance abuse, than it would be for the occasional person to develop a substance abuse problem.
There is one thing anyone taking narcotics should know – prescription drugs are very commonly abused by other people. Make sure you know where your medicines are, and don’t leave them where someone can steal them.
Dr. Kaplan
