# Are there any opiates on the market or coming to market for pain that don't get you high **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 7, 2018, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733 "2018-12-07T05:11:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/21 "2018-12-07T23:11:46Z")
Wouldn’t your colon explode or something if you took enough Imodium to get high? Seems kinda stupid. Yeah, ok I realize addicts aren’t thinking right. But still. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/22 "2018-12-07T23:13:54Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > You can buy the generic in larger quantities at Amazon or other online sites. Good idea, thanks. But still not as cheap as Costco. I see someone is selling a single Kirkland bottle (comes with 2 IIRC). For $100. Fuck you, seller. ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/23 "2018-12-08T01:07:01Z")
Since the hydrocodone and Codeine moved to schedule II the cost skyrocketed 10 to 15 times that the pharmacies were getting cheaper but poorly made generics from India. I’ve been taking hydrocodone since 91 and I never got high but I had bouts with constipation. I got relief though. The past year I’ve noticed that I’m not getting relief from pains and barely any constipation I’ve found that the generics had barely any HC in them. That was when they switched to Indian medicine.They are crap and nothing I can do about it unless I pay $500 a month for 90 name brand Vicodin. All because of abusers that we have to suffer as a result. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/24 "2018-12-08T01:10:52Z")
I’m curious as to how big of a dose you really have to take to experience euphoria. I take very large doses of Imodium on a regular basis, at times upwards of 15-20 pills, and I’ve never felt anything. It must take an insane number of pills. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/25 "2018-12-08T01:13:48Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Wouldn’t your colon explode or something if you took enough Imodium to get high? Seems kinda stupid. Yeah, ok I realize addicts aren’t thinking right. But still. Possibly; however, opiates in general are constipating, and if you’re addicted severely enough, you really don’t care if you need pooping assistance in ways I’d rather not think about. Medical history factoid: When loperamide was first released on the market, it was schedule II in some areas! :eek: So was lithium, until it was discovered that it isn’t addictive either. This was at the same time that paregoric, which contained a nearly homeopathic dose of morphine and is no longer available in this country, could be purchased from behind the counter with a signature! Addendum: A pharmacist I worked with who graduated in the early 1970s said that at her first job out of school, she had a customer, an RN no less, who was regularly purchasing paregoric. One day, she questioned the woman about it, and she replied that she would give her baby paregoric at night, so it would sleep all night, and an enema every morning. :eek: Good heavens, among other things, that kid would grow up without normal bowel function! ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/26 "2018-12-08T01:46:10Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > I’m curious as to how big of a dose you really have to take to experience euphoria. I take very large doses of Imodium on a regular basis, at times upwards of 15-20 pills, and I’ve never felt anything. It must take an insane number of pills. I’ve read that druggies extract the stuff from the pills. It’s insane to get high by taking a bunch of pills though some do. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/27 "2018-12-08T03:03:54Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > paregoric, which contained a nearly homeopathic dose of morphine and is no longer available in this country Paregoric contains 2 mg of morphine per 5 ml. Dispensed in bottles of 473 ml, it’s hardly homeopathic. 2 mg will significantly affect an opioid-naive adult, and 90 mg (the contents of the whole bottle) could well be fatal to someone not regularly taking opioids. And it’s still available in the US, it’s a schedule III drug. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/28 "2018-12-08T03:13:42Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I don’t think big pharma cares enough to really investigate pain relievers that work with no side effects or addiction qualities. A drug which relieved pain with no side effects or addition potential would be worth **Billions** of dollars. Many drug companies would love to be the one to develop that med. Better pain meds would be a truly profitable item. [hijack]While I am appalled at the price gouging so many drug companies are engaged in at present on formerly inexpensive meds, I do not buy into the conspiracy theories about “big pharma” regarding schemes to get us all addicted so we keep buying their products, or withholding drugs which cure cancer, etc. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/29 "2018-12-08T04:35:01Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > A drug which relieved pain with no side effects or addition potential would be worth **Billions** of dollars. Many drug companies would love to be the one to develop that med. Better pain meds would be a truly profitable item. > > [hijack]While I am appalled at the price gouging so many drug companies are engaged in at present on formerly inexpensive meds, I do not buy into the conspiracy theories about “big pharma” regarding schemes to get us all addicted so we keep buying their products, or withholding drugs which cure cancer, etc. [/hijack] Thank you. I consider myself schooled on that. Do you think they are working on a decent/safe pain reliever that may actually come about sometime soon? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/30 "2018-12-08T06:23:20Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Paregoric contains 2 mg of morphine per 5 ml. Dispensed in bottles of 473 ml, it’s hardly homeopathic. 2 mg will significantly affect an opioid-naive adult, and 90 mg (the contents of the whole bottle) could well be fatal to someone not regularly taking opioids. > > And it’s still available in the US, it’s a schedule III drug. 2mg of ORAL morphine doesn’t have that much of an effect; are you thinking of 2mg of IV morphine? That definitely will have an effect, as would drinking the whole bottle. We got it in pints. By “homeopathic dose”, I was indeed referring to using it as intended. Can you get paregoric once again? The last few years I practiced, we would occasionally get orders for it, and had to get the doctors to change the orders because it was not available. We had a technician for a while who had all her kids in the 1960s, and she used paregoric as a teething aid; she would rub it on their gums because she believed it was safer than whiskey, which some other parents used (and she may have been correct). It’s a weird caramel brown color, and smells horrible. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/31 "2018-12-08T06:26:29Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > A drug which relieved pain with no side effects or addition potential would be worth **Billions** of dollars. Many drug companies would love to be the one to develop that med. Better pain meds would be a truly profitable item. > > [hijack]While I am appalled at the price gouging so many drug companies are engaged in at present on formerly inexpensive meds, I do not buy into the conspiracy theories about “big pharma” regarding schemes to get us all addicted so we keep buying their products, or withholding drugs which cure cancer, etc. [/hijack] Agreed x 100,000. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/32 "2018-12-08T07:49:00Z")
> [@SigMan](#): > > Since the hydrocodone and Codeine moved to schedule II the cost skyrocketed 10 to 15 times that the pharmacies were getting cheaper but poorly made generics from India. I’ve been taking hydrocodone since 91 and I never got high but I had bouts with constipation. I got relief though. > > The past year I’ve noticed that I’m not getting relief from pains and barely any constipation I’ve found that the generics had barely any HC in them. That was when they switched to Indian medicine.They are crap and nothing I can do about it unless I pay $500 a month for 90 name brand Vicodin. > > All because of abusers that we have to suffer as a result. It also may be that studies have shown the Vicodin is not that useful for LT pain relief. You are quite possibly getting no pain relief from the drug, not due to the change but due to the nature of the drug. Perhaps you shoudl consult your MD and try something else? [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885392407006720](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885392407006720) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/33 "2018-12-08T07:52:34Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > I’m curious as to how big of a dose you really have to take to experience euphoria. I take very large doses of Imodium on a regular basis, at times upwards of 15-20 pills, and I’ve never felt anything. It must take an insane number of pills. Have you consulted your Physician about this? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/34 "2018-12-08T09:46:17Z")
If you are male, a rather benign test you could perform is trying an FAAH inhibitor like Maca Root. FAAH breaks up anandamide, which is a pleasure hormone similar to canabinoids. Opiates work on different pleasure receptors, but canabinoids do purportedly help with pain. Preventing FAAH from breaking up anandamide could, in theory, help to maintain a higher level of anandamide. At the moment, this is only theorized to help with anxiety, not pain, but I do know that Maca doesn’t seem to affect how clearly you think, so it’s a pretty safe thing to test out for efficacy. My expectation would be that it wouldn’t do a lot, but it might do something. It seems to be a relatively new area of research. > **[Effects of the fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitor URB597 on pain-stimulated...](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24583930/)** > > Cannabinoid receptor (CBR) agonists produce antinociception in conventional preclinical assays of pain-stimulated behavior but are not effective in preclinical assays of pain-depressed behavior. Fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitors increase... > **[Safety, Tolerability and Pharmacokinetics of FAAH Inhibitor V158866: A...](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26987975/)** > > V158866 is well tolerated, with linear pharmacokinetics suitable for once-daily administration, and reversible effects on plasma ECs. Maximum increases in plasma ECs occur with V158866 doses of 300-500 mg/day. > **[PF-04457845](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PF-04457845)** > > JZP150 (formerly PF-04457845) is an inhibitor of the enzyme fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), with an IC50 of 7.2nM, and both analgesic and antiinflammatory effects in animal studies comparable to naproxen. > JZP150 is currently being developed by Jazz Pharmaceuticals and is in a Phase 2 trial in the US for PTSD.\[citation needed\] ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/35 "2018-12-08T13:38:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **DrDeth** : > > Actually, not really. Vicodin isnt a effective painkiller for long term pain relief. The Tylenol does the heavy lifting. > > I take 800mg Ibuprofen for Arthritis relief, and it is significantly more effective than Tylenol with Vicodin. I’m not sure what you’re disagreeing with, there. I said that the non-addictive painkillers were less effective than the addictive ones, and you replied by listing two non-addictive painkillers which are less effective than the addictive ones. **beckdawreck** , better pain medicines are exactly the sort of thing that the pharmaceutical companies like to pursue, as they’re used by a lot of people over an extended period of time. Now, certainly no drug company would just suppress a cure for cancer or a new antibiotic or whatever if they happened to stumble across one, but they won’t put as many resources towards finding one. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/36 "2018-12-08T14:57:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Heck, there are already a ton of painkiller drugs that don’t get you high or cause addiction. They’re just not nearly as effective as the ones that do. You would be surprised. I’ve seen studies in which acetaminophen/paracetamol beat out morphine. Not that I’m championing paracetamol as a nice drug. j ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/37 "2018-12-08T14:59:18Z")
For the record, there is a Wiki page of analgesics in development: > **[List of investigational analgesics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_investigational_analgesics)** > > This is a list of investigational analgesics, or analgesics that are currently under development for clinical use but are not yet approved. Chemical/generic names are listed first, with developmental code names, synonyms, and brand names in parentheses. j ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/38 "2018-12-08T18:23:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m not sure what you’re disagreeing with, there. I said that the non-addictive painkillers were less effective than the addictive ones, and you replied by listing two non-addictive painkillers which are less effective than the addictive ones… For \*long term \*pain relief they are MORE effective. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/39 "2018-12-08T18:35:38Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Have you consulted your Physician about this? Have I consulted my physician about what? How many diarrhea pills it takes to get high? Um, no. I haven’t thought to pose that question. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733/40 "2018-12-08T18:41:23Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > You would be surprised. I’ve seen studies in which acetaminophen/paracetamol beat out morphine. Not that I’m championing paracetamol as a nice drug. > > j What would be safer on your liver to take long term though? acetaminophen/paracetamol or morphine? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-opiates-on-the-market-or-coming-to-market-for-pain-that-dont-get-you-high/825733.md?page=3)