Opioids are a type of drugs that are mainly used for pain relief. You might recognize some names of opioids from this list of examples:
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Watch the following video to learn more about how opioid works in your brain:
Each dose of opioid, depending on the type, will be able to reduce your pain for a couple of hours. But if you use opioids regularly, you might develop dependence and your body might get uncomfortable if you suddenly stop using opioids. This is called withdrawal and it can lead to a vicious cycle.
An overdose is when the opioids you’ve taken are more than what your body is used to and start blocking too many signals to and from the brain.