Tilidine is a man-made active ingredient used in powerful painkillers. The substance gained sad notoriety due to its popularity in the drug scene. Some young thugs also allegedly take tilidine in order to be less sensitive to pain and less inhibited during a fight. Yet the side effects of tilidine are not to be trifled with.
Tilidine: effects and uses
Tilidine itself has little analgesic effect. However, it is converted in the liver into nortilidine and bisnortilidine, which are responsible for the actual mode of action. These substances exert their effect in the central nervous system, where they activate the body’s own pain-inhibiting system. Due to its mode of action, tilidine belongs to the opioids, i.e. opiate-like substances, and thus also has a euphoric, disinhibitory effect. It is usually used for severe and very severe pain, for example after surgery, and for rheumatism or cancer patients. The substance can be addictive and cause severe withdrawal symptoms if used continuously.
To prevent abuse, many tilidine medications are combined with the drug naloxone. This is dosed in such a way that it blocks the effect of tilidine when administered at high levels intravenously. In contrast, at the low dosage prescribed by a doctor, which is taken orally, naloxone has no inhibitory effect on tilidine. This is thought to make the drug unattractive to drug addicts, who usually need a stronger dosage to feel an effect. However, not all tilidine medications are combined with naloxone.
Painkillers: which one, when and for what?
Side effects of tilidine
Both pain patients and illicit tilidine users often struggle with the drug’s severe side effects. Tilidine side effects include:
- Disturbances in perception and judgment.
- Sleep disorders
- Depression
- Loss of appetite
- Seizures
- Impaired driving
In addition, tilidine is addictive in the long run and results in severe withdrawal symptoms. Police officers and experts who observe the misuse of tilidine also describe a reduced sense of pain, freedom from anxiety, overconfidence, megalomania, cold-bloodedness and, in individual cases, an increased potential for aggression.
Tilidine: dosage and withdrawal
Tilidine is available in both drop and tablet form. Dosage should strictly follow the doctor’s recommendation. As a general rule, adults and adolescents take a maximum of 20 to 40 drops of tilidine four times a day. Children under the age of 14 should swallow a maximum of one drop per day, four times a day. When tilidine is taken for a longer period of time, such as for chronic pain or rheumatism, the active ingredient can become addictive. This is also the case when the drug is combined with naloxone, because naloxone only exerts its effect at high doses, as drug addicts would presumably use.
Normal patients who take tilidine at the low doses prescribed by their doctors therefore do not notice anything about the antagonist and can thus also quickly become addicted to the drug. Therefore, withdrawal is often necessary after stopping tilidine. In any case, this should be carried out under medical supervision, if necessary in a clinic.
Sharp pain
