CDC guidelines indicate that for patients already receiving opioid therapy, clinicians should carefully weigh benefits and risks and exercise care when changing opioid dosage. If benefits outweigh risks of continued opioid therapy, clinicians should work closely with patients to optimize nonopioid therapies while continuing opioid therapy. If benefits do not outweigh risks of continued opioid therapy, clinicians should optimize other therapies and work closely with patients to gradually taper to lower dosages or, if warranted based on the individual circumstances of the patient, appropriately taper and discontinue opioids. Unless there are indications of a life-threatening issue such as warning signs of impending overdose (e.g., confusion, sedation, or slurred speech), opioid therapy should not be discontinued abruptly, and clinicians should not rapidly reduce opioid dosages from higher dosages.

UC Davis Center for Design in the Public Interest (DiPi) created an NIH-funded video called Tapering Talk that highlights patients’ stories of opioid tapering. In partnership with DiPi, this video is free and available for public use.

• Opioid Tapering: Patient Education Video

Time to watch: 13:02

Key:

South Carolina
Resources with this icon are related to or support SC opioid settlement fund strategies. More information can be found here.