Opiates | Affects on the Brain

What do opioids actually do in the brain? In this enlightening interview, ER doctor / double board certified child and adolescent psychiatrist, Dr. Dom Sportelli, and MedCircle host, Kyle Kittleson, break down the neuroscience 101 education you need on opiate use disorder, and other opioid addiction basics.

Discussion time codes:
00:00 Intro
00:42 Brain basics you need to know (serotonin vs dopamine vs endorphins)
02:05 The opiates that already exist in our brain (endorphins)
02:52 How the poppy plant imitates endorphins
03:40 Why opioids from a poppy plant are actually bad (How they impact the brain)
05:48 What happens when your brain gets "too much" of something? (IE opioids)
06:00 "Receptor down-regulation" and how it leads to drug tolerance
07:15 How it leads to withdrawal
08:49 The neuroscience of why quitting is so hard (how opioids change pain)
10:30 Key takeaways
12:04 how to watch more (detox, withdrawal, overdose management & more)

#OpioidCrisis #Addiction #MentalHealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthmatters #opiates #opiate #opiods

[troythomas]

Opioid addiction is the worst. I stopped taking them after 8 years of use and had the worst withdrawal I have ever experienced. Every minute felt like an hour I was sweating and had the runs my emotions went crazy but here I am 9 months later and still clean. My heart goes out to anyone suffering opioid addiction.

[davidmark]

Excellent explanation and so important to understand. I'm a support person for my son in his journey to control his opioid addiction and it's paramount that you understand the addict, the drug and the addiction. He is just 22 days clean and about a month and half away from a date to enter a three month rehab program. Videos like these are so valuable. Thanks for doing this.

[hguzman]

I’ve been fighting my addiction for years I still have hope that I will be at peace with my addiction hope is all I got left

[robertawinton]

I was taking tramadol for 3 years for my pain prior to back surgery. When I recovered from surgery I stopped taking tramadol which resulted in textbook withdrawal symptoms. My doctor did not know that this was a possibility so I did some research to discover this is exactly what I was suffering from. Finally after 2 weeks of withdrawal I am feeling better.

[wilf]

This is got to be one of the best videos I have watched on addiction I have seen but I still say that you won't fully understand on how bad withdrawl is until you have been through it. Ex addicts do make the best counselors.

[DutchieThePitty]

You have explained opioid addiction perfectly! I'm a recovering addict...2 years clean...and it took every ounce of my being to get to where I am...

[albadelcastillo]

I love the dog sleeping on the floor
Very interesting and easy to understand talk by the way this was very eye-opening

[dogthatshags]

Thank you for this. As an addict since 1992, I’ve been thru 20yrs of disgusting methadone which nearly killed me to now getting a monthly shot of Buvidal, which is changing my life for the better and I’m feeling ‘normal’ for the first time since ‘92. Good luck everyone, but it is possible. Melbourne Australia

[andyp]

Oh snap, having a motorcycle accident at 23 I soon was addicted to pain killers, quit in 2005, then in 2020 I got involved in smoking herion, what a year! Clean for over a month now, omg, what a struggle it's been. Someone sue the Sackler family fortune and give me some recompense for losing my good job, wife, house, 401k and health. Take it from someone who lost everything to drugs, don't start!

[richardfeliciano]

I just got want you 2 to know how much your episodes have helped me get it thru and want to get thru and STAY thru with this burden on myself and my family. kyle and dr Sportelli. Thank you so much. 1 week sober. second time. I feel amazing.

[meeks]

One of the best break downs, so informative and educational, easy for folks to understand. This is so important because there is still such a huge stigma with additions, THANK YOU! And to anyone who is struggling I am praying for your recovery ❤️

[chevyriding]

I have been in withdrawl for 3 days now an I listened to this an the longer video this all helped me so much thank you. Still sweating n hurting but getting threw it

[jackiealv]

Best explanation this slow learner has ever heard . Thanks so mucho for making this video . My best friend’s son just died of an overdose at the age of 21, 2 rehabs, trying really hard to stop and he couldn’t. Now I understand why

[lorrainecortes]

My mother got addicted from years of taking prescribed Opioids for her pain in her hip & when she did get her hip replacement the Doctor continued to give it to herself, she was a Senior & mentally ill, I felt disgusted with the Doctors whom continously prescribed it, for so many years that now it was apart of her life.Rip mom

[Symbolsysteme]

I once saw a documentary about drugs and their effects on the body, brain and psyche. In this documentary they said that Heroin gives the psyche basically the same feelings we experience in the mother womb; lovingly nurtured, fully protected and carried through life by a powerful force. When I saw this documentary I understood why I was so drawn to Heroin.
I was taking Heroin as a young woman and I loved, loved, loved it, but only in the beginning, of course. When I became hooked, all the wonderful feelings I've mentioned above transformed into the opposite. The "loving mother womb" was not heaven anymore, but hell.
I am so grateful I could get rid of my addiction and I could find what I was always longing for, namely the loving, protective and nurturing mother (inside of me).

[apey]

I am so grateful for this. My siblings are addicts, but my brother is just sleeping at my mom’s (for like 2 years) He “trapeses” as I call it, when he can’t stand it anymore and has to go get -anything- I was mad in my own throbbing toothache pain and angry bc I had to go over there to help him with something a grown man should be able to do himself. Put on a matress pad on his shitty horrible bed. I was so mean. I realized the next day the things I said, how mean they were and it made me realize if he could help it, he would….I’m the only well-abled body and mind relative he has. If I don’t help him, no one will
So thank you for this. It came at the perfect moment for me (after dealing with my sibling addicts for 10-15 years). I’ve become hardened and mean to them. I take it too personally.
He’s my only full blooded sibling, and he turned out like my dad-addict thru and thru. How did I escape that? We weren’t even raised around Dad after 5 yrs old.
Anyway, GREAT epidode!!!

[sinamusenbichler]

Im soo glad that i made IT through my withdrawal from morphine - IT was the hardest time of my life but now- im luckier than ever! People pls dont do

[kellyforrester]

Your body has to feel reality again, and you have to take your time. There is no time limit during a recovery, and you are learning to listen to your brain and body without interruption from drugs. I am still learning about my body, literal feelings, and emotion again after being off everything for a month. Irritability is a main factor I have noticed because you aren't used to being able to feel anything that your body naturally does. Admitting that it is a hard process and willing to face it all is the best mindset you can have. Being told about addiction and experiencing it are two total different things. Understanding is a big key factor also. Understand that you are coming back to normality, and your body has forgotten what that was until withdrawal starts. Things will get worse before they get better.

[LizbetPCB]

I want to know if lack of receptors is the reason why some people can take an opioid and not want more, more, more.
I recently had major orthopedic surgery, was given hydrocodone, and except for the six to eight I took right afterward, I disliked the effect so much that I reluctantly accepted the pain which, fortunately, began to lessen after the first three to four days.
Thanks for the information you all share with us.

[amywannacuppatea]

Can you explain how this works for people who have chronic pain but need slow release opioids because there is no cure? Ie. cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, etc