Propoxyphene is a medication for pain. It is an opioid analgesic (related to opium) similar to methadone. The use of opium is at least 2300 years old. In 1806, the first alkaloid of opium was isolated by Serturner. He called it morphine, after the Greek god of dreams, Morpheus. Codeine was identified in 1832. Propoxyphene is half to two-thirds as potent as codeine, meaning that 90 to 120mg of propoxyphene provides as much pain relief as 60mg of codeine. This is comparable to the pain relief achieved by 600mg of aspirin. Opioid analgesics, including propoxyphene, reduce pain by blocking the receptors in the brain that are involved in the perception (sensing) of pain. Because combinations of opioids (such as propoxyphene or codeine) and either aspirin or acetaminophen produce additive pain relieving effects, they are often found in combination in drugs.
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