Your doctor has decided to reduce or stop your opioid medication. This is a common decision — usually because the long-term benefit isn’t outweighing the risks, or the rules around prescribing have changed. This page explains what to expect. It is not medical advice — your doctor knows your situation.
Call 000 or go to ED immediately if you or someone else has:
Very slow or stopped breathing, pinpoint pupils, unable to be roused (opioid overdose)
Severe chest pain, sudden weakness or difficulty speaking, seizure
Thoughts of harming yourself or ending your life
Naloxone reverses opioid overdose — it’s available free at most pharmacies (Take Home Naloxone program). Ask your pharmacist for a kit if you or your household keeps opioids at home.
Why is the dose being reduced?
There are several reasons your GP might reduce or stop your opioid:
For long-term (chronic) pain, opioids often don’t help as much as people hope. Australian and international research shows that for most people with chronic non-cancer pain, opioids don’t reduce pain better than other treatments — but they carry real risks (dependence, hormonal changes, increased sensitivity to pain, falls, overdose).
Side effects are causing more harm than the pain relief is worth — constipation, fatigue, “brain fog”, mood changes, sexual dysfunction.
Tolerance has built up — the dose is going up over time without proportional pain improvement.
Australian regulations changed in 2020 — opioids are now recommended only for short-term acute pain or cancer/palliative-care pain, except in unusual circumstances.
Cancer pain and palliative care are different — if this applies to you, the rules above don’t apply in the same way, and your doctor will explain.
This is not about distrust. Many people who reduce their opioid dose find their thinking clearers, their energy returns, and their pain doesn’t actually get worse — sometimes it gets better. Your doctor is trying to help you, not punish you.
How tapering usually works
There’s no single “right” speed — your doctor will tailor it. In general:
Slowly is best. Reducing by about 5–10% of the dose every 2–4 weeks is common. Sometimes faster, sometimes much slower.
The longer you’ve been on opioids, the slower the taper. Years on opioids often means months of tapering — not weeks.
It’s a partnership. If a step down is too uncomfortable, your doctor can hold the dose or step back up briefly before trying again.
You won’t necessarily get to zero. Some people taper to a lower stable dose that gives them most of the benefit without the harm. That’s a valid outcome.
Non-medication strategies become more important as the dose drops — physiotherapy, gentle exercise, sleep, pacing, psychological strategies. Your doctor can refer you.
What withdrawal symptoms feel like
If the dose comes down too quickly, you can get temporary symptoms as your body adjusts. This is not addiction — it’s your body re-calibrating after the medication has been in your system for a long time. With a slow, supervised taper, withdrawal is usually mild.
Symptoms usually start within 12–72 hours of a dose reduction (depending on the opioid), peak within a few days, and settle over a week or two. If they’re bad, your doctor can slow the taper, hold the dose, or sometimes prescribe short-term medications (e.g. for nausea or sleep) to help.
How to tell withdrawal apart from worsening pain
This is important — the two can feel similar and they need different responses.
Withdrawal symptoms
Worsening underlying pain
Start within hours to days of a dose reduction
Build over days to weeks, or after a specific event
Located in the specific area where you usually have pain
Settle within 1–2 weeks even without going back up
Persistent and not improving
Improve quickly if the previous dose is restarted
May not respond as well to opioids over time (this is part of why the taper is happening)
If you’re unsure which it is — contact your GP. Don’t adjust the dose yourself.
When to call your GP (not urgent)
Withdrawal symptoms are severe or not settling after 1–2 weeks
Pain is significantly worse and not settling
You’re tempted to take more than prescribed, source opioids elsewhere, or stop the taper on your own
Your mood is dropping, sleep is badly disrupted, or you’re feeling overwhelmed
You’re running out of medication early
Things that help during a taper
Take the medication exactly as prescribed. Don’t skip or save doses to use later. Don’t double up.
Tell anyone else prescribing for you — dentist, hospital, specialists — that you’re reducing opioids. Don’t accept opioid prescriptions from elsewhere without your usual GP knowing.
Use one pharmacy. It helps the pharmacist look after you safely and is required by some state monitoring rules.
Move gently and often. Walking, stretching, swimming — whatever you can manage. Activity helps both withdrawal symptoms and chronic pain.
Sleep, eat regularly, and stay hydrated. Withdrawal hits harder if you’re run down.
Avoid alcohol — it interacts dangerously with opioids and worsens both pain and mood.
Ask about non-medication options — physiotherapy, psychology (some sessions are subsidised via a Mental Health Care Plan), pain management programs, exercise physiology, hydrotherapy. Your GP can refer you.
Get a Naloxone kit. If you still have opioids in the house, naloxone reverses an accidental overdose — free at most pharmacies through the Take Home Naloxone program.
Common questions
Most people who take prescription opioids long-term aren’t addicted — they’re physically dependent, which is different. Dependence means your body adapts to the medicine and you’ll get withdrawal symptoms if it’s stopped suddenly. Addiction involves loss of control, craving, and continued use despite harm. They’re different things, and most people taper successfully without ever having been addicted. If you’re worried you might be addicted — tell your GP. They’re there to help, not judge, and there’s effective treatment.
For some people, the answer might be that you stay on a lower stable dose — and that’s a perfectly valid outcome. The reason your GP is suggesting a reduction is usually because the long-term harms (hormonal changes, increased pain sensitivity over time, falls, accidental overdose, interaction with other medications) are starting to outweigh the benefit. The 2020 Australian regulations also changed the rules around long-term opioid prescribing for non-cancer pain. Your GP will explain what applies to your situation.
That fear is normal and your GP will take it seriously. Talk about it openly before starting the taper. Ask: what’s the plan if the pain gets worse? What non-medication options will I have access to? Can I have a pain management program referral? Many people find that pain doesn’t actually return as feared — and that quality of life improves even with some pain — but this needs to be tested gently, not assumed.
Return them to any pharmacy — free, no questions asked — through the Return Unwanted Medicines (RUM) project. Don’t flush them, don’t put them in the bin, don’t keep them “just in case” (accidental ingestion is a serious cause of paediatric overdose). See our medication disposal page for details.
Free support — available 24/7 Lifeline — 13 11 14 | Beyond Blue — 1300 22 4636 | 13YARN (Indigenous-led) — 13 92 76 National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline — 1800 250 015 (free, confidential, 24/7) Painaustralia — painaustralia.org.au for chronic pain support and pain management program information