[johnisgood]

Not everyone experiences side-effects of opioids, in fact, they are not even THAT common. I do not experience euphoria, nausea, mental fog, or any sedation from ANY opioids. I experience constipation, but I am fine with that. Morphine might be more dulling (or foggy) than say, oxycodone, but it highly varies.

As for "depress your respiratory system", yeah, in high enough doses, or if you are especially sensitive to it.

Pharmaceutical opioids are pretty much safer than NSAIDs. The side-effects of NSAIDs are actually worse than the side-effect of opioids. You will not get ulcers, blood clots, stroke, heart issues, GI issues, and all sorts of other issues with opioids.