Longterm Morphine use

[Zurealsoon]

A close relative has severe back problems and is already on very strong pain meds. Doctors want to do laser surgery (he refuses-scared), but he feels that morphine injected by the Doc is the only thing that will help him.


Is this addictive?

 

[Doctor P]

Well, for very severe pain, morphine is the only thing that will cut it for me, so I understand where he is coming from. That said, if morphine is required to cut the pain, and the pain is not from a terminal condition, the addictive properties of morphine and morphine derivatives are indeed something to worry about. The good thing is that most of these drugs are only available to be administered in very controlled doses (and usually under very controlled conditions). Bottom line is that one really should not be on heavy painkillers for a nonterminal condition if there are other options to reduce the pain and provide quality of life. At least that's my, somewhat informed, opinion.

 

[huckster]

yes this is an opid very addicticing iy belongs in the herion family , they dr. would know this if viodine and oxycotn dont work he must already have an addition that his tolerance is getting stronger , i only speak from a personal opion , be careful

 

[Tiggeroo]

what would the consequences be of addiction if it's neccesary. If you are always going to be on the medicine at a set dosage, and it is legal for you to obtain it, is it really a bad thing?
That said has he tried a pain center yet. There are methods to control pain now.
He should consider seeing a counselor to overcome the fear of the surgery. Perhaps the surgery would give him a new life.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

he feels that morphine injected by the Doc is the only thing that will help him.

There is a big difference between injected morphine and oral morphine. Injected morphine gives a "high" which could be addictive. Oral morphine like MS Contin is an extended release tablet which lasts about 12 hours. People with long term pain issues often take these twice a day and are not necessarily addicted. I would really encourage your DH to go to a Pain Clinic and/or consider surgery though - there are many other options for effective pain control. Good luck.

 

[lsyorke]

There is a big difference between injected morphine and oral morphine. Injected morphine gives a "high" which could be addictive. Oral morphine like MS Contin is an extended release tablet which lasts about 12 hours. People with long term pain issues often take these twice a day and are not necessarily addicted. I would really encourage your DH to go to a Pain Clinic and/or consider surgery though - there are many other options for effective pain control. Good luck.

Exactly. Injected morphine gives a quick "high" but doesn't last long. How often is he gettin the injection? I find it hard to believe that a doctor is continuing to give injectable morphine without investigating other pain management options. Something isn't right here. To commit to a lifetime of narcotics due to fear of surgery is just strange. This would send up a BIG red flag if he were my patient.

 

[Disney_1derland]

My dad has severe back/neck injuries and chronic severe pain because of these compound injuries. He has been on oral morphine for over a year and it really has helped improve his condition. Personality wise it has not changed him but if the doctor is a few days late filling his prescription he sinks down to the way he was physically before the morphine. That was rarely out of bed, feels awful and barely functional. I don't see it as addiction I just see the pain being what it really is and it's so bad that he can't function in that much pain. He had to quit taking every other thing he was taking because he'd been on it so long it was eating his stomach and intestines. The morphine has been a welcome change.

 

[barkley]

as the doctor/patient explored the possiblity of a nerve block?

my brother suffers from tremendous pain due to post polio syndrome-he is undergoing a procedure which involves a localized epidural that blocks the pain sensation from traveling to the brain (so he does not feel the pain). it must be repeated periodicly but apparantly it can be a godsend for chronic pain of some types.

just as an aside-some patients also use morphine supposotories (i have them on hand for intense migranes). these can be highly addictive and do result to some extent in a "high". they can also cause other medical problems to occur which can further complicate health.

 

[Disney Doll]

Yes. Long term continuous use of Morphine will cause addiction, and the same eventual physical effects as any long-term narcotic use causes, even if it is being used exactly as prescribed.

That being said, it is not the only factor to consider. Quality of life, expected life span, reason for pain, other interventions that have been tried or are available are other factors that impact pain management.

 

[Zurealsoon]

It's not my DH......I believe this relative will get a "port" to inject the morphine, but the Doc wants to try the laser surgery to numb the "pain nerve".

He , also is pretty much bed bound, due to the pain.

 

[lsyorke]

What a shame that he won't consider the laser surgery. We have had great results with the new procedures. The problem I see with the morphine is that it will require higher and higher doses to achieve the pain relief that he is getting now. The surgery may be a permanent solution.. the morphine is just treating the symptom of a known problem.

 

[rascalmom]

I am curious about the laser procedures. I had a cervical fusion about 10 years ago. I got some relief from the neck pain that caused me to seek out treatment, but still have chronic shoulder pain. I take quite a bit of Tylenol and ibuprofen & have tried other medications, physical therapy, muscle injections and have not been able to get much relief. I really don't want to take any type of narcotics long term.

 

[Tiggeroo]

as someone just diagnosed with high bp I can tell you long term heavy use of nsaids like ibuprophen can be very bad. Cause kidney damage and high bp.

 

[huckster]

i had back surgery it helped alot ,, they did try 2 nerve blocks for me they did not work . every back is different , if i was terminal and in pain and my quality of life was better by morphine i would use it as addiction wouldnt be a concern is thsi person bed ridden due to pain or will they be that way forver ?

 

[TeresaNJ]

It is addictive, and the problem is that as the body gets accustomed to it you need higher and higher doses to control the pain. Severe constipation and bowel obstruction is one of the complications of chronic use, not to mention many other problems.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

DW MeanLaureen has been on Morphine for about 8-10 months now. She faces taking narcotics the rest of her life just to have half the quality of life she had 5 yrs ago. They put her on Morphine after she had taken Hydrocodone (Vicodin) for 2 yrs. She became extremely addicted to the Vicodin. If she was more than 30 minutes late for her next dose, she would start suffering withdrawl symptoms that were worse than the disease she is taking the medicine for. As of right now, if she is late for her next dose of Morphine, she doesn't feel the same type of withdrawl problems as she did on the Vicodin. The only alert to her that time has escaped and she's late is the growing pain. Not sure if that will change over time or not. Kind of scary that she is at a pretty high dose of Morphine right now - what is the next step when the Morphine no longer works?