Morphine?

[charlie_red]

At the start of the week I was put on morphine as nothing seems to be working .. I was surprised to have no side effects and no pain relief! I'm on 10mg tablets so maybe it's not strong enough?

Is it just me that this happens too?

C x

[Extremelygrumpy]

I was put on oramorph absolutely useless for pain, but made me constipated for 3 weeks... Had to go back to gps for meds for that , I was given patches after that and again made no difference to pain... The only thing that works for me when I get totally knotted up and can't move is a short course of diazepam then I have to manage without anything or paracetamol cos I react badly to anything else

so fed up of my bodY

VG x

[charlie_red in reply to Extremelygrumpy]

Hey,

The morphine has had zero effect on my pain, I've never felt pain like this, it's the worst it's ever been since I've had fibro! I've spoke to my nurse at the pain clinic and she has suggested tramadol so I'm hoping to start that next week, I just need some relief.

I feel the same way about my body, it just seems to be failing when it comes to pain killers

Hope you've had a good day, C x

[Sandy247]

I'm on MST 60 which is an absolute god send and I also have oramorph for when I have flare-ups. Don't know where I'd be without them, Perhaps you need your dose increasing until the pain is taken away - by then you may have some side effects until your body gets used to them. Constipation is a side effect of most opiates but I find dried apricots see to that. Hope this helps.

[charlie_red in reply to Sandy247]

That's good you have something that is helping, I spoke to my nurse at the pain clinic today who wants to take me off morphine as I'm only 23 and she has suggested tramadol. I'm just hoping that this will work as I need some relief, I've been in constant pain with no relief at all

I've tried some apricot and it seems to be good!!

Thanks

C x

[suejayjay]

I was on the Morphine patches until recently. First 5mg. No benefit whatsoever, then upped to 10mg. By now had been on Morphine for 6 weeks. Then the side effects kicked in. Headaches, pain worse than ever and terrible itching all over. Dr. took me off everything and 6 weeks on the itchyness has gone, headaches hardly ever and pain as always. But I feel better in myself and Dr. said most pain killers have the unusual side effect, to those suseptable, of joint pain!! I manage now with Ibuprofen or Paracetamol if pain severe.Pointless taking more & more painkillers at ever higher doses if pain stays the same I thought. Not sure what long term will bring but at the moment, coping. Seemed that what ever I took, worked very temporarily and then no effect. Perhaps you are the same C? XX

[charlie_red in reply to suejayjay]

Hello,

This is exactly like me, I've not had many side effects tho. I've to now come off morphine and try tramadol .. I've tried so many things and they have only worked for a few weeks and then the relief seems to ware off and I'm left in agony!

I'm willing to try anything that will help relief the pain, but there are only so many pain medication that you can take! I'm allergic to ibuprofen so I can't take any anti inflammatory medication

C xx

[Paris-and-Nicky]

I didn't get any relief at all from the liquid morphine - unless I glugged WAY more than the 5ml I was supposed to take, with some alcohol - but that of course, made me feel sick and I'm sure wasn't a very clever thing to do - but desperation makes us do all sorts doesn't it?

Please bear in mind though that I have osteoarthritis in many joints and have already undergone 3 total hip replacements so at times, my pain was not only from the fibro and wassevere and sharp enough to have me screaming and yelling in agony a lot of the time, with no release - until they did a hip revision that needed bone grafts, a titanium plate and screws to rebuild, so it was no wonder I was in such pain.

I'm still left with continuous, dull ache across my lower back though but I've been using (synthetic?) morphine patches for several years now, gradually increasing the dose until I'm now on Transtec patches 52.5mcg and that more or less stops the pain I get even when in bed or sitting. But it's not strong enough to mask the pain when I actually DO anything though, them I'm in pain almost immediately. Also I do itch quite a lot and have many fibro aches and pains that it doesn't stop but everything is a lot worse when the patch needs changing. And nothing else, including dihydrocodeine and tramadol, has helped as much. I was also taking diclofenac but stopped recently as getting little benefit over and above what the synthetic morphine patches dampen down, now the worst of my arthritic pain has reduced since the last hip operation.

I've also been on as high a dose as 2,700mg a day of Gabapentin but, again, since the last operation stopped taking that except for 200/300mg a day now that seems to help my hypohydrosis.

Crazy isn't it that so many side effects of pain killers can include joint pain WTF? Don't we deserve something better than all these poisons they feed us to try and mask our symptoms, treatment or prevention of the actual disease for example!?!

[charlie_red in reply to Paris-and-Nicky]

Hey!

Oh dear, you've been through so much! That's good that you can get some relief with the patches, I've never tried patches but I think I'm certainly heading that way.

I'm still on morphine, only 10mg and getting little relief. I talked to my nurse at the pain clinic who suggested Tramadol, but is the strength not below morphine?

Feel like I'm going around in circles with my pain and I'm trying my hardest to try and manage it but feel like I'm getting no where!

I've always been very wary about taking tablets for things, well I was until I had fibro and I rely on them for at least some pain relief. I'm dreading to think about what all of these tablets are doing to my insides and I'm only 23 so I'm sure I'll find out soon enough

C x

[Paris-and-Nicky]

Yeah I do feel I've gone through a fair old bit for my age but at least my problems didn't start until I was in my early 30's and I made the most of my life whilst I was still able to - back-packing around the world and ended up living in Mexico for 10 years as couldn't think of a good enough reason to come home - the warmer climates helped too, as long as not too humid. I've been back in England for over 7 years and definitely suffer more because of the changeable weather.

It IS hard for me sometimes to distinguish between some of the fibro pain and arthritic pain but one of the reasons I'm so pleased the patches help me is so that I DON'T have to keep putting even more pills in my stomach, as, like you say, goodness knows what more damage they're doing.

Yeah I believe Tramadol is not as strong as morphine but some things work with different people. If you do try Tramodol (I'm not sure if it's a NSAID or not?) your doc will probably suggest you protect your stomach with Omeprozole.

Sometimes heat/ice, gentle massage, gentle stretching, walking and exercises, not just swimming in a warm (hydrotherapy?) pool perhaps, followed by a gentle jacuzzi can provide temporary relief and it makes you feel a little more in control.........

I do feel for you, especially at your young age. I'm no expert but I do believe there is a connection between emotional trauma/suffering and what manifests itself in our bodies so sometimes some work on one's self (self-improvement stuff, and again you feel as if you're doing something), can have a beneficial effect. I also did a number of courses run by the local psychology department of the NHS - doctors can put you in touch with them - and actually had a breakthrough, an epiphany, on one called Beating the Blues that helped me mentally, which in turn helped me feel stronger to cope with all the pain and hassle. I've also done a number of others including ones dealing with chronic pain, pacing, stress, anger management and am about to go to one specifically targeted at fibro sufferers.

I wish you all the very best and sincerely hope you can get things manageable. x

[shetlandlass]

HI I HOPE THIS IS HELPFUL I AM ON 60 M MORNING AND NIGHT 10M IS KNOW GOOD BUT YOU HAVE TO BUILD UP SLOWLY ALSO YOU NEED SOMETHING FOR BREAK AWAY PAIN TRAMADOL AS MORPHINE ONLY WORKS IN THE BACK GROUND I THINK YOU SHOULD MENTION IT TO YOUR DOCTOR AS IF SHE READS UP ABOUT IT LIKE MY DOCTOR DID SHE WILL UNDERSTAND BETTER HUGS AND BEST LUCK CAROLX

[tiddles1234]

I use the patches and leave a red marks and itch after while change every 4 days