Morphine Addiction

[jeaniecb]

Is there safe programme to reducing high dose morphine , My daughter keeps getting so ill on reducing , her Dr insists on reducing 20 mg each time she can barely breathe or walk .. i am so concerned , her heart beat is 150pm and oxygen levels drop to 58-84. Her heart is sore and bones .

[paul_langton_rogers]

Hi Jeanie,

I'm sorry to hear about your daughters addiction to Morphine. What dosage of morphine does she normally need out of interest to keep withdrawal symptoms at bay, or how low is she able to go on reducing the next dose before it gets uncomfortable?

Bearing in mind her doctor has recommended this dosage reduction regime, if you think 20mg is too much of a dosage reduction, perhaps try a slightly different approach. In my experience, many doctors are strictly "textbook" when it comes to administrating doses of drugs or withdrawing patients from drugs. The problem is, you're dealing with people and patients often respond differently. Normally Doctors can be reasoned with and will give a patient some leeway to determine what dosage plan is right for them, either when starting a new drug, or withdrawing from one.

If 20mg is too much reduction at this stage, perhaps try 15mg? If that's too much, try 10mg..then 5mg and so on...until you find a level where your daughter is stable and the withdrawal side effects are not too severe. A chronic dependency addiction to Morphine that has developed over years has to be managed carefully and the drug withdrawn gradually. It's not something you can do in weeks or months usually.

One other thing I would suggest discussing with your doctor..

There is a drug called Buprenorphine which is used in the management of chronic opioid addiction and as a substitute drug for withdrawal. It's a very potent drug (far more potent than heroin and morphine) and it works by blocking the opioid receptors in brain, yet it doesn't have the same effect on brain as opioid drugs, ie the patient doesn't feel high or euphoric, but they do not experience any withdrawal side-effects or cravings.

Although it's a well established and very effective treatment approach for chronic dependency or addiction, it's such a powerful drug that many family doctors are very reluctant to prescribe Buprenorphine (probably due to fear of misuse or replacing one addiction for another). A lot of family doctors are just not experienced in prescribing this drug or dealing with chronic opioid addictions, so you may need a referral to a drug addiction specialist to get a prescription for Buprenorphine and some supervision may be needed with taking it (usually at a pharmacy).

Once a patient stabilizes on Buprenorphine (usually in the 2mg-8mg dosage range), that dose has to be gradually reduced over a period of time. That can be weeks, months or even years, depending on the individual. The good thing about Buprenorphine is that it can be withdrawn from in a very precise and gradual way, down into microgram (ug) dosages.

Some people however remain on Buprenorphine as a maintenance drug, long-term, until they're able to undergo psychotherapy to address the issues that caused their drug dependency. Nevertheless it does provide addicts with a much better quality of life than remaining on an opioid drug and is a lot better for families.

There's many successful recovery stories with Buprenorphine if you research further online.

I hope that's helpful and your daughter gets through this difficult time.

Paul