Oral Morphine

[ParchWoody]

A month after a second round of chemotherapy (carbo & Gem). I’ve developed a upper respiratory cough and oncologist prescribed me 1.25mg of oral morphine before bedtime. Just worried about addiction, tolerance and increase of dosage. I’ve advised to steam inhale to loosen up sinuses. Has anybody else been prescribed this or found something else helpful. Thank you for time.

[RoyCastleHelpline Partner Ask the Nurse Roy Castle]

Dear ParchWoody

Welcome to the forum, and sorry to hear about your recent symptoms. I have placed some links below which provide information and reassurance on your concerns of taking Morphine.

It is unlikely to develop an addiction as the purpose and effect of taking the morphine is for pain relief, this is explained well on the NHS website link:

beta.nhs.uk/medicines/morph... If you go to section 10 this answers questions on tolerance and addiction etc.

Cancer Research UK also provide good information :

cancerresearchuk.org/about-...

This link is from Macmillan cancer support:

macmillan.org.uk/informatio...

If you wish to discuss anything you can call us on our free nurse led helpline number on 0800 3258 7200

Kind regards

The Roy Castle Support Team

[Hidden]

Hi Parchwoody, I was also on gemcarbo, and I was lucky enough to respond well to it. I have been taking oramorph last thing at night for two years now. It does control my cough. The morphine dosage is very low. I wouldn’t worry about addiction. Enjoy it, it works well!

[ParchWoody in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for responding. Nice to connect to someone on a similar pathway. It’s really helpful. Can I ask you a couple of questions? Have you had any side affects? Are you able to drive and do stuff during the day? We’re you prescribed oramorph after chemo? Are you outside of treatment? Thank you for your time.

[Hidden in reply to ParchWoody]

I am very lucky. After a positive response to chemo, the tumour was inactive for 9 months. It began to become active again last November. That gave my Oncologist enough justification (either NHS or private Insurance) to put me on Immunotherapy (Nivolumab). I have had 16 sessions so far. For me, the side effects to Nivolumab have been an unpleasant colitis infection that required steroid treatment. Other than that, I live a full and normal life. No side effects to daily oramorph, other than good control of my cough, and a small assistant to good sleep. More than two years after diagnosis with stage 4 squamous NSCLC, I am still asking my Oncologist “Are you sure?”. Sadly, he says “Yes!”.

I am a very lucky lung cancer patient. I tell all my family and friends that they also have a 100% terminal condition. It is called LIFE and it is sexually transmitted!

[ParchWoody in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for taking the time to responding to my questions much appreciated.

[ynkefan08753]

Welcome! Sorry to hear of your diagnosis but glad you’ve come to find others who can help support you. I agree with the others that you should not worry about addiction. Especially if you take the meds as prescribed. Some will build a “tolerance” which is totally different than an addiction and as long as your condition justifies taking that medication...you should have no problem if and when you don’t need it anymore. My neurologist told me that they way to know whether or not you need the pain medication dosage you take is pretty straightforward. If you take it and get a “high” feeling...it’s probably too high a dose. Pain meds, especially opioids...attach themselves to the pain receptors in your brain to “kill” the pain. If you don’t have enough pain, they attach to the pleasure receptors and give you that euphoria. In your case, I’m sure the medication was prescribed to calm the muscles that cause the coughing. Trust your doctor that he or she knows what they’re doing and be rest assured that they want what’s best for you. If you told us you were prescribed 30mgs of oxycodone for chemo cough than I would tell you to get another opinion. The medication and dose you are on is very appropriate for your situation. Unless your symptoms start to increase you should probably not need a dose increase. Good luck to you and welcome again!

Be well 😊😊😊

[ParchWoody in reply to ynkefan08753]

Thank you so very much for taking the time to respond to my question.

[ynkefan08753]

😊😊😊