Morphine Use

[Bramcote212]

Does 10mg Zomorph take a few days to work? Severe bladder pain after biopsy and very large Suprapubic Catheter replaced small size ( 22 from 16)

[kohai OA Ambassador]

Hi Bramcote212, wow I am so sorry you've had to wait two months for a reply, I can say though not many appear to have experience with morphine. The 10mg Zomorph, is this in tablet form or liquid form?

While I am currently on liquid (oral) morphine and Butec (morphine) patches which goes through the skin, I've previously been on various tablet morphine. Liquid and tablet take different amounts of time to absorb into the body, the dose and sometimes the length of time you take it can also factors in how quickly or well they work.

I'm not trying to teach you to suck eggs here, I'm going by basics as I don't know how much knowledge you already have on this.

For examples;- (all morphine based)

Some medications must be given to the patient at the lowest dose possible to start with, then after roughly 2 - 3 weeks, this can be increased from 10mg to 20mg (and so on ... increasing upwards in accordance with the pain level, so it is important if the 10mg isn't managing your pain, please do let your doctor or consultant know so they can increase it).

Oral liquid morphine - I'm allowed to take anywhere between 2.5ml and 10ml every four to six hours depending on the level of pain. This type of morphine is referred too by the medical profession as a "quick acting resort". It works within half hour.

Morphgesics, for example, come in tablet form, start on a low dose of 10mg twice a day (1 x morning, 1 x evening). 10mg is the lowest dose and is gradually increased over time until a level is reached where it controls the pain. The downside is, the amount of pain we have to endure while waiting to reach that dose where it finally managed the pain.

I admit I've never been on Zomorph so can only advise by the morphine types I have been on. So, rundown - liquid (oral) morphine works within half hour and lasts for 4-6 hours, even though inactive traces remain in the body for upto 72 hours after.

Tablet forms can take anywhere between 24 hours to 3-4 weeks to work. So please, I can't stress this enough, if you're still in pain, speak to your doctor and don't ever suffer in silence.

The down side of increasing the mg of addictive medication like the morphine group is, the higher the dose, the longer it takes to come off them. 10mg is low enough it can be stopped any time, but as it increases by 10mg each time, (up to or above 80mg per day for example) the more the body physically relies on it, thus the medication has to be reduced 10mg at a time as you come off it. If you try stopping it yourself in one go, it will make you feel like you have the worst kind of flu and stomach bug imaginable, so I highly recommend never ever doing that.. and I speak from personal experience on that, I learnt the hard way and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

I hope some, or a bit of what I've said can be of use to you. I do think a doctor visit is needed if you've given the tablets? time to work and you're still in pain.