Something instead of morphine? - Oesophageal & Gas...

Oesophageal & Gastric Cancer

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Something instead of morphine?

Fizzy35 profile image
5 Replies

Hi my husband is 9 months post op and in a lot of pain

He has 8 paracetamol and slow release morphine tablets morning and night. Before surgery he was on 10 mg slow release and occasional liquid which he hardly used.

He has been in hospital with severe pain three or four times and acute chronic pancreatitis was diagnosed so he also takes Creon. He has had four scans which show no cancer

But still the pain persists. Was back at surgical appt a fortnight ago and once again his morphine has been increased pending an appointment with Pain Management which they currently predict around end April

Hoping this is NOT a talk thing and more an action thing because the pain is really bringing him down.

He is on a feeding tube which has stabilised his weight at 8st. Two years ago he was (14s 4)

My thinking ( tho may be wrong) is that his body is not dealing properly with the morphine tablets or liquid and think patches and or injection may work better therefore take less morphine?

Thank you for reading this long long post and any suggestions very welcome

Fizzy35

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5 Replies
RandyM profile image
RandyM

I am in the US, and if Morphine was not helping my pain, I would call the doctor immediately and switch the Morphine for a better pain reliever. No one should have to suffer with unrelieved pain. There are MANY other pain medications they could order for your husband. Good luck!

Animalmadwoman profile image
Animalmadwoman

Hi, my husband also suffers with a lot of pain & has Oramorph liquid , which he doesn’t get on with , he feels the paracetamol are not effective either. He now has liquid codiene phosphate , which he can take up to 4 times a day. He finds this helps much better with pain management.

There is an over the counter medication that we can get here in U.K. again now ( it was taken off the market a few years ago because of risk of addiction to an ingredient which has now been tweaked) it’s called Syndol and is a combination of codeine, paracetamol and a muscle relaxant. This is good for when pain is bad.

Hope this may be if some help.

Best wishes & hoping as the ‘other half’ you look after yourself too! Something I should do more ! X

Fizzy35 profile image
Fizzy35 in reply toAnimalmadwoman

Thank you so much for that

Will investigate!

Best wishes on your journey too x

Hello Fizzy35, my husband had pancreatic cancer, the morphine caused hallucinations, consultant changed to OxyContin, which improved his quality of life in the last few weeks. Hope this helps . Wish your husband well 🤗

Mauser1905 profile image
Mauser1905

I become allergic to morphine since surgery, so was on alternative pain medications throughout.

I recall I had oxycodone which I got rid off asap once I was at home. And cocodamol also.

Your cancer nurse specialist can link you up with hospitals pain management team, in normal circumstances if you are in the UK. Currently my CNS has been reassigned to ICU and her calls being directed to a charity role.

You can call NHS24 and go through telephone triage for the meds.

9 months on feeding tube. Feel for him. Hope he is working in recovery.

Good luck.

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