Dilaudid vs Morphine

Are you seeing a specialist? I don't think these are good medications for RA.

Guest,  your opinion is lacking.  Unless you really know the medical history, you have no basis to make an opinion.  It is unfortunate the there is such a stigma on pain and pain managment.  It is because of the people who have used drugs for recreation and have become addicts.  Most of these people have chronic pain conditions and deserve to be treated and not labeled.  I worked in the medical field and I myself struggled to treat the patient and not the stigma.  There are so many dr.s that worry about addiction of their patients to the point that they don't address their pain management.  I feel that it is time to make a referral for them and once all avenues (surgeries, proceedures, other medications, phycohological evaluation)  have been covered, the only option is pain management.  I do agree that patients are 100% going to become addicted to the drug, it is the lessor of their problems.

 

Think of it this way......1 mg of Dilaudid is the same thing as taking 5 mg of Morphine....when it cross the blood brain barrer it all converts to morphine and acts upon the MU recepitors

To the guest who said that we are all a bunch of drug addicts who need intervention, you clearly have no idea what you are talking about, and you should educate yourself on how debilitating pain can be. It can absolutely consume your life. I went though a pain management program at Kaiser. It was a group of professionals that ranged from yoga instructors, who taught us to check our breathing to mental health professionals who taught us how to say NO to letting our pain increase. The pain management group was not there to get us out of pain per say, but to learn how to live with our pain with dignity. There was a doctor who specialized in pain medicine, and he was the one who worked with each of us in the class to help us get out of pain, without sleeping the day away. If one medicine didn't work so well for us, he would try something else, or a different combination of various pain medications until we could function as productive people of society.

To this guest who spoke out of ignorance, I truly hope you never ever find yourself on the other side of pain, as you will be in the same group as us, trying to find a way to have a quality life while you battle the pain every minute of every day of your life.

Peace to you all who suffer with such pain. I encourage you to seek out some type of pain management group. It can and will change your life, if you are open to what they have to teach you. Kaiser's pain management group gave me most of my life back as it taught me how to take care of myself by learning how to say NO to something that will push up my pain, more like a 'healthy selfishness'!

Your an id**t. Apparently you haven't dealt with pain so servere you consider blowing your own head off. Until you are living in someone else's glass house, don't throw stones.

First, so sorry your having so much trouble and such chronic pain...I too have RA & agree, pain is daily, some days increased pain and "Flare Ups" make it 4X worse... First I suggest don't worry about Dr thinkiing your getting addicted to Painkillers..Truthfully, you ARE!!!!!..sadly it's part of RA and it's many various related issues and complications. PAIN is literally part of having RA and why so important to get pain mmgt with whatever helps w/no physical side effects. It took taking different meds, mgs and some combined to finally get reasonable level of pain under control where not severely in pain while making effort to stay active, not overdoing it; exercises..no weight bearing; low impact incl walk and SWIMMING...swimming is actually one of the very best as your body is so lightweight and many of the gyms w/pools like YWCA/ YMCA who also have Arthritis Water Exercises....If you have "Silver Sneakers" program that covers gyms, exercises etc I'd highly recommend to join and most of time espec if on Social Security either Disabiliy or Retirement. I know your very frustrated, disgusted, depressed and feeling hopeless...that's why so important you have a Dr who you can talk to, share your feelings; work w/you and not judge you..if she/he does..find another...I wish you success w/this and pray for healing incl pain management..God Bless

When comparing the strength of dilaudid vs morphine, it is often thought that dilaudid is about 3-4 times stronger than morphine. if you snort 10 mgs of dilaudid it will make you feel twice as good as snorting 10 mgs of morphine. Morphine is a very strong painkiller. Morphine overdose occurs when a person intentionally or accidentally takes too much of the medicine.

It's very aggravating when someone who hasn't a CLUE, tells me or someone ls in PAIN were addicted. Well yes!!! but not by choice. It's needed to live my life, so that i can once in a while feel better. and without it, i couldn't deal with the horrific pain. Don't post what you don't know..

A close relative of mine has metastatic cancer primarily in the digestive tract and it is widespread leading to three ostomy bags after different surgeries in the past year.  This person is in the hospital now and is using a Dilaudid pump as needed.  If necessary, is there a stronger pain medication ?

 Prognosis is very poor and the condition is terminal.  I want to undrstand how side effects or addiction could happen.  thank you.

You would be a lot better off smoking marijuana, it's the gold standard for pain killers and it does not do the damage
to your body.

Sorry. You ARE addicted to it. I totally sympathize with your pain. I have degenerative disk disease and scoliosis. Pain was horrible. I took everything. There isn't a drug I haven't been on or tried. Nothing worked for the pain. I was sick of being so strung out on Morphine and Dilaudid. Then, when my doctor moved from our area, I was completely screwed. No doctor would give me the meds I was used to taking. So, I finally went to rehab and got clean. Yes, my back pain was still prevalent but the doctors at the Treatment Center in Oregon helped me with my pain through alternative medicine and other treatment procedures NOT including mind-numbing addictive drugs. I have my life back and I got out in the public and away from my ever drug-searching lifestyle. I work 40+ hours a week and have been in recovery now for 7 years CLEAN!!

Glucosamine is a herbal supplement for joint pain,( it takes about 2-3 weeks to kick in) read about it -- and try it for 3 weeks-- you will be SURPRISED. Also Voltarin Gel works wonders, it does not take that much. Heat and exercise are always a good friend.

I am bed bound and dying. I am going to try to switch to dilaudid, maybe I will make it through the winterr. I have been laying on my back for 5 long years, my muscles are gone and I am stiff as a board. Oh how I wish I were dead, this is worse than death. The fentynal patches and other meds are not working.

Excuse me... Not many people understand what it is like to be in constant excruciating pain. I have degenerative disc disease and have lost 2" in heigth - my spine is bone on bone and every movement hurts. I will never use heroin - you must be an id**t. Try to understand that not everyone taking pain meds is an addict. Some people are really suffering and need what their doctors prescribe. When pain consumes you there is no way you can go to work. However, you can still lead an honest life and do the best you can each day and try to stay positive. Be more understanding - OK !

some can react differently to pain meds . I had it all. Dilaudid does not work. Fentanyl patch did not work. Morphine was semi effective. I say semi cause there is only so much the doctors will allow. I did not sleep for two days after waking up from recovery. and then suffered once released from the hospital. 30 years ago I was in an accident and in extreme pain. woke up from recovery and was given Demerol, it was totally effective. Today they will not precribe Demerol due to possible complications.