How can I ease morphine withdrawals?

MS Contin ( morphione sulfate) is NOT "instant release ( the other way around, and you are NEVER ever supposed to break MS apart.





I am not being cruel, but a L-5 S-1 "fusion" is a very very minor problem. In fact, I would wager that most cowboys and cowgirls have "self fused" l5 s1 "tailbones" You could fall on your butt skating ONE time, and "self fuse" those two vertebrae. True enough that some very painful sciatica can result. I have actually never heard of a orthopedic surgeon suggesting much less actually doing a L5 S1 "fusion", but i suppose it is possible.



15 mg every 6 hours is almost as small as you can get. You should have had NO side effects from that does at all if you actually needed that level of pain control. That dosage is not enough to even cause constipation in most people.

Something else caused your problems, not the MS Contin



There would be NO "life threatening" complications from stopping a 15 Mg dose.

Only "opioid tolerant" people that have used heroin etc and take 200 a dose are in any danger whatsoever from respiatory arrest etc and need medical intervention to cease addiction.



you should have never taken MS Contin and Lortabs together



You were not on morphine long enough to become physically addicted; unless you have been a drug user in the past.

I was addicted to Oxycodone , Morphine , xanax ,  etc.  I had severe PTSD which I still have but not to that degree, or so I think.  I knew that I had to stop on my own or I would continue like this for the rest of my life.  One of the things that saved me was my husband.  He would hide the pills throughout the house and when I called him he had a note of where it was hidden. This way I wouldn't be tempted to take more.  I had huge fights with him because I thought that I hadn't taken the pill when he said I had.  He made a chart so I could cross off the pill when I took it.  I had accountability to someone in taking the pills this was my doing.  I also started playing Farmville, (I hate these games) but my sisters are in other countries.  I found it that it helped me focus and take my mind off what I was going through physically.  It was easy on the mind which was already being abused and it was a good outlet.  Find something that you can focus on for hours on end.  I don't mean anything stressful or you will only fail.  I stopped everything by May of this year and am still having withdrawal cravings for the Xanax.  The others don't pull me as hard as they used to but everyday it does get better.
Just know that you will not be wanting that drug once you come off of it.  You will not be obsessed of when your next dose is coming and your life will no longer evolve around your medications.  You will have the free will and the free thought that you once possessed.

I've found it helps to wien off in spurts. Let yourself withdrawl for about 24 hours (if you can, I know It's hard).

Then lower your dose by about 10%. Use again for 1-2 days then repeat. The withdrawl is Hell in a handbasket, but compared to "cold turkey" and just straight wiening, the short spurts of withdrawl significantly cut down on your tolarance (which also cut the time length of your ultimate cleanse of the drug entirely.

Also as in the earlier post of Benadryl helping, It can definately help (being as it is not addictive, It will just help you sleep through your 24 hour spurts of withdrawl.

A dangerous alternative (as long as you don't have alchoholism in your family) is a shot or two of (whatever liquor you prefer) every hour while you're wiening. (you can mix this with Benedryl, as long as you keep it to a one shot minimum per hour).

Oh, and once you're to the stage of just having the chills/hot flashes, a warm bath can do wonders.

Good Luck to you and God bless (the opium poppy was put on the earth as just another test of one's will, YOU can overcome it, just believe/and "get a few pointers lol".

 

XD THANK YOU ALL IM A 5 DAYS OFF AND I FEEL GREAT!!!! YES I HAVE MY MOMENTS BUT I JUST THINK FOR 47 YEARS I GOT THREW LIFE WITHOUT DRUGS DONT NEED THEM NOW!!!!!!! READING YOUR POSTS WHEN I FEEL BAD HELPS MORE THAN YOU NO THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

 

I am 25 and have been takeing morphine for about 10 months since i brock my hip which was messed up badly in hospital, so the only way i could function and carry on working is my morphine.  I still have serve pain and a few weeks ago my does went up to 1000mg a day this was including liquid plus tramadol on top.  This was because my body was becoming so used to the morphine it had no effects any more.  The pain in the end could not be touched i asked the doctors what  could the dose go up to they said there is no maxium dose just when it has an effect on the pain.  I was able to metaly fuction through the day but could not sleep at night it was like the morphine speeded my body up.  This shows the only difference between a heroin addict and a morphine addict is the morphine addict can get a constant supplie of medication so can function during the day normaly.  This did however bring an end to my relasionship because my partner couldent stand to see me take this amout any more.  Since this i have cut my dose down to 2 100mg tablets aday which is abig drop.  There was no side effects at first apart from i was able to sleep better.  The pain was still the same no worse or better.  after 5 days i have started getting simptons nurne nose, watery eyes, shakes, dizzy.  These sysmptoms come and go they i feel like moods can be very depressive but i have had a long history with a battle with depression and take medication for this.  Once i feel used to this dose i plan to half it again and then slowly drop again.  The reason to  slowly drop is because your body make certin chemicals that deal with pain, morphine replicates these chemicals and the body becomes lazy and lets the morphine take over.  So when you plan to stop you must let your body slowly start to build this chemical back up other wise your body feels like its in shut down and pain can be worse and symptoms even worse. I am exppeting it will take me months but i must live with the fact that i have no pain medication any more that will work.  This is highly dependant drug and dose have short term gain but any one take this drug who isent terminaly ill should be prepaired to say there is a ceiling limit to what you are prepaired to take mine 1000mg some people it is 60mg.  Etheir way it will still be hard to come off from.  If you have taken a jump that is to big you can uses anti inflamitores to help, sleeping tablets, codine, tramidol, anti sickness tablets.  try to uses only when symptons are servre to easse symptoms not as areplace ment.  I you have to hold down a job or have a family you need to look after i would recomend the slow aprrouch to stopping so you can still lead a functioning life at the same time other wise it would be like when i first tryed to stop the worst flu you ever had and you cant work or function untill you take anouther does.  Hope you all manage to come off this drug like i am trying to do myself.  There are plusses and negative to every drug only you can make the choses when it is anouth. p.s sorry about the spelling

me again from my last post i have droped the meds again now taking one 100mg tablet ones aday in the mornings.  This has started some withdrawl symptons in the evening and untill the moring dose kicks in. so far hot and cold shakes only light and nunny nose cant sleep very well.  But i do feel like a part of me mentaly is returning which is very reasureing. The only thing i now use to help is the odd sleeping tablet zopliclone which i think if you dont sleep how are you able to deal with anything.  The odd thing is i must have become so emune to the morphine that i had no pain relief no matter what dose i took in the end.  I am planning to get a new pricription from the doctor of 25 mg twice a day for a week then, 10 mg twice a day for a week after and see how things are going.  The doctor is very supprised how quick i am dropping the meds but i have lost my partner and kids from taking the drug for medical pain and i not prepaired to losses any more of my life.  i no each time i get withdrawls if i took anouther tablet the symptoms would eases in a couple of hours but that wount help me in my personal life.  YOu can feel a bit of you returning each week rember the are very strong meds which are designed to slow evething down. will let you know how it goes in a week or two.

 

back again i know not leting any one get a word in edge ways.  personal i have heard every one talking about support of family friends.  if you started taking the drug for medical reason for a long time your family wont be able to cope very easy with you then going through stopping.  With my partner who was wonderful at supporting me through my broken hip which was boged up my the hospital but they can only take so much.  If they see you suffering that much they withdrawls they will be tempted to say take a small dose not your normal doses just to gradualy cut down other wise the stress of having to whatch you through is very stressfull.  They will feel very distant and almost as if they dont know who you are any more you will become a paitent.   Once my relashionship came to an end it was much easyier to stop.  just my self to look after and no one elses feeling to take into account.  Not saying this is what anyone wants it is life changing and will mentaly turn your world up side down.  As much as i want the family back even if it is still possible now i am away from the situation i would not go back unless i was completly free from any effects of the drug other peoples strss is even harder to deal with than just your own.  The effect the uses of drugs like this have on a family in high doses and long periods pluss other medical problems is emence and you are very lucky to get through it togeather.  Between the oromorth and slow release tablets i was taking between 800mg and 1000mg a day and no improvement on the pain. from the last post above i am now on 1-10th of what i was taking within in a month this is wilst running my buisness with a disablity and dealing with relashionship and family problems.  I feel pyhically bad at times but mentaly it feels like ive been dead for the last 10 months and just waking up and liveing.  Its beter to live with pain and suffering than to not live a life at all.  if you stop or are stopping you will understand my rambling and it will make some sense. good luck  

Hi everyone. I'm Kay, not that a name matters but maybe being more personal will help a lot more. Okay, so four days ago, I stopped taking my pain medicine. (Morphine sulfate, 30 mg Sr tab twice daily as needed for pain. I would like to start off by saying that I wish I known what getting off of them would feel like when the pain management doctor prescribed them to me. However, that is why I am writing this blog. I have gotten off of them successfully and today so far, (fingers crossed) the only withdrawal symptom I am still having is an irritating muscle spasm in my left middle finger. So I want to tell you all on here what I did in hopes that it helps you. The first day of course, I was freaking out. The nonstop trips to the bathroom, feeling like i couldn't get warm enough and just when I would get warm the chills would set in again. I know this may seem well written, like a story, but that's simply because I have a knack for writing and loved English in school. I am 21 years old and kicked the morphine withdrawal symptoms in three days.

Step one. This was a complete accident, but for you ladies this should help. Try to plan your quit date close to your period. Wondering why? because if you start your period while your going through the withdrawal, it is very easy to tell yourself that your just having a terrible period this time around. However, for the guys this doesn't help so let me just tell you what I did.

I already told you on day one i practically only freaked out for hours. Plus my better half had class that day so I had it in my head that i was going to die or something. Trust me you wont. I told her what was going on, and just as I expected she did everything I asked and more.

So step one.  Make sure you have at least one person with you through this so the freak outs dont freak you out to much because the mind is a very tricky thing. Second part of step one. Tell the person that's with you how your feeling even if you think its annoying the heck out of them. conversation takes your mind off of the problem at hand, at least momentarily. Also you need to tell the other person not to let you have the morphine even if you beg. Its easier that way because you know you told them not to let you have it so chances are you wont ask for it. Tell them to make sure you eat. But you cant eat just anything because some foods will make the diarrhea worsen. Good foods are toast with jelly, bagels with cream cheese, not butter, butter is oily and loosens your stool which is half the problem in the first place. I know eating toast and things like it doesn't sound fun but if you can choke it down, it will help a lot. Last thing I have for step one, your body is losing a lot of liquids so you need to drink ALOT of water, and if you can get some Gatorade, it helps even more than the water.

Day two. The runs were still present and of course I was still freaking so I manned up the strength to have my girlfriend take me to wal mart to get some Imodium. I only took two of them and haven't needed to since but alot of why is what im going to tell you to do next. This part is totally up to you and how strong you are of a person. But around six O'clock in the evening the second day, I convinced my girlfriend to take me to the hospital. Now given that my meds were genuinely prescribed to me for a back injury from a car accident two years ago, they wont know the difference. So if you happen to be someone who is getting the pills from someone else, as much as you dont deserve my help, I still suggest go the ER. They gave me one dose of the following, Phenergen, 25mg oral tablet for nausea and vomiting. Hydroxyzine hydrochloride, 25 mg oral tablet for anxiety.  And lastly, they gave me Clonidine, 0.2 mg oral tablet for withdrawal symptoms.

They also gave the scripts to take home, hence how I know what I was given. My suggestion, dont fill the scripts. You wont really need them. Plus the Hydroxyzine and Clonidine combined trick your mind into thinking you took the morphine so if you start the new meds, you have to face withdrawal all over again.

Day three, drink a lot of Gatorade and water and do anything you can to get your mind off of the anxiety because at this point that should be the biggest problem, however, everyone is different. Also choke down as much food as you can so the emptiness in your stomach is not quite so bad. And if sleep is still a problem for you, take at least three benadryll because only taking two wont knock you out all night. Three will put you to sleep long enough to get a good amount of rest. Also if you happen to smoke ciggerettes, for some reason, it seems to help. Anything else seems to be up to you. Good luck and god bless, you can get through this. I did, and it only lasted four days.

I HAVE BEENON MS CONNTN 4 7YRS 100MG 3XDAILY RECENTLY DROPED 2 230 MGS DAILY BUT SECRETLY SLOWN DOWN TO ALMOST DOWN 2 130MG ADAY AN THE CUTTING DOWN HAS BEEN LAST 12MNTHS AN FEEL AWHOLE LOT BETTER IN WELL BEING. HAD CRUSH AMPUTATED R-HAND OFF WHEN IWAS 18 NOW FORTY TIL 30 HAD SNAPPED ME WRIST R-HAND AND VVSTRETCHED ALL THE SURGERY DNE PRVIOUS. PLUS DIISLOCATED BOTH SHOULDERS A NO OF TIMES AND SNAPPED COLAR BONES A NO OF TIMES AND NECK BRACED A FEW TIMES 4 BOUT 3MNTHS EA. ANYWAY OVER THE YRS FROM MOTOX AN SCALLY WAG BEHAVIOR IVE STOPPPEDBOUNCING ANSTARTED BREAKING. ENDED UP ON PANADEIN FORTE 10 2 15 X ADAYESPECIALY WORKING ASA BIOLY ANDA VERY PHYSICAL KIND OFF JOB. NOW WANT OFF LAST 130MGS ADAY 2 NUTHN AM HOPING B4 SAY ANYTHN THAT THERES A KIND OFF MAGIC PILL SO I CAN GETT IN WITHA TRUCK DRIVERS STARTING SHORTLYAND 2 BE CLEAR OF A DRUGTEST SO CAN GET THE JOB.. WHAT KIND OFF MAGIC AM I LOOKING AT IF THERES 1 THANKS DREAMERS NOT APPLY.

I have been on morpheme 6x60mg a day and perkiest 2x325 day for 20 years do to a back gingery in 1993 I recently resaved steroids injections witch I’m allergic to. I live alone and I amenity road in to the fetal position for 3 days only to go onto morpheme waterholes so saver I cod not keep the pills in my system long enough to dissolve or even get help for mi self on day 8 a friend found me and by day 9 win my hart stated hurting and fluttering I now it was time to die or fight back I was able to start drenching water vary painful by day 12 I was able to eat broth. I lost 25 pound in 12 days 20 days in to it I still have diarrhea and stomach pain. It has been hell on earth. I never know how much life morpheme had taken from me. You can stop and it will be the worst thing you will live throw. That’s rite you will live throw it. I’m 55 yrs old good luck be strong.

I have been on morpheme 6x60mg a day and perkiest 2x325 day for 20 years do to a back gingery in 1993 I recently resaved steroids injections witch I’m allergic to. I live alone and I amenity road in to the fetal position for 3 days only to go onto morpheme waterholes so saver I cod not keep the pills in my system long enough to dissolve or even get help for mi self on day 8 a friend found me and by day 9 win my hart stated hurting and fluttering I now it was time to die or fight back I was able to start drenching water vary painful by day 12 I was able to eat broth. I lost 25 pound in 12 days I’m 20 days in to it I still have diarrhea and stomach pain. It has been hell on earth. I never know how much life morpheme had taken from me. You can stop and it will be the worst thing you will live throw. That’s rite you will live throw it. I’m 55 yrs old good luck be strong.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

I realize this post is almost a year old, but I just writing this helps with some of the symptoms I am having. Someone close to me was prescribed MS Contin (Morphine Sulfate Continuous Release) approximately 15 years ago, I started taking some about 7 or 8 years ago, I was only taking maybe 15mg 2-3 times a day, now here I am still taking it. I have to take a 60mg dosage and break it in half and then take it so it releases faster and it still does not help me feel much better, so I sometimes take up to 180mg in a 12 hour period. I have read most of the posts from everyone and can say I have been through every symptom everyone has had multiple times. Reason being, is when u have 2 people hooked on the same thing, sharing a supply for one person, it gets to be a continuous fight over who took more and why they are all gone. So, almost every month I have to go 5-10 day with these serious withdrawals. And I know it would be better for me to just quit then going through this recurring cycle, I can say it is not easy in the least. I have been struggling with addictions ever since I can remember, and I have always traded one for another and just kept going on to the next. Now, at almost 30 years old, I am trying to kick one at a time, the progress seems slow, but every bit helps. Currently, I have had one 60mg pill in over 5 days now, and can barely function, I just want to lay around and not do anything because I feel so bad. From the getting hot and my face and head sweating while my feet are froze off and the pins and needles all over my body to the anxiety, sleeplessness, depression, the extreme watering of my mouth that tastes horrible to every last withdrawal symptom to can think of, I am still here, and if I can make it this long then why not just deal with it for a few more day or weeks or whatever it takes to be released from this prison and hell. I plan to not take anymore and rid this once and for all, but odds are against me. The sad thing is that the things in life that matter the most seem to not matter at all compared to getting another pill. I have lived this way long enough, I cant change the passed but I can always change the future....

i have the same problem as u.. i'm on oramorph as well as other morphine tablets have been on them for a year due to needing my S1 disk removed i have not abused the drugs i have taken as prescribed and now im hooked! i have strong bad feeling towards the doctors as i feel they have done this to me.. as if life isnt hard enuff im now a junkie .. the word tastes bitter on my tongue.. i also had unbearible pain sciatica (if someone has never has this pain they can have no idea how bad it is) now i'm really frightened that im hooked on something i will never be able to get off! what can i take to come off this stuff i want my life back, i had my op, and i feel like im one of the lucky one's as it worked for me i have some lower back pain but im sure some normal pain killer now and then would sort it out, but every time i have tried to come of my morphine i have realised that i cant! i did not know i was addicted until i tried to come off it! now im in a mess what do i do? can the doctor give me something? i want this to be the end of all my troubles not the start of new ones! 

correct...cold t is only way

I started taking Morphine Sulfate for back pain, I currently take 60 mg x 3 daily. I am still in pain and waiting for surgery. I am afraid to have surgery and deal with the withdrawals but I am not sure why people that don't need them take them. They don't have any effect on my "state" of mind. I don't get a rush or feel any different on them or off them. That is the same way I feel on any pain reliever or muscle relax, and I have anxiety medication just makes me sleep, it doesn't help anxiety. I'm glad I don't have the high feeling maybe that's the difference.