Drug info - Morphine SR not working as pain killer

[Cannabis Lover]

SWIM has 3 different occasional problems that require pain relievers - a bad back, headaches, and bad acid reflux, for which he takes Prilosec daily. SWIM can often go 6 months without any of these problems, but when he gets them he wants fast relief.

For all 3 of these problems, taking 2 Percocet usually relieves the pain for at least 4 hours, and SWIM can function fine on 2 Percocet, including driving a car, working at a computer, etc... It is estimated that SWIM could probably take 4-6 Percocet at once without any toleration problems, although the most he has ever taken at once was probably 3-4.

SWIM recently received from a friend 2 different versions of 30mg sustained release Morphine Sulfate pills. About 30 of the pills are dark purple and are labeled ABG on one side and 30 on the other side. He believes these are Morphine Sulfate SR pills. The other 30 pills are labeled 54 409 on one side and 30 on the other side. He believes these are ORAMORPH SR 30 MG pills. He further believes that these are basically the same medication.

SWIM has taken 2 of these pills once for the acid relux problem, and another time took 2 for a headache. Both times the pain did not go away, but SWIM did end up with a decent euphoric feeling for the rest of the day. If SWIM had taken 2 Percocet instead, the pain would have been gone within 1 hour for both problems.

SWIM was wondering if there is any way or method of taking the slow release Morphine pills to get the same pain relief, within about an hour, that he would easily get from the Percocet.

SWIM would never inject anything into his veins, but has inhaled other substances in the past. He is concerned, however, that all slow release Morphine pills contain hundreds of tiny wax coated particles that produce the "slow release" effect and is concerned about inhaling the wax in addition to the medicine. He is not sure if this is safe, even on an occasional basis. He is also not sure if this will produce the desired pain relief.

Again, SWIM's main concern is finding any way or method of taking the slow release Morphine pills to get the same pain relief, within about an hour, that he would easily get from 2 Percocet pills.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Picass035]

SWIYou's best bet would be to crush the pills and administer them rectally, since injecting is out of the question for SWIyou. There are a LOT of topics on this subject in the forum so tell him to use the search engine.

Hope this helps..

[deltakappamuMD]

For the acid reflux, no pain medication will ever help to relieve this pain. None. The only thing that works is antacids or proton pump inhibitors (ie omeprazole). Don't use narcotics for relief of this probelm, they actually make it worse.

[Rainbowzz]

The only thing SWIM can think of is getting rid of the SR's and going for an IR(instant release) instead. For some people the suspended release just simply is not strong enough. Also, swim finds that a good deal of pain is in the mind, and if you don't take care of it right away it will continue on, building on itself. For example, when swim gets migraines, she has to take a STRONG dose of something to irradicate the headache right away, anything weaker and the headache just continues on and gets worse.

[julian]

Originally Posted by Rainbowzz

Also, swim finds that a good deal of pain is in the mind, and if you don't take care of it right away it will continue on, building on itself.

Swim completely agrees. Here is an article that suggests a psychological intervention can reduce symptoms associated with lower back pain.

http://health.usnews.com/articles/he....html?PageNr=1

Swim also has a pdf of the original study if anyone is interested swim can send that to them. The reading is very dense however, containing a lot of psychology terminology.

Reputation Comments on this post:

thanks for your post including the psychological intervention of pain!

[Dr. DotCom]

Morphine IR- which works in much the same way as percocet - and instantly as opposed to the way the ones you mention do - so those might help for PAIN. However, they are contraindicated (ie no way shd you take them for digestive problems, they will make them worse unless you have some serious illness like say stomach cancer!) for any digestive issue. Zantac or lowsec(what we call it in Canada, in the US, it is known as Prilosec) and similar meds would help immensely. Zantac is available OTC now even at 150 mg. In fact, if you live in the US, it is avail at 65 for $4.00 at WalMart.

However, I would caution you that some studies show lowsec used over a long period of time has a correlation with some carcinogenic problems so it is not recommended for use over a protracted period of time. Take it slowly! As in not ALL the time. Zantac can be but as in many people who have ulcers, it too has been seen in people with cancers of the digestive tract. The problem I have as a physician is that are the cancers related to the Zantac and its class of meds or are people with digestive problems (esp if they test negative for H pylori and this can be cured with antibiotics - have you been tested?) more likely to develop cancer? That - even though some claim they know - is not really well known.