Morphine is usually given to patients for providing pain relief to them since it is among the most effective drugs in treating severe pain. Even the new pain relieving drugs are tested against the efficacy standards set by Morphine. There are numerous Morphine based products under various brand names available in the market. Morphine drugs are sold under these names in the US: RMS, Oramorph SR, Kadian, Roxanole and MSIR. It is also used as a sedative with patients who have to undergo operations.
Morphine in Various forms
There are various forms in which Morphine can be taken by the patients – these include oral solutions, injections, suppositories, and capsules and tablets. Irrespective of what form of Morphine you are using, it is equally addictive. Once you become used to Morphine abuse, you can easily get addicted.
You are Not the Only Person Affected
Morphine addiction in many cases becomes a life threatening problem. Apart from the addict, other people around them can also be extremely hard hit. Even the first step of admission that there is an addiction problem is extremely difficult for the addict. If the problem has to be overcome, the step has to be taken howsoever difficult this might seem. The next obvious step is to look for help and accept it from addiction professionals.
Time for Drug Rehabilitation Program
Now is the time to go for appropriate drug rehabilitation programs. These programs do not make the addict realize that they were wrong in the past; they are simply told how they can avoid future problems. They receive extensive knowledge on how they can change the quality of their lives and live well even without Morphine. The environment of drug rehabilitation program should be stable and safe and favorable to actual addiction recovery. The best success rates have been observed in three month long residential treatment programs. These three months look like a long period of recovery though the change it brings to the overall quality of life of drug addicts is just superb.
It’s a Long Drawn Process
Drug rehabilitation centers treat the recovery program as a long term process divided in multiple phases. The first step of drug addiction treatment is detoxification which first starts with physical detoxification. Even other factors such as meeting someone from their drug abuse days, living in the same environment, and even smells and objects can bring back difficult addiction memories back thus creating psychological stress for the addict. Obviously the goal being followed by drug rehabilitation centers includes complete recovery, which becomes complicated due to arrival of these small but difficult factors.
Drug Rehabilitation Programs can be Life Changing
Drug addicts never want to believe they need external help to get cured of their addiction. They believe they can cure themselves without going to drug rehabilitation centers. The drug rehabilitation programs can help Morphine addicts with life changing help. The professional staff members of the rehabilitation centers have a better idea of unhealthy lifestyle and problem behaviors. Drug rehabilitation program treat you with the help of holistic treatment of your addiction and the treatment sessions include fitness, relaxation, nutrition, meditation and yoga. There are numerous drug rehabilitation centers which have a superior ambiance which brings about positive changes in behaviour and thought processes of the addicts.
Purdue Pharma, makers of the now infamous OxyContin, told the public in 2001 and for several subsequent years, that OxyContin had a lower risk of abuse and addiction than other prescription painkillers. The drug took the country by storm and, unfortunately, the users of the drug did the same with hospital ERs, drug detox and rehab centers, and morgues. Purdue lied, some people died, and many had their lives ruined. OxyContin addiction and abuse became almost epidemic and Purdue was fined $634.5 million earlier this year for their misdeeds. Now Alpharma is developing a synthetic morphine capsule they hope will fulfill the OxyContin promise. But how much of the abuse and addiction problem will it really resolve?
The story behind Purdue’s claim that OxyContin addiction and abuse was less likely than with other opiate painkillers was based on the drug’s time-release formulation. In fact, the FDA did allow Purdue Pharma to state that the time release of a narcotic like OxyContin “is believed to reduce” its potential to be abused. But Purdue sales reps, with the permission of Purdue, took it several steps further – they told doctors that “believed to reduce” is more than just theory and, according to federal officials, even drew their own fake scientific charts and distributed them to doctors to support the claim.
There were two basic problems with their claim: first, OxyContin addiction or, at the very least, dependency, is going to occur if you take it for even a relatively short period of time and even when taken as directed. The time release functionality has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Second, if you crush, dissolve or chew the pill, the time release functionality goes out the window and you get the full 12 hour dose in one hit. This point was considered to be the major departure from the truth in the Purdue hearings, and is the problem Alpharma is hoping to resolve with their new morphine pill. Here’s how it works – theoretically.
The new morphine pill is a capsule containing 100 to 200 tiny pellets. Each pellet contains a core of naltrexone – a drug that inhibits morphine-induced euphoria. If the capsule is taken intact, the naltrexone core remains inactive, but when crushed, chewed or dissolved the naltrexone integrates with the morphine.
The rationale behind this is that someone who is ‘using’ the drug as directed would take the capsule intact and get the pain relief they’re looking for, and someone wishing to ‘abuse’ the drug would crush, chew or dissolve it to get the morphine euphoria. However, if the naltrexone nullifies the euphoria, ‘abusers’ will not be interested in the drug.
And this, apparently, will reduce abuse and addiction.
How solid is this argument? Let me count the holes.
First, each individual metabolizes morphine and naltrexone differently, as directed by their DNA and a number of other complex factors. The amount of naltrexone in each pill may prove to be too little, or too much. Too little wouldn’t nullify the morphine euphoria, and too much could induce withdrawal. And you never really know how each person will respond.
Second, I can pretty much guarantee that anyone who’s at the point of chewing, crushing and dissolving any pill is already an addict. So, even though the person may be discouraged from using this particular morphine formulation, it’s not going to stop or prevent addiction or abuse.
Third, you don’t need to chew, crush or dissolve opiate painkillers to get addicted to them. And you don’t need to chew, crush or dissolve them to abuse them.
I don’t know how many of the 30,000 people who went to ERs, drug detox and rehab centers and morgues over the first few years after OxyContin’s release had chewed, crushed or dissolved the pills before taking them, but I do know there are plenty of people out there who wouldn’t even think of doing that who still developed an OxyContin addiction or dependency. I also know that taken as directed or not, time release or not, naltrexone core or not, people are going to get addicted to and dependent on this new drug.
Really, changing the way a pill is made will not change morphine addiction, Percocet addiction, OxyContin addiction or addiction to any other heavy opiate painkiller. They are highly addictive and they create physical dependency. Period.
What you can do is use these drugs only when absolutely necessary, take them only as directed, keep them out of everyone else’s reach even if you have to keep the bottle on your person at all times, and get off them as soon as possible. If you have trouble getting off them, find a good medical drug detox program that can help make it safe and as comfortable as possible. Whatever you do, don’t buy the hype.
Morphine is an opioid analgesic and is used to treat moderate to severe pain. Morphine pain medicine works by affecting how the body senses pain. While effective in treating pain, morphine can be quite addictive and can be potentially abused should a dependency develop.
Morphine is most often taken orally through a pill, capsule or liquid. It is also taken rectally by means on a suppository or intravenously. The latter is the preferred method of morphine addicts. When prescribed, morphine is called by many different names and brands including Astramorph, Avinza, Duramorph, Kadian, MS Contin, MSIR and Roxanol.
Effects of Morphine
Morphine can cause many different side effects in those who use the drug. While taking morphine as a prescription from your doctor, you may experience lightheadedness, upset stomach, constipation, rash and vomiting. While morphine side effects are not all that common, they do occur. As always, contact your doctor should the effects of morphine be severe.
A morphine overdose can manifest itself in several ways including lowered blood pressure, slowed breathing and pulse, severe drowsiness, clammy skin, extremely small or extremely dilated pupils and coma. Should any of these warnings signs of a morphine overdose appear in an individual, contact a medical facility immediately.
The long term effects of morphine, like other opiates, causes changes in the chemical balance of the brain. Once your body becomes dependent upon morphine, your brain feels the need for it constantly. This is the same with the morphine derivative, heroin. Morphine addiction is a lifelong battle, with a great potential of relapse.
Morphine Addiction
Morphine is a highly addictive drug with which tolerance and dependence form quite quickly. Morphine addicts will focus their lives around their next dose of the drug. As their brains become more and more dependent on the opiate, the more addicted they become. A morphine addiction also impairs a person’s awareness of their surroundings and thought processes.
How To Test For Morphine Abuse
Morphine drug tests can help point out those individuals with high levels of morphine in their systems. There are many different types of drug testing kits that detect morphine, including urine drug tests, saliva drug tests, hair drug tests and spray or sweat drug tests.
Business owners can find great comfort in utilizing morphine drug tests in their workplace. By preventing morphine drug abuse, employers save money in lost production, insurance claims, accident claims and more. Creating a drug testing program can greatly increase a business’s productivity and appearance in the corporate world, whether small or large.
Worried parents can also benefit from drug testing their kids for drug abuse of morphine. Drug tests are easy to administer and provide fast and accurate results. No more wondering about whether or not your teen is using and illicit substance like morphine. A simple drug test can provide the answers you need to help your teen through their drug problem.
People who’ve been victims of drug abuse, addiction or even alcoholism would be able to tell you that getting pass the phase of withdrawal symptoms was the hardest but once that phase had passed, life was better and things got easier. If you’re trying to kill a bad opiates addiction and want to survive a heroin detox, know that with the right amount of willpower and effort, you can do it at home.
First thing you’d need to do would be to get rid of all drugs and substances that make you chemical dependant from your household. Take out the trash too, because in desperate times, you would be surprised to see that you would be willing to dig in through the trash for a quick fix. Aside from that, look up the internet for withdrawal symptoms. If you want to kill your habits, you’d need to be prepared for all that would come your way and you should be able to fight each challenge without falling apart.
Set a week in which you’d like to start over and clear your schedule for that one week. Take off from work, send your kids to the sitters and have the house all to yourself. In this time period, write out your goals, make visualizations and believe in yourself. Then, focus on curing the symptoms you’d be feeling by preparing with over the counter medication like ibuprofen, aspirin, painkillers, sleeping pills and anti-nausea as well.
In addition, there is no harm in preparing hot baths for yourself with bath salts and going for frequent massages through this week. These little self pampering activities would not only soothe your body from all the symptoms, it would also take your mind off things and help you relax. To sum it up, you can hold yourself together, just stay focus and be dedicated.
People say that opiate detox is like having a bad flu. Well, if you’ve been there you know that is the understatement of the century! Detox from opiates is a painful, miserable experience. Even at inpatient facilities with medical assistance there will still be some discomfort.
If you want to, or have to detox at home there are ways of making it more tolerable.
Days or even months before you begin your detox it’s helpful to start a mental detox. This is the real key to maintaining sobriety, or even returning to ‘normal person’ status. By ‘normal person’ I mean returning to the person that you were prior to opiate addiction.
Experts will tell you that this is impossible, once an addict always an addict, that you have a disease. Well, it’s just not true. All of those things ‘experts’ tell us are theories. The methods the medical community uses, based on those theories have been failing to work for 60 years now.
It is possible to train yourself to no longer desire your drug of choice. It all starts in the mind, with your thoughts.
I had some “Addict heal thyself” light-bulb moments while I was still a heroin addict, just before I finally got sober. I want to share with you the most profound:
1. No person, program, or meeting could do anything for me to help me reach my goal of returning to who I was prior to heroin. In fact, they did everything in their power to discourage me from believing that I could be cured.
2. If I believe it’s possible I can make it happen.
3. I have control over every aspect of my life. I am not now, nor have I ever been powerless.
It was a very important day for me when I gave up on finding help through any outside sources. That was the day that I took my power back. I decided that if everyone wasn’t wrong that I would make them wrong. When I stopped looking for help outside of myself I finally decided to help myself.
Though it seemed sudden when I came to this realization, in retrospect it wasn’t. I had been reading personal development books for quite a while. I read a lot about the power of the mind. It struck me, reading about people bending metal with the power of their mind and having surgery without anesthesia using only metal abilities, how could these amazing things be possible, yet we are taught to believe that once an addict always an addict? It simply can’t be possible that I can change everything about my life except this one enormously important area.
And so, I have been happily chemically independent for some time now. I think the secret of my success is that I had a running start. Prior to putting the needle down I went to work on myself. I wrote goals, did visualization, watched and changed my thoughts, and I meditated. After a short time I just didn’t want drugs anymore. Even when I went into withdrawal I just didn’t want the drugs. I don’t struggle one day at a time, attend meetings, avoid people places and things – I don’t have to.
Detox itself will be more tolerable if you are working toward something that excites you.
Once you’ve made worthwhile goals and learned a little bit about the powers of the mind the desire to get sober and get a great life will increase. Once you feel that passion you know you’re ready to put down and move on. This is true for any drug.
If you are opiate, benzodiazepine, or alcohol dependent you’re likely in for some physical withdrawal. If you decide to detox at home there are a number of things you’ll want to do to ensure as much comfort as possible. Remember that detoxing from certain substances can, on rare occasions, be fatal (this is the case with alcohol and benzos) so you will want to discuss your options with a doctor.
To ensure as much comfort as possible begin planning your detox ahead of time. Focus on treating the symptoms you are going to be feeling.
1. Make sure that you reschedule any commitments for at least a week.
2. If you have children you might want to make arrangements for them to stay elsewhere or for you to stay elsewhere. At a minimum make sure there is someone else looking after them. Don’t underestimate the depression and irritability and lack of energy that accompanies detox.
3. Have over the counter medications on hand that you may need
a. Anti nausea
b. Anti-diarrhea
c. Sleep aids
d. Benadryl (to stop the endless eye watering, sneezing, and nose running)
e. Epsom salts for hot baths (these can be lifesavers, especially if you are prone to intolerable skin burning sensations like me)
f. Motrin for pain
4. If you can, ask that someone gives you frequent massages. This will take your mind off of the discomfort and help the muscle and bone pain. Even a hand massage can work wonders.
5. You will likely feel hot and cold sweats or be freezing even though you are sweating through the sheets. Having someone to change your sheets for you is always helpful. I used to have so little energy that I could barely walk to the bathroom, never mind changing sheets!
6. This is a bit controversial, but some legal herbs can be very helpful. Kava Kava, a powdered ceremonial herb can be used to take the edge off.
7. Once you endure the worst of it (days 2-4) try to get up and walk around as much as possible. At first you will probably be dizzy, but it’s important to keep your body moving.
8. Throughout the process stay hydrated. Back headaches accompany most detoxes and water should help to relieve them.
There are some symptoms that people rarely mention, like the sensation of burning skin. I often felt as though I had a very bad sunburn when I went through withdrawal. You might experience strange sensations on your skin and scalp, eyes that are so dilated any amount of light can be overwhelming, and any stimuli can be too much for some people. There was one time I had to walk into a Walmart during a detox and it was stimulation overload. The florescent lighting blinded me and I felt dizzy, there was so much stuff! I never made it past the front door.
