oxy or morphine

[Alice66]

My husband is going through oxy w/d's. He has only been on them for 3-4 months and he went c/t.  He does not seem to be as bad as I have read here on this site.  He has degenerative disc disease and had a microdisectomy 7/22.  He took his last does on 8/4 at 9am.  
He is also taking 60 mg of morphine sulfate 3x/day.  Will getting off the morphine be even more difficult than the oxy?  Or maybe the morphine is keeping him from having really bad w/d's?  

Once he is off the opiods, does anyone have any suggestions for pain control for his chronic pain from the deg. discs?

[landbray]

Hi Alice,
Sorry to hear what you & your husband are going through.It's great you can be there for him. Morphine was my DOC.
If your husband feels that bad he can always go to the emergency room. You'd be surprised at the things an er can do for you.
It's so  frustrating running around with all those doctors trying to get refills.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel and he will find it.
good luck to you and your husband
paaddict

[Alice66]

My husband and I were both preoccupied trying to come up with the $1800 property tax due on 7/31.  Finances have been real tight since he hasn't been working full time since 3/21/08.  I was suppose to contact his doctor on that Friday.  By the time I rememebered, it was too late.  Saturday morning, his doctor was not in the office, nor was he the doctor on call.  I was able to get one of the doctors to refill his script to cover the weekend.  He was still taking 10mg every 4 hours from the back surgery.  Monday morning I called the clinic to get his script refilled and was informed that our doctor was out of the office all week and none of the other docs would refill.  I called the surgeon that did his surgery and he also refused to fill it.  So.....he had to go cold turkey.  If I would have know we wouldn't be able to get a Rx on Monday, I would have tapered him off over the weekend.  
He is doing quite well today.  Very little pain in back AND leg.  He even told me to cut back on his morphine.  His spirit is up this afternoon and we even went out for a bit. :)

[johnnykelly]

Alice 3-or 4 months is a long time,especially to stop abruply like that,why not taper-off a pill or a % of the total dosage over a 4-8 week period,moreover why not inform the treating DR. as he/she can help with the withdrawl process.Alice just stopping is uncomfortable and in certain cases dangerous as in coming off benzos.

[Alice66]

It is so hard to see him like this.  He sits around the house all day, blinds closed, doesn't eat, cranky.  He used to  be so full of life.  Now he can't work.  Doc gave him work release tor  9/2.  I hate what these drugs are doing to him.  I would like him off the morphine too, but I have no idea what kind of pain he is having.  All I know that he described his original pain episode that put him in the hospital as an 11-12 on a scale of 1-10.  I ask him what his pain level is and his usual reply is anywhere from 4-6.  I wish I could help him more.  We have been through so much together and it is so hard to stay supportive.  I love him so much!!

[twolve]

Yes I would think you are correct in that his w/ds aren't bad because he is on Morphine. When he is completely of all opiates is when you will see how bad the w/ds will be. He may be fine though, I used oxys for a year and my w/ds werent that bad at all, but lots of others have had it much worse and it is different for everyone. You will never be able to predict what it will be like. In terms of pain control I have heard that the 800 mg Ibuprofen/Motrin can be extremely affective, but he will just have to give it a try and talk with the doctor. I wish you well, you are in the right place.