Morphine Allergy or Gall Bladder Issue?

[CAB007]

I was in the ER for severe stomach pain.  Doctor gave me morphine to subside the pain.  After morphine was administered my stomach pain tripled and I was told that I was screaming and convulsing.  The doctor said he had never seen anyone react that way to Morphine before.

A few years later I found out after a HIDA scan with CCK that my gall bladder doesn't work properly less than %17.  Am I allergic to Morphine or can Morphine have that affect given to someone experiencing a gall bladder attack?  I heard that sometimes during the HIDA scan the technicians will use morphine instead of CCK so that is what spurred my curiosity.

[CalGal]

Narcotic meds like morphine can raise the pressure in the common bile duct and sphincter and if someone is already having problems with the sphincter it can cause unbearable pain.

During a HiDA scan morphine is never used.

You may want to check into sphincter of Oddi dysfunction (SOD).

[annwal]

hi can you tell me what a gallbladder attack is like i have severe stomach pain every so often doctors cannot tell me what it is, 18 month ago i had a whipple op [they take the pancreas and gallbladder out, i hope you find an answer to your problem, wish i could help

[CAB007]

I looked into SOD and it seemed to fit with the morphine incident as well as the time I vomited a massive amount bile rushed for many tests which all came back normal.  However, I discussed this with my doc and she said due to the fact that the HIDA scan revealed an issue with the gall bladder it is not SOD as SOD is diagnosed when all tests come back normal and my HIDA scan did not.  I have had many docs tell me many and very different diagnosis so any ideas, suggestions or comments are greatly appreciated.  Thanks!!!!

[sillyvixen]

when i had my gallbladder removed (open op) i was on a morphine pump for 12 hours post op. 2 hours after the morphine i was in a hell of a state - i was in pain everywhere from the top of my head to the soles of my feet (i could not even have my blood pressure taken as i screamed when they tried to put the cuff on) it turns out it was caused by the increas in billary pressure, caused by the morphine, in an already painfull area and as pain relief effects of the drug wore off the increased pressure took longer to reduce and the pain was worse than if the morphine had not been given. the on call dr had not seen anything like it and had to call a surgeon to come in between patients on his list to come and review me.

[CalGal]

CAB, I hate to add to the confusion by saying your doc is incorrect, but if a HIDA comes back with a lowered ejection fraction and there are no stones present, it's VERY possible it COULD be SOD. Anything that causes a reduction of the e.f.  - and spasms of the sphincter of Oddi or the common bile duct, or the cystic duct can do that - say that 'something is off.' In fact, these days more and more surgeons are saying 'no' to operating on those with 'just' a low e.f. They're worried about the statistics that are saying that when no stones are present, but there is a low e.f., more and more people are turning up with problems after the surgery. They're coming back weeks to months later with extreme pain - pain similar to what was happening before the surgery. That pain is due to SOD, and it VERY possible that the cause of pain before the surgery was due to SOD.

It's now why they're trying to use anti-spasm meds on the persons that have no stones and just a low e.j. You don't take anti-spasm meds for a low e.j., you take them for spasms and those spasms have to be due to 'something' going on in the biliary system - hence, SOD.