Im scared of the medicine im taking,

[cookingfreda]

I was put on morphen seven years ago at a pain clinic after a bad accident destroyed my back, At the time i didnt know what it was becauce it was generic and spelled norph, latter i found out what it was,I should have stopped but it took care of the pain, I have found out this medicine can kill you.,Im 63  and dont intend to be in pain the rest of my life,I wanted to know if i coulld get of this medicine by myself at home,or take something less dangers,

[Lauriel500]

Greetings!  I am amazed at your story.  There are just so many ways things can go wrong in this life and your daughter and her children and subsequently you have probably experienced 100 times the amount that any normal person could expect to see and survive.  But optimizm is a natural state of being and even the worst wounds will, if given enough time and care, heal.  It sounds like your 9 year old is doing very well now. You have quite likely saved that boy's life!  I hope the same will prove true for the 6 year old.  In the meantime, you have to be well so that you can take care of everyone else!

I switched my Fent. patch for the first time today, so I am on day 3.  It seems to be forming a kind of base of relief, but I still need the Oxy every 2 hours.  I don't have it figured out completely yet, but I do think that I'm on the right path. I think the idea is that once a certain level of medication is established in your system by the patch it is just maintained evenly from that point forward. I think I read that the blood level peaks at about 17 hours then stablizes or actually drops off. I saw a graph.  Don't quote me though, that's just what I remember.  There are some REAL EXPERTS here who do know for sure!   My first night was pretty bad.  I was afraid to take anything while the patch was ramping up.  The pain was so severe that I did wind up taking the Oxy like usual.  Yes, my patch was lifting toda, too and I had to shower - it would have gotten soaked so I had to change it a few hours earlier than prescribed.  My pharmacy didn't have any tagaderm or other appropriate product, so I ordered it from Amazon.  It can be pretty pricey - $3 per patch  I don't know about your headaches.  I am not having any difficulty with the patch and oxys.  And I could yell happily from a mountain...NO NAUSEA!!!.

[railroaded]

Thanks for writing. Just thought I'd say my grandson, who is now 9, is SO wonderful, (I haven't even SEEN my daughter for almost 7 yrs!), she is a heroin addict, and I am not too hopeful, she has Hep c, Herpes, and 2 bouts of liver failure, and she had ANOTHER little boy, on Heroin, and he has Tetralogy of Fallot, a bad heart defect, and I have never even been able to see him, and he is the only other grandchild I have, and when I found out about him, found out she has just lost PARENTAL rights, due to Gross Child Neglect and Abuse) I MAY be able to meet him if and when he is adopted, but as you might imagine, no adoptive parents would KNOW me well enough to trust I wouldn't tell my daughter where he is. I don't blame them. He is 6 yrs. old, and they found him barking and growling on the streets of L.A. with his parents. My daughter is in hiding, but they put my grandson in foster care. It makes you think, why, when he had withdrawals in the hospital, and my daughters bloodwork showed positive for heroin, WHY she got custody of him at ALL! I feel so fortunate that I have my grandson, he had failure to thrive when I got him, and is now bilingual (I have him him in a good school), and he is so sweet and smart, he doesn't have any recollection of his mother .By the way, 2 of the Fentanyl patches completely fell off last night!  I had a feeling I was going to start sweating because that new Dr. insisted I put them on my chest, and I get so hot at night! Thank GOD I never really got hot flashes or anything with my menopause 2 yrs. ago! I had to put 2 more on, and this time I put them on my upper arms, it seemed cooler there, so will see. I just don't understand the concept of HOW these Fentanyl patches really work, I mean if they last 3 days and you then switch, and they take 20+ hrs. to kick IN again...is it just ME or am I not getting pain relief for this 20+ hr period? Anybody know. Still have a killer headache, DO think it's the Fentanyl, since I usually don't have them! Guess I better buy some Tegaderm!

[Lauriel500]

Hi - I just happened to chec the computer quickly and there was your post.  I  was happy to see it.  It sure sounds like you have "been there and done that" a couple of times as least!  Your poor daughter and your poor colon!  You know, we are such complicated beings and there just isn't any one set rule that works for all of us.  We're just so different.  All we can do is try to be diligent - get as much info and opinions as possible and proceed forward cautiously.  I never stop any med abruptly and always take a new med at the lowest dose possible because you never know - that 1 new thing could be the 1 exact thing you're alergic to or it interacts with something else you would never guess could be a problem.  

I sure hope that you are well, and good luck trying to take care of a little child and yourself at the same time.  That's a lot of responsibility!

[railroaded]

You know, I am so glad you brought up the tylenol. Most people think that the massive doses of tylenol with codeine, vicodin, all the pain meds with the tylenol, ibuprofen, and aspirin, it doesn't seem like those meds could kill you but my oldest daughter had liver failure at 20 by taking a bottle of tylenol with codeine, for fun I might add. I happened to visit her and she looked like she was dying, she was, and miraculously I got her to my doctor, where she of course denied taking any pain meds. I secretly told my doctor that she did it all the time and finally she convinced my daughter to take a blood test, (which she did NOT want to do because the cat would be out of the bag, and she was worried about the codeine). Well, the was DYING from liver failure from the TYLENOL. They hospitalized her and were looking into liver transplants, and just waiting, she was on a bag of fluids only, and we had to wait to see if her liver would start functioning on its own. It was horrible.  Three days later there was a blip on the machine, and she started to get liver function back. She was supposed to stay 2 weeks on fluids and then go immediately to rehab. The sad part of this story is that on the 5th day, she left the hospital, against the doctors orders, (He was furious!), and walked out, and started right up again on the pain meds and alcohol. One year, exactly, she gave birth to a baby boy, my grandson, (who I have legal guardianship of since before he was 2). But she had liver failure again, about 3 1/2 years later, from the same thing, and people don't realize, (although SHE did), that the tylenol can be lethal. I got colitis from years of ibuprofen use. Just over the counter, but it worked so good and I didn't go OVER what the daily dose should be. It destroyed 3 ft. of my colon overnight , and I know it had to be the ibuprofen. My pain meds didn't have it in them, I just took it because it helped so much with my back and leg pain. That was about 3 yrs. ago, and there have been a few times, I HAVE taken it, in desperation, and I realize it seems weird to SNEAK ADVIL! (sneak it from myself no less!)But it really helps, but I won't risk THAT again. I ONLY take aspirin if I have a killer headache, but tylenol never did anything, for ANY pain anyway. It is really something, most doctors do NOT warn their patients on the risks of tylenol or ibuprofen. I must say, if my daughter had not already been an addict, she wouldn't have taken the whole bottle after filling it! The blood test confirmed TYLENOL poisoning. So, if there are people out there thinking the narcotic can only kill them, think again. Thanks again for mentioning this to the other person.

[Lauriel500]

I don't know what "Norph" is.  But I took 400 mgs of MORPHINE SULPHATE every 4 hours for 7 years for incredible headaches.  Everyonce in a while he would cut it down or out thinking I might be having "rebound headaches" without any problem.  Eventually,  the pain eased up and I took myself off completely - cold turkey.  I was perfectly fine.  But that was a long time ago and I think that now it is better to wean yourself off slowly, reducing the number and frequency of pills taken to avoid any withdrawl symptoms.  Whatever you do, DO IT WITH YOUR DOCTOR'S HELP.  He will have a safe plan and can suggest other medication for the pain that you do have that isn't so strong. Maybe something in the hydrocodone family like a nice Norco or Vicoden - but be careful of the tylenol - never more than 4,000 mg/day.  Some say even less, like 3,000 to protect your liver function. Maybe then you could go to something over the counter and less dangerous.  But just because something is easier to get doesn't mean it's safe. I'm NOT a MD, but you knew that here on this forum, but that was my experience.  It will be just fine if you are careful.