Morphine Addiction

[Skorchee]

I am a 47yr old female with chronic pain.  My Dr. prescribes Morphine for me for pain. However, I know I am addicted to it and, even though I have gone down some on my dosage by tapering, I am still taking 360MG per day and, can't seem to get it any lower.  I am feeling  a great deal of remorse over this and frustration cause I don't want to take it anymore but, now I have to or, I go into withdrawal.  Should I try to find an addiction specialist in my area?  If so, how do I start?  I am close to a Henry Ford Facility.  Because I have already experienced withdrawal to a degree, I am petrified of it.  What should I do?  Thank you in advance.
Skorchee

[stilltrying1965]

good luck and you will also no its time to quit and you can do it with strengh,courage,willpower and gods help you can and will sucseed if you want it bad enough  me and my wife were 14 year heroin addicts we have been clean for 74 days with a lot of help and suport here at MH it is  a wonderful site with wonderful people who will  help in anyway they can how you try to stop is your choice and yours only we went cold turkey very hard  but the right  way for us to go i wish you the best of luck in what ever way you choose to go but you can do it i am 44 years old my wife 43 so age should not make any diffrence god bless you and carry you through the early days when w/d are at ther worst James &Kim

[ponytailbob]

I'm also a morphine addict from chronic pain, and feel the way you do.  I deeply believe that the chronic pain diagnosis, with it's resulting "there's no treatment, only palliative care with pain killers and anti-depressants" is to be fought all the way.  By that I mean that every possible underlying cause should be investigated and determined not to apply until the whole gamut of possible underlying causes is exhausted.  Otherwise, like it or not, you're just getting tossed under the bus and left to rot by the side of the road.  It took me 6 - 8 years to get up to 180+mg (180 er every day, + ir for break through pain), until for me it just wasn't worth the fog.  I'm 20 days off.  My Dr weaned me down until he started dragging his feet on refilling prescriptions, and then just told me to find another Dr if I wanted more.  I really don't like the pain, but I'm not sure it is worse than on the stuff, considering the fog.  Wasn't able to get out of bed much on, and still not much off, but at least I have feelings.  I've not done residential treatment for morphine, but I did 20 years ago for booze. and recommend it.  It really doesn't have to be at some squashy resort.  The best places don't take insurance in order to control their own programs, but some offer "scholarships".  I've never done Betty Ford, but that's where I'd start if I was going to do it again.

[carol1950]

I was on the Duragesic patch (Fentynal) 50 mg for 4 years for chronic pain, muscle and bone problems and nerve pain , I am disabled it never really stop the pain completely but it took the edge off. I asked my Doctor to wean me off because I didn't want to be addicted to pain meds . My Doc told me that she was sure I was already addicted to the pain meds because of prolonged use. With my Doctors help (decrease Fentynal dosage ) for 6 months and then after the six months  she prescribed a low dose of Oxycontin 20mg twice a day .I will go along with the Oxycontin for maybe another 2 months and then pray that surgery (if possible) will take away the need for narcotics to ease the pain.If not I don't know what I will do.Because I am through with pain meds I don't think I can deal with the constant pain and becoming addicted to another pain med.Being weaned off of fentynal was awful.

[Jhazline_20]

In Morphine withdrawal you may experienced restlessness, yawning, perspiration, goose flesh, restless sleep twitching, and spasms of muscles, severe aches in the back, abdomen, and legs, abdominal and muscle cramps, increases in body temperature, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and heart rate. If you chose  Morphine withdrawal it's symptoms reach peak intensity in 36 to 72 hours. Without treatment, withdrawal symptoms runs their course in 5 to 7 days, even though craving for Opium may continue for months. You probably seek for addiction specialist as soon as possible.

________
jhazline_20
Comprehensive resources for those looking for recovery from addiction. http://www.addictionrecovery.net

[Mikeinthesouth]

I am going through the same as I type except for the fact I am going Cold Turkey in the words of John Lennon. 3 day I think that is how wacked I feel right now. Hang in there I have been through this before and know it gets better. sweats, cold and hot unable to determine temperature around me at all, depression, shaking hands very bad and tons of other fun things. Hang in There I suffered a broken back for discs fused one cut on and loads of screws, plates, and rods to lve with and can't really be that mobile anylonger, but I have to live with the pain and I don't want to waste it not even feeling oaded just taking **** to feel normal anymore.

[Nepenthe444]

Hey jojoms, one thing about Methadone and Morphine, they are both opiates. Both will get you high, and both create dependency and addiction. Methadone is just a little bit less potent than morphine. Methadone doesn't make you stop craving opiates, because it is also an opiate.
If someone is chronically addicted to Morphine, Heroin, or any other potent opiate, clinics will often prescribe Methadone as a way to taper off of harder opiates. The problem with this is that people often get addicted to the Methadone also, and can't quit. It's hard to stop using opiates by using other opiates.
At one time, amusingly, Morphine was used to help Heroin addicts taper off of the Heroin. Clearly, that's a silly way to do it because both substances are highly addictive. The Methadone being used to taper off Morphine and Heroin is the same concept. It rarely cures and addiction.
A better way to get rid of an opiate addiction is to go to a detox clinic where doctors and other professionals can help someone stop cold turkey. Most people experience withdrawal when stopping cold turkey which makes getting off the drug nearly impossible when doing it alone. This makes a detox clinic necessary.
A detox clinic may also help someone taper off the drug, but not through using a less potent drug. The lower the dosage at regular intervals until you are no longer physically dependent on the drug. This eases withdrawal symptoms, but it is still hard to do this on your own.
I hope this has helped a little bit. If you have any more questions, please feel free to email me at nepenthe444[at]hotmail[dot]com