morphine with drawel

[tanniebmw]

my husband has been taking morphine for the last 2 weeks for chronic stomach pain, they were not prescribed by a doctor they were his freinds tablets, hehas not taken and for the last day but is now in bed with severe stomach cramps and being sick. i was not aware he was taking these tablets nd have only found out because he has told me this morning. please what can i do to help him

[Jaybay]

Your husband really needs to ask for a referral to a pain management clinic.  Because his pain has been present for so many years, he now has chronic pain.  BUT - he MUST stop smoking the weed.  No pain management physician will tolerate use of illegal substances no matter how well they work.  If his pain is managed properly, he shouldn't need the marijuana anyway.

I've been in your husband's shoes with abdominal problems that couldn't be diagnosed.  I had every test, imaging study, colonoscopy/ endoscopy they could throw at me and... nothing.  On two occasions I had to beg my GI doc for a surgical consult.  Then I had to beg the surgeon to take a peek inside with the laparascope.  I've been vindicated every time.  One was an infected gallbladder ready to rupture; one was the same problem with my appendix; and several times it turned out to be scar tissue (adhesions) that caused bowel obstruction.  Not once did any test detect anything wrong.  

Has your husband ever kept a pain journal?  If not, he needs to start one.  It should include columns to chart his pain level, the quality of the pain (sharp, dull, burning, crampy), the exact location of the pain (upper or lower abdomen; left or right side; or epigastric which is right where the ribs split), and the time of day it occurs.  Along with all of that, he should track his daily physical activity; diet; medications including over-the-counter meds; alcohol and marijuana use.  In particular, he should not whether anything makes his pain better or worse.  That could include resting for a while, medications, food or avoidance of food, or anything else that applies.  Yes, it's a lot of work, but that kind of information can really help a doctor figure out the problem.

Has your husband ever had abdominal surgery, and if so, what for?  His symptoms remind me of my own from abdominal adhesions.  Since scar tissue is soft tissue, it usually doesn't show up on imaging studies unless it's causing a full bowel obstruction.  Scar tissue formation is part of the body's natural healing response to any kind of inflammation, whether it's from surgery, infection, radiation therapy, or some other disease process.

Has he worked with a gastroenterologist at any time?  If not, that's where he needs to go next.  I'm really sorry to hear he's having such a rough time.  I know exactly how frustrating it is to work with a medical system that is overly-reliant on tests that aren't always accurate.  Hope he finds some answers and pain relief very soon.  :-)

[Dav125]

Not sure what to think of all this. Stomach problems are a big opiate wd synptom but what your describibg goes beyond that .27 yo and having this type of problem seems odd. How about his diet. Is there anything he eats that might contribute to this? Has he ever tried changing what he eats normally to see if that makes a difference?

Something is triggering this though. If he gets this in waves of every 5 or 6 weeks, something must be triggering it. A repeat swelling of something that comes and goes? Ulcer problem maybe? Does he drink at all?

Odd.

[tanniebmw]

hi there he does have an underlying condition, but as yet no actual diagnosis from doctors.This is what happens to him, one morning he will wake up with chronic pains in the stomach and then as a result of that ends up being sick. The sickness carries on for a couple of days and then settles down. This has been going on for about 10 years now and to start with each time this happened he would go into hospital, he has had over 90 admissions to hospital because of this. The doctors have obviously run lots of scans and tests but to no outcome. He is obviously under weight now he is 27 and about 5ft 8 and is just over 8st when ever he gets up to about 9st this seems to happen. The pattern is that it happens every 6/8 weeks. Unfortunatley he smokes canabis he says this does help with the pain he gets, so the doctors have put this down to why he is poorley. Obviously i know this is not good but there are alot of people who do now adays but the hospital reakon they have never came accross anyone with the same prob a my husband.
It has been over 5 years since he has been to hospital for this as every time he did go in the would put him on a drip, but because he has had so many his viens colape now each time they try to do it so they stick needles ever where trying to get one in, and this puts him of going back.
There is nothing else he takes and i have now removed those morphine tablets from the house. If anyone has any advice please let me know as i have 4 childrten and having to care for my husband every 6 weeks and the kids to is starting to get quite hard. Obviously i know he should give up smooking the weed but when he did give up smoking a while ago for over a month he was in a worse state than he is now, yes alot of that may of been with drawel but he was in absolute agony with his stomach when normally he only has belly pain leading up to the 6/8 week mark. any help would be appreciated. thanks

cassie

[laurel453]

Hi, welcome here...

this is the first step we take ... self medicating ourselves so please, tell him to stop now  and for ever of doing it again... 2 weeks is not a lot of time but the behaviour is a potentially dangerous one so take care of this .... you coould read the thomas recipe and the amino acid protocol at the health pages ( right side of the screen ) ...Also  if he has any underlying medical condition or taking any other meds, the best thing is asking for advice to his doctor

Good luck, tannie and keep us informed how is he doing ; OK ? :)