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Need guidelines for long term, long-acting morphine withdrawal plan
Chronic Pain | Last Active: Mar 16, 2018 | Replies (10)Comment receiving replies
Hi @beausonge, welcome to Connect. I really like your username "beautiful dreams".
I agree with you and @IndianaScott and @19lin that discontinuation of opioids should be done under professional supervision.
In the meantime, I did some searching of guidelines for you. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention might be a good place to start. Here is the main page for CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain http://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/prescribing/guideline.html. It includes:
- Opioids: Guideline Information for Patients http://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/prescribing/patients.html which doesn't include info on discontinuation
- CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain — United States, 2016 http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/rr/rr6501e1.htm This information is written for health professionals and includes some information on discontinuation, but individual circumstances vary the methods to be tailored to the person.
I also recommend watching the Opioid Chat we did with Mayo Clinic's Dr. Hooten where we took questions from Connect members discussing a wide variety of topics and pain and opioids. Included on this same page are several Mayo Clinic Minute videos covering the following topics:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/opioid-epidemic-chat-with-dr-hooten/
- Prescription drugs - the changing face of addiction
- Facts on fentanyl
- Avoid opioids for chronic pain
- 2 reasons not to share pain pills
- When are opioids OK to take?
- What opioids do to your gut
- How to stop popping painkillers
Beausonge - Do you have an appointment with your provider next week? Can you stay on your current dose until then, and then begin tapering under supervision?
Replies to "Hi @beausonge, welcome to Connect. I really like your username "beautiful dreams". I agree with you..."
You're welcome. I'm glad you asked and now this information is also shared with all the members of Connect who are active in the Chronic Pain group. So your questions have potentially helped many. Please keep us posted on your progress and results of your consultation on the 5th.
Thanks and I will let everybody know how it goes. Maybe by sharing my experience - especially if I am successful might encourage others to try.
Every medication has side effects and especially in higher dosages. Instead of narcotics, again the push is anti-seizure medications that have many serious side effects in higher dosages also.
Some chronic pain people do need opioids and it is a shame that we are all being "grouped" into the category of "drug addicts" and WE ARE NOT! The stats they report are not about us. Most chronic pain users that are managed by responsible pain doctors, use their medications the way they are prescribed, get tested to make sure the medication is in their system, also via computer for no polypharmacy. Due to the increase in substance abuse problem, many doctors are closing shop because regulations are strangulating them. Patients are being left out in the cold unable to find a treating physician and in my journals...many chronic, responsible pain patients have needed to turn to the streets for narcotic medications! It has been a scare to many of us. I do understand wanting to be off narcotics but as I stated for some, it makes a big difference. As with any medication, if it is not needed or the dosage lowered, than you should do that. Other modalities also need to be utilized...TENS, meditation-tapping-guided imagery i.e., exercises, chiropractic, anti-seizure medication etc.
Pharmacists are excellent resources and are often more knowledgeable than doctors about medications and interactions between drugs that you are taking and side effects. No long acting medication should ever be cut in half. Ever. MS Contin is a long acting opioid. I do not smoke or use marijuana in any form and I have read conflicting stories on pain relief.
Best of luck for you. Cutting down your dosage is good but not cutting a long acting pill. Pharmacists like I stated are a very good resource.
I am also a RN and former Clinical Instructor but can no longer work. I pray you get the help you desperately need.
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Thank you for all the information! I do have an appointment on the 5th and I do have more than enough to last me until I speak with her. I did let her know by email about what I did and that I would continue that dose until we spoke. I am happy to say that it seems to be going very well at this point.