Morphine & Feeling Low

[echokilo]

Does anyone have any experience of morphine (10mg a.m and 20mg p.m - 12 hour slow release) causes low mood and tearful reaction (after 3 weeks of use) Can't work out if this is a reaction to the medication or to the constant (14 weeks plus) of pain the medication is (meant to be) treating. Thanks.

[daffy654]

I have had morphine before and it never made me weepy or have a low mood, it just made me sleep a lot and be very spaced out, it was intravenous though so may cause different side effects that way.

[Smowball]

Ive had it intravenously too but all I did was react badly to it and itch so badly that I scratched my skin till it bled.

Have you just started having this low mood?

[Buenchico]

The NHS website states that more than 1 person in 100 experiences sleepiness or 'thinking problems', and more than 1 person in 1000 experiences 'a general feeling of being unwell' or (possibly important here) 'mood changes':
http://www.nhs.uk/medicine-guides/pages/MedicineSideEffects.aspx?condition=Pain&medicine=Morphine

[lady-janine]

intravenous morphine not only made me very sleepy but caused me to suffer from sickness as well. be careful when taking it.

[echokilo]

Thanks all: Daffy, yes, sleeping loads and generally spaced! Smowball, yes, occasionally itchy, but cocodamol did that too, so it's not too bad. And thank you Buenchico .... I will have a read of the link, which I guess will be the same info as the patient leaflet that I must admit I always try to avoid reading as they are usually info overload. I guess it's a balance of the side effects and whether it's actually doing the job! And thanks Lady Janine - GP prescribed anti sickness medication to cover for the first 2 weeks, and I haven't experienced any nausia, but have done with IV morphine (much higher dose) previously.

[Jemisa]

I had an intravenus drip of morphine after my op. It gave me hallucinations every time I closed my eyes. I had to tell the doc to take it away I'd rather have the pain.

jem

[echokilo]

Jem I had exactly the same on IV morphine a few years back - horrible waking nightmares! I was concerned about this when GP wanted to try morphine this time (patches first then pills) but much much lower dose than before. Only difference is I was in hospital bed with IV last time and so couldn't harm myself - this time I have been very spaced out and have bruised my face on a door frame and burnt my hand lighing a candleI didn't react quickly enough!! Seems I am the nightmare!!

[Sqad]

I have never known morphine to cause depression, but I suppose that a drug MAY cause ANY side effect.

[bednobs]

it seems incredibly unlikely to me (used to be a macmillan nurse, so saw people daily who were taking it) it's also quite unusual to have a different slow release dose morning and evening - is there a particular reason why? ALso, if it's not helping your pain, perhaps it either isn't the right drug, or the dose isn't high enough. Are you also taking paracetamol/ibuprofen on top?

[echokilo]

Hi Bednobs .... it's for subacrominal impingement .... after trying co codamol and tramodol and amitriptyline ..... .gp recently increased pm dose as 10mg morn and night was not enough ..... have oramorph for top up too. I am taking paracetamol and napoxen on top ....... some days it's enough others it isn't. Perhaps its the pain that's making me feel low?

[bednobs]

ow ow ow - not surprised the zomorph isn't really helping that much with that kind of pain. Is th pain much worse at night? Is that why the dose is higher at night? The general thought is that you work out your analgesic requirements over 24 hours then split it up into 2 equal doses (12 hrs apart) which is why it seems odd to have a higher dose at night (when you a probably asleep) If you need 30mg in 24 hrs it's more usual to split it up into 15mg and 15mg. Are you working? i ask because i would be inclined to increase the morning dose as well to 20 and see what that does. However, if you have to be somewhere and be super-alert etc, maybe not

[bednobs]

ps also meant to say, if you were on top dose of co-codamol, then 30mg of morphine a day isn't even equivalent (it's lower) so you may need to increase

[Euphemia]

I am taking a 10mg - 12-hour slow release dose of Morphine am and pm and do not suffer from any depression. The only thing I have noticed is sleepiness.

[RATTER15]

Morphine nearly killed Carakeel, she had to be resuscitated twice, she doesn't take it any more.

[echokilo]

Thanks for your sympathies Bednobs .... it's appreciated as people seem to think 'you have shoulder ache stop moaning' The pain is worse at night and it is difficult to get comfortable. Co codamol dose was two x 30/500 every four hours with two x tramadol capsules every four hours so tablets every two hours if that makes sense .....? Obviously nt possible to do this thru the night though .... the morphine is making me constantly sleepy ..... back to work tomorrow to see if the distraction of being busy helps but not convinced

[Sparkles62]

I'm on morphine 24 hours a day. patient leaflet says that it can cause feelings of anxiety etc. I do find that it does over a long time, but when I feel it, I take myself off it for a few days, just up my other pain killers and try and keep busy and put up with pain. Also I'm quite concerned about becoming dependant on it, so feel that a small break does me good. X

[bednobs]

in which case, you are DEFINITELY being under dosed. That dose of tramadol alone is equivalent to 40 mg morphine in a 24 hr period, added to around the same amount for the codiene, meaning you should be on around 40mg morning and night of morphine to just be equivalent to what you were on before - let alone an increase. I think the problem is that people (ie gp's) hear "morphine and immediately get a bit scared of the doses, little realising that the person (ie YOU) has already been having a the equivalent of a bigger dose already

[bednobs]

so from going from the tramadol/co-codamol. you've effectively halved your dose of painkillers!

[echokilo]

Sparkles ... yes anxiety may be a better description. And Bednobs ... I think I need to go back to GP ... I think I felt better when on tiny dose of amytrytiline .....