Morphine vs Oxycodone (side effects and effectiveness)

When it comes to pain meds it really is a very individual thing.

Myself I have taken both of those meds, and while my personal experience agrees about the side effects the oxycodone did nothing for me while the morphine worked very well at relieving my pain.

Josh, I just wanted to take a minute and let you know my experience with oxycontin... I was on oxycontin for 3 years, every eight hours and percocet for bt pain. i was a little nervous also because i had never really taken meds that much. i had a surgery that left me with nerve damage and thats what introduced me to pain medication. That was in 2005 and back then was when they first started have problems with it.

in my experience it was a drug that worked well but at that 8 hour mark if i didnt take it within 30 minutes of my scheduled dose, i started to feel withdrawal symptoms. I have since tried a lot of different meds but that one worked best for me. its great as far as pain relief goes.

i have since had gastric bypass and was changed to the fentanyl patch due to absorption problems. Trust me when i say if it was not for having problems taking pills, i would much rather have the oxycontin. It just worked so much better for me. also, if you ever have to convert from oxy to something else due to tolerance issues, it was a very smooth transition. I had no problems at all.

Another thing too that i would like to share, that i almost forgot about, is that i think i was on 20mg or maybe even a 20mg and a 10 mg every eight hours. So when i got my SCS implanted and had to titrate down, I only felt a little withdrawals, as i was coming down. i called the doc to let him know and he prescribed clonodine patches which took care of everything. I never had any withdrawals the entire time i was coming off it.

like some others have said, if you truly need it for chronic pain, and dont abuse it then you should have no problems with addiction. I certainly knowhow you feel though because one of my worst fears is having to go through any type of withdrawals. with that being said, i never take extra and i try to stay on my scheduled times. i guess in my head thats supposed to take care of everything. I trust my pain doc so i do exactly as im told...i do have OCD also, so that in my brain as well. LOL

anyway, i just wanted to let you know my experience with it and i hope this will maybe help you make a decision.

take care, janet

…I really have to agree with BlessedX here….we could compare all day long…and the fact of the matter is, we are all different. We just have to work with our service providers to find the right combination…and hope it brings decent relief.

SE

As SE and Tina said Josh its just not a black and white answer to a black and white question. You could post a poll and 1000 people could vote and you still are not going to get a cut and dried yes or no result.

Everyone is different in metabolizing and tolerating meds to varying degrees and you have those Drs who like to bounce back and forth for the sake of tolerance issues.

Then factor in those like myself that have took both meds but do not have good results with either one of them.

I am on methadone and its all I take and its whats best for me, I require no B/T med on it and am not on a huge amount of med. Others cannot take methadone or have had not so good pain relief with it. Those of us on it however will swear by it just as those on Nucynta,Targin,Oxy,Mso4 will swear by it.

Also what works now in this long life of CP may not be what works years down the road as many of us build tolerances that prevent us from using that particular med after a few years,it stops working after doing good for a long time. Our bodies basically build up immunity to any outside sources and can do that with pain meds as any med much like Antibiotics.

So you may not get exactly what your looking for here but these are opinions of folks who have spent years hitting and missing with opiate treatment so this is the best place for honest answers.

Vickie

If you feel like Oxycodone is the more effective medication for you, then give Oxycontin a shot.

Some people get better relief with Morphine, some with Oxycodone.

Morphine didn't work very well at all for me. I've been on lots of medications and so far Oxycodone has worked the best, in all its forms.

For a long time I mixed the different types of meds, I would have one type of long acting med, and then use another type for break through pain and I would have horrible side effects.

Then I got switched to Oxycontin for a LA med while using Percocet or Oxycodone HCL for break through, and my side effects reduced a fair amount.

All we can do is share our stories, the only way you're going to find what works for you is by trial and error. Don't give up hope until you've tried it all. You never know what combo could work for you.

It probably is more effective but I just cant tolerate the different meds. Oxycodone based meds are the ones that give me the least severe side effects, so those are the ones I use.

i was about to switch total 150mg or 1 every 6 hrs and 1 at bedtime roxicodone 30mg,(generic by actavis) to morphine sulfate IR 30mg with the daily dose not yet calculated. i think 180 to 200 should be ok but by the book it takes more morphine. either way morphine is better on my central nervous system. then i will be at 2 MSER 100mg tabs 2 times a day, up to 5 8mg Dilaudid brkthr., and the instant morphine to replace oxycodone. i hate oxycodone cause with me i seems to creates a need for itself. started oxy when Opana IR went on backorder. i like that but price is totally unrealistict even with insurance, and that is the generic!

back to your question. even though everyones unique; morphine sulfate is the "gold standard of opioids " for a reason, it has affinity or strong agonism power at all opioid receptors; Mu-receptor, Kappa receptor, sigma-receptor, all esp. at high dose it will bind with as many as any other opiate. Oxycodone as claimed by manf. binds mostly with the Kappa receptor. i don't know if i believe it but i has a strange up-regulation or hyperalgesia effect from sympathetic kickback. not all but most get this effect. kindof why oxycontin in beginning was dose every 12 hrs and now 6-8 cause it creates a need for itself unrelated to tolerance. i lean to Morphine and long term use Morphine for sure. u can do thing while taking it to fight or lower tolerance to it, ex: dextromethorphan, Namenda, Magnesium Glycinate or Taurinate or Chealate, Ayurvedic health system from India's Herb Ashwagandha. good luck. PS: Avinza is a good product with instant and extended effect

I have come off of taken morphine er and bt morphine and now on oxy's for about 2 weeks and ive been sweating so bad cold chills and then like im on fire ,,I'm in chronic pain always ..and the pain is always there due to 2 back surgerys and leg and foot surgery and as of last Monday hand surgery im and still have another back surgery to go,,so how long does the morphine stay in your system and also was on the fentinyal patech which I also stopped ,,Praying 2015 is a better year,,sorry about the typo's..

Post Edited (dolly1334) : 12/31/2014 10:27:44 AM (GMT-7)