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Switching from IR oxy condone/soma to XR morphine

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Posted 7/5/2013 10:29 PM (GMT 0)
Hi all,
I have come to the end of a long road of medication trials, failures, procedures and more to the point where my pain doc no longer wants to prescribe oxy condone to me. It has never really worked anyway to give adequate pain relief. So I'm switching to morphine XR 15's to try to get some baseline relief.
My doc told me if I'm on the morphine I shouldn't need the oxy anymore. I'm questioning ....will my body go through withdrawals? Even though pain might be relieved I've been on Oxy codone for 2 years ( 15mg x 4 a day)
Thanks for your wisdom and insight.
Posted 7/5/2013 10:35 PM (GMT 0)
Hi there...Welcome to the boards..

It really all depends about whether you will feel any type of withdrawal. I would speak with your Dr. about this and ask them what is the plan if this happens. As in maybe he could give you a small prescription of Percocet or OxyIr to use if needed.

I went from using Oxycontin at 120mg to only needing 75mg 90mg of MSContin (Morphine sulfate ER...the same med you are about to take)....I have been on that same dosage now for close to 6 years now as it provides very smooth pain relief without "feeling" that you are on any meds. It is good that you are moving to a long acting med so you don't have to keep watching the clock.

And I didn't feel any type of withdrawal....Most Drs. always want to start at a lower dosage of a new medication and it's never about milligram for milligram as the different meds his different receptors in the brain.

So, the best thing to do is have a plan set with your Dr. for "what if" but hopefully you won't need it:)

Good luck and keep us posted.

Post Edited (Snowbunny21) : 7/5/2013 4:38:14 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/5/2013 10:38 PM (GMT 0)
This is just my personal experience. I was switched from percocet six times a day to ms contain and I did not have any withdrawal. Matter of fact... It worked great! But then after about three days I started having hives so I had to switch to oxycontin. But during that time that I on the MsContin I felt great!

I hope things work out for you. And if you do start to have withdrawals, perhaps they can give you some form of oxycodone (percocet/roxycodone/oxycodone ir) for BT pain and it'll help wean you off.

Good luck! Hope you get some relief!
Posted 7/5/2013 11:25 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Rael! I don't think that you will feel any type of withdrawal with the switch - and even if you did, it will probably be very mild (just my opinion, of course!). I briefly switched from oxycodone to morphine a while back, but within a week I switched back. I might as well have been taking tic-tacs - they did not touch my pain. There was no way I could give it any longer to see if they would start working - my pain levels went from a 3/4 on the oxycodone, to a solid 7, closing in on 8 with the morphine. Now this is just my personal experience. My doc told me that it happens - certain medications just don't work well for certain people. Good luck with the switch - I'm sure it will work just fine!
Posted 7/6/2013 12:50 AM (GMT 0)
Its not going to be anything major your going to see. Possibly not going to get overall coverage of your pain until you get a few doses under your belt but when it reaches a therapeutic level you will get smoother continued relief.

I don't think your Drs given up as he is doing exactly what he's required to do after a patients been on a short acting Med for 2 years.
Posted 7/6/2013 12:56 AM (GMT 0)
Hi there - in my experience 2 years now w chronic pain / I was on IR Oxy for the 1st yr and then switched to

ER morphine 15 mg 2x day
Plus 15 mg IR morphine 1-2 as needed every 4-6hrs

In my experience, the morphine was not as effective as the Oxycodone for pain relief and it had more side effects.
I recently switched my IR med to Dilaudid and this is the best IR med I have been on.
I am consulting w my specialist to switch the ER morphine soon as the 30 mg dosage is ok, but I am not settling for ok when it comes to quality of life and pain.

Everyone is different / pain wise / meds wise /

My advice is to be your own best advocate and give meds their due time to work, but if it is not working for you, then speak up and do not suffer.

Good luck
Josh
Posted 7/6/2013 5:43 PM (GMT 0)
Depending how much oxycodone you were on per day, the 15mgs of ER morphine might not feel like its giving you the same pain relief as the oxycodone, but if thats the case it can be increased or your doc can add a breakthrough med in addition to the morphine.

But you shouldnt have any withdrawl.
Posted 7/8/2013 3:13 PM (GMT 0)
Hi all,
Thank you for the information and support. It's been 3 days on the morphine and I Just woke up from the first somewhat restful sleep I've had in about 8 years. Wow. I think this morphine might actually help! I am needing supplemental oxy still, but I have definitely been able to cut down from 4 oxy a day to about 2.5. It is so nice I don't have to watch the clock, as snowbunny21 mentioned. I cried my eyes out when I heard I'd be on morphine, but now I'm wishing I started this long acting med a long time ago.
Posted 7/8/2013 3:51 PM (GMT 0)
That is GREAT news!!! I freaked out as well when I heard my PM suggesting Morphine as I think of it being so strong like in the hospital! But the pill form is actually much less potent than the IV...

And yes, that is what I love about the med is that it really does offer a "smooth" release of pain meds during the day/night where I don't feel like I am taking any medication and just have lowered pain levels:)

I hope that you continue to have success with it...As mentioned, it may take a bit of tweaking with the dosages but it sounds like you are doing pretty well so far!
Posted 7/9/2013 11:41 PM (GMT 0)
if the morphine dose is right it should prevent W/Ds and might give you better control overall. i would ask for breakthrough meds because it seems all day is breakthrough. morphine interacts with the full spectrum of opioid receptors, everyone reacts different but you will prob. be comfy. NICK
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