Morphine

[ClayPots47]

Nate13;9161335:

yeah I was thinking the same thing. Way too broad a statement lol.

Drunkenness is a sin when the object of the action is to lose your ability to think clearly. Drinking alcohol or taking morphine is not wrong in and of itself. When the object of your action is to get drunk/lose your ability to think clearly is when its sin. If your taking it on a doctor’s orders for extreme pain the object of the action is to address the pain, not lose your ability to think clearly.

However, you will still lose your ability to think clearly plus possibly becoming addicted to it when you take it and these bad effects must be balanced against the good effect of numbing the pain. This is why morphine is only given out in cases of extreme pain. In other lesser cases of pain the potential benefits do not outweigh the negative effects.

Woah!!! Currently, I have a kidney disease - and most of those - actually, I’d say almost all of us that have this disease are either on or have been on very heavy narcotics. Some of us have a port in our back where every couple of months morphine or another drug like it is inserted. ** You do your best if you are on the pills to take them when you need them - when the pain gets bad.**

This may be true of those who have chronic/frequent bouts of acute pain, but for someone with chronic intractable pain, the goal of opiate therapy is to minimize pain to tolerable levels by providing a steady supply of medication at a therapeutic level. You would have additional medication you would use as needed for breakthrough pain. For chronic intractable pain, therapeutic levels of narcotics in the bloodstream can prevent one from becoming completely disabled as a result of extreme pain. Narcotics such as Oxycontin, Kadian, Morphine Sulfate ER and Fentanyl patches, are all designed to deliver constant continuous doses of medication to the patient. A Morphine Pump is another type of delivery system that provides constant medications. In certain situations, pain meds can also be delivered via a PICC line, though this rarely is used. These work well for those who have serious debilitating pain. Dilaudid/Hydromorphone is often used as a breakthrough medication, for some people even Percoset or Tylenol #3 is a sufficient breakthrough medication. For users of Fentanyl, there is a lollipop form used for breakthrough pain, typically prescribed for end-stage cancer and AIDS patients who in addition to extreme pain, they often cannot keep food down, the lollipops’ medication is absorbed through the oral mucosa directly to into the bloodstream. Those with reoccurring bouts of acute pain, can take lower dose narcotics as needed, but the higher dose ones generally need to be titrated to minimize respiratory suppression.

For someone like me who has had at least 48 kidney stones this can be quite often and I will admit doctors have wanted me to be on much larger doses - i’m currently on 1/5 of what I was on a couple of years ago - because I am doing somewhat better. I’m not going to go into any other part of this - but there are times that heavy drugs are needed by others than just those that have been in awful accidents. If you’ve every had a kidney stone, try doing it without morphine or fentanyl -it’s especially fun for guys but almost as fun for women. I agree you have to weigh the cost/benefit of taking such meds - but believe me, there’s no question my quality of life would be close to nil if I didn’t have these meds.

Along with kidney stones, women have to deal with ovarian cysts (when they rupture, it is especially bad). The cysts can cause a severe stabbing sensation on the side of the pelvis where the cyst is located. And both men and women can have herniated and ruptured discs in their spines, which can cause severe pain if the disc is pressing on any nerves or the the spinal chord itself. These are just some situations where, as you say, “there are times that heavy drugs are needed by others than just those that have been in awful accidents”. Like you, their “quality of life would be close to nil if I didn’t have these meds”.

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[ClayPots47]

(Continued from last post)

**
Nate13;9161335:

However, you will still lose your ability to think clearly plus possibly becoming addicted to it when you take it and these bad effects must be balanced against the good effect of numbing the pain.

**

Also just because you’re on morphine or oxycontin or fentanyl does NOT mean you’re high all the time - there are ways - there are day long release drugs that can keep you from becoming like this. If you need to take these drugs to have a quality of life then I wouldn’t question it and I would never believe this was a sin and I have talked to Priests about the situation.
God Bless
Rye

Also, the treating physician knows to titrate the patient to the therapeutic dose necessary to provide pain relief. They start with a lower dose and gradually increase it until the patient has reached a level where they have reasonable pain control. After a period of time, they may develop a tolerance, or their breakthrough pain becomes more frequent, and they need to titrate to a higher dose. When titrated properly to a therapeutic level, not only is the effect of “getting high” eliminated, so also is respiratory suppression, which is an even bigger issue for the doctor and patient, as too much suppression of respiration can result in death. “Getting high” won’t necessarily kill you. Addicts take a lot to get the euphoria, and in the process they end up dying due to overdosing because the narcotics suppressed respiration to the point that they stopped breathing. If chronic pain patients were all getting high, then a lot of them would also be dead, and that just isn’t happening. Like me, I’m sure you haven’t lost your ability to think clearly plus became addicted. I’ve initially been in a fog for the first few days in the process of titration, but once the body has adjusted, the fog disappears. Most people on narcotics don’t lose the ability to think clearly, but a small number on very high doses do have some cognitive issues (such as end-stage cancer patients). For those, there are prescription medications they can take to offset that effects; PROVIGIL (modafinil), Ritalin, and oddly enough, Aricept. I used Aricept when I was using Fentanyl, Kadian and Morphine Sulfate. Aricept not only cleared the fog, it also helped with the chronic dry mouth which is a common side-effect of opiate use, because a common side-effect of Aricept is excess saliva/drooling. I could still think somewhat clearly, but the process was somewhat slowed down, so the Aricept helped by eliminating that effect. So, even when there is an issue of cognition being effected, there are medications available to address that issue. Pain patients under proper medical care can drive cars, operate machinery and hold jobs. Addicts generally can’t.

PS I don’t envy you have chronic kidney stones. I understand the pain can be very debilitating when they occur.

 

[ClayPots47]

One of my neighbors had surgery for cancer and was on a fentanyl patch for a couple of months. He got really sick everytime they’d try to get him off, and he finally had to go on a methadone step-down program to get him off without getting sick.

We occasionally kid him about being the “neighborhood junkie”, but we also thank the Almighty for curing him!

Fentanyl is a very strong, very powerful narcotic. The higher the dose of the patch, the more difficult it can be to step-down the dose and eventually get off of them. Withdrawal can cause a restless feeling in the body, intense craving, sweating and nausea. I’ve had the sweating and restless feelings, didn’t have the intense cravings or nausea. OTC diphenhydromine helped me with the symptoms, as the restlessness and sweating stopped. Some people become so dependent, it can be very hard to get them off of narcotics. For them, treatment like what is used in a drug rehabilitation program (such as methadone) may be necessary.

 

[vera_dicere]

It is incredibly hard to get addicted to morphine when used correctly in a hospital setting for pain relief.

The sin would be not giving pain relief. It’d also be really stupid, as pain can limit mobility, causing the formation of blood clots and impeding the healing process.

 

[serviichristii]

My priest has had several back operations and even he admits he understands why people get addicted. He’s not addicted; but he enjoys the feeling because it relieves his pain. It’s alright to enjoy that, assuming he doesn’t manufacture or illegally obtain the morphine.
This is NOT a moral issue because abuse of morphine is not part of the question, and thus the soul of the person is at no risk. Therefore the doctor’s judgment is best in this case. If it were a moral issue (the person is addicted to morphine OR has an unplanned pregnancy) the doctor’s judgment is not necessarily the best.

Separate moral issues from non moral issues.