ALTERNATIVE TO LAXIDO

Hello Simon thank you for you opinion which I will respect as I feel we are all entitled to our opinions which some will sometimes disagree with. It would be very interesting to know what you took for extreme pain or was it just will power you used. I took morphine under expert medical advice and you are supervised on what dosage you should be taking. Those not capable of keeping to the correct dosage should obviously be supported. I was also at the same time prescribed a stool softener to counter balance the effects. I did not become addicted and when I stopped I had absolutely no lasting effects from taking this. My oncologist reassured me that when you are in extreme pain and taking the prescribed dosage you will be fine. I was also on over the counter pain relief so I suppose my morphine was pretty low. I think if there are any concerns as to what to take for the pain after anal cancer treatment I think I would trust my medical team rather than someone saying I should use will power.

Simon, Jaycee is talking about low dosage morphine that is prescribed in a controlled environment.  I don't know enough about morphine to argue that (in this setting) it can have catastrophic effects, what I do know is that it is a common prescription for anal cancer sufferers that have gone through radiotherapy and suffered extremely painful burns.  The team treating me saw me once a week and every single time they would check how much morphine I had had and how long it should last me before I needed more.  You are right that it causes constipation, but so does co-codamol (the first medication I was prescribed) and many other analgesics.  I just stopped morphine one day without titration because of constipation and (personally) the withdrawal was lots of sneezing and a runny nose, but not much else.

This is from The Cancer Research website;

"It’s rare for people who take prescribed cancer pain drugs to get addicted. Addiction happens because people get a high feeling from a drug and this makes them want to take it again. But when doctors prescribe painkillers properly for pain control, most people don't get a psychological high. So, they won't get addicted."

Irene

Hi Simon ,

I understand your concerns but many if not all of us that have gone through this diagnosis & treatment have all at one time or another been prescribed low dose liquid morphine as pain relief. It’s usually prescribed for a short time when either there’s substantial pain prior to treatment or following radiotherapy.

From what I’m aware of here in the UK certainly from my own experience prescribing, dosage & usage is very closely monitored. Personally I was unable to take any of the opiate based painkillers including morphine & codeine because of the constipation but many can take these with the help of stool softeners such as Laxido or Movicol. Once the worst of the radiotherapy side effects are over with morphine is usually withdrawn & replaced with more mainstream pain relief. 

I think many of the drugs we’re prescribed during such a difficult treatment regime could be dangerous if not monitored & used correctly & thankfully to my knowledge in my time here on the Macmillan online community I haven’t come across anyone that’s had addiction issues etc. I hope this helps ease your concerns a little. 

Nicola