Withdrawal symptoms?

Trev, 

Do you think you can manage till Monday?

Is there an out of hours service for your GP or can you call 111 for medical advice?

If they think you have come off too quickly they may be able to get an emergency prescription organised for you?

Good Luck

Lowe' 

Oh Trev you’ve come off the morphine too quickly. It’s reckoned you need a week reducing for every 2 weeks  you’ve been on it. So if you’ve had morphine for six weeks you need three weeks reducing it to come off. 
The thing is if you can endure this for three days it will likely be done with. 
I can’t understand why your consultant gave you so little. 
I would still tackle your GP first thing on Monday  though and ask him to let you have enough for three weeks 

Thanks both

I will carry on till monday now, i imagine this is how smokers feel when they quit!

I have no idea why he just gave me 100ml of morphine, but i wasnt worried at the time to be honest since coming off fentanyl was so easy.

And yes i get what you are saying, ive managed 3 days without it, if i can power on another week the symptoms might go, so not sure doing a tapered dose from monday is a good ideaI 

Ill speak to my GP, and thanks again :)

I agree with the others about coming off to quickly, i believe they can give you another drug that will help you and your body cope. Good for you for coming off them tho Trev. All the best.

                                                                     Chris 

You have my sympathy Trev. Just like you I asked to stop the Morphine. I was on 40 units per day for the last 8 months.When I brought it up, the specialist said i should speak to my GP. They halved the dosage for one weekly patch of 20 units, I now have just received 3 patches of 10 units, but only after repeatedly asking for something. Is there a schedule for withdrawal? Sorry, I just realised how long ago you wrote this (must be the Morphine making me dumb).

To be truthful Mike most  people here seem to have to manage in their own. A taper should be discussed with your GP if you’re on oxycodone or fentanyl but morphine withdrawal is easier. I was on 40 mg extended release and maybe 40/50 mg oramorph. I simply stopped the morning  MST first for a week followed by the evening then reduced my oramorph dose slowly over 2 weeks. I kept up the paracetamol as a back up. 

Always good to hear replies to posts Brian Mc as it is a very important subject as it's so easy to become dependent on painkillers or antidepressants. I was always told to gradually come off any sort of drug because coming off too early or quickly can make matters worse. You must feel comfortable about your pain so don't suffer and you will find your own level of pain relief. I still have oxycodone on stand-by if I get any pain from my previous operations. All the best for you continued recovery, take care.

                                                                            Chris 

I’ve just endured one of my worst weeks since treatment (2xchemo, 35xradio) ended on New Year’s Eve. I finally came off my morphine on Monday. I’d been on it since December (40mg a day slow release) and I wound down over two weeks. Cue: nausea, diarrhoea, stomach pains, anxiety and depression. Worst of all was the insomnia. Throughout this incredibly slow recovery process, I have at least found peace in sleep. Now that was removed. Feeling down anyway, in the empty hours of the night, I plunged to new lows. Today, Saturday morning, I feel better but v weak.
In retrospect I feel I wasn’t given good advice on how long to stay on the morphine and should have come off two months or more ago. I was told nothing about how (ie over how long) to taper it. And I had no idea about the withdrawal symptoms. I’m only partly back at work and I WFH anyway, so that didn’t matter too much. But my whole mood, which was very low anyway because of the inability to enjoy any food or wine and the terrible fatigue, slipped to a new low level.

(Sorry to moan, but I know we’re allowed to on here.)

Moan away. It IS your GPs job to discuss your taper with you but in this climate most aren’t seeing many patients at all. I played around with reducing my morphine as soon as I could but needed it for quite a while. 
Yes those are cold turkey symptoms. 
We should at least be told to badger our Doctors for more details. 

PS I found it easier because I was on oramorph as well as the extended release but if you are on XR morphine only your options a fewer. You have to get smaller doses.