My pulmonary doctor told me today he would like to increase my twice-a-day dosage of morphine sulfate (currently 30 MG per pill). One would normally believe this decision would be due to increasing pain - such as back or joint pain - but he says it can help with shortness of breath, something that troubles me daily as a result of my interstitial lung disease brought about by lupus.
I have been taking the 30 MG twice daily, once in morning and once at bedtime. It serves a dual purpose: 1) pain reliever for four fractured vertebrae caused by excessive doses of prednisone for lupus symptoms and 2) relief from some of the shortness of breath experienced from having only 30 percent lung function remaining. Now doctor wants to up the dose to the next level - whatever that is - upon the approval of palliative care doctor, who prescribed it in the first place.
I wonder if anyone out there is currently taking more than 30 MG of morphine and has previously taken a higher dose. If so, did the higher dose make much difference regarding pain relief or shortness of breath? Does taking morphine for shortness of breath seem odd to anyone? Just wondering what others think. What potency of morphine did you take above 30 MG?
It would be nice to hear from anyone who can shed light on this matter.
I have interstitial lung disease and take morphine too. . It does help relax the airway and help with the chest pain that comes with chronic dyspena . My main pain med is a 50mcg fentanyl patch every 72 hours. Im percribed 40 15 ml morphine a month , only need it a few times a week thanks to the fentanyl. im very small only 100-105 lbs so i can’t have my airway depressed too much . Maybe it’s time for a narcotic combo to help with the spin Pain instead of jacking up the morphine to help everything
Hey dawncelest, do you take any other medications for the interstitial lung, or do you have a certain diet that sometimes helps with breathing? Just looking for ways to combat this horrible feeling when you have only 30 percent of your lung capacity? How do you cope?
dawncelest said:
I have interstitial lung disease and take morphine too. . It does help relax the airway and help with the chest pain that comes with chronic dyspena . My main pain med is a 50mcg fentanyl patch every 72 hours. Im percribed 40 15 ml morphine a month , only need it a few times a week thanks to the fentanyl. im very small only 100-105 lbs so i can't have my airway depressed too much . Maybe it's time for a narcotic combo to help with the spin Pain instead of jacking up the morphine to help everything
I take 40 ml of morphin twice a day.Morning and night.Have in periods been up to 100 ml cos of pain.Im on Dolcontin.I take Paralgin Forte and Sobril when my pain gets worse,but sometimes its not enough so I have to take more morphin to cope.For my sake its the only thing thats helping for pain.So I can function and live a somewhat normal life.When I have been on 100 ml its because I cant sleep,eat or function cos of pain.I cant use patches since my skin is so thin after using high doses of kortison for many years.Dont think it sound odd at all that he wants to up the dose.I can only speak for the pain part and I got a much better life cos of the morphin.Have my 40 +40 a day,but I can take more if I need it.Not sure I helped you at all…but good luck to you.
having worked in hospice care before I got too sick to work I can tell you this is pretty standard for patients with lung disease. The idea is the morphine lets your bronchi relax therefore making it a little easier and more comfortable to breath, putting less stress on the patient. For my own experience I've been given morphine for shortness of breath in the past as well, I have copd and interstitial lung disease. I hope this helps you take care of yourself.
Hi Thomas yeah im on oxygen therpy, tudorza pressor inhaler twice a day but just got a sample of Breo inhaler and I think it’s amazing! You only need it once a day and it really does keep my airway open for hours. I also have a nebulizer but don’t use it much anymore but I have O2 now. Sometimes I’ll have to use 800 ml ibuprofen to open up along with the other meds, can’t do that often though because i have chronic erosive gastritis so my upper stomach lining is soooo thin,fragile and not able to handle anti inflammatories anymore. . Cellcept, methotrexate and cytoxin have been the best meds for a little improvement ,less stinging feeling when i breath. Im still short of breath on these med but it’s to not feel like i have “chemical burn” in my chest when breathing as far as dite goes i haven’t found any natural suplements or particular dite that improves lung function. . Id ever produced mucus but do have bouts of weezing so im make sure not to eat yogert (the only dairy i still eat for protein ) then. my rheumatologist is now testing me for vasculits antibodies because i have chronicmucosal inflammation in my upperstomach, left sinuse and left throat. A long with my lungs, pancreas and liver being inflamed it’s definitely a possibility. It’s treated by all the same drug ive already been on or am on now but if i get a firm diagnosis I’ll be more eligible for clinical trials. . No med have helped enough to date and my bones and organs keep getting worse so im totally open to anything at this point! Have you ever been tested for vasculits? ? It does cause serious pain in the lungs for the arteries and blood vessels expanding and shrinking.
Thomas,
like Dawn I am on the patch…75mg every 48 hrs. I’m about 120-125lbs. And thothough I hadn’t realized it, I rarely use my nebulizer anymore. Once in a great while. I’m a big fan of the patches because I don’t have to remember another pill to take. And it’s a constant flow of med so you don’t have the ups and downs.
i'm a little surprised they aren't trying to bring down inflammation using prednisone.
I am currently on no immune suppressants, and finally no pain meds (was on 9 drugs plus chemo and procrit and transufsions and percocet as needed- which meant regularly). My version of lupus is helped *greatly* by diet.
Unfortunately the inflammation leads to permanent scarring and loss of function- hence permanent organ damage- prednisone is no longer of value in trying to reverse this., altho meds can be given to try to prevent even further loss of lung. With so little remaining lung function the body tries to compensate by increasing respiration rate beyond what is helpful The MSO4 helps to tone that down to lessen the feeling of shortness of breath but also to make respirations more efficient and is an effective treatment. For Thomas as the body adjusts to the MSO4 higher doses will normally be needed to achieve the same effect In some cases of severe chronic pain morphine doses can get over 200 mg in order to remain functional so he is still in the lower dose range
Thomas have you ever been on a round of cytoxin? ? It is a leading drug for intestinal lung disease. Like i said it helped my lung function for the first 3 months meaning id get a week or 2 with out needin 02 but my body started fighting against it by the 4th infusion… im acutely going for labs next week that include the ANCA panel for vasculits antibodies,it definitely can cause havoc in the lungs but it’s treated by ALL the same immunosuppressives and chemo therapies im already on and been on… hopefully it’s negative but i already showing sings and symptoms in my tissue but testing positive would give me a firm vasculits diagnosis and hopefully be able to do a clinical trial if one becomes available. So have you ever been tested for vasculits? ? "Interstitial lungdisease " is such a broad term and there’s several different types so has your rhuemy /pulmanologist narrowed the cause of yours down? Any lung biopsy? My rheumy sent me to John’s Hopkins rheumatology this January and they wanted me to do a lung biopsy but my drs and i weren’t on board. Now in the past few months since my pancreas is involved and I’ve become more oxogen dependant the lung biopsy is being pushed again but im waiting for the vasculits results and to see a new pulmanologist at University of Miami on December 3…i was diagnosed with lupus pretty quickly 2 years ago with my lungs always being involved and i became very sick very fast but since then my disease presentation has become so rare, resistant to treatment and completely systemic involving my lungs, heart,pancreas, liver, brain, blood, mucosal tissues, upper stomach, bones,joints, tendons, cartilage , left ear and nasal canal. . My main diagnosis is relapsingpolycondritus with overlapping lupus and autoimmune diseases, it extremely hard to find anyone to relate to but i totally understand inflammatory lung disease
