Suggest Ways To Wean Off Morphine

Posted on Thu, 14 Jan 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 14 Jan 2016 Answered on

Thu, 25 Feb 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : I had a bad accident in2013 fell and was in the hospital including rehab for 5 months i had a subdural hematoma i had to under go several cognitive testing as well as physical therapy.my question i as on a Morphine drip and in a self induced coma because of my alcohol level was very high When I woke up I asked the doctor to take the morphine drip off . They continued to administer narco i explained to them i had to enroll in treatment back in 2000 for Vicodin abuse. The doctors explained with 5 operations on my right arm oI had no choice unless i wanted to be in constant pain it is now 2016 an i have cut down to 20mg a day instead of 60mg they were giving me in the hospital my question is how do I wean myself off the 200mg i am taking ?

Answered by Dr. Ashok Kumar Choudhary (47 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
gradual reduction can be attempted

Detailed Answer:
Hello ,
Thanks for using healthcaremagic.

I read your query and understand your concerns.

I understand it is difficult to wean from opiods considering chronic pain but it can be attepted gradually over a course of six months. The recommended strategy is to go down by 20% of remaining dose every month. By doing so the body gets enough time to adjust it's internal receptors to manage with lower fose of external opiods. With decrease of 20 percent every month you may be be able to wean it completely in a period of six months.

I hope this helps you to some extent.
If you have more questions feel free to write back to me.
Thanks and regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar