Chronic Pain Support Group

Physicians and professionalsdefine pain as chronic if it lasts longer than three to six months and is persistent. It's distinct from acute pain that is a direct result of injury or trauma. This support group is dedicated to those suffering from chronic pain. Discuss treatments that have worked for you, find advice for your specific experience, and find support. You're not...

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ralop 07/15/2011

I have had my Gal Bladder removed. I am a 10 year Chronic Pain patient now. My Kadian ( brand name morphine sulfate) extended release medication is white beads in a capsul. My stomach is not digesting it and the for the most part the little white beads are coming back out in my stools the same way they went in. My pain level has been slowly rising to the point of needing to go to the ER last nite as I couldn't stand it any more. It had been out of control and rising for over a week when I finally went to the Er. They did not answer my question, only gave me a shot of muscle relaxer, morphine, and toradol, and sent me home. I unfortunately slept thru the day today as I was so exhausted from the week of out of control pain, so I was unable to talk to my pain management doc. The pharmacist said nothing, the primary doc on call tonite passed the buck and made excuses for why he couldn't help me. I will call docs again tomorrow but I am curious if anyone here has had this problem and has a solution besides going back to a previous med that isn't as good as the kadian. My stomach is not digesting any kind of medication that is made with the little white beads in the capsule. It's all meds like that. They all come back out the other end the same way they went in. I have tried eating a wholr green apple just before taking the medication but it only diminished the un-digestion by about 1/3%.
The pain got so bad I couldn't walk, couldn't sit, nothing I could do with out severe extreme pain. Hoping someone here has a solution.
Thanks in advance.
TerrieAnn
ralop

deleted_user 07/15/2011

Hi,
Terri-ann
I was on kadian for awhile and it worked ok and then I stopped using it for a long time and just recently I went back on it and it did not work for me and control my pain like it did in the past and I was even on a stronger MGL. How long have you been on it and how much do you take. When I was on it it was in a capsule are you taking it out of the capsule?

It sounds like for some reason your body is not absorbing the medicine and I wonder is anything new going on with you that is different?

I had to go off of it because not only was it not working it was making me crazy I cant explain it but it was like I was a zombie I would wake up go on the couch and then go lay down in bed and did that the whole day I could not get focused enough to do anything more.

deleted_user 07/15/2011

WHen my gallbaldder was removed, I had the same problem. Someone told me to take my meds with any drink that has caffeine in it.
It worked for me.

I don't know what caffeine does. Perhaps it is acid based and makes the coating disolve better.

I know what it is like to have docs not believe you. They refuse to acknowledge that any change can cause problems.

Hang in there. Hope today is a lower pain day for you.

honor435 07/15/2011

maybe a patch would be good for you? ive never heard of pills not disolving, maybe you dont have enough stomach acid?

deleted_user 07/15/2011

How are you doing today? Hope things are a little better!

cherrychanga 07/15/2011

When my stomach doesn' tseem to be digesting my food, I drink water with a little cider vinegar in it. Digestion requires acid and so often they put us on acid reducers to protect the stomach from meds (my doc did) that we don't have enough to break things down.

You might do better with a patch or liquid meds.

Hugs,
Cherry

serenityha 07/15/2011

i haven't dealt with that med, but i know apples are hard on the digestion and may be affecting the breakdown. some other food may be better to help it stay in your stomach long enough to break down. i will see if i can find anything. i hope you can find something that works.

ralop 07/15/2011

the internet had the suggestion of sprinkling the beads on apple sauce and so I did that but I must be careful not to take too much at a time as it is a 12 hour dose and I haven't tried the vinegar but I will eat a salad with the italian dressing which I make with the cider vinegar and see if that helps. I may have to go back to the old morphine sulfate which was just a regular pill, still I am not wanting to do a patch and don't believe they would offer me a liquid anything. Ten years of chronic pain now and just tired of it . even pain mngmnt docs are not ever hearing of the not digesting meds thing. They called the "Kadian Experts" but it's the weekend so if I have to I will wait till monday to know anything. I will go to ER again if I have to.
Thanks to any and all the info you guys may have. Love,
TerrieAnn

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