Signs of Morphine Addiction

If you are wondering if your friend or family member is addicted to morphine, there are certain signs and symptoms to look for. They will exhibit a constant and compulsive craving to use morphine and may say that they “need it” to function. They are preoccupied with obtaining more of the drug and will sometimes go to desperate measures to get more. There are many physical signs of morphine addiction, including:

• Slurred speech
• Blurred vision and involuntary movement of the eyeballs
• Sweating and chills
• Dizziness, drowsiness, light-headedness
• Rash, hives, itching
• Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain
• Seizures
• Memory loss
• Insomnia
• Loss of appetite

The emotional signs of morphine addiction include:

• Anxiety
• Depressed or irritable mood
• Exaggerated sense of well-being
• Abnormal thinking
• Agitation
• Apprehension
• Hallucinations

Having an Intervention

People addicted to drugs such as morphine may find it very difficult to admit to themselves and others that they have an addiction. Or, they may realize that there is a problem but just cannot bring themselves to get help. They usually will have no idea about the amount of damage the addiction is causing their lives and their relationships. The purpose of an intervention is to help addicts see the physical and mental destruction that addiction creates and to persuade them to seek help. Intervention is the most effective technique to help an addicted person. The goal of an intervention is to empower addicts to find a breakthrough in their seemingly hopeless situation.

Here are some helpful tips for having an intervention:

• Stay calm
• Avoid labeling the person an “addict”
• Cite specific negative instances that occurred due to the substance abuse
• Stick to what you know firsthand, avoid hearsay
• Explain how the person’s behavior has affected you
• Be supportive and hopeful about change
• Be prepared for denial and resistance

If your friend or family member is addicted to morphine, please do not turn a blind eye to the situation. Intervention could truly be a matter of life and death. Studies show that 92% of addicts who experience an intervention go to treatment and receive help for their addiction.

Treatment for Morphine Addiction

Morphine addiction treatment will use services such as 12-Step meetings, programs that teach about the nature of addiction, and behavioral therapy that enables the addict to develop new coping and life skills. At a quality rehab facility that treats both the physical and psychological effects of addiction, individuals are much more likely to be successful in recovery. Treatment centers should provide a safe and structured environment for drug abusers, where they will be surrounded by a knowledgeable staff to counsel them in overcoming their unique challenges.

Morphine Intervention Help

If you are thinking of holding an intervention, please call our toll free number for tips or more information on morphine addiction treatment. We want to partner with you to find the best recovery solutions for your loved one. Our trained counselors are available 24 hours a day to give support and assistance in this process. Recovery is within reach. Call today.

Morphine

Medical Use of Morphine

Morphine has been used relieve moderate to severe pain, whether in the case of a heart attack, surgery, serious injuries, cough suppression, or other pain conditions. It is also used for treating the pain and shortness of breath dying patients may experience. Before operations, morphine can be used as an anesthetic; it may also be used in an epidural injection following a major surgery to relieve pain.

Morphine works by dulling the pain perception center of the brain; this is found with all types of opiate drugs. When the central nervous system is affected, it alters the mental and physical attitudes of the user, allowing him or her to enter a state of euphoria that relieves all anxiety.

Recreational Use of Morphine

Users may abuse morphine for a euphoric “high.” Morphine can be combined with certain chemicals or drugs to create stronger effects and a more advanced state of euphoria. If morphine tablets are crushed or snorted, the effects of the drug are felt quickly. This “high” can be sought after to alleviate any type of personal pain, whether psychological or physical that causes the user distress. Some users take morphine in addition to alcohol or other drugs to produce another form of “high.” Morphine is highly addictive and dependence can develop easily. The dependence may be very difficult to break.

Morphine Addiction Help

If you or someone you know is struggling with an addiction to morphine, please call our toll free number at (877) 259-5633. We are available 24 hours a day to answer any questions you may have about morphine addiction treatment. We can help, so please call today.

Prescription Abuse Statistics

As with many prescription medications, finding the correct dosage takes experimentation and time. Even if a person is under a physician’s care, it takes diligence to ensure that a person does not cross the line from medically necessary treatment to abuse. When reporting use and abuse findings about morphine, these statistics usually reflect the larger category of all prescribed medications. Some of the statistics are alarming:

• The increase of people who use prescribed pain relievers, including morphine, is on the rise. In 2006, over 5 million people were using prescribed pain relievers; an increase of half a million from the previous years. If predictive statistics hold the trend, this number of users is expected to increase significantly.
• While the rate of teen users has slightly decreased over the years, of the teen users who are using prescribed medications that are NOT prescribed for them, almost 60 percent indicate that they obtained the drugs from friends or from an unknowing relative.
• About twice as much is spent on medical and worker compensation claims for employed drug abusers versus their drug-free colleagues.
• While not restricted to just morphine abuse, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that as many as 22 percent of car crashes involved drivers who have been using drugs.

Morphine Specific Abuse Statistics

While prescription medications have startling abuse statistics, the following statistics are directly connected to morphine addiction:

• The increase of emergency room visits due to heroin has increased as much as 15 percent.
• Morphine was ranked as the number 3 cause for emergency room admissions; the first was alcohol and drug combination, followed by cocaine abuse.
• Persons who were injecting opiates averaged 14 years of use before entering treatment for the first time.

Get Help for Morphine Addiction

Recovering from morphine with proper medical supervision and support services is possible. If you or someone you know is addicted to morphine, call our toll free number today at (877) 259-5633. We are available 24 hours a day to answer any questions you might have about morphine addiction treatment. We are here to help.

According to the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), about 17 percent of Americans age 60 and older misuse prescription drugs, alcohol or both. With morphine being considered the standard for treatment of severe pain, it is one of the many pharmaceutical products that seniors are addicted to. With the senior population accounting for more than 14 percent of our total population, the impact of elderly drug addiction has implications in every part of our lives. As far back as 1969, health problems related to substance abuse cost Medicare alone well over $233 million per year; with that segment of the population increasing steadily, the expenditures are even more significant today.

Morphine and the Senior Population

There are many situational and emotional variables that could lead any person to abuse prescription medications. It has been proven that stress significantly increases the risk of drug abuse. It has also been proven that previous drug use in their younger life is a clear indicator for drug abuse in their senior years. For the elderly, some of these stressors include:

• Aging and retirement
• Depression and loneliness associated with the loss of loved ones and acquaintances
• Confusion and anxiety associated with not feeling a sense of purpose in life
• Chronic pain

Causes of Morphine Abuse

While each individual case of senior drug addiction is unique, there are some trends or indicators for the group as a whole, including:

• Incorrectly following the instructions on the medication bottle, either because they do not fully understand the instructions or because the prescribed dosage is not offering the results they want
• Mixing medications or forgetting to take medicines
• Striving to appear independent and thus not asking for assistance

Identifying Morphine Abuse in the Elderly

Family members and physicians often struggle with identifying prescription drug abuse in seniors. Many times, seniors will hide their abuse by visiting several different doctors and not fully informing the doctors of their current prescription intake. If they are successful in acquiring multiple prescriptions from different sources, the senior may send different family members to retrieve the medication and reduce the chance that any one family member has a complete picture of the drug use.

Get Help for Morphine Addiction

Identifying someone with a prescription drug addiction, including morphine, is difficult to do, especially if the person is a family member or friend. However, it is possible and we can help. Please call our toll free number today at (877) 259-5633. We are available 24 hours a day to answer any questions you might have about Morphine addiction treatment. We are here to help.

The most notable derivative of morphine is heroin which was synthesized from morphine in the 1870s. Since Bayer first brought heroin to the market in the 1890s, substantial pharmaceutical research has ensued. Prior to the introduction of heroin, morphine had been the mostly commonly abused narcotic analgesic in the world.

Morphine Uses

While initially thought to treat opium and alcohol addiction, it was later discovered that morphine was actually more addictive than either opium or alcohol. Even with its addictive and tolerance characteristics, morphine continues to be a component of, or a foundation of, many current pharmaceutical products from A (Avinza) to Z (Zomorph).

In 1930, János Kábay, a chemist determined a method for deriving morphine from poppy straw, thus increasing its availability and use. Today, more than 230 tons of morphine is used each year for medical purposes including pain relief for patients with chronic pain or advanced medical illness and post-operative analgesia.

Morphine Addiction in the 1930s

Morphine’s use during the Civil War and World War II has been widely documented. During the Civil War, over 400,000 people presented with morphine addiction that was referred to as “soldier’s disease.” During World War II with the invention of the syrette, medics administered morphine to alleviate pain. A notable precaution on the part of the medics was to pin the syrette to the casualty’s collar to prevent overdose.

While morphine was accepted as the standard against which all new medications for postoperative pain relief are compared, many people were abusing the drug. One of the most noted instances of abuse during that period was when Sigmund Freud’s physician administered three doses of morphine over many hours that resulted in his death in 1939.

In the 1930s, the newly formed Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) took responsibility for drug policy enforcement. The FBN spearheaded anti-drug crusades to criminalize narcotics possession. In 1951, the Boggs Act imposed a mandatory minimum two-year sentence for possession. The Narcotic Control Act of 1956 raised the minimum sentence for a third offense to 10 to 40 years and permitted death sentences for drug sellers who dealt to minors.

Side Effects of Morphine Use

Most side effects associated with monitored morphine use are mild and often require no treatment, including:

• Lightheadedness or dizziness
• Drowsiness
• Constipation
• Nausea or vomiting
• Sweating

Get Help for Morphine Addiction

Recovering from morphine with proper medical supervision and support services is possible. If you or someone you know is addicted to morphine, call our toll free number today at (877) 259-5633. We are available 24 hours a day to answer any questions you might have about morphine addiction treatment. We are here to help.

Morphine abuse symptoms

Common Uses of Morphine

While morphine was initially used as a cure for opium addiction, it was scientifically proven not to be an effective method of treatment. However, it was and still is used for severe pain, cough suppression and sometimes before surgery. In addition to relieving pain, morphine has been prescribed to relieve fear and anxiety by producing a sense of euphoria.

Failure to Read the Signs of Morphine Abuse

Unfortunately, the signs of morphine abuse are “vague” enough to be associated with other, less threatening conditions. Sweating, chills, dizziness and drowsiness are often attributed to the flu. Rash, hives and itching are initially investigated for contact dermatitis or some allergy. Constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, cramps, nausea, fluid retention and dry mouth are associated with stomach or digestive issues. Stress can also explain other symptoms such as light-headedness, tingling sensations, headaches, fluctuation in blood pressure and insomnia.

Physical Signs of Morphine Abuse

However, if a person experiences any of the following symptoms, morphine abuse may be the reason:

• Blurred vision, double vision, involuntary movement of the eyeball or “pinpoint” pupils
• Slurred speech, fainting/faintness or uncoordinated muscle movements
• Tremors or seizures
• Needle marks (if injecting drugs)
• Memory loss

Behavioral Signs of Morphine Abuse

Because the physical indicators of morphine abuse are sometimes hard to identify, physicians often look for some of the following behavioral signs:

• Prescription abuse: needing refills too often for alleged lost or stolen prescription
• Multiple providers: seeking prescriptions from different healthcare providers
• Changes in social behavior with friends, colleagues and family members
• Changes in mood or behaviors, including signs of lying or stealing

Emotional Signs of Morphine Abuse

Emotional indicators of morphine abuse are another “vague” area that may be attributed to another health issue, such as anxiety, depression, irritability and apprehension. However, if a person is demonstrating any of the following emotional signs, you should check for morphine abuse:

• Hallucinations
• Exaggerated sense of well-being
• Abnormal thinking
• Extreme agitation

Get Help for Morphine Abuse

Recovering from morphine with proper medical supervision and support services is possible. If you or someone you know is addicted to morphine, call our toll free number today at (877) 259-5633. We are available 24 hours a day to answer any questions you might have about morphine addiction treatment. We are here to help.

Prescription Abuse Statistics

As with many prescription medications, finding the correct dosage takes experimentation and time. Even if a person is under a physician’s care, it takes diligence to ensure that a person does not cross the line from medically necessary treatment to abuse. When reporting use and abuse findings about morphine, these statistics usually reflect the larger category of all prescribed medications. Some of the statistics are alarming:

• The increase of people who use prescribed pain relievers, including morphine, is on the rise. In 2006, over 5 million people were using prescribed pain relievers; an increase of half a million from the previous years. If predictive statistics hold the trend, this number of users is expected to increase significantly.
• While the rate of teen users has slightly decreased over the years, of the teen users who are using prescribed medications that are NOT prescribed for them, almost 60 percent indicate that they obtained the drugs from friends or from an unknowing relative.
• About twice as much is spent on medical and worker compensation claims for employed drug abusers versus their drug-free colleagues.
• While not restricted to just morphine abuse, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that as many as 22 percent of car crashes involved drivers who have been using drugs.

Morphine Specific Abuse Statistics

While prescription medications have startling abuse statistics, the following statistics are directly connected to morphine addiction:

• The increase of emergency room visits due to heroin has increased as much as 15 percent.
• Morphine was ranked as the number 3 cause for emergency room admissions; the first was alcohol and drug combination, followed by cocaine abuse.
• Persons who were injecting opiates averaged 14 years of use before entering treatment for the first time.

Get Help for Morphine Addiction

Recovering from morphine with proper medical supervision and support services is possible. If you or someone you know is addicted to morphine, call our toll free number today at (877) 259-5633. We are available 24 hours a day to answer any questions you might have about morphine addiction treatment. We are here to help.

Used for extreme pain relief, including pre-surgery anesthesia, morphine is also used for severe coughs, shortness of breath and chronic diarrhea.

Side Effects of Morphine Use

Most side effects associated with monitored morphine use are mild and often require no treatment, including:

• Lightheadedness or dizziness
• Drowsiness
• Constipation
• Nausea or vomiting
• Sweating

Indicators of Morphine Addiction

The indicators of morphine addiction don’t always present in physical ways. Rather, it is behavioral and psychological symptoms that suggest morphine addiction. There are two primary causes for morphine addiction: tolerance and craving. Because of its highly addictive nature, the body quickly builds a tolerance to the morphine dosage and thus requires greater and greater amounts of morphine to achieve the desired effect.

Because morphine impacts the brain by presenting a desired state of being, the brain continually seeks or craves the outcome. Craving morphine is the most obvious indicator of addiction. Others include:

• If a person starts to crave morphine.
• Wanting more before their scheduled dose time.
• Wanting more than the amount prescribed.

These cravings along with the desire to maintain or increase the desired affect may lead a person to use more morphine, or add other painkillers, drugs or alcohol. At that point, the person has a morphine addiction and intervention is necessary.

Morphine Withdrawal

Many systems of morphine withdrawal appear to be minor enough for an individual to manage without detoxification or medical supervision, including:

• Restlessness
• Yawning
• Perspiration
• Muscle spasm
• Hot and cold flashes
• Insomnia
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea

However, self-detoxification is not recommended as some additional symptoms of morphine withdrawal may include strokes and heart attacks.

Get Help for Morphine Addiction

Recovering from morphine with proper medical supervision and support services is possible. If you or someone you know is addicted to morphine, call our toll free number today at (877) 259-5633. We are available 24 hours a day to answer any questions you might have about morphine addiction treatment. We are here to help.

How is Morphine Taken?

Morphine can be taken orally in tablet form, and it can also be injected subcutaneously, intramuscularly, or intravenously; the last is the route preferred by those who are addicted to morphine. Other signs of morphine addiction include the paraphernalia used to take the drug. Morphine users may have needles, tourniquets, morphine tablets, liquid morphine or crushed up powder.

Morphine Description and Signs of Addiction

Morphine is a potent narcotic opiate with high susceptibility for abuse and addiction. Morphine’s addictive nature activates the brain’s reward systems. The promise of reward is very intense, causing the individual to continually crave more and to focus his or her activities around taking the drug. The ability of morphine to strongly activate the brain’s reward mechanisms and its ability to chemically alter the normal functioning of these systems is what produces addiction. One of the many signs of morphine addiction is that it reduces the user’s level of consciousness, harming their ability to think or be fully aware of present surroundings.

Physical signs of morphine addiction include but are not limited to:

• Reduced sense of pain
• Needle marks (if injecting drugs)
• Slurred speech
• Blurred vision
• Double vision
• Involuntary movement of the eyeball
• “Pinpoint” pupils
• Sweating
• Chills
• Dizziness
• Drowsiness
• Fainting

The emotional signs of morphine addiction can include:

• Anxiety
• Depressed or irritable mood
• Exaggerated sense of well-being
• Abnormal thinking
• Agitation
• Apprehension
• Hallucinations

Morphine Addiction Withdrawal

It’s always recommended that an individual who wishes to decrease their usage of any narcotic, do so under medical supervision in a detox facility. As a narcotic, morphine leads to physical dependence. However, physical dependence is not a sign of abuse or addiction; it is a predictable, physical response to chronic use of the narcotic. The body becomes accustomed to physical changes that morphine causes, and stopping the drug will lead to withdrawal symptoms. This is not necessarily a sign of addiction, at least in the sense that most people use the term.

Signs of morphine addiction withdrawal include but are not limited to:

• Restlessness
• Runny nose
• Yawning
• Perspiration
• Goose flesh
• Restless sleep
• Dilated pupils
• Twitching and spasms of muscles
• Kicking movement

Morphine withdrawal symptoms reach peak intensity in 36 to 72 hours. Without treatment, the signs of morphine addiction withdrawal will run their course in five to seven days, even though cravings for morphine may continue for months.

Morphine Addiction Help

If you or someone you know is struggling with a morphine addiction, we can help. Please call our toll free number at (877) 259-5633. We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to answer your questions on morphine addiction and treatment. All calls are private and confidential.

Morphine is one of the easier drugs to obtain, so many people will turn to it when they need to escape from reality. Often, a morphine addiction happens accidentally when someone really needs the medication for an ailment they are suffering from. Many celebrities have become addicted to some form of prescription medication to help cope with the stress of being in the limelight.

Jamie Lee Curtis and Morphine

When Jamie Lee Curtis was 35 she began taking prescription medicine after a cosmetic operation on her eyes. From there, she became addicted to prescription painkillers. She wrote in a blog for the Huffington Post that she used the morphine to escape from reality. Fortunately, she was able to escape her addiction. Many celebrities fall so deep in the hole and do not want anyone to find out about it, so they hide it until it eventually kills them. Curtis was able to overcome her addiction.

Michael Jackson

Although Jackson’s death was not solely due to his prescription drug problem, it was definitely prevalent in his life. He began his addiction in 1984 while filming a Pepsi commercial when his hair caught on fire. Jackson was in pain for a while after that and began taking prescription medications. As time went on, it kept getting worse. It began to affect his career; he would be too medicated to perform at times. Before his death, he was said to have been overly medicated.

Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger, 28, died January 22 in his apartment from an accidental overdose. He was taking prescription painkillers, anxiety medication as well as sleeping pills. No illegal drugs were found in the apartment, it was all prescription drugs. None of the medications were taken in excess, it was simply the mixing of different prescribed medicines.

More about Morphine

Morphine is in a group of drugs called narcotic pain relievers. It is a potent analgesic drug and the primary active agent is opium. It is used to treat moderate to severe pain. Morphine works by dulling the pain perception center in the brain.

A patient can use short-acting formula morphine on an “as needed” basis for the pain or an extended-release formula when using morphine for around-the-clock patients who are constantly in pain. Often times, your doctor will not prescribe morphine unless your body has already built up a tolerance to other opioid medications because morphine is highly dependent drug.

Morphine can be habit forming, so it is important to only take what is prescribed to you by your doctor so that your body does not build up a tolerance quickly. It is also important to keep it in a safe place away from children and those who have had addiction problems. Morphine is popular for teenagers who want to do drugs because it is easily accessible in their parents’ medicine cabinets. Morphine should be stopped gradually in order to not experience withdrawal symptoms.

Morphine Help

If you or a loved one is addicted to morphine, it is important to seek help. Morphine is a highly dependent drug. Once addicted, the effects are devastating. Many lose their jobs, dreams and ambitions. But, there is hope. If you are interested in receiving information on morphine detox or rehab, please call our toll free number.