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Does anyone know what is considered to much morphine sulfate to be on?

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david64649
david64649

My VA doctor has had me on 45 mg immediate release morphine sulfate tablets and 150 mg time release morphine sulfate tablets for five years and now all of a sudden he says the pharmacist is saying that's too much. I have never abused my medicine and had drug test and urine test done every three months for years and always been clean of any other type drugs. I don't know what to do as I'm obviously dependent on my meds and am scared of having to do without my meds. Anyone have any advice who I can talk to about this?

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • Jcat
    Jcat david64649

    Posted

    5 years is a long time to be taking the same dose of meds without seeing your doctor again. It is important to check if the prescription is still working for you. Did the pharmacist suggest you see your doctor again? The pharmacist probably just wanted to ensure that the initial prescription was still helping you. Any drug in any dose can be dangerous if it's taken incorrectly. It would be best for you to go and see your doctor and discuss your current health situation. You very well might need a different prescription to what you have been taking over the last 5 years.
    • david64649
      david64649 Jcat

      Posted

      Hi Jcat,

      What happened was about eight months ago they cut my meds completely in half with no warning or notice from my doctor or anything.  Well, to say the least, I was going through withdrawals and I contacted my doctor and she said it wasn't her that cut my meds but the pharmacist.  She immediately contacted the pharmacist and they only cut my meds by 30 mgs which I was okay with.  Now I think why they want me to go to Gainesville is because the pharmacist is trying to reduce my meds again and I don't understand this because I'm just bearly tolerating the pain as it is.  If I had ever overdosed on my meds or didn't follow the directions for taking my meds then I can understand that they might have a legitimate reason to try and cut my meds.  This is not the case.  I think this is not a matter of how much pain I'm in but just the fact that the VA controls veterans lives and we have no say in what they do or if we do speak up they retaliate against us by withholding our meds which has happened to me.  I called and was told, "Oh, the doctor forgot to refill your meds.  I get these meds every month and request them through secure messaging and they acknowledged they had receive my message but I didn't get my meds on purpose.  I have been homebound for over five years and they know that it's very difficult for me to get from Jacksonville to Gainesville and I think they are doing this on purpose because I have been allowed to see private doctor's here in Jacksonville when they don't have a particular specialty doctor available at the local VA.  david4649

  • lorlan70
    lorlan70 david64649

    Posted

    Hi David. A pharmacist is not allowed to decrease your medication without getting approval from your doctor first. As for a safe dose, pain medication is safe as long as it is taken as prescribed. The goal of pain Meds is to keep you out of pain. I'm on a fentanyl patch of 100mcg/hour and take 60mg of oxycodone daily for breakthrough pain. The dose needs to cover your pain. I've never heard of a pharmacist doing this before, it's crazy. Didn't your doctor straighten them out? I hope that you are able to find some relief. 

    Lori

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