Location
Our Washington Location
Our inpatient facility is located in Washington, and will serve Washington state. It will provide a safe & therapeutic environment for both our staff and patients.
- Edmonds
7416 212th St SW,
Edmonds, WA 98026
Morphine Detox and Withdrawal Side-Effects
Morphine detox in a professional environment where you get immediate medical attention is the best way to stop using this powerful drug. Regardless of how long you've been using, if you have a Morphine addiction, it's best to choose Morphine detox prior to getting any other type of addiction treatment. This will give you the best chance of being successful in your recovery.
Morphine is the most active substance in opium. It was named after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams. It was extracted from opium at the beginning of the nineteenth century and often used as a painkiller in the American Civil War. A lot of Many soldiers experienced addiction to it during this time.
Morphine is an opioid medication that is given to help people who have extreme pain to. It's usually prescribed as an IV medication while you're in the hospital. There are times when it is appropriate to take it in smaller doses as pill form. The problem is that it is highly addictive when dosages increase, or when it's taken longer than it should be taken. Addiction to it can wreak havoc in your life. This is why it's so important to get professional help if you believe you're addicted to this dangerous drug.
Morphine Withdrawal Symptoms
Heavy users of the drug will most likely find stopping it will be very uncomfortable for them. The severity of your symptoms will vary based on how long you've been using, your metabolism, and the strength of your dosage.
Some of the most common Morphine withdrawal symptoms include:
- Getting a runny nose and watery eyes
- Coming down with a fever
- Nausea and vomiting
- Alternating sweats and chills
- An increase in your blood pressure
- Intestinal issues like diarrhea
- Anxiety and/or depression symptoms
It's also possible to develop heart issues, have seizures, or become disoriented.
It's common for users who try to stop using on their own to relapse due to intense withdrawal symptoms. Depending on how long it has been since their last dose, relapsing on morphine can be dangerous if tolerance level has gone down. You could be at a serious risk of overdosing.
Generally, detox lasts 5-7 days. The severity and length of time will depend on a few factors which include:
- How long and the amount of morphine used. The longer it’s used and the amount abused will be the gauge of how dependent the person is on the drug.
- Genetic/biological factors. This can family history of addiction or past addictions on a personal level. Other biological factors can also contribute.
- Co-occurring disorders, where mental health conditions intertwine with morphine addiction. It is more complex to treat and withdraw when this occurs.
- Abusing more than one drug can cause a greater dependence with a quicker onset of addiction. The dependence to the other drug will also need to be addressed during the detox phase.
- Stress, peer pressure and how one lives their life can contribute to abuse and dependence.
It’s important to remember that detox is different for every person. Regardless of the above, the detox timeline and severity will vary.
One of the main questions that come up is how long does morphine stay in your system. Perhaps you have an upcoming drug test or you’re feeling like your use of the drug is out of your control. It’s not easy to get off the drug at home and it’s actually not recommended. Withdrawal symptoms from morphine can be dangerous. This is why you should always seek out professional help.
Tolerance relates to the half-life of morphine. The half-life is the amount of time it takes for the morphine concentration to get to 50%. This helps doctors figure out when the drug is most effective and how long it takes to fully leave the body. The shorter the half-life, the sooner the body will adapt a tolerance.
So what is the half-life of morphine? It depends on the formulations. Morphine sulfate, which is more soluble in water is easier for the body to absorb. They tablets come in: 15mg, 30 mg, 60 mg, 100mg, and 200mg. The half-life is between two to four hours. When morphine is used as a IV application, the half-life is 90 – 180 minutes. The IV version is more addictive because tolerance builds up faster.
Morphine withdrawal timeline is going to be different for everyone. When you stop taking it outside of professional supervision, you may experience extreme discomfort.
When morphine is no longer in the bloodstream, withdrawal symptoms like anxiety, cravings, and mood swings may occur. This is usually within 6-14 hours since the last dose taken.
Symptoms will usually occur through two stages. Earliest symptoms will include yawning, tearing up, and a runny nose.
Around the 48-72 hour mark, more intense symptoms will arise. This includes:
- Chills.
- Goosebumps.
- Heart and blood pressure will likely rise.
- Trouble sleeping.
- Irritability.
- Difficulty feeling pleasure of any kind.
- Muscle pain.
- Sneezing.
- Stomach pain.
- Diarrhea.
- No appetite.
- The feeling of anxiety or a deepened depression as time goes on.
- Drug cravings will get more intense.
Emotional withdrawal symptoms can be intense which is what makes suicide is a concern. This is one of the reasons why medical detox is a recommendation. Getting through detoxification of morphine should include constant supervision which is what you receive in a professional setting.
A start of anxiety, cravings and possibly mood swings within the first 6 to 14 hours
Flu-like symptoms within 15-48 hours
A fading of your physical symptoms after 3 to 5 days, but with psychological symptoms persisting
Mostly eliminated physical symptoms after day 6, but with persistent psychological cravings
In the months that follow, you may experience rebound symptoms
Your experience may be very similar to this, or it might be a bit different. It’s crucial to keep track of your symptoms, and get help right away if they become dangerous. Of course, the best course of action is to opt for Morphine detox, which can drastically shorten the Morphine withdrawal timeline.
One of the main questions that come up is how long does morphine stay in your system? Maybe you have an upcoming drug test or you’re feeling like your use of the drug is out of your control. It’s not easy to get off the drug at home and it’s actually not recommended. Withdrawal symptoms from morphine can be dangerous. This is why you should always seek out professional help.
People want to know because they have an upcoming drug test. They’re taking morphine and feeling awful for it. Trying to get off at home, suffering withdrawal symptoms.
Are Drug Detox Kits a Good Option to Quit Using Morphine?
If you go to the local drug store, you see they sell all kinds of drug detox kits for those who want to have help with recovering from addiction. These are used in Morphine addiction but they have not been proven to be very effective at all. Addiction is complex and while you may have some of the tools you need, what happens if you can’t manage the cravings?
It’s when tolerance has lessened that you’re most at risk of overdose. Your body begins to rise in temperature. Your heart pounds and no at home kit is going to stop those scary symptoms. The medication attached to some at-home kits may interfere with medications you’re already taking. The process of withdrawing without guidance from professionals that understand addiction to morphine puts you at great risk.
One of the main problems with detoxing at home is that doing so deprives you of the personalized attention you would get at a Morphine detox center. You’ll feel a lot less stressed when you know you’re under professional supervision, being It can be so helpful to have someone monitoreding through your Morphine withdrawal. That way, iIf you do experience any medical issues, you can get treated right away before they become life-threatening, or cause injuries.
There are also at-home detox remedies which are not a good idea, either. You can find these online, but they have alsonot been shown not to work well for long-term recovery.
Options for the Best Morphine Detox
Drug detox in a professional setting protects you from the dangerous and uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms of morphine. While you get treated for detoxification, you’re being monitored by staff who can assist you if any medical problems arise.
Studies have found that rapid drug detox puts as little strain on the body as possible, while providing people with the best chance of being successful in their recoveries. There are two different methods that are used, and you can choose between medical detox and a natural, holistic detox.
When patients go through medical detox, they’re given drug detox pills that help to curb their Morphine withdrawal during the beginning part of their recoveries. This detox medicine provides short-term relief, which is one of the reasons it’s so popular. However, it is not as effective in the long run.
The holistic, or natural approach to detox provides people with professional support, but without the use of detox medicine. Instead, changes are made to patients’ diets to ensure that their bodies are functioning optimally. It will involve a program that addresses your physical needs. When you’ve been using drugs, your body will often be depleted of necessary nutrients. You will also be guided on doing a physical exercise regime. When this occurs, you are much more able to process toxins all on your own. Natural detox has a higher success compared to medical detox. This is especially true when combined with addiction treatment.
There are a few different forms of morphine. There are oral and rectal tablets as well as a solution for IV. The effects of the forms can be intensified by ingesting the drug in ways it wasn’t meant to be used. This includes crushing, smoking, or dissolving the medication in a solution for injection purposes. Therefore, we have to include the possibility of serious side effects and overdose risks.
Morphine short-term effects give users the feeling of euphoria and well-being. They will become relaxed and have a decreased perception of pain.
Here are some of the common side effects when taking morphine:
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Skin may become itchy.
- A loss in appetite.
- Constricted, or pinpoint pupils.
- Constipation.
- Breath can become Shallow or slowed.
- Heart rate and rhythm can become irregular.
- Pain in the chest.
- Cyanosis, a blue tint to the skin, lips, fingernails, and toenails.
- Dizziness.
- Confusion.
- Moody, agitated.
- The risk of seizures.
It is possible to overdose on morphine. When this occurs, it’s important to get emergency treatment right away. Any opiate overdose can lead to death. Here’s what to look for:
- Vomiting will be uncontrollable.
- Difficulty breathing with a risk of respiratory arrest.
- Heartbeat can slow down, leading to a cardiac arrest.
- Convulsions.
- Person will likely lose consciousness.
The first and most prevalent long-term effect is morphine addiction. The longer one takes this medication, the more at risk they are. It can take over your life and cause you to take on behaviors that hurt people around you. These are the long-term effects of morphine:
- A loss of interest in people around you. This includes family friends, and work commitments.
- Spending all your time obtaining, using, and coming down from morphine.
- Personal health becomes unimportant. Use of the drug will continue regardless of what it’s doing to your body.
- Financial problems will likely develop.
- One may steal from others or become involves in criminal acts.
- Withdrawal symptoms will ensue if you don’t use morphine.
- Developing Hepatitis-C or HIV-Aids is a possible long-term effect if you’re using dirty needles.
Can Someone Become Addicted to Morphine? If so, how?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned the public that morphine can be habit-forming. It has been found to cause physical dependence. When taken, the drug does a lot to the body and mind. It blocks the sensation of pain and calms part of the central nervous system. The heart, blood pressure, and respiration is slowed down and you get a feeling of euphoria.
Dependence isn’t the same as addiction. This is the reference to what happens to the brain and body as it become used to the dosages. They will begin to depend on the interaction of the drug. While a terminal cancer patient will experience withdrawal symptoms, they aren’t a compulsive user and aren’t addicted. Addiction occurs when drug use become compulsive. It’s easy to see how this would occur from dependence when used for a long period of time.
Addiction itself is when the pleasure of getting the “reward” becomes greater than anything else. It’s the state where compulsive behavior begins to occur. A morphine addict will lose all sense of control and take the drug over and over. The addiction stems from the psychological dependency.
Morphine on the Brain
Morphine attaches and binds itself to opioid receptors in part of the brain that responds to “rewards”. It also binds to the pathways connected to pain sensations. This is why it causes analgesic effects. When something makes a person happy, which comes from various external experiences, neurotransmitters are released. These neurotransmitters are known as dopamine and serotonin. Dopamine and serotonin will rise and trigger happiness. This causes the person to continue whatever caused the happiness. The reward pathway is then formed.
Morphine interrupts the natural process of us producing dopamine. It floods the brain of dopamine and causes a euphoric effect. It is especially intense when abused. If one continues to take or abuse morphine, the changes become more deeply ingrained. This can become the method for a person’s feeling of well-being. This is dependence.
Are there Physical and/Psychological Dependencies?
There is a risk of both physical and psychological dependence. This can occur through consistent use where morphine tolerance increases. It only takes a few doses to become psychologically dependent. It takes longer to build up a physical dependence. If you experience withdrawal symptoms when morphine leaves the bloodstream, this is a sign of dependence. Physical and psychological dependence are two different conditions.
Physical dependence is where the body only functions normally when morphine is present in the blood. Dependence occurs when the drug is removed suddenly. Then you’ll experience the physiological problems that are also known as withdrawal symptoms. By definition, physical dependence is the reaction of withdrawing after sudden use of the drug or a substantial reduction in the dose.
How can People Abuse Morphine?
Dependency and addiction is more risky when one abuses morphine. Methods of abuse for this drug includes crushing oral or rectal pills. The high is more intense when the drug is smoked or injected. People will crush down the pills and dissolve them into a solution for injection. The feelings of euphoria and intense relaxation is intensified.
Is it Difficult Trying to Come Off of Morphine?
When you stop use after a substantial time of taking morphine, you can expect to go through withdrawal. The body adapted to morphine and some of the brain and body functions have a hard time living without it. The drug is psychoactive so the body adapts chemically in order to survive. It takes time to balance out the processes of the brain. The physical dependence manifests as a certain set of symptoms that cause great discomfort when you abstain. The “accelerated” functions that morphine balanced out will cause mind and body symptoms.
The effects of withdrawal can make it very challenging to stop on your own. It is highly recommended you get morphine detox and continue with rehabilitation in a professional setting. Medically supervised detox may even be necessary. This prevents the dangerous withdrawal symptoms.
Tapering vs Cold Turkey
Quitting cold turkey means you stop using altogether without giving yourself time to adjust. The benefit of quitting in this way is that you can focus on moving forward with your life immediately. The problem is, it can come with consequences. Life-threatening withdrawal symptoms and the risk of relapse due to intense withdrawal symptoms. This can lead to an overdose and death. For this reason, going cold turkey is not the recommended method for abstaining from morphine.
Quitting morphine cold turkey comes with it’s risks. This includes seizures that can be quite dangerous. Regardless of the dose you’ve been taking, it’s not recommended to go off the medication without tapering. When you become dependent, there should be a plan to get off it. It can be a great benefit to taper dosages of morphine. It can take some time and you may not be able to fully wean yourself off of it on your own. Tapering in a professional setting is the safest way to fully recover form dependency or addiction.
Getting help with a Morphine Addiction
There are treatment programs that will give you the best chance to withdraw from morphine effectively. There is a variety of options available so each individual has the best chance to stop for good. Firstly, there will be the detox phase, which safely gets the drug out of your system. The longer-term help is rehabilitation with inpatient treatment. This is where you’ll get 24-hour supervision while trying to quit. This treatment includes nursing, psychiatric, and therapy services where the space is safe and secure. Approaches will include support groups through the day. Individual and group therapy, along with healthy activities and behavioral interventions all mold life without morphine. There are skills to help you cope with not using the drug any longer as well as relapse prevention skills education.
Outpatient treatment provides the same kind of relapse prevention and skills to cope with sobriety as an inpatient option. Treatment will usually mean visiting a treatment center for 1 to 3 sessions per week. Intensity on the services will vary on the individual’s needs. Outpatient treatment is suitable for those who are addicted to just one drug. If co-occurrence is prevalent, such as addiction to morphine and alcohol, inpatient treatment is advised. It’s important to understand that there are differences between inpatient and outpatient treatment.
Further assistance can be found through 12-step programs. This is long-term assistance and support that can occur for years to come.
Morphine Detox Process
There is a way to detox from morphine. It entails a medical professional to monitor vitals and figure out the best treatment option to get the drug out of the body safely. The level of dependency will determine how to go about detox. “Cold turkey” is possible if the dependency is not so serious. Otherwise, tapering is the method used.
Naltrexone of Suboxone may be implemented to help ease the withdrawal symptoms of morphine. Methadone may also be used as it’s a less potent opiate. It helps keep the user comfortable. Detox will often last about 10 days to make it possible to focus on living a happier life of sobriety.
Once detox has been completed, a doctor will evaluate vitals again to see if the individual can be discharged safely. If detox occurs in a drug treatment center, this is when counseling and therapy will then ensue. This helps get to the psychological addiction to the drug.
Treatment centers will take on a multifaceted, holistic treatment plan that is specifically tailored for each person’s needs. It’s designed to treat all aspects of addiction. It also works on the mental health problems that may occur with morphine addiction. This can range from behavior therapies that involve mindfulness as well as setting and achieving goals.
These treatments are designed to improve motivation, enhance, and maintain motivation, and structures the user’s environment. It’s also important to provide the body with necessary nutrients and hydrating the body. Natural anti-inflammatories may be helpful such as fish oil and turmeric. They will help the body with inflammation that causes pain. GABA can be taken as a supplement and helps to trigger feelings of ease and happiness. It should help quiet any nervous activity. Activated charcoal helps to curb side effects of morphine withdrawal. It counteracts poison, helping to such out chemicals from the body.
Medical detox may be administered if an addict is at risk of deadly withdrawal symptoms. Overdose fatalities related to prescription opioids have killed over 100,000 people from 1999 to 2014. They are extremely dangerous so if there’s a chance of derailing an addiction, it should be managed any way possible. For some, that means tapering off morphine. As so many people are suffering from addiction to opioids, researchers are constantly looking for ways to treat the problem.
The FDA currently approves three drugs to treat someone with opioid dependence or addiction. These include buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone. Studies are being done for other medications as well. Some medications help to ease morphine withdrawal side effects during detox. Generally, medical professionals would not recommend you go “cold turkey”. Weaning or tapering off opioid drugs make it easier to manage the otherwise powerful withdrawal symptoms. Through the slow decline of the drug in the body, it is easier to manage getting off the drug.
Rehabilitation from Morphines?
While detoxing from morphine might seem like the greatest challenge, there is a long road to recovery. Some addicts said they would crave the drug years after they abstained. There is a high risk of relapse and for long-term sobriety; it’s recommended that rehabilitation be a part of the plan. This way you understand what caused the addiction.
There is a stigma that may cause people to fear seeking out treatment. Nobody wants to openly admit they are addicted to a drug like that. It helps people get relief from their pain and is addictive by nature due the euphoric effects and change in brain chemistry.
Without professional treatment, it is particularly difficult for a person with a morphine problem to achieve long-term sobriety and avoid relapsing. Many people will still crave morphine years after they have stopped using it because they remember how good it felt when they were on the drug. The truth is, morphine is often a last resort for a prescription pain killer because of the potential for addiction.
Abusing morphine recreationally is considered to be similar to heroin. This is based on how your brain functions on it. Heroin turns back into morphine as it enters the brain which makes it risky for dependency, tolerance, addiction and overdose. This is what makes it so important to quit for good. Rehabilitation is the best alternative to ensuring that you don’t relapse.
Giving yourself the best chance to overcome addiction means some hard work. The best way to be successful is through professional treatment specifically designed for morphine. This will include medical professionals who find the right plan for you. There will be individual psychotherapy that will break the psychological dependence. Understanding the disease is important to gain power over it.
Options for Morphine Detox
As discussed, you can use holistic means of detoxing or medically assisted detox. You can detox at home but that’s not recommended. You should be monitored as the side effects can be deadly. It’s important to have the support, have vital signs checked, and the option to take medication if it becomes too hard. The best option really is admitting yourself into inpatient detox treatment.
This gives you the best chance to get off morphine in the safest way possible. A residential treatment facility are individual in what therapies they use. Finding the right facility to suit your needs during your recovery will make all the difference.
At Northpoint Washington, we understand that morphine addiction is a disease. We have the knowledge and proven treatment strategies to ensure you have the best chance to fully recover. If you, or someone you love has a morphine addiction, it’s important to get the help you need.
Professional help within a safe environment is your best chance. Detox will be the first step and afterwards, there is continued education and support to give you back your power and freedom. There are many services that are designed to address all aspects of your life. Bringing family back together through family therapy is just one of the examples.
Northpoint Washington can help you with morphine detox and rehabilitation. To learn more, please contact us today.
Talk to a Rehab Specialist
Our admissions coordinators are here to help you get started with treatment the right way. They'll verify your health insurance, help set up travel arrangements, and make sure your transition into treatment is smooth and hassle-free.
888.450.2153Contact Us