morphine or no morphine

I think I am opting against the morphine drip after surgery. I have been seeing a lot of people saying it has caused nauseousness and they get sick from it. I think why cause yourself more sickness. (especially if u end up vomiting with the incision, ow) Anyone else opt out from the morphine, if so how did you cope with pain and maybe a lighter pain medicine that doesn't cause so much trouble.

Thanks ev1 for your posts I am learning a lot. This site is wonderful.

Let your doctor know that you don't want morphine. Of course they'll want to know why...such as...have you had a bad reaction to it in the past? Be prepared to come up with an answer in case they ask.
Best wishes to you.

I'm one of those lucky people who gets sick to my stomach with any type of pain killer. It doesn't mean you will, too. Some people do well with morphine, some don't. You should talk to your doctor about your concerns and together you will be able to come up with the right pain management for you. There are other options out there. They can also give you meds to settle your stomach.

s, Deb

I had the morphine drip when I came out of surgery. I woke up every 20 minutes to press that wonderful button for the next dose. However, when I would wake up I would notice that my nose was sore and my neck was burning.

After about 2 hours of this, my Mom and DH started fussing at me to stop scratching. I didn't even realize I was doing this. They finally had my nurse change out the morphine for demerol. I had a couple of rounds of Benadryl and after about 3 more hours the itching stopped.

It was the craziest thing ever! But I was not in pain from the incision, so I think it was worth it!
Good Luck! Try not to worry, you will figure it all out!

Everyone is different...

I projectile vomit when given Demerol. I break out in hives with Dilaudid. I have absolutely no problems at all with Morphine. So - in my case - Morphine was the pain elimination drug of choice!

I had no problem with the auto morphine. The nurse commented that I wasn't even administering as much as I could have to myself ...of course when she pointed that out I would hit the button. Part of it could be, depending on your individual surgery, if they destroy certain nerves then you actually don't feel the pain of the entire cut anyway... it's just the thought of it all! I think this is what happened to me as looking at the size of my cut I couldn't understand why I wasn't in so much more pain. Yes it was very uncomfortable and at times very groansome. After the pump I was given percaset in the hospital. They messed up my prescription (didn't get one) so when I got home I basically only had ibuprofen. I seem to be able to tolerate all pain meds. We are all different! Hopefully you can know what works well for you before the fact! Good luck to ya!

I had the morphine drip; the nurses automatically gave me anti nausea medication, so I am not sure if I needed it. I had absolutely no nausea at all; and the morphine worked really well for me.

Everyone is different tho, be sure to explore all of your options with your doctor to find the one that fits you best.

I had the morphine drip and it definitely took care of the pain for the first day. I had a brief wave of nausea when they first hooked it up but they gave me anti-nausea meds and I was fine the rest of the day.

The second day they took it off and started giving me Motrin 800 and that worked well. Then mid afternoon the 2nd day I started developing a rash which spread over most of my body. It was never fully determined what the cause was, but most educated guesses were a reaction to morphine. I had had morphine and other pain meds before and never had a reaction, so I was a little surprised.

The rash lasted for about 4 days and I took Benedryl for the itching and swelling. So, I guess if I'm in a position again to need pain meds, I'll have to take that into consideration.

I think it is making decisions based upon the available information and your history. You will definitely need something for pain management, so discuss it with your doc and see what the options are.