Gut pains and tolerance

[Karlin]

I think I posted this here once, but I would like to start over.

I wake up early, after about 4 hrs to 6 hrs sleep, with an irritating feeling in my lower gut, I do not think it is my stomach. When I get up, it gets worse, but I cannot stay lying down either. Over the next three hours, it gradually gets better, with some coffee and water and cigs. I will have one or two BMs , and then my gut is nearly tolerable. Most of that three hours is spent grunting and moaning, sometimes raging, or squirming in pain. I feel like I cannot breathe in all the way, the abdomen is that bloated. There is a gagging feeling in my throat, but I never puke, and if I try to puke, or just 'let it', there is nothing.

Then, by 9am, I take my firstshot of morphine. The worst is allready over though, but by then I am into withdrawals - had nothing since 6pm or so. But it is odd that I feel BETTER after three more hours of withdrawals than when I got up.

That first shot gives me no rush, nada. It works in other ways, but no rush. And that is over 100mg, maybe 150 or 180mg. And yes, this is injected morphine, Eslons crushed and cooked.

The second shot of the day comes by about 2pm, or 5 pm if my gut is not in pain. Sometimes by noon if it is bad - it is almost allways the gut pains that drive me to those first two shots of morphine, not 'withdrawals'. Otherwise, I would wait longer to take it.

Finally, the third shot - ahhhhhhh - AT about 5 pm, maybe 8pm depending on the previous shots. It is not gut pains that drive me to take this 3rd one, it is my 'dope reward' for living thru the first half of the day. Even if it is a smaller dose, say 100mg, I get a great huge rush, tingling down to my feet, lasting for many minutes sometimes. Glorious. There is a long-lasting calmness and euphoria too.

So what the heck? Is it that I am in pain, and the pain is "eating up" the morphine rush in the first two shots? But when I get to the third one the pain is cleared out and the dope can work on my rush instead of on the pains???

Cuz isn't it odd that after waiting 12 to 16 hours for the first shot, when I should be geting the best rush, I feel nothing? And then after only 4 or 6 hours after the 2nd shot, when I should be used to it, I get the best rush of the day?

There is more history but I make these too long anyhow. Suffice to say I get prescription morphine and stick to a strict shedule, as I have for 15 years now. I originally got morphine for 'bodily pain other than gut' but then it became all about the gut.

This gut pain is not stomach, but more like the colon. I can actually feel the fluids move through my colon, it feels good when it moves. I can hear gurgling and so on all morning. It bloats up to a huge size - I look 100 pounds heavier. It hurts, and it is hard to breathe in. I had troubles there long before I took morphine.

Anyone else relate to that? Is it just what eery opiate addict has in their guts>? {i do not think so, by my talks with other addicts. But tell me what you think....

[Chipper]

You may have developed Irritable Bowel Syndrome or some other medical condition totally unrelated to dope. I suggest that you see a doctor if nobody else can help.

Is the problem getting worse? If so, it's probably not the dope.

[doctor diesel]

Interesting, and it goes to prove the theory that people taking strong opiates for pain don't get any recreational value from them, and so don't get addicted.
I was thinking IBS too, but it could be worse: Crohn's disease. If you've got any bleeding from the back passage when you go to the poop, it MUST be checked out.
In fact it should be checked out anyway.
The improvement in pain over those first three hours may simply be the effect of gravity - you're up and about and that moves things along - downward, obviously - in the gut. That's the reason many of us have a shit first thing in the morning!
Hey, they don't call me 'doctor' for nothing!

[antigonemuse]

i agree with the theory above, when I am in pain... alot of pain, my meds dont get me as high as when i take for receation.

You need to see a doc about the pain though... Ever been tested for divertricoltis (pardon spelling)... its kinda like an infection in the intestines, which is extremly painful. Certian foods will flair it up. My boyfriend has this. Food gets caught in pockets (of sorts) in the intestine, and that is what causes infection. You should get this looked at. It sounds to me like it may be the problem. This is a condition that will effect your whole lifestyle (diet).

Good luck, and I hope you find resolution.

[HistoryofMadness]

I agree. If you need a medication it will not get you high, unless you reach the necessary levels and then go up.

I think you need more water, and possibly fiber, in your diet. It sounds like you have a combination of a high tolerance and constipation.

Look for the thread "on the rocks of life" - we feel your pain.

[Karlin]

Gee whiz, that all makes a lot of sence. It is so hard to see things from 'the inside', with all the factors of dope and getting high and then pain and withdrawals, I don't have a clue what is motivating my addiction.

Thanks for the help y'all, it makes my day!! When the dope does not work like it should, it can really freak me out and make me paranoid. Your replies help.

The ideas that I have IBS or Diverticulitis sounds right. Actually, I DID get a diagnosis of IBS, I should have mentioned that. However, there is not much help after an IBS diagnosis, and it is often used to judge me as a hypochondriac, by less educated doctors and others. Also, they said I have Fibromyalgia years ago, a cousin related to IBS. [now they KNOW I am a hypochoncdriac!! lol].

I have altered my diet a lot, and I do try to keep up on drinking water and fibre and other constipation helpers. If I do not wait for my BMs in the morning I will really suffer bad all day, and I usually have two good ones. That part [BMs] is working better now than a few years ago, despite doubling my dose of morphine. Also, I have managed to gain 15 pounds [a good thing - I was very thin].

How do they diagnose Diverticulitis? I would like to get an ultra sound ; the barium x-ray I had didn't show anything abnormal, but it was a few years ago .

One problem - a fear I have - is that the doc who prescribes my morphine might cut me off if I take my shirt off - isn't that silly? He would see the track marks... I feel stuck in limbo. I do tellhim about the gut, but they think that if someone is addicted to morphine, they just will have gut pains. however, I KNOW these gut pains are not from morophine withdrawls, maybe a factor, but like I said, I had it before I ever took any morphine.

My best solution is to just keep upping the doseage. I have reached my financial limit for buying more morph than I am prescribed, and Doc just gets angry and harsh if I ask for an increase [it has been almost 3 years since the last increase].

[antigonemuse]

Gee whiz, that all makes a lot of sence. It is so hard to see things from 'the inside', with all the factors of dope and getting high and then pain and withdrawals, I don't have a clue what is motivating my addiction.

Thanks for the help y'all, it makes my day!! When the dope does not work like it should, it can really freak me out and make me paranoid. Your replies help.

The ideas that I have IBS or Diverticulitis sounds right. Actually, I DID get a diagnosis of IBS, I should have mentioned that. However, there is not much help after an IBS diagnosis, and it is often used to judge me as a hypochondriac, by less educated doctors and others. Also, they said I have Fibromyalgia years ago, a cousin related to IBS. [now they KNOW I am a hypochoncdriac!! lol].

I have altered my diet a lot, and I do try to keep up on drinking water and fibre and other constipation helpers. If I do not wait for my BMs in the morning I will really suffer bad all day, and I usually have two good ones. That part [BMs] is working better now than a few years ago, despite doubling my dose of morphine. Also, I have managed to gain 15 pounds [a good thing - I was very thin].

How do they diagnose Diverticulitis? I would like to get an ultra sound ; the barium x-ray I had didn't show anything abnormal, but it was a few years ago .

One problem - a fear I have - is that the doc who prescribes my morphine might cut me off if I take my shirt off - isn't that silly? He would see the track marks... I feel stuck in limbo. I do tellhim about the gut, but they think that if someone is addicted to morphine, they just will have gut pains. however, I KNOW these gut pains are not from morophine withdrawls, maybe a factor, but like I said, I had it before I ever took any morphine.

My best solution is to just keep upping the doseage. I have reached my financial limit for buying more morph than I am prescribed, and Doc just gets angry and harsh if I ask for an increase [it has been almost 3 years since the last increase].


Diverticilitis is diganosed with an exam, and either a CAT scan or MRI

and I hear ya about Tracks and doctors. Ive been scared to go back to my neuro. And there have been times that I have had mirgrains so bad; I would have typically gone to ER for a demoral shot. Instead, I do my best to "self medicate" the throbbing away.

Good luck

[Karlin]

ya, it is a catch-22 where I cannot get the help I need due to the tracks, but the 'making of the tracks' are all that is keeping me alive.

I heard that doctors are 'required' to report signs of 'abuse'. And that any injecting is abuse. Which is really DUMB because for over 100years it has been known that the best way to take opiates is injecting them

Actually, I did take 'as prescribed' for about 10 years!! i swallowed, i stayed within the prescribed limits [ and even saved up a few for spares]. Once I got cut wayyy back in doseage, and the next day I started injecting, and finally discovered the real power of morphine, my gut pains were relieved for the first time.

[superman]

Karlin, if you have been diagnosed IBS, then the first step in diagnosing this problem would be to confirm your doctors IBS diagnosis. an oral marijuana preparation should almost completely eliminate any IBS symptoms. I would put a 2 grams of weed oil in warm vegetable oil (non hydrogented of course). use 1/4 - 1/8 of this each morning by mixing it with a very small amount of pancake mix. for it to work the pancake must be very small, try the size of a CD, and thin. eat this on an empty stomach for a few days in a row and i suspect you will see these symptoms vanish if it is actually IBS.

Smoking it also works, but eating it is better for this disorder

[Karlin]

Thats very interesting, thanks, I will give it a whirl.

My experience with marijuana is almost all smoking it. When I do that, there is a little bit of 'indigestion' at first, and then it does feel somewhat better but it is still bloated. However, I don't think I ever tried it in the mornings, as my world gets too strange to toke that early. And when I do toke, it is later in the day when my gut is improved anyhow. So I don't really know if toking helps or not.

Therefore, EATING it would be more tolerable, and might tell me something, thx. I guess i just never had a lot of faith in it to work in the monrings, plus I think it stops me from having a BM, which is 'most important' to me!!

My problem is partly about getting the doctors to see that I actually have a a bad things going on in my colon that is not "just morphine". They assume that all morphine users have this gut thing in the morning, but it isn't serious. That kinda makes it hard for morphine using patients with 'other gut problems' to be taken seriously.
Anyhow, with the 'eaten marijuana test for IBS', it would not convince my doctor of anything other than I am weird. ha ha ha. But at least I would know if it is NOT IBS and could push Doc to look for other things, and thats the path that will save me.

Thanks again, I will try to "digest" what you said.

If there any more info on this Eaten Marijuan IBS test"?

much appreciated,
Karlin

[superman]

np karlin. IT's important to note that when taken orally, theraputic effects should be noticable at a dose where the thc is only reaching threshold effects. so if you would normally smoke a joint to yourself to get a good buzz, eating the same amount would be barely noticable, but would probably be enough, or damn close to enough for benefecial theraputic effects.
So, you shouldn't have to sacrifice your clear head for a comfortable gut.

I can sympatize with you about the importance of a morning BM. i refrain from using mj or opies untill i have done so, unless time doesn't allow, then i suppress the urge with my opies and get off to work.

I also sympathize with you about ignorant doctors. So often they think they know everything about everything, even when it blows in the face of logic. "you're only in your twenties, you shouldn't have back".

I always have better luck diagnosing my own problems and using doctors only for things like sytemic infection diagnosis and writing me prescriptions. IBS and such things are too new for them. When they were in med school IBS was barely a blip on the radar, possibly not even in thier medical texts at all. possibly not even an openly recognized medical condition.

I have one friend who has IBS. He tried all kinds of pharmaceticals for it, but finally tried dope one day, and it worked completely. he takes a toke from his 1-hitter every hour or two. Recently i was reading one of the science journals i subscribe to and there was a study done on oral MJ preparations that talked about IBS and some very good, specific information about how cannabinoid receptors are directly involved in IBS and how oral MJ is the best known treatment.

If I can find the article, i'll be sure to give a reference