Morphine common side effects

It will be recalled that a common side effect of morphine is the induction of constipation. This property of the drug has often been exploited in the design of preparations used to control diarrhea. 

The common side effects of naltrexone are nansea, headache, and dizziness. In addition, naltrexone has the potential for toxic effects on the liver and should not be used in an alcoholic with cirrhosis or other known liver disease. Because it blocks opiate receptors, patients treated with naltrexone are unable to benefit from the analgesic effects of opiates such as codeine or morphine. Naltrexone may increase serum levels of acamprosate in patients taking both medications. 

The most common side effect of pentazocine is sedation resulting from an interaction with the K-receptor. Also observed are sweating, dizziness, psychotomimetic effects, anxiety, nightmares, and headache. Nausea and vomiting are less frequent than with morphine. Respiratory depression and increased heart rate, body temperature, and blood pressure accompany overdose. Naloxone is effective in reducing the respiratory depression but requires the use of higher doses than for morphine overdose. 

Side effects and complications tend to be higher with the intrathecal than the epidural route. A common side effect is pruritus, the incidence of which is higher with intrathecal than with epidural administration. It is dose-dependent, with an incidence of about 10% after epidural morphine 5 mg. The risk of severe, distressing itching is about 1%. Pruritus may be related to cephalad spread of morphine... 

Buprenorphine is a semi-synthetic derivative of thebaine, one of the opium alkaloids. It is approximately 30 times as potent as morphine. A dose of 0.3 mg intramuscularly has a duration of analgesic action of 6-18 h. Buprenorphine is also effective sublingually. The average bio-availability by this route is about 55%, but absorption is slow and the time to achieve peak plasma concentrations is variable, with a range of 90-360 min. The onset of action is rather slow (5-15 min) after both intramuscular and intravenous administration, possibly due to slow receptor association. Buprenorphine binds to and dissociates from the p receptor very slowly, which may account for its low potential for physical abuse. It also means that buprenorphine-induced respiratory depression is difficult to reverse with naloxone, even with very high doses. Doxapram may in these circumstances be useful. Drowsiness and dizziness are the most common side effects, although they rarely... 

Codeiae (2, R = CH3) occurs ia the opium poppy along with morphine (2, R = H) but usually ia much lower concentration. Because it is less toxic than morphine and because its side effects (including depression, etc) are less marked, it has found widespread use ia the treatment of minor pain and much of the morphine found ia cmde opium is converted to codeiae. The commercial coaversioa of morphine to codeiae makes use of a variety of methylating ageats, amoag which the most common are trimethylphenylammonium salts. Ia excess of two huadred toas of codeiae are coasumed anauaHy from productioa faciUties scattered arouad the world. 

Like morphine, codeine is a naturally occurring opioid found in the poppy plant. Codeine is indicated for the treatment of mild to moderate pain and for its antitussive effects. It is widely used as an opioid antitussive because at antitussive doses it has few side effects and has excellent oral bioavailability. Codeine is metabolized in part to morphine, which is believed to account for its analgesic effect It is one of the most commonly used opioids in combination with nonopioids for the relief of pain. The administration of 30 mg of codeine in combination with aspirin is equivalent in analgesic effect to the administration of 65 mg of codeine. The combination of the drugs has the advantage of reducing the... 

Lack of selectivity, i.e., inhibition, agonism, or antagonism at several different targets, a most common reason for drug side effects (e.g., respiratory depression by morphine, cardiotoxidty of certain drugs mediated by hERG channel inhibition). 

Morphine is the standard opioid against which other narcotic analgesics are compared. Its potential side effects, however, along with potential for abuse and addiction, usually make it unsuitable for use in outpatients. Other opioids are preferred for the treatment of moderate to severe pain in most patients. Pharmacologic properties of the commonly used opioids are summarized in Table 7-6. 

The treatment of addiction to certain drugs utilises substitution therapy. This is where the drug that the patient is addicted to is substituted for another drug that may be prescribed on a prescription form. Drugs allowed as substitutes are (most commonly) methadone, buprenor-phine, dextromoramide, morphine and pethidine. In addition, it is possible for prescribers to prescribe diazepam on instalment prescriptions for the management of side-effects to addiction treatment. 

The dangerous side-effects of morphine are those of tolerance and dependence, allied with the effects morphine can have on breathing. In fact, the most common cause of death from a morphine overdose is by suffocation. Tolerance and dependence in the one drug are particularly dangerous and lead to severe withdrawal symptoms when the drug is no longer taken. 

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