[Katie]

Does anyone else have weird side effects from the medications they are taking for pain, etc?

Ever since I started on the heavy duty doses of Morphine, my body has seemed to crash, like the immune system has broken down or something.

A little background that may also spread some light on my symptoms...about ten years ago, near the same time as I first hurt my back by picking up something heavy from the right side, I got a bad lung infection from tearing up the flooring in a hundred year old house. Lots of bad dust, etc. It took quite awhile to clear it up and I ended up with asthma for some time.

One day when driving to work, I had an anaphylactic episode. Huge hives, throat closed up, and I passed out just as I pulled into the parking lot. After a trip to the hospital all was well, but after that I was very sensitive to chemicals, scents, etc. Allergy testing did not give any explanation for the event.

Fast forward to two years ago when I started taking pain meds, serious ones. I started on straight short acting morphine and all was well, once we sorted out the dose. The doctor wanted me to try other types, oxycontin & family, fentanyl, lyrica, etc. Fentanyl had me in an ambulance four hours into the first twelve hour patch, and all the others have me either hallucinating or wretching in the bathroom and with breathing problems, among other effects. So, I've stayed with short acting morph. Even the long acting does not seem to work...it does not reduce the pain by itself, even when I use the short acting at the beginning to let it catch up.

I have been feeling physically ill since last summer, and the best way to describe it is a cross between the worst hangover one could have and the flu, rolled into one. I also had a month long bout of vertigo and could hardly get out of bed last July/August. Somewhere in there a doctor tentatively diagnosed fibromyalgia because he said I had 14 of the 18 trigger points. Of course getting a specialist is nigh on impossible here, so I went on the internet and it said to try a restricted diet, eliminating grains, dairy, etc.

Dairy was OK, but I felt so much better with out the grains, including rice....which makes no sense according to my GP. I stayed off that food, but last September I was sitting on a load of wheat straw while my husband was unloading it for our horses. Within 15 minutes I was severely ill, another anaphylactic reaction, and spent the next six hours in hospital hooked up to IVs. The docs said there should be no correlation between the wheat taken internally and that external exposure.

After extensive testing, an allergist said I was only truly allergic to mold, not anything else, but I have not yet been able to get testing by a gastro specialist. He did say that he believed I had developed chemical sensitivities from the medications I've been taking. And that I need to have surgery as soon as possible before this becomes life threatening. That meant nothing to the insurance company I'm battling though, of course.

I have been getting bad again...very congested, no energy-exhaustion really, ache all over, just no joy of life, and that is on top of the pain from five bad discs. I am still on a very restricted diet. I am just recovering from a month long bout of pneumonia.

I am starting to believe that the medication is the root of all this...that the morphine really is affecting my whole system. I am taking 20-30 mg every 2 to 3 hours, depending on how active and hurting I am. It is barely keeping me comfortable and able to function.

My very good friend, a very sensible and down to earth person, is a veterinarian and is very sensitive to many medications as well. Morphine would kill her, as would exposure to latex. She said there were studies that redheads (which we are) are very susceptible to this sort of thing.

Has anyone else had this sort of problem with medications? I think I have a buildup of this gunk in my system, and it is only getting worse. I have had problems with general anesthetic in the past too, so am a bit worried about my possible upcoming surgery.

Sorry this is so long, but I thought the background is important.

I really need to get over this before surgery; I'm very run-down and am sure this would affect my healing. Any feedback?