Hi I’m looking for advice on any adverse affects with these drugs that my grandmother is on for her crones and arthritis, she suffers terribly with pain and is already taking (here comes list)
40mg of morphine
Metronazole
Olsalazole
Omeprazole
Furosemide
Digoxin
Perindopril
Co-Codamol
Co-amoxiclav (short term to treat an absess on her bowl)

I've talked about this with my mother and she is happy to 'put some in her food' as she is very anti drugs but we'd both like some reasureance that nothing hads a 'bad' reaciton

thanks for all your help

Hi 2hi2try. First of all I don't think that you should give anyone Cannabis, especially in food, without them knowing. Your post does not make clear if that is the case

Regarding any reactions with the pharmas that your gran is taking......I expect its unlikely, other than the fact it will increase the effectiveness of any pain relief that she takes. But I would wait for someone more knowledgeable to confirm that.

I have been diagnosed with Crohns/Colitis for 16/17 odd yrs and at the moment only medicate with Cannabis. Eating and smoking. At the moment itis very effective.

Hey mate cant really comment on those drugs but its maybe not a good idea to give her anything without her knowing about it.

leary's first law

thou shalt not alter someone elses brain chemistry without consent.


but a laudable intention , just tell her first and why not try , do keep a proper eye on her for a while after too, and be careful the effect of eating is much , MUCH stronger than smoking (ime), and it takes longer to take effect and wear off.
Peace

yeh im a bit iffy about the not telling her thing i'd only start in very small doses there again i'd most probably tell her or my mum would(itd sound much better coming from her(she is also anti drugs god knows how i convinsed her to let my grow in the house). I've almost given up my life looking after her, i'm lucky that i can work from home. I'd just love to be able to give her some extra pain relief(maybe i'll be allowed to convert the doubble garage in to my next grow room, the plans are already in my head)

once again thanks for the advise

No, no, no, no, no, don't do it

There will be some contraindications but they could be viewed as positive, eg, use of cannabis can make the morphine more effective.

But don't administer cannabis to your Gran without her knowledge, talk to her about it, if she decides no then that's her choice

could you get your mother to perhaps word nanna up that she's "found" some information on the internet or wherever whilst looking into her meds/ailments that says canna could help? possibly a good idea to print something off that backs this up.

thanks all ill be taking you advise and NOT give har anything without letting her know first, i admit it will be one hell of a task getting het to say yes but i convince an anti drug school teacher to grow canna im sure i can do anything

id also explain to her that morphine has the same affects on her body as heroin!and shes taking more harmful drugs from the doctor than cannabis!

she knows all about the morphine, when she was in hospital the nurses 'forgot' to give it to het 3 times and she was rattelin like a gud un. I talked to her about the EM-1 and hit a brick wall instantly so didn't mention the canna. Its very frustrating that she wouldn't even entertaqin anything the doc didnt give her, i'm going to ask the doc about the EM-1 to see he can persuade her to give it a go

thanks all

I found out yesterday that my nan has been diagnosed with breast cancer,she has the op on thursdat next week and at the moment it`s 50/50 wether she`ll need chemo,if she does i will be having a talk with here,she`s pretty open minded. But i`m obviously hoping that she won`t.

Yeah I know this area pretty well. The morphine, isn't great, well, it's good at relieving the pain, I'll give you that, but that is a good reason not to give her cannabis, as a test, unbeknown areas etc, I know that for sure. Cannabis will add to the morphine affect, they are similar in make up, you already have been advised of that. I use, or am prescribed a drug called Zydol, (tramadol hydrochloride) it is an opiod, i.e. derived from opium, err, oh oh, so is heroin. Ok it isn't that bad, but I can tell you I and others have a problem with zydol, the poit is this, it is similar to morphine remember, it can be addictive, quite badly so, and if I miss a day, I get nasty anxiety attacks, and feel totally fu'd up, now morphine, to recap here, and cannabis, might have the same affect, and you don't want that. In addition, morphine can cause constipation, which although is not terrible, it is bloody uncomfortable, and depending on the patient, it an be more of a problem. Now, fact. It is worth taking the pain killer, medication, if it is worth the risks, there is no point in my mind, although some may disagree, that suffering because a side effect might kick up, worry about that if the side effect crops up.

OK co codamol, well, be careful they aren't too much used, they ccan cause what is known as analgesic headaches, which are blinding headaches, like a migraine. Nasty. What happens often is that they are taken in addition to some other pain killer, which is analgesic, and it mounts up, and bang, OMG the doc told me about this when I had them for a period, I thought of course, shit, my head is killing me, I know, I'll take a co codamol, which in reality made it worse. So, Ok in small amounts, but watch what else is being taken.

The other one I know about is the omeprozol or however it is spelt, no probs with that, it is taken to protect the digestive system from the medications that are likely to inflame the linings etc.

Now finally. Look, I have a thing called ankylosing spondilitis, if you look it up, you will see what it is, it used to hurt like shit, and has, with the pain and inflamation, crippled a lot of my joints, and forced me in to have surgery on a number of occasions. Now, the best type of drug available for this, and I believe similar conditions to your Grandma, is a thing called enbrel. There is another one, can't recall it's name, but they are known as anti necrosis tumour factors. Anti-atf for short, they are a sub cutaneous injection, taken once a week, and administered by the patient themselves, usually in the thigh, where there is a bit of fat etc. These drugs are relatively new, I mean they have been around for some years, but they are seen as new in the medical world. They are very expensive, but the NHS does fund them, in some cases. It is the truth that it falls unfortunately into a post code lottery case. I mean by that, some areas of the Uk it is relatively easy to get, others it isn't, I think as usual, it is the financial implications behind it all. But get her to enquire about it, google anti TNF and it will gie you some links, there are plenty of them. This drug, is seen as the most important break through in recent years, and is beneficial to many arthritic conditions, which crohns is of course one. There are perhaps a hundred types of arthritis, or so I was told, different variants I suppose, but seriously this is worth checking out. I was nearly bed ridden at one point, I had a really bad time, and had to walk with sticks. now I don't need any, and get around pretty well, and don't get tired like I used to, I was alwys knackered, as the condition was fighting with my body all the time.
I hope this helps in some way, good luck.

Mate - I have something called Systemic Lupus - it is very close to Chrons, infact when i first got it i was initially diagnosed as having Chrons.

Right then - meds.
I am on a very similar set up, a few diffrent ones but in esence they are a variety of pain killer and anti inflammatory meds.
The pain killers on the list are al morphine based, and under no way would i like ot do a hit of morphine mixewd with co-codamol and the other pain relievers there. I have other the years managed to wean myself off the majority of the nasty drugs, through a healthy diet and dope.

The amount to have must be well controlled, you dont want her tripping out all day - but it can be done with very positive effects.

Sorry cant elaborate more now as I have a plane to catch very early in the morning and its my bedtime:) feel free to PM if you want some more info - will be back tomorrow evening and will pick up mails then

Z

i talked to the doc about the EM-1 which he replied it looks intresting but i can't comment because its had no medical trials, her morphine has now been increased to 80mg daily and the co codammol stopped

thanks for all your replies but i feel im banging my head against a wall as she'll only ever take meds a doc has given her and wont entertain anything alternative

Hi Proff.
You and I have similar physical probelms (I have Spinal Stenosis - Peripheral Neuropathy; Arthritis; and recently Superor Laryngeal Neuralgia (awaiting full diagnosis on the latter, but its damned unpleasant).
I find cannabis of no use as an analgesic per se, none at at all. Indeed, sometimes it can make matters very much worse. But it does have mood elevating properties that can be useful; and it potentiates other painkillers resulting in reduced doses being needed.
Cannabis potentiates Morphine. I for one regard the combo of the two an almost "Dream-ticket" analgesic. For me, it doesn't really come any better, in terms of pain relief. When I run out of weed, I need to up the Morph doses to achieve the same level of pain management.
Morphine is about as good a painkiller as I have so far encountered. I take it morning and night and it gives me some management of pain levels, plus a good night's sleep unless things are really ballistic.
Like many I face a choice: Pain, or a mild Morphine habit. Being a coward, I opt for the latter However, addiction is a much milder problem when Morphine is used therapeutically. Full on rattling is rare unless the Morphine has been over-prescribed.
Constipation is a side effect that can be easily treated. I'm as regular as clockwork despite my prescription

Most folks have unfounded fears about Morphine. In reality it is a very safe drug (comparatively), and as far as I can find out, does virtually no damage to essential organs etc etc, unlike so many other drugs. A true "Gold Standard". Just a shame so many fear it, and that is mainly due to Tabloid hype and hysteria about junkies.



Don't worry about the Morphine. 80mg per day is a very minor dose (actually just about half of what I take, and I am by no means on a "high" dose really). The important thing is - "Does it work?" If so, Great! If not get the Doc to up the dose again. Its called "Titration", slowly upping the dose till pain relief is achieved. It can take some time, even a week or two as in my case. But once the levels have been found, the relief is most welcome.
In properly titrated therapeutic use, there is no ceiling to the amount of morphine that can be taken. And given its relative lack of toxicity, long term use presents no serious issues. So don't worry about things like rising doses etc etc. The important issue is to relieve your Grandmother's pain. And that, I hope, is done very quickly.

You mention Co-Codamol.. My wife has arthritis problems, she recommends this to all

I have to say though, do not give her anything without her own express consent