Morphine sulfate can be highly addictive. If your loved one is using morphine sulfate, knowing what morphine sulfate overdose signs to look for could save their life.
Morphine Sulfate Overdose Amount, Signs & Treatment
Morphine sulfate is highly effective at reducing pain. It’s also highlyaddictive, leading to high rates of misuse and abuse. In2019, approximately 9.7 million people aged 12 years or older had abused a prescription pain reliever like morphine sulfate.
Unfortunately, many who abuse morphine sulfate are at high risk of overdosing on morphine. If your loved one is using the drug, knowing what morphine sulfate overdose signs to look for could save their life.
What Is Morphine Sulfate?
Morphine sulfateis one of the most well-knownopiate painkillers. It was first isolated from the poppy seed plant in themid-1800s. It’s now used as a benchmark to measure the effectiveness of other pain medications.
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Morphine sulfate is available in both immediate-release and extended-release tablets.Immediate-release morphine sulfateis available in 15 mg and 30 mg tablets. Patients are typically advised to takeone dose every four hoursas needed, with an effective range of three to seven hours.
Extended-release tabletsmay be prescribed for the treatment of chronic pain. These come in 30 mg doses and are released into the patient’s system graduallyover 12 hours. To avoid unwanted sedation, doctors need to closely monitor any dosage adjustment.
Symptoms of Morphine Sulfate Overdose
The primarysymptom of morphine sulfateoverdose is severely depressed breathing. Morphine sulfatesuppresses the body’s signalsthat normally notify the person they aren’t breathing enough. In other words, they forget to breathe. There is a marked difference between beingsedated from morphine sulfateand the stupor that characterizes an approaching overdose. As a rule, if the patient is not alert to their surroundings or if they’re unresponsive to questions, they should be consideredat risk of overdosing.
Drug overdose can be fatal. If you suspect someone is experiencing an overdose, call 911 immediately. Do NOT be afraid to seek help.If you do not have access to a phone contactWeb Poison Control Servicesfor online assistance.
Morphine Sulfate Overdose Signs
In addition to unresponsiveness and severe respiratory depression,other signs of morphine sulfate overdosecan include drowsiness, cold/clammy skin and constricted pupils.Less common signsinclude:
- Bradycardia (slow heart rate)
- Pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs)
- Hypotension (low blood pressure)
- Atypical snoring
- Airway obstruction
If left untreated, these symptomscan progressto coma and death.
How Much Morphine Sulfate Leads to Overdose?
The risk of overdose is highest when patients are first introduced to the drug. Adults and adolescents aged over 12 years should take between2.5 mg to 10 mgwhen administered intravenously. For subcutaneous and intramuscular admission, the recommended dose ranges between 5 mg to 20 mg.
Patients should never take more than120 mg per dose (controlled-release), even in cases of severe tolerance. Some patients may be hypersensitive to morphine sulfate: there have been cases in which hypersensitive individuals have died following a single60 mg dose.
The chance ofoverdosing on morphine sulfateincreases when the drug is mixed with otheropioid painkillers. These includeoxycodoneandhydrocodone, which are commonly prescribed following traumatic injuries and surgery.
Drinking alcohol while taking morphine sulfate is alsonot advised. The depressanteffects of alcoholon the central nervous system interact with morphine sulfate, worsening the person’s symptoms and risk of overdose.
Morphine Sulfate Overdose Statistics
Although it is difficult to determine exactly how many people die from morphine overdose each year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that49,860 people died from opioid overdosein 2019. Morphine is part of the opioid family of substances.
When it comes to identifying morphine sulfate overdoses, doctors have run into some issues. Morphine sulfate andheroinappear identical in the body to doctors performing autopsies, so the exact number of overdose deaths attributed to morphine sulfate may be skewed slightly.
If you or a loved one are struggling with morphine sulfate abuse, don’t wait until an overdose puts you or them at risk. Our compassionate addiction specialists can create a personalized, evidence-based treatment plan that meets your unique needs and starts you on the path to lifelong recovery.Contact us todayto get started.
