Morphine and natural laxatives

Living with secondary breast cancer Supporting each other and sharing experiences
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I have been on morphine for 2 years for back pain from metastases. As a result I have been prescribed laxatives, all of which cause stomach pain and other probelms after a certain time of useage. Has anyone managed to counteract the drying out effects of morphine with natural laxatives such as prunes, apricots and figs? Or any other ideas.

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I’m sorry you didn’t get a reply to your post @pennyb89 , I hope things have eased a little for you now and maybe you’ve found something natural that works for you - presume you have tried senna ? You could maybe ask in the Ask our Nurses your questions section for some ideas ?

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Thanks Jill
Yes I tried Senna but it irritated my tummy. Still trying to find a way that works for me …
Penny

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Hello Penny.
Don’t know what can be used with morphine, this comment is from my experience with digestive issues for the last 38 years (way before BC).
This is no medical advice as I am not a doctor, maybe you can discuss some of this sugegstion with your GP to know it won’t affect your treatment or make you feel worse.
Everything, medicines, supplements seem to work for some time and they the body gets used to it, so I try to change whatever is helping me before I get used to it.
On the natural side I used sauerkraut (home made as you need to know it is not sterilized), if it is too strong, you can start by taking 2 spoons of the liquid alone with breakfast and slowly starting to include the cabbage. It is very salty, so check that this is OK for your health.
Probiotics also helped, I used strawberry chewable ones from a Canadian brand and was OK. Tried other brands but they made me dizzy.
And last of the list: kefir. As I do not take dairy now, I quit on kefir too.
All these 3 have living cultures so they produce some bloating, I was taking chamomille to help with that but had to quit chamomille as well.
Again, I took all this with the OK from my GP and digestive doctor and for very short periods of time (no longer than 2 months).
When away from home I was prescribed lactulose.
I wish you all the best.

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I used to use Golden Linseeds soaked overnight for IBS like symptoms, but as my BC was ER+ I couldn’t use them anymore as they high in oestrogen. So I switched to a few teaspoon of Kefir in my morning yoghurt. I bought the grains on eBay from a company in Gosport, Hants. It works well for me.

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thank you so much for your reply. I will look into this. Penny

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Thank you, this is really helpful, Penny

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