Morphine - MS Continus 30Mg

[Macaroost]

Hello all,

My pet giraffe has recently obtained 5x 30Mg MS Continus pills (Purple, round pills with 30 MG printed one side and NAPP on the other) and he wondered if someone could help him, he's searched all over the forum and to be honest theres an awful lot of threads with conflicting information or that seem to turn into flaming wars and leave him as puzzled as he was previously.

The pills he has are extended release formula, and he wanted to know if there was a sure fire way of defeating the formula.

My giraffe can't plug it (he cant reach there with his hooves) and certainly wont be prepping for IV (no opposable thumbs) so please, he's not looking for those methods.

Secondly he's read about the bioavailability more times than he can count, so if you're just going to reply with "it's only a X% bioavailability" or his favourite ones "Morphine sucks orally" you're not adding anything to the thread, so please don't do it

Any information that could help him orally ingest the pill and have a nice buzz would be great, also if anyone knows a good starting dose for a giraffe who has taken codeine a few times (not in the last month or so) and used to feel a small warmth from 120-150mg

Thanks!

EDIT: He would also like to know, if he has to halve a pill, Presumably that wouldnt break the release as he'd be surprised if simply breaking the pill defeated the time release. As he calculated, about 18mg of morphine should be about the same as 120mg Codeine (used a hospital conversion chart for orally administered morphine he found on google) does that sound about right to anyone?

 

[elviswearsnikes]

Is the preparation a tablet or capsule?

You can crush the tablet (or contents of the capsule) which should damage the extended release formula and give you a greater surface area for the morphine preparation i.e making it immediate release.

In terms of dosage, that will vary considerably with tolerance.

A word if caution... Crushing extended release formulae will give a greater peak of action of the drug, and over a shorter duration of time, so bear that in mind to avoid OD.

 

[Macaroost]

Thanks for the reply, Elvis

They are solid pills, that are these exactly:

http://www.pharmer.org/files/images/IMG_0735.preview.JPG
*Image courtesy of Pharmer.org

I'm thinking my giraffe should be okay if he crushes them and does 1/4 a tablet at a time, or would insufflation be more advisable?

My giraffe has had 10mg IV at a 'vets' before so he is guessing that he can't OD on >10mg orally, may not even do anything for him

 

[elviswearsnikes]

Starting off small (1/4 to begin with as you suggested) is a good idea as you can always take more if the dosage is not adequate. It's not possible for your giraffe to take less if he has overdone it as I am sure you are aware!

Your plan sounds sensible but I would divide the crushed tablet rather than split the tablet and then crush the formula to ensue the dosage is correct.

In terms of oral versus insufflation, I would probably avoid insufflation as the excipients (binders, bulking agents) may interfere with drug-absorption, viscosity and solubility.

Hope this helps!

 

[Macaroost]

I've decided to go with 1/4 of the crushed pill (approx 7.5mg) and take more if I see no effects after an hour or so, which seems sensible.

As for insufflation I'll give it a wide birth

Once again, thank you for the sound advice!