Opioids Morphine/Oxycodone Cross Tolerance?

[itwasahellofawar]

First post, very sorry if I am doing this wrong. I honestly just need some help with pain control. Yesterday I took two 5mg oxycodone ( with acetaminophen---they were percocets). Hours later the pain had gotten much worse and I was out of percocets so I went to the ER for some kind of relief. They gave me a morphine shot. Nothing. They then hooked me up to an IV for the morphine and i still felt absolutely normal, maybe a little drowsy. It should be noted the I have a VERY high tolerance to most drugs. Anyway, they eventually sent me home with a prescription for hydrocodone 5s and my question is this. Will having had just had a bunch of morphine the night before render the hydros basically uselesss? (in other words, is there a cross-tolerance there? My high tolerance has baffled me more than once, and it gets frustrating fast when there's actual pain involved. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Keif' Richards]

There is a cross-tolerance between, in general, all Opioids. There are some exceptions, for instance Tramadol has Serotonin activity, Methadone has NMDA activity etc. but aside from these subtle differences, an Opioid is and Opioid and one can substitute for another if the dose is properly adjusted.

Tolerance though is more of a long-term phenomenon. Mabye not "long-term" per se, but using a large dose of Opioids on a previous day isn't enough to raise your tolerance to that of a seasoned Opioid addict or patient on the following day.

I also have an innately high tolerance for Opioids, which baffles a lot of Doctors. It's kind of a bitch, but you just have to develop a solid relationship with your prescriber and tell them how it is.