Treatment

Hi Idris, and thanks for your post. You've asked a good question!
While I'm hopeful others in the community will see your inquiry and respond with their anecdotal experiences using morphine, I have something to say as well.

Recently, my colleague, John Bottrell, authored an article on this very topic. I thought you might gain some additional insight if you were to read it. For your convenience, here is a link to that material: https://copd.net/clinical/morphine. I do hope you find it to be helpful in a practical way.
Wishing you well,
Leon (site moderator COPD.net)

Hi Idris! I have not but have heard of just a few others who have. I would like to hear more myself. Like Leon said, maybe someone else who has will chime in. Best, Jackie (Moderator)

Hi Idris
During my last visit to my Respirologist we were discussing COPD medications and the fact that I, after 8 years post diagnosis, have pretty well run through the gamut of available medications. I asked him if there was new or experimental drugs we might try moving forward. He said our only pharmaceutical option left was morphine. I thought he was joking, but far from it. He mentioned that many of his more advanced patients have been proscribed low dose morphine and that it’s primary effect was in limiting the periods of breathless felt after even the smallest of exertions. I asked him the mechanism behind how this might occur and he said that it was primarily a mental phenomenon. The morphine allows the patient to ignore the usual distress associated with breathlessness, even to the point where breathless episodes may come and go without the patient experiencing little, if any, of the unpleasantness of the experience. Of course, I can’t vouch for any of this because, in the end, we decided to stay the course with my current medications (Symbicort 200 and Incruse Ellipta). But it is on the horizon. Would love to know if anyone else had experience with morphine therapy?

Hi Idris, and thanks for your post - you've posed an excellent question. My colleague, John Bottrell actually authored an article on this very topic which I thought might be of interest to you. For your convenience, here is a link to this material: https://copd.net/clinical/morphineway.
Wishing you well,
Leon (site moderator COPD.net)