Morphine is highly addictive. Tolerance (the need for higher and higher doses to maintain the same effect) and physical and psychological addiction to Morphine develop quickly. Withdrawal from Morphine causes nausea, tearing, yawning, chills, and sweating lasting up to three days. Morphine crosses the placental barrier, and babies born to Morphine-using mothers go through Morphine withdrawal.

Addictive drugs, such as Morphine activate the brain’s reward systems. The promise of reward is very intense, causing the individual to crave Morphine and to focus his or her activities around the taking of Morphine. The ability of Morphine to strongly activate brain reward mechanisms and its ability to chemically alter the normal functioning of these systems can produce a Morphine addiction. Morphine also reduces a person’s level of consciousness, harming the ability to think or be fully aware of present surroundings.

Morphine Withdrawal

Morphine is a narcotic analgesic. Morphine was first isolated from opium in 1805 by a German pharmacist, Wilhelm Sertürner. Sertürner described it as the Principium Somniferum. He named it morphium - after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams. Today morphine is isolated from opium in substantially larger quantities - over 1000 tons per year - although most commercial opium is converted into codeine by methylation. On the illicit market, opium gum is filtered into morphine base and then synthesized into heroin.

Morphine addiction develops very rapidly when an individual continues to abuse morphine. Morphine's addictive nature activates the brain’s reward systems. The promise of reward is very intense, causing the individual to continually crave Morphine and to focus his or her activities around taking Morphine. The ability of Morphine to strongly activate the brain's reward mechanisms and its ability to chemically alter the normal functioning of these systems is what produces morphine addiction. Morphine also reduces a person’s level of consciousness, harming the ability to think or be fully aware of present surroundings.

Morphine Overdose

Morphine is the principal constituent of opium and can range in concentration from 4 to 21 percent. Commercial opium is standardized to contain 10-percent morphine. In the United States, a small percentage of the morphine obtained from opium is used directly (about 15 tons): the remaining is converted to codeine and other derivatives (about 120 tons). Morphine is one of the most effective drugs known for the relief of severe pain and remains the standard against which new analgesics are measured. Morphine is marketed under generic and brand name products including "MS-Contin®," Oramorph SR®," MSIR®," Roxanol®," Kadian®," and RMS®." Morphine is marketed in a variety of forms, including oral solutions, immediate and sustained-release tablets and capsules, suppositories, and injectable preparations.

Morphine is highly addictive. Tolerance (the need for higher and higher doses to maintain the same effect) and physical and psychological dependence develop quickly. Morphine activates the brain’s reward systems. The promise of reward is very intense, causing the individual to crave the drug and to focus his or her activities around taking it. The ability of morphine to strongly activate brain reward mechanisms and its ability to chemically alter the normal functioning of these systems can produce an addiction.

A Morphine overdose happens when you consume more Morphine than your body can safely handle. Morphine users are constantly flirting with Morphine overdose, and the difference between the high they're seeking and serious injury or death is often quite small.

Symptoms of a Morphine overdose include:

Morphine Side Effects

Morphine is a narcotic analgesic. Morphine was first isolated from opium in 1805 by a German pharmacist, Wilhelm Sertürner. Sertürner described it as the Principium Somniferum. He named it morphium - after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams. Today morphine is isolated from opium in substantially larger quantities - over 1000 tons per year - although most commercial opium is converted into codeine by methylation. On the illicit market, opium gum is filtered into morphine base and then synthesized into heroin.

Morphine side effects include but are not limited to: