Greetings All,

I've read a bit in this forum about how Nal will negate the effects of morphine and other opiate painkillers, etc.

My question is: If I am taking Nal and have gotten to a point where I am only taking it every so often because my drinking has been relatively reduced as well, can a drug such as morphine be given to me assuming I haven't taken Nal for, say, a week?

I ask this because I can appreciate carrying notification that one is taking Nal, but yet I wouldn't want to prohibit a doctor from giving me morphine if I have otherwise have no Nal in my system at the time of any accident.

Comments?

Morphine would be 100% effective within one week.

3-5 days is debatable

1-3 days it would be minimally effective or not at all

Moderator Note: I believe this is speculation on our Dr. Lo0p's part. The safest course is to make sure any treating physicians know about the naltrexone and let them make the call on painkillers.

There are posts here (use the search function) about carrying an emergency ID card. We love our "Dr." Lo0p but do not take medical advice from him or anyone else posting here. His advice is not medical advice; it is only his opinion.

cap, I just bumped the thread Medical Info for Your Wallet

An ER doctor may be able to overcome the amount of Naltrexone you're taking by increasing your dose of opioid painkillers. Or then he may not. My guess is that they would dose you up gradually looking for signs of pain rather than assuming you had definitely taken Naltrexone that day. I don't believe in any case they would dose you with a dangerous amount of painkiller. Besides, there are non-opioid painkillers available.

You might consider putting a fuller description of your situation in your wallet behind your driver's license. Explain the dose you are taking and the fact that you might not be on it every day.

Let the doctors take it from there. They'll know how to handle it.

I have it listed on my medical alert card, which is right behind my driver's license in my wallet. It is good information for emergency responders to know any meds you are taking... always.

Bob

To All:

Very helpful info, thx very much.

About half way through my TSM treatment, I had to be put on percocete for an illness. I asked my Dr. the exact question posted here in this thread. He told me that Naltrexone could inhibit the effects of opiate pain medications up 5 days from the last dose of Naltrexone. Of course, everyones body chemistry is a little different so the "up to 5 days" warning is probably an outside limit, but one I certainly would use. This seems to confirm what Loop was saying.

As far as the issue with injury and needing pain meds, I'd definatly follow the advice others have given here and carry a card stating you are on Naltrexone and how much. I carry a card in my wallet right behind my drivers license. In the event of an emergency, there are other (non-opiate) pain meds they can give you.

Q

As I am lately not drinking more days than I am drinking, this question is really interesting to me. I have a red aluminum alert card in my wallet along with a clip on my watchband referencing the wallet card. Until or unless I figure out something better, I put an adhesive label on a blank area of the card saying "last dose:" and in another blank area another label where I write the date I last took a Nal. Kind of a hassle, but other than an electronic count-up timer embedded in the card (lazyweb - please invent this!) it's the best I can think of.

What I said wasn't really my opinion and I didn't mean it as advice.