MS Contin is not working after two years

Question

I've been on 60 mg of MS Contin extended release twice a day for two years for herniated disk. It is not lasting as long and not keeping the pain tolerable. I am in pain 2 hours after dose.

Answer 1

Overtime the body develops tolerance to morphine (MS Contin is a brand of morphine) and other opiates. Simply raising the dose is often not the answer because the tolerance may keep building and the side effect may increase.

There may be ways to prevent or reverse opiate tolerance. Unfortunately, there is less research into that subject than there should be considering widespread use of opiates as painkillers. One way to prevent or reverse opiate tolerance that appears promising is combining them with ultra-low dose naltrexone.

See, for example:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15943961
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17685875
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-dose_naltrexone

You may want to discuss this option with your doctor.