Morphine/narcotics?

what do people act like when they are on a strong painkiller such as morphine or vicoden? I need to know for my health class.

It depends... If the person is actually in pain and is taking those or other narcotics as prescribed the main observable actions are drowsiness, dilated pupils, some lack of coordination (walking and hand motor skills), some speech impairment (pronunciation and slurring of words) and some impact on concentration. This occurs during acute or short term use. Long term use for pain....these physical actions diminish as the body adapts to the side effects.

BUT not a clumsy, babbling, stumbling clown that can't maintain a conversation or stops speaking in mid sentence because he/she can't maintain a coherent thought. Those would be the observables of a person taking narcotics in excess of the prescribed dose, are not actually in pain and are just getting high.

Morphine sometimes makes a person seem as they are drunk, or very sleepy. Droopy eyes, slurred speach at times, depending on how much they have taken. Vicoden can have the same effect if the person has taken too many. It seems to affect different people in different ways. Some people may be drowsy, while others go on a cleaning spree. Some people overdose themselves on these drugs to get high. That seems to be when you notice "how they act", because someone who is prescribed these drugs for chronic pain doesn't really act any different than anyone else.

It depends on how much medication they are on. If a person takes it to get high, Vicoden makes them act really, really happy. Almost like a person after one or two alcoholic drinks. Where they are not drunk but just in the party mood. With morphine, it's different. It's like a drunk person. Like they just want to go and pass out somewhere.

when i take vicodin it makes me feel good and pain free and makes me very talkative and nice. morphine is likea daze type thing like u feel all drowsy and stuff but thats me.

It depends.

If it's taken after a surgery - and they weren't on it before, it can make them kind of zoned out, sleepy, loopy. If they needed the meds before the surgery, they act pretty much normal.

If they are a chronic pain patient, they usually act pretty normal. I don't take morphine, but a different strong med, and I can actually function. People don't even know I'm on such a med.

About the 'cleaning spree' comment - I go on them myself, but it's not from taking too many meds. And sometimes I get 'zoned' out - but because I have to sometimes take an additional med - due to stomach issues that sometimes come into play from taking my regular meds.

Point is, never ASSume. Too many times chronic pain patients get automatically labeled as drug addicts. There is a difference between addicts and someone who is dependent. There is also something called psuedo addiction. This is where someone who is under treated for their pain acts like an addict - because they are in so much pain.

Hopefully some of what I've written will help with your paper.

There are several possible reactions to strong narcotics, in some people, drugs like morphine or Dilaudid can cause nausea and vomiting - depends on the the individual and the tolerance level. Others get a high feeling - they are going to act like they feel very good. For some the strong narcotics just put them to sleep.

I notice that you mentioned morphine and Vicodin. Vicodin is actually hydrocodone - a drug derived from codeine. It can cause the same range of effects as their more powerful counsins, but is less likely to cause GI problems.

The effects can very much differ based on whether the drug is being used for pain or recreationally. Recreational use is more likely to cause a high, but can lead to overdose if one does not know the maximum safe dose and has a high tolerance.

I took Vicodin before and after my surgery. Let me tell you, It made me feel good. In fact I was on it long enough to get addicted to it. The funny thing is the doctor kept writing it. Well I realized when I went through a 30 count prescription in less than a week I knew I had to do something. I stopped cold turkey. It was rough. Some people cant handle doing it alone but I braved it. I personally don't want nothing to do with it ever again.