I recently had a minor surgery, and the morphine they gave me made me "forget" to breathe?

Question

Anybody else heard of this before? How do you forget to breathe? I would have asked the doctor but it was an outpatient procedure and I wasn't exactly thinking straight at the time.

Answer 1

guessing from your spelling of 'breath' you are not in the US. Nonetheless, morphine or any narcotic 'resets' your brain to tolerate a slower rate of breathing. Normally the brain allows for a certain level of carbon dioxide-CO2. Narcotics trick the brain into allowing a higher level of CO2 before breathing continues.
Morphine and the other agents used for the minor surgery are combined to lead to respiratory compromise. That is why we utilize the 'recovery room'. Regardless, was this event recalled by you or reported to you by a nurse of physician? Sometimes this is 'fuzzy' talk for a variety of common post operative scenarios.

Answer 2

You can still call hte OP surgery center and ask questions, or ask during your follow appointment. But really It might not have made you forget to breath it could be some kind of reaction make sure you let the dr know so he document your chart

Answer 3

Morphine is bad *** stuff.They gave to me for broken ribs and again for an almost ripped off forearm.Personally I could hack the ripped off arm better.DEMORALL,had less side effects on me and I would only take morphine at gunpoint now.

Answer 4

This is a normal property of morphine and any opioid for that matter. One of the reasons these medications are so dangerous is that they will cause you to stop breathing. In addition it will also cause constipation and urinary retention.

Answer 5

Actually, you did not forget to breath, your muscles relaxed and could not contract. Your brain is wanting to but your body cannot. My son did the same thing but he was a lot younger and he almost died. He is no longer aloud to take morphene.