AIBU To have not realised that diamorphine...

[Mammagaga]

... IS actually heroin :-0 am I the only person who thought it was diluted morphine?!

shandy come on. I want the whole sorry tale.
I used to work with substance misusers and they would do whatever it took to get medical grade morphine/diamorphine/codeine or whatever. the stuff they got on street corners had possibly less heroin in it than the average tip of a match. the rest is up to anyones imagination to work out. laxatives, baking powder,talcum powder, crumpled up stock cubes....I could go on. then the inventive ways of getting it into you when all your veins have collapsed or your leg is a supperating mass of sores and you are likely to have it amputated but fuck that...need another hit.
That is what heroin does to a person who lives a certain life and all the damage that builds up. not what one quick pop of it during labour will achieve.
personally, love a bit of opoid. it makes you itch cos it does something to the adrenal gland makng it release histamine.

I don't think it's a new thing... I had a couple of half doses (5mg I think) and it really did the trick!

BunnyJo thanks, I sort of knew I was wrong but not why (I is just a nurse DH is a scientist and did once or more than once correct me on this, but I tend to switch off as he does go on, your explanation was nice and short) however it does still go to 11 :)

Heroin is just a street name for morphine

No, it really isn't.

I did however, between contractions, believe that a famous american person was telling me 'you can do it gurrrrrlfriend' and it really helped!

In 2001 I wasn't given the option. Have things changed since then? Sorry to be a bore but this is actually quite an important question for me.

Diamorphine, rather than pethidine, seems to be the drug of choice for labour in Scottish hospitals.

I had it when I had ds - lovely stuff! :)

shame i am too old to squeeze out another if they are doshing out the diamorphine.

Mintyy - I think it depends on the protocols of the hospitals you are in. In Scotland, as I mentioned, it's diamorphine that is offered. In England, it seems to be mostly pethidine.

No nor me mintyy

Gas and air, pethidine (waste of time) failed epidural, stupidly long delivery in agony then next birth gas and air, nowt else offered, baby got stuck, em cs. Ho hum. Most recent 12 yrs ago.

Wow it all makes sense! Blissed out days of opiate pain relief . not too sure I like the fact I'd probably enjoy being a smack head!

I was given pethidine. Wasn't given much option. Made me hurl. Tramadol keeps my back working when it goes foom about three times a year. Codeine just about keeps my migraines at bay once a month. Say what you like about them, but opiates can stay in my painworld:(

Ah now I came here to give a big shout out for Oramorph, but I see someone had got there first! Seriously seriously addictive though. a nurse might've had to gently say 'No dear, I think you can have paracetamol now

Oh. I didn't know that either.
But rest assured I will not be taking it ever again as it made me very sick, very ill and sleepy.
Pains were gone tho!

I was given some pethidine for a migraine once. The registrar came into my lovely dark quiet room and asked me how I was feeling. 'Flooaaaty' comes the reply. 'I think we might have given you a bit much' 'Noooooo'
It was lovely - there was awful pain happening somewhere, but it was somewhere else, over there, maybe? Magic stuff.

Mmm. Morphine. Post c section bliss.

Corrine & Japonica and all the other addicts out there, I fell down one step at work. Slipped on the bottom one and skidded, couldn't catch my balance and that was it; smacked it against a wall & fib & tib broken, each one in two places. Oh and my leg was dislocated from knee down. It was sticking out at....(ready?!)... a right angle!

It hurt. A whole heap of a lot. Until the nice ambulance man put the pure morphine drip straight into my heart arm...

And due to the swelling caused by said accident, they couldn't operate. Plus I had break blisters (you should see them!!!). So I had to stay in until the swelling & blisters went down. Took three weeks. And I was in pain. A lot of pain. Especially when they tried to manipulate the break in order to prevent the tendons going weird. And they told me to not be in pain and to take the drugs. So I did!

Hospital is FUN !

I loved having that, but for all but my first, I was on pethidine.

For a short while, I was Queen Elizabeth. Was great. I miss my old royal days It ended half an hour or so before DS3's birth, and lasted for a few hours.

They gave me dihydracodeine too. With the Oramorph. Them two gap together created some seriously happy times!

• random 'gap' possibly an indication of a previously drug addled brain...

I was The Lizard Queen and you were Queen Elizabeth, Roasted.

David Icke would have something to say about that.

Lord help us folks. IFancy story is a text book reason for the administration of some serious knock out drops. I don't care what they call it, if my leg was in that sort of shape then knock me the fuck out and don't wake me up till it is back where it was before I went over on me arse. How is it now IFancy? I do love a recovery story. You sound cheerful enough about it, so thats another reason for good pain relife. lessened the trauma I hope. Isn't that what medazalin does too in theory? Puts you on the ceiling and you have no recall of the horror? Or ddid i just make that up?
I had Oxycontin after my back op in November. Meh! don't know what all the fuss was about. Couple of co codamol are much more fun. Though I think they have taken all the good times out of Oxy, what with all the trouble in the States.

I certainly looked like Keith Richards after giving birth and that was without drugs.

So I reckon with the addition of morphine the odds of turning into actual Keith would be pretty good.

Another vote for oramorph...in fact morphine in general
In hospital in agony with a mystery pain - gave me a morphine injection - it was bliss ...
Then on Oramorph - sent home with some and then given a 500ml bottle on top ...
A week later - pain much better and realised I was spending all day, everyday in my pjs lying on the sofa, watching trashy TV, not bored and not doing anything I should have been doing...nearly didn't bother going to GP appointment.... made myself take rest of bottle back to chemist ...
(actually really surprised how much I was given to keep at home - and how flippant they were when I took it back ...if I had been short of cash (and not so chilled) I could have easily flogged it...)

Thank God I had a natural birth.