Can oxymorphine be used as an alternative for morphine?
Patient: I have been on Oxycontin w/5 mg. oxycodone breakthrough for a couple yrs now. My new insurance company doesn t want to pay the cost of the med. When I had my jaw replaced several years back they put me on morphine which made me very itchy and irritable. The insurance co. wants me to try oxymorphine as an alternative. Doesn t the contain the same morphine that I have a reaction too. I need to be on long term pain mgt. meds. because they help me to make it through the night and get sleep. And the long term doesn t tend to wipe me out as did the short term. Your feeling on that please! Doctor: Hello and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service.  I have reviewed your query and here is my advice.  Oxymorphine and morphine are almost similar and produce similar pain relief. Oxymorphine is more safe because side effects are minimal with oxymorphine. You can safely take Oxymorphine instead of morphine.  Hope I have answered your query.  Let me know if I can assist you further.