Morphine Side Effects

Common side effects of morphine include headaches, nausea, and dizziness. While these side effects generally require little or no treatment, potentially serious problems are possible while taking this medication. If you experience more serious side effects, such as difficulty breathing, severe constipation, or seizures, notify your healthcare provider right away. Other, less common side effects can include weight loss, a decreased sex drive, and dry mouth.

An Introduction to Morphine Side Effects

As with any medicine, morphine can cause side effects. However, not everyone who takes the medication will have problems. In fact, some people tolerate it quite well. If side effects do occur, in many cases, they are minor and either require no treatment or are easily treated by you or your healthcare provider.
 
(This article covers many, but not all, of the possible side effects with morphine. Your healthcare provider can discuss a more complete list of morphine side effects with you.)
 

Possible Side Effects of Morphine

For many medications, the prescribing information carefully explains the exact percentage of side effects that were reported in clinical trials. However, the prescribing information for almost all older medications (including many morphine medications) include only vague information on side effects, with no percentages provided. Therefore, it can be difficult to know exactly how common (or how rare) the side effects of such medications may be.
 
The most common side effects of morphine are thought to include:
 
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Written by/reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD; Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD
 
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