Description
Kapanol (Morphine Sulfate) 20mg
Kapanol (Morphine Sulfate) 20mg, which belongs to a group of medicines called opioid analgesics. Kapanol is used for the relief of chronic, moderate-to-severe pain.
Your doctor may have prescribed Kapanol for another reason. Ask your doctor if you have any questions about why Kapanol has been prescribed for you.
Kapanol contains morphine, so people who take morphine for a long time to treat their pain may become dependent on it. As a result, with time, your body will become used to taking morphine, and you may experience symptoms due to withdrawal if you suddenly stop taking this medicine. If you have not done so already, you should discuss this further with your doctor.
Action: How Kapanol works
Morphine is an opioid analgesic that exerts an agonist effect on specific, saturable opioid receptors in the CNS and other tissues. Morphine has many pharmacological effects, including analgesia, suppression of the cough reflex, respiratory depression due to a reduction in the responsiveness of the respiratory center to carbon dioxide, nausea, and emesis through direct stimulation of the chemoreceptor trigger zone (CTZ), mood changes including euphoria and dysphoria, sedation, mental clouding, alterations in both the endocrine and autonomic nervous systems, and a decrease in gastrointestinal motility leading to constipation.
Kapanol contains the active ingredient, morphine sulfate. It also contains the inactive ingredients sucrose (sugar), maize starch, hypromellose (464), ethylcellulose, methacrylic acid copolymer, macrogol 6000, diethyl phthalate, talc, gelatin, and SW-9009 black ink.
Before you take Kapanol
When you must not take it
- Do not take Kapanol if you have ever had an allergic reaction to morphine sulfate or any of the ingredients listed here. The symptoms of an allergic reaction may be mild or severe. They usually include some or all of the following: wheezing, swelling of the lips or mouth, difficulty in breathing, hayfever, lumpy rash (“hives”) or fainting;
- Do not take Kapanol if you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant unless your doctor says you should. Your doctor will discuss the risks and benefits of using Kapanol if you are pregnant.
- Do not breastfeed while taking Kapanol, as some of the medicine will be taken in by the baby through your milk.
- Do not drink alcohol while taking Kapanol.
If you’re not sure whether you should be taking Kapanol, talk to your doctor.
Before you start to take it
You must tell your doctor if:
- You are allergic to foods, dyes, preservatives, or any other medicines.
- You have any of the following conditions: kidney or liver disease, under activity of the adrenal or thyroid gland, increased prostate size, narrowing of the urinary bladder tract, biliary tract disease or inflammation of the pancreas, a condition associated with fits or convulsions, or diarrhea;
- You have had a head injury or increased pressure in the head.
- You regularly drink large amounts of alcohol.
- You have an abnormal curvature of the spine.
- You have low blood pressure.
Taking other medicines
Tell your doctor if you are taking any other medicines, including medicines you buy without a prescription from a pharmacy, supermarket, or health food shop.
Some medicines may affect the way others work. Your doctor or pharmacist will be able to tell you what to do when taking Kapanol with other medicines.
Use in children
Kapanol is not to be used by children.
How to take Kapanol
The pharmacist’s label on the pack will tell you how to take Kapanol. If there is something you do not understand, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
How much to take
- Kapanol should be taken either once (every 24 hours) or twice (every 12 hours) daily, whichever your doctor has advised.
- The amount of Kapanol needed to give good pain relief varies. The doctor will take into account your age, weight, level of pain, and medical history when choosing your dose and how often to take it.
- Do not take more capsules than your doctor tells you to. If pain occurs between doses, do not take extra doses of Kapanol. Tell your doctor as soon as possible. Taking more Kapanol than the doctor told you to can be dangerous.
How to take it
The individual pellets in Kapanol capsules must not be chewed or crushed.
- Each capsule should preferably be swallowed whole.
- If you have difficulty swallowing the capsule whole, take it in one of the following ways:
- Just before use, sprinkle the pellets from the capsule onto a small amount of soft food (such as yoghurt, custard, ice cream, applesauce, or jam), and swallow this without chewing or crushing the pellets. Rinse your mouth with water and swallow to ensure all the pellets are taken, or
- Just before use, mix the pellets from the capsule into about 30 mL of water, orange juice, or milk (1/8 of a standard 250 mL glass). Swirl the glass and swallow the pellets with the liquid, being careful not to chew or crush the pellets. To make sure that all the pellets are taken, rinse the glass with a little more liquid, and again, swirl the glass and swallow the pellets with the liquid until all the pellets are taken.
- If you have a gastrostomy tube, your doctor may decide to administer your Kapanol pellets through the tube.
