Pain control

[Dee1956]

Hello, this is not a question as much as me trying to help someone.  When I treated the first time with Peg Riba and R1626 (trial drug) I had awful pain in every muscle in my body.  It would start with charlie horse type pain in one calf, then move to the other, then it would move to my forearms and pretty soon I was a mass of pain.
Back then no one was telling me to drink water.  I did not know that I was slightly dehydrated.  I was a newbie who trusted her doctor to help. He told me I could take up to 2,000 mg of tylenol a day. He told me to go to my GP for help.  She said, this is ridiculous that he has done this to you and now wants me to help you.  She gave me generic vicodin, at the time it had 750 mg of tylenol.
I finally found a doctor who gave me Neurontin and that helped me quite a bit.  As time went on I discovered this forum and found that I needed more water than I ever thought I could drink. I also started taking calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium and at one point was drinking tonic/quinine water to try to help me.  It did slowly get better as my body adjusted.

Recently suffering from a frozen shoulder, did I mention I was suffering? I got a prescription of Vicodin, 5/750, I took it to pharmacy and told them I wanted the brand Vicodin as the generic did not work for me.
They told me there was no brand.  I came home looked it up and found that the generic is now 5/300, that was great news! I called the pharmacy back asked them to ask the doctor to change it to the newer form of Vicodin.  I wanted to share this with others in case they are not aware.
Where there is still a generic of the 5/750 or something like that.  I did not know that this had happened and the pharmacy did not share this with me.  I had to type in "What happened to Vicodin" to find this article. It states that the FDA has ordered the company to reduce the amount of Tylenol.  There are many articles out there, this is just one in case someone wanted to see it.  Oh, and since it is classified as a new drug my insurance paid for it.  I have a feeling it was because I first had the 5/750 then changed it.  I don't like the fact that ins companies can dictate what we can be given for pain and the way they have us try what they believe will work before paying for the medication that helps us.  Or..maybe that is just my insurance.  Maybe that is a question.  Does anytone else have problems with their insurance dictating what prescription we can get?
I hope this helps someone.

www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm239894.htm

[ppmguy]

        hi dee,  all vicoden is sold at generic prices.  vicoden with reduced tylenol(325mg)is called "norco".  norco comes in 3 strengths;
        5/325
        7.5/ 325
        10/325
      my rx calls for 1 or 2 tabs of 5/500, so my gi dr changed my rx to `10/325 and asked me to snap them in 1/2 so i can use 5/162. if i need 10mg of hydrocodone, the max apap is 325mg.    barry

[Dee1956]

I found these posts when I did a search for tx and methadone for pain.  There were 173 posts.  I don't know how old they are. I wonder how many I might find for hcv tx and pain.  I was trying to help someone looking for help for pain control during tx.  I was told by my doctor who helped me with the neurontin that I had to do whatever I had to do to get through the tx.  I hope I have not offended anyone, that was not my intention

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/search/75?utf8=%26%23x2713%3B&query=methadone+for+pain

[Dee1956]

I thought I should come back to explain why I posted this.
In the past few weeks there was a person who came on here and said that he knew he could not take Vicodin or equivalent because of the amount of Tylenol.  He was considering starting on methadone.
While I am sure it would help with whatever pain he is having.  It is also highly addictive and I would not want some one to go there if there was an alternative he could take which is lower in tylenol
I was not saying this is for everyone. just for people who are looking as I looked back in 2008 for something to help the intractable pain I experienced during my tx.
Thank you again

[Dee1956]

Thank you for posting, I was trying to help someone who might be in pain.  I was not aware that the FDA had forced the Vicodin manufacture to reduce the amount of tylenol so that it is less than half of what it was

I wish this had been available when I treated because I was in a lot of pain but the vicodin contained so much tylenol I did not feel safe taking it
My doctor had said I could take up to 2,000 mg of tylenol which would have been two vicodin so I took nothing but the Neurontin.

Because this Vicodin 5/300 and 7.5/300 is considered a new formulation it is a brand, there is not a generic so I only had to pay $10.00

Normally that is the way it works, if there is a generic then you have to get that or pay the full amount for the brand.

In this case I guess I was lucky.  I have seen many people post on here talking about pain during their HCV tx, asking for help so thought I would try to help anyone looking in the future.
I do think, in my case, I was not drinking enough water the first time.  I was very ignorant the first time.  I thought doctors were there to help me, not study me

Thank you again.
D

[HectorSF]

Vicodin contains a combination of acetaminophen and hydrocodone. Both medicines are pain killers. Hydrocodone is an opioid pain medication which can be addictive with continued use. Acetaminophen is a less potent pain reliever (for mild-moderate pain) that increases the effects of hydrocodone. Vicodin is used to relieve moderate to severe pain. Vicodin is over kill for body pains from hep C treatment. Vicodin should also not be used by patients with cirrhosis of the liver as it can cause serious complications.
Opioids commonly cause hepatic encephalopathy and hospitalization, and thus they should be avoided in patients with cirrhosis, especially in those with portal hypertension and encephalopathy.

" I don't like the fact that ins companies can dictate what we can be given for pain and the way they have us try what they believe will work before paying for the medication that helps us."

Health insurance companies have always controlled what drugs they cover and how much they pay for them. Call your health insurance company and ask about their formulator. It will list what medicines they will pay for and how much you will have to pay yourself. If you know that you will be taking certain medicines, during open enrollment you can switch your health insurance carrier and find one that will cover more of the costs, including drug costs.

As far as generic vs brand...many insurers will want you to try the generic first and then if your doctor says it doesn't work the doctor will need to file an exemption for you requesting the brand name drug. So there are ways around some restrictions but you will end up paying more for a brand name.

For us on transplant lists, or those having many of expensive treatments, medicines and scans and are anticipating a liver transplant in the next year it is especially important to have as much coverage as possible for all aspects of the medical care the surrounds transplant. From surgery, hospital stay, labs, doctors appointment and coverage for up to 40 medicine pills per day. Otherwise co-pays of can run into tens of thousands of dollars easily.

If someone has major health problems it is important for them to understand what a particular policy covers and what it does not. It is buyer beware market.

Good luck.
Hector

[SYDSDAD1111]

A lot of insurance co's dictate what they pay for,mine for example will only pay for generics and when a generic is not available and name brand must be filled I'm hit with a big deductible. Same with drugs for chronic conditions that must be filled and refilled, I have to order from their mail order pharmacy and god forbid a I or e isn't dotted on the correct line, because they wont mail it ,so those that are doing tx drugs and are down to there last dose and are relying on that shipment so there tx isn't jeopardized ,welcome to the frustration zone.so people if you have insurance know the rules and protocols your docs don't because these cos. make it hard for some, so you have to stay on top of em making call after call to get scripts filled and approved, very frustrating but we have to take responsibility for our med needs otherwise you can be sitting in a very bad spot one day without your medication.