Not Sure what to do

[luppygirl]

I know you guy get alot of questions about suboxone.  I am a chronic pain patient and I have a doctor who wants me to try a combination of cymbalta and suboxone to use as a way to control my pain.  Has anybody heard of this or tried.  I just wonder how good it would work on pain.  I have a lot of pain due to having lupus and rheumtiod arthritis and a couple of other things.  I know from what people have said that it works wonders to get off of pain meds but very hard to get off of the subs.  I am all for trying other avenues besides oxy (which is what I take now) but I am scared it won't work on my pain and that one night i'll be in such pain and have no way to make it stop.  My dr isn't even sure that it would help my pain enough and has also mentioned methadone as another option for pain management.  I am so scared of methadone, the stories i have heard make me not even want to go down that road.  I posted this question hear because this seems like the place that most people have the most experience with these meds.  So any remarks, suggestion or information would be greatly appreciated.  I like to be well informed before i jump into something.  I really hope someone can help me out.  Thanks in advance

Deborah

[luppygirl]

Sorry it took me so long to get back.  But I had a nasty flare up of my lupus.  I wasn't in good shape at all.  I even had trouble walking to the bathroom and my brain turns to mush when i am in a flare up.  That's weird that they have a shortage of oxy ir.  I don't get how that happens.  It doesn't seem that it would be that difficult to make them.  I think they work great for breakthrough pain. Much better then percocets and also much better for you because they don't have acetaminophen in them so you aren't doing damage taking to much like you would with perocets. Oh and i still haven't decided what to do.  I am tending towards staying with what i have.  I just with they worked on my headaches they are so bad. And of course they don't know why i am getting them.  But at least thank god they ruled out brain tumor. So next step is going to see a neurologist.  God know how long a referral for that will take.  We have pretty good health care here but the wait time can be long.  Even going to the ER is usually at the very least is a 4 hour wait and that is one a really good day.  Lots of times it can be an 8 hour wait. When you are sick that seems like forever.  Thanks guy for all of your input i really appreciate it and i  always welcome more.  The more the better i say.

[sandee1818]

There is a shortage of oxycodone ir here. It has been hard on alot of people.

[luppygirl]

Very typical.  One day I was at work came home checked the mail, and there was a letter saying I was no longer healthy enough to work, so i wasn't allowed to go to work the next day because they said once I had the letter they weren't allowed to let me work that was in November and I am still waiting. I don't I have made so many phone calls in my life trying to find out what is going on.  The government is really good at passing the buck let me tell you!!

[nick30]

are you kidding? govt fatcats are too busy looking after themselves to worry about you. so they won't let you work and won't put you on disabliity quick enough, typical.

[luppygirl]

This is just a now win situations and it *****.  But i guess we got to keep plugging along. Not only do i have to decide about meds but now i am trying to get disability through my work and it is taking forever.  I don't think i have ever been this broke.  They won't let me work because they say i am to sick grrrrrr.... the really scary thing is that I work for the Government of Canada.  You think they would be a little faster then other companies!!!!

[nick30]

be careful keeping some aside for when things get worse. just as using less can be helpful, using more, even temporarily can raise you body's sensitivety to pain, making the pills less effective. nasty huh?

[luppygirl]

yes we have oxycodone ir here.  I have been taking different strengths of them for a couple of years.  They also came out with a generic brand of it called Supeudol. Same as oxycodone ir just a little less expensive.  Did you ask if we had them here because you can't get them were you live?


I have tried to decrease a couple of times but i think i tried to decrease to much at once because I felt like holy ****.  I always try and do things the fast way and make it harder on myself.  I also have to be really careful about the stress I put on my body because it causes me to have a flare up of my lupus which isn't any fun at all. But I think i might try and decrease a little at a time and that will also give me extras for the times i wake up crying cuz everything hurts so bad.

[nick30]

methodone is cheaper, maybe that is why your doc suggested it. i don't worry about that, in Oz it's virtually free. it's 5 dollars per script and because i'm disabled by pain i get a 5 dollar aloowance to cover the 5 dollars. pretty silly. as if i can't cough up 5 bucks.
unfortunately the patches can be very expensive in some places. cutting down on meds is ALWAYS a great idea if you can do it. it helps everyone. i do it as much as i can. unfortunately i cut mine by 50% recently and the side effects(mood, ahem)have been noticed by others. that's putting it mildly. anyway take care, hope evrything goes well, let us know how it ggoes

regards,

nick

[sandee1818]

Yes the prices are much more expensive here. Are you able to get the oxycodone ir where you live now?

[luppygirl]

I have tried a few things.  I don't do well with codiene (sp?) it gives me heart palpitations and straight morphene pills scares me because my husband was taking them for a bum leg and he did realize they were slow release and he was in so much pain so he took and extra one or two and ended up overdosing.  If I hadn't come when I did he would be dead now.  He was in a coma for 4 days.  So I am to scared to take those.  I tried hydrocodone but it didn't do much for my pain. so far oxy SR and oxy ir for breakthrough work the best.  Thank god for insurance and for living in Canada because I heard prescriptions were much more expensive in the states. Or is that a false rumour?

[sandee1818]

Yes this would help your tolerance but it would have to be longer than a few days. They are terribly expensive and if this is a problem financially you may want to try another pain medication. There are many options it just depends on how you tolerate them.

[luppygirl]

One thought that I had going through my head is, what if i detox myself for a bit then wouldn't my tolerance level go down and it would like when i just started taking pain meds and just taking percs worked just fine, before i needed oxycontin Sr.  Those where the good old days.  I miss them and i miss the money.  These things get expensive the higher you go. has anyone ever thought of trying this or have tried it?

[nick30]

yeah they do expect alot. we all have to go through that rubbish. anyway, lots of ppl on this forum have taken lots of different drugs, between us all we've probably taken them all. so it's worth asking as many questions as you can before deciding.

nick

[sandee1818]

I am not sure what dose your on now but if you have only been on it for two years then I would not really worry at this point. Unless your dosage is really high at this point.
There are many different medications that may or may not work for you but I believe if your doing fine on what your taking then leave it.
I understand your concern about having to go up over time and I have had strong feeling about this to. I keep my dose as low as possible so I will have a higher dose to go to only when absolutely needed.

[nick30]

your dr may be right about the tolerance issue. for me, after 3 years on oxy it didn't work at all. i wasn't on a high dose but my doc didn't want to go higher anyway. there are other drugs apart from methadone. it's not one or the other. discuss as many options as you can with your doc.
good luck

nick

[luppygirl]

Ya i have heard all the nasty stuff about sub and methadone that is why i really don't want to do it but i told my dr i would think about it.  So many dr's are so afraid of pain medication, he doesn't want to have to keep raising my dosage as my tolerance increases.  As if i am not sick enough now i have to decide things... Boy they expect alot....lol

[luppygirl]

I don't have a problem with Oxycontin my Dr is just worried about my tolerence level.  Since i am only 41 and my pain will most likely increase with age because all the things wrong with me can't be cured just maybe controlled.  He is worried that i will end up on some dose so high.  It already is quite high but i went my first 2 years of being sick suffering in pain because i didn't want to start on pain meds to soon but i finally gave in after 2 years and now i have been on them for 2 1/2 years and it does take alot to keep my pain under control.  I really don't want to go on sub or methadone but I thought I should ask questions and do some research before i finally decide what I want to do.

[nick30]

sandee's right. unless you have a problem with oxycontin then it's questionable wether(is that the right weather?)sub is for you. it does contain a powerful painkiller but many people say it doesn't work for them. there are other alternatives anyway. and aparently sub is extremely difficult to get off and causes terrible withdrawal symptoms even at low doses, so it's only considered for people who want to get off their opiate meds.

hope this helps.

nick

[sandee1818]

Hi Deborah,
   Are you having problems with the Oxycontin or does you or the docotr want to get you off that certain drug?
If you are taking it as prescibed and it is helping your pain why do you want to try something that is questionable. I have heard from both sides , some say suboxone is not meant for pain control and some say it has worked wonders for them.
It really depends on how you personally do on it.
Keep in mind that you have to have all the Oxycontin out of your system before starting the suboxone.

[codean]

I just asked about suboxone and got pointed in the direction of the health pages (top right of the page) there's good info there.