Well, now I am on a NEW drug...incredible!

I haven't been on this site since my insurance company sent me to THEIR pain management doctor, even though after 2 back surgeries, and countless procedures, epidurals, which did nothing, and countless meds, I had finally been doing relatively well with my doctor of 16 years. (I had my back surgeries in 1995, and 1996.) The new "Doctor" put me on massive doses of Fentanyl, which I had tried before without success, but that didn't matter...it's ALL about the money. My insurance Dr. admitted all this to me, and it wasn't until I got SO sick on the Fentanyl, without ANY pain relief, and he sent me to a gastroenteroligist insisting every 4 weeks, (Since APRIL!) that I had gallbladder disease. Well, I would repeat THAT remark, every visit with "I HAD my gallbladder removed in 1999!" The next appt, same verse, same as the first! Well, it was obviously the Fentanyl since every reaction STARTED withn the first month of taking Fentanyl! I was on NOTHING new. Two days ago I had to have a colonostopy, my 4th in 4 years!, and an endoscopy(sp). The gastoenterologist TOLD me it was the Fentanyl before the procedure, but I had to prove it to the P.A. doctor! What a money saver THAT hospital procedure was! When I put my robe on at the hospital, the nurse gasps at the patches of scars and bloody patch marks the fentanyl patches have been leaving. (I wear 4 at ONCE!) and she was horrified and told me it was obvious I was allergic to the adhesive in the Fentanyl, I KNEW that! And she puts a huge RED ALLERGY Fentanyl band on my wrist BEFORE the procedure, and yet I was told by my Pain Management to wear them! So I go into surgery with 4 Fentanyl patches on, and an ALLERGY band warning me NOT to use Fentanyl. I was so furious, because I had called this Dr. so many times about my reactions, not to mention my 4 week visits! So I went yesterday, and brought in my allergy band, showed him (again!) my bloody squares, and I had removed my Fentanyl patches. So nothing for pain and I am telling him, "WHY on earth am I not on what ORIGINALLY worked?"  THE MONEY! He said it, just like that. So now I am supposed to go on OPANA (I have no idea what it is, must be the only drug I haven't tried), but he didn't seem like it would work, and the Pharmacy says I will be lucky to ever get it! What the heck! I am so mad, and probably not making sense, I am in so much pain now, and my left leg is totally numb and throbbing and feels like it is in the freezer! What is Opana, and has anybody had it work? thanks, and sorry for ranting!

[marycarmel]

Fentanyl was a bad choice for me for different reasons, but when I said I wanted off, the PM docs were reluctant.  I wound up weaning myself off and it was very hard, though I got great support through this site and the substance abuse forum, even though I wasn't abusing it.  I wasn't on near as much as you, though I was on other meds and I didn't like that my tolerance was going up and my pain wasn't being managed.

I don't have personal experience with Opana, but some here do, and I'm sure they'll chime in.

If you're off the Fentanyl, are you on something else until you get the Opana?  What about withdrawal?

[railroaded]

Thanks for posting, I was on I guess what seems to be a LOT, but it didn't touch the pain....I don't know if it is just my body, but getting OFF the Fentanyl was all at once, I had to just rip the patches off after surgery because the marks were so bad! I was on NOTHING for at least 4 days, and I can't figure out why, when I went off my massive doses of oxycontin, cold turkey, and THEN onto the Fentanyl,I have never had what I think should be withdrawels. Don't get me wrong, I was thankful, but the gastroenterologist thought the Fentanyl had never been killing the pain, even though I had 4, 100mg. patches on, all the time. HE thinks, and so do I, since it is the only thing that explains it, that WHEN I went onto the Fentanyl, I slowly DID have withdrawels, I know my abdomen always hurt, but I must have been getting a little, so over the course of 4 months, (I was on the Fentanyl that long), I was definately in more PAIN, but then I always am, even WITH meds, just not so much. I just started the OPANA about 2 hours ago, and Hope springs eternal! Will let you know how it goes. I think my pain in my sciatic nerve just gets SO bad, it may cover the withdrawels I had to have had, first with the oxycontin, and now with NO FENTANYL, NO NOTHING! Lord it hurt like heck though, and I am up half the night just waiting for morning, (I'm raising my grandson, so I HAVE to get up before 6:00 anyway!) I would love to feel one day, one HOUR, with NO PAIN...but That idea I have long since given up on, just getting through the day is enough for me...maybe someday!.... Anybody have luck with OPANA?

[marycarmel]

There were a few postings on Opana in the past and I had hope they'd chime in on this.

Different meds work differently in different people.  I know people who swear by Dilaudid for pain ... Tylenol worked better for me!  It just didn't affect my pain.  It's hard to think about being in pain for every moment of your life and if you do, you'll be overwhelmed.  Pain management is about managing our pain, not being pain free.

I hope the Opana works for you.  Hope you'll keep posting.  The only way we can be supportive of each other is through posting.  I don't as often as I should.  This board used to be much more active but it seems like a lot of the  long-time members aren't checking in so much.

[railroaded]

Last night, about 3-4 hours after I started the OPANA, it was really weird...at least for me! I noticed my pain had gotten less, and I actually noticed it. I can't remember this ever happening before, at least not within hours. Well, now is the next morning, and I will see if I feel slightly better...again, it seems the pain relief was short lived, but I am not giving up! I have a terrible headache this morning, and hope it's just a fluke! let you know tonight how the day went...thanks for replying, I know it's not always easy!

[shinty]

I would contact a lawyer. What that doctor put you through is NOT prcticing good medicine. In my opinion it's criminal behaviour! I think the doctor violated many standards of care. You should be compensated for your continued pain and distress, and have the right to get medical attention at the place of YOUR choosing, with the doctor of YOUR choosing. GOOD LUCK,
        Sean                  (Don't forget the lawyer!)

[railroaded]

Thanks so much for the post! I have NEVER felt this bad on ANYTHING aafter starting this opana! I was sick ALL day yesterday, with the worst stomachache, and a headache, and I DIDN'T call the Doctor, because I have to go through his staff who give him the wrong messages, ones that would make me seem like a NUT! So, I am going to call today, and ask them AGAIN, to have him call me, I can't remember him ever doing that! This Opana, what the ****! is it! I have never been in so much pain, there is no WAY I am getting ANY pain relief off of it, and I distictly remember him telling me,"I have only had 1, maybe 2 patients who this didn't work for!".And he is 61 years old! I am in big trouble, he refuses to admit the meds don't work for me for so long, and then he FINALLY doesn't actually admit it, but just SUGGESTS something els, as long as it's CHEAPER than what originally worked! I HAVE thought about contacting a lawyer, but I read so many horror stories, that I am afraid they will cut me off everything, which IS the equivalent right now anyway!.I ordered complaint forms ,and have already recieved them when I was going through the Fentanyl, non-titration, well, everything that has been done to my body since I started with THE INSURANCE DOCTOR! (By the way, they have already doctored the records at the insurance company and put down, (funny, no dr. SIGNATURE!) that my PRIMARY physician wanted me to switch what I had been on for years! I had never used my primary for pain management, and he didn't even know this guy, still doesn't! The Insurance Doctor TOLD me ,as he read, that it was THE MEDICAL DIRECTOR himself, from my insurance company, who put in for an URGENT referral! If I didn't feel this lousy, it would be easier to even fight, and I really believe they get a lot of people who give up because they ARE in pain. I AM a fighter, and I HAVE told the doctor exactly what I thought, but YOU ARE RIGHT! It is getting me worse than nowhere, I am now faced with slapping my remaining Fentanyl patches on, that never worked, and gave me bloody rashes, or going off the OPANA, cold turkey, which in essence I have already begun. I DIDN'T take my dose last night or today, I want to VOMIT when I even think about it! I remember feeling like this, my leg frozen all the time, extreme pain, BEFORE they finally put me on oxycontin and it dulled it . Also, I have that little problem of not breaking down the medications and finding them in the toilet! And these opana were the hardest material I had ever seem! They were like rounds of PLASTIC! So I will wait over the toilet, and have a present for the doctor!

[railroaded]

Hi, I am the one you suggested to..that I see a lawyer for all the meds, procedures, and pain I have been subjected to because of MONEY! A minor miracle has occured. At least, if you knew how long I have been going to this insurance P.M. doctor, and what I have been subjected to since Jan-Feb! Today, I called him to tell him I could NOT and WOULD not take his latest wonder drug OPANA, I took a total of 4 doses and that was enough for me....for eternity! I went without anything, and just looked at that bottle of 240 pills, and really, if I was the throwing-up kind, just gazing at the bottle had that affect! It is the MOST god-awful medicine I have ever taken, and that goes back to 1994...what am I saying, my whole life! Anyway, I have to drive an hour just to see this Dr., and I went today, with my full bottle, and he has FINALLY agreed to let me go back to my ORIGINAL MEDS! I went through at least 7 months of being a human guinea pig...but today...he said those golden words...You can go back to your regular back doctor, (who I have been seeing since 1994!) I NEVER thought he would say it, because I told him I haven't even felt slightly good since I began going to him, every 4 weeks! It never meant anything, but I think I looked SO TIRED, from not sleeping for 2 days due to pain, and my spasms were visible in my calves...I still don't know, but halleluhia!!!I even returned to my old pharmacy, so I can't feel any worse...well, I know that's not true, but I hope to feel better within a few days. I DID get all my records however, it seems I was lying on a hard object while knocked out for a colonostopy, and endonoscopy (sp) Tube down the throat and then a vacuum....at least it felt like it! It seems the anesthesiologist was not very careful, I woke up with a huge bruise, and it is still there! (It was 10 days ago!) So I am happy about the doctor switch, but boy was I put through the wringer!The local hospital was or is scared because I took photos, (with newspaper showing date!)I just don't want that guy killing someone, they have your life in their hands, literally...so make sure the patient isn't lying on her huge plastic mouthpiece, (They narrowed it down by shape and depth, it hurt so bad when I came to!)