alternatives to ms contin

[sueSANB]

I am currently prescribed 90mg a day of MS Contin. It dulls the pain for a couple hours (still a 4-5 on a 1-10 scale). I sam supposed to take 45mg every 12 hours. At first, about a year ago this worked, no it wears off fairly quickly and even when "working"  I still feel a significant amount of pain. I assume I have become tolerant of the medication. I do not want to increase the dose if at all possible. My sister died of a prescribed Morephine overdose.

I am just wondering if there is another long term pain relief option. I hsve BC/BS insurance. I just do not feel comfortable upping my dose on morephine. Ultimatly my goals is to be pain med free.

[Luckytwice]

That's about all it ever does. There is no such thing as a pain killer that relieves 100% of pain I've ever found, except maybe an epidural and that only works on what's below it, and heavy doses of iv morphine while in the hospital.

There is also types of pain to consider. Pain that comes from motion, doing things- you doc may simply suggest that you don't do those things rather than up your dosage. Sometimes you have to be careful what you ask for, you may even end up restricted from driving if you aren't careful.

The best I've ever found WAS oxycontin unfortunately.  Because it's slow release it at least lasted for 6 hours until the next dose. But when you are on low doses, you will become tolerant. I ended up taking 480mg a day, and did that for 7 years before I had enough. Before that was fentanyl, which works but makes you groggy and fall asleep where ever you park your butt, and i mean anywhere.  Combo drugs with acetaminophen asprin or ibuprofen aren't any better, you just end up taking too much and killing your liver or getting ulcers. Other stuff your doc may try is gabapentin, which also has some serious side effects that change your mood, or make you suicidal.
I wish I had an easy answer for you, but there isn't any. You either find a way to tolerate your pain, or medicate carefully, using other methods like hydrotherapy and meditation to keep your med usage as low as possible.  

[tomskat]

Hi there...souns like you have become tolerant. there certainly are other meds out there,both narcotic and non-narcotic for pain issues. IF they were to increase your morphine,my guess is they would gradually do this. Express to your doctor your concerns...I too used to be on MS Contin-hated it (made me mean). The purpose of pain pills is to not alleviate your pain 100%-docotrs prefer that your pain actually be at abput a 4-5 out of 10 when taking the meds. I would definately talk with your doctor about your fears and your goals. Good luck to you and keep us posted.