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time released pain meds in stool

Hi, I tried this in another community, but I think this is may be the better community for to get feed back from. .I have been on narcotic therapy for some time due to back and leg pain. (Leg pain is not only from from DDD but also from multiple surgies but on leg itself)  I have been seeing a pain specialist for several years.  He has treated me with Morphine ER and for the last couple years Oxycontin, which is time released.  The meds have lost their effectivness over time and my doctor has upped the dose for to account for tolerance.  Over all though the control is just not good and getting worse over time.  My physician thinlks the problem may be Narcotic induced hyperalgesia which is where long term med use actually starts increasing pain.   recently he decreased the dose by about 20%.  I do trust my doctor, and connot say the pain has increased much, but the problem is that this is a long time process and the pain is at such a level I just dread each new day.  I think I am getting depressed to see a future with this much pain.  There really is no quality of life.  
       Occasionally I have seen the tablets in the stool and just figured it was the empty jackets, but a light went on in my head a couple days ago and I used a straw to investigate.  The pills were not just empty jackets, but full of an off white substance..  Could this be the problem?  The deal is that I have no G.I. symptoms to account for me not digesting these pills.  Could this account for the increased pain?  I do not see my doctor for three weeks.
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Avatar universal
Firstly the whole pills in your stool, if they are a long acting drug like Targin it's exactly what should happen the pill delivery mechanism for many long acting drugs are called ghost pills, it basically works like a tea bag, they are designed by the manufacturer to survive intact the entire trip through your body intact and pass out unchanged just like a tea bag remains unchanged while the tea itself is leached out. Secondly some pills are specifically designed to be absorbed in different parts of the tract, intestine or bowel. Your impactaction in your bowel and much much higher as your constipation worsens will effect absorption if the pill can't move through at the correct rate and in fluid it can't do it's job. Never ever crush long acting tablets you can overdose and kill yourself among other things. Instead crush fast acting like endone every 4 - 6 hours for relief though this will add to the constipation. If you are not on Targin ask your doctor about it, it helps prevent constipation. Lastly fix your problem instead of trying to compensate for it. A number of things can get you regular. First by flax seed and blitz it slightly. Take several tablespoons a day, you may need half a cup full a day to begin with. The most important thing you can do is buy specifically a cold press juicer for 6 weeks have nothing but juice. No fruit juice just vegetable with a few green apples to activate the enzymes. You need carrot, broccoli or kale, betroot and green apples, organic if possible live on this. If you really can have organic coffee enemas everyday. Lastly buy yourself a book by Dr Max ****** - Healing the Hopeless. It's life altering to read. I am not particularly into alternative or anything but I'm giving you the above advice because it simply works. It took me 6 months of desperate research to get to it, I had no choice, my 14 year old was suicidal from the pain and he was being rushed by ambulance every day for horrific uncontrollable neuropathic pain and being injected with massive doses of fentanyl, nothing worked this gave him back his life. Be very very wary of sugar it's an inflammatory and terrible for pain and can inflame the intestinal track. Also avoid gluten and dairy, add back into your diet either gluten or dairy one at a time and watch how you feel for at least a week or two one of these things may be damaging your stomach and inflaming it making absorption difficult at best. Take the highest dose pure absorbic acid your bowels can tolerate, cheaply you can buy it from some chemist and most health food stores in packets as a white powder. Go up to 10 teaspoons a day spread out over the whole day and then back down or up by one teaspoon a day until you reach bowel tolerance. Bowel tolerance is reached at the point you have diareah when it onsets back off by one teaspoon per day until you find the point just below diareah. Pure absorbic acid helps at very high levels 8 - 10,000mg per day with pain, particularly bone pain. It also aids hugely in opiod absorption. Good luck.
Helpful - 0
596485 tn?1253821678
I had this happen with time released oxy some years back.  I got to the point that I collected a series of them and took them into the doctor because I felt like they did not believe me.  That made my doctor trust my word from that point on and I never used time released oral meds again.  I also have a problem with suppositories not ever dissolving.  becuase of this for time time period I was getting no pain relief at all except the occasional break thru med.
Helpful - 0
547368 tn?1440541785

Hello MW, Welcome to the Pain Management Forum of MedHelp. I am glad you found us. And I am sorry for your pain. We know it is often life changing. I am very sorry you are experiencing pain.

The obvious answer to your question is that you need to notify your physician. It is possible that your stomach enzymes are not breaking down the capsules so the medication can be released. I have a condition called malabsorption syndrome where nutrients and often medications are not properly absorbed. I too can have undissolved meds in my stools. This condition is very rare (I had 3 ft of small intestine removed do to a MVA.) and that is probably not your problem but it sounds as if there is something going on that needs investigation.

Be sure and discuss this with your PCP.Please keep us posted and let us know how you are doing. Take Care, Tuck

January, DDD is Degenerative Disc Disease.
Helpful - 0
631581 tn?1224844661
Opiate therapy causes a slowing of absorption in the duodenum of everything you ingest, from meds to food.  It is possible that you are excreting your meds.
One thing you might do, if you haven't had a full blood workup in a while, ask your doc (either pain management or primary care) to do that and if you turn up anemic it might indicate such a bowel issue. IE: your body has slowed down absorption of everything.
Read my profile and see what has happened to me with opiate treatment.
Both non absorption and med decrease could account for the lack of pain control.
Personally, I had to increase my OC yearly for continued pain control.  I'm sorry, I don't know what DDD is.
january43
Helpful - 0
356518 tn?1322263642
I have heard of pills being in stool although I would definitely speak to your Dr about it. I believe the way the oxy breaks down it can leave some showing in your stool. I read an article about this, I will see if I can find it for you.
Helpful - 0
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