Chronic pain from Hydrocodone to Duragesic patch

[Hippiealways]

Due to chronic pain I was put on Hydrocodone (Loritab 750)  I  was prescribed 2 a day 500mg to start then 2 a day 750 up to 3 a day all in a 2 year period.  Just recently because of my drs concern for the tylenol affect to my liver I now use the Duragesic Patch 50 mg which has been such a relief...I am able to do almost anything without worrying about the pain I will feel tomorrow.  The dr was happy to give me the patch and I am happy to have it.  What is this doing to me physically...he even remarked that my dosage would be upped as my tolerance needed it. I expect to be on medically supervised narcotic pain relievers for the rest of my life.  Having no side affects now and  several people have commented 'if you are in chronic pain the medication goes to the pain and not to form an addiction' this doesn't sound possible to me...appreciate your opinion on this.  Thank you

[Lightning1958]

I have been on the 75mcg fro 4 yrs due to a lower back fusion of L-2-3-4-5.With cages and screws and rods.Then I had a cervical fusion oC-2-3-4.Same deal cage and screws and rods.I also get 60 temezapam 325 mg for sleep.This accident occued in 2001. I get very little releif with the duragesic and 4hrs sleep is a miracle.The workers comp ins wants to change the meds to Ultram & meletonion.I AM SCARED!!!!!!!I dearly hope the pain doc does not agree.PLEASE ANY WORDS OF WISDOM TO HELP ME tHANKS LIGHTNING1958

[Lightning1958]

I have been on the 75mcg fro 4 yrs due to a lower back fusion of L-2-3-4-5.With cages and screws and rods.Then I had a cervical fusion oC-2-3-4.Same deal cage and screws and rods.I also get 60 temezapam 325 mg for sleep.This accident occued in 2001. I get very little releif with the duragesic and 4hrs sleep is a miracle.The workers comp ins wants to change the meds to Ultram & meletonion.I AM SCARED!!!!!!!I dearly hope the pain doc does not agree.PLEASE ANY WORDS OF WISDOM TO HELP ME tHANKS LIGHTNING1958

[Lightning1958]

I have been on the 75mcg fro 4 yrs due to a lower back fusion of L-2-3-4-5.With cages and screws and rods.Then I had a cervical fusion oC-2-3-4.Same deal cage and screws and rods.I also get 60 temezapam 325 mg for sleep.This accident occued in 2001. I get very little releif with the duragesic and 4hrs sleep is a miracle.The workers comp ins wants to change the meds to Ultram & meletonion.I AM SCARED!!!!!!!I dearly hope the pain doc does not agree.PLEASE ANY WORDS OF WISDOM TO HELP ME tHANKS LIGHTNING1958

[bodysgoing]

I would like to thank everyone for there comments for they put a perspective on wheather or not i should go on the patch like my dr planned on doing on monday. I have chronic leg knee, back and hip pain and have been on loritab 10's for 2yrears. It is no longer working as it was before due to the worsening of the pain i am enduring or simply because my body is used to them..I do not want to get addicted to these pills just as everyone else. As a matter of fact i will only take a pill until the pain is no longer tolerable, so for now i know i am not addicted to them nor will i take 2 at a time. My question then is if not loritab than what else? I have read percocet. Is that more or less effective than perodan? I really dont know if I can even tolerate that. I am also on Lyrika for shingle pain but that does not help for chronic pain it is for nerve pain. any suggestions? I am 51 and would like to get back into not being afraid to tottaly clean my house so i can sell it. My back is always reminding me not to do things threatening to completly go out on me.  Oh any insite on this ? When I lie in bed at night my legs seem to get alot worse and i cant lie on my hip either. thanks for your comments. gl to all

want to live pain free

[Hippiechick85]

Thanks for the info. I definitely plan on dropping down bit by bit, then off everything completely. First, I have to get through physical therapy because it is extremely painful. I didn't know that one can take 2000-3000 mg of Tylenol daily and still be safe. Thanks for all the info.

This is the most horrible medicine, in that, it is the worst to try to quit. However, it is the only medicine that works; talk about a Catch-22 situation. I get extremely ill when I drop down every 25 mcg. I just can't wait until all this is over, and I can go back to being the "typical" college student because currently, I'm definitely not typical in any sense of the word.

[kittykat58]

the drugs you are taking will not destroy your liver. the patch has no tylenol in it (which is the drug that can affect your liver) and the percs have, what, 325 mg/pill? you can take up to 2,000-3,000 mg of tylenol/day and be safe.

you may have a legit need for the patch given your accident, but I would not advise others to use this med casually. it is one of the most addictive narcotics available and can also kill you if it misfires in it's time-release delivery (too much of the dope at once = respiratory failure = death). heat can cause it to misfire -- a lounge in a hot tub or a day in the sun....bye bye. also, if a child or other person who is opiate-naive handles it, it can kill them with one exposure. it was not worth the terrible risk, in my humble opinion.

I was on it for a couple of months and found I would fall asleep (nod off) at traffic lights, while talking with someone at work...crazy! I worried I would not wake up in the morning and my daughter would have the horror of finding me dead in bed. the straw that broke the camel's back for me was when a toddler I was holding reached over to try to pick off the patch on my shoulder -- I could have killed someone else's child! I flushed them the next day and just kept the oral meds in a lock box.

good luck. I would not use this terrifying medicine unless I was bed bound and dying. and then I would keep it in a lockbox.