anyone heard of this?

[downnout]

im under the care of pain management for my chronic back pain from an injury i suffered in a fall.i have had all kinds of meds for this and ive seem to have had some relief with the ocxycontin ive been taking.i also take percocet for break through pain.i was taking the 20mg and about half way through the month i was increased to 30mg....so i was taking a 20mg and a 10 mg.at times i would stagger taking them by about 15-20 min.i had better results with the added 10mg.when i took the 30mg tablet it didnt seem to work as well so they put me back to the 20 and the 10(2 tabs same mg)it works alot better.is there a reason or has anyone heard of this method or have i made an accidental discovery that has really made the first real difference ive noticed since my injury.i realize everyones body reacts differently but im looking for some input on this.thanks for taking the time to read this and i will await any reply as im very curios about the difference it made...it seems substantial to me

[DonBoy]

No, I don't have any reference regarding this and can't find any now. I either heard or read this somewhere, but can't remember where, sorry. The Clinical Pharmacology write-up simply says it's a "continuous release".

[Uster1025]

Dboy is right the two pills provide a larger surface area allowing your stomach acid to desolve them quicker giving you a larger dose,this is why your told not to break or chew tablets to avoid overdose.if you think of it as ice cubes,where two smaller ice cubes melt almost twice as fast as one large ice cube of the same volume.

[sandee1818]

Hi DonBoy,
You have am interesting theory on the way the Oxycontin works. I have to say I have always thought it delivers a steady dose as the hours go on but I have never heard that you get a "larger dose" at the beginning. Do you have any reference that shows this to be accurate? I would be interested in seeing it if you do.
Under the assumption from my Dr  it gives 12 hours of  steady continuous relief. I don't think it would give you more in the beginning but I could be wrong. If you have any reference to this please let me know.
Thank you:)

[DonBoy]

Is your Oxycontin of the "timed release" variety?  I'm not a doctor or pharmacist but have taken many different pain meds through the years. All of the Oxycontin I've received have been of the "timed release" variety, whereby the pain med itself is slowly released into your body over a period of time (4-6-12+ hours). Versus taking a Percocet, which is released "all at once".  I *think* (don't know for sure) that Oxycontin releases a larger dose when you first take it ... then a continuous or tapering down dose as time moves forward. This might explain why taking TWO pills (20 +10), instead of ONE (30), would provide more pain relief when you take them in a staggered manner. You would get more "active" pain med.

[sandee1818]

I also wanted to say I have been on the same dose for years! I started out on 20mg 10years ago and just went up a few months ago to 40mg.
I could go higher but keep in mind that I will be taking these meds for life so I try and keep the dosage as low as I can. I stayed on the 20 mg twice daily for 7 years and then went to three a day and then to 40 mg.

[sandee1818]

The added benefit of having the dose in two pills is I can and sometimes only take one if I can instaed of two so I have taken them at separate times. I try and get by on only 20mg when I can and sometimes I will end up taking the other dose but i will try taking them separate by ten twenty minutes and see if it helps that way.
Thanks:)

[downnout]

that would be very nice tuck...also i staggered them by 20 minutes for each dose.that is the only logical thing i have come up with and may have something to do with the releaseing agent on the pills exterior.thanks for your input and im hoping this may end up helping alot of people.i know sande said she does stacking as well and it works for her....SANDEE  try this for me next time you dose.take your 1st 20mg.....then i 20min try your second dose.i am only experimenting with the stagered dose interval like 5 min,10min,15,and so onup to 30 min.i dont recommend going past 30 min on your stagger at this time as i have not tried it and will consult my DR. before i do to make sure im within the dosing guidelines

thanks and best regards,

d4f

[PromisedLand]

Amen, Jollyman


Jim

[Tuckamore]

Hello Downout,
I am very glad that you "stumbled" on something that works so well for you. I have no exact answers for you but my guess is the time difference and pure luck.

It should make no difference in the medication. 40mg's is 40mg's. It doesn't make sense but a lot of things in this world does not make sense. So again I am just glad that this works for you. And maybe it will work for others also, so thanks for sharing this reaction.

I will do some research and see if I can find anything about this. If I can I will get back to you. Again thanks for sharing. Take care, Tuck

[downnout]

i have to agree with you on that.they have alot of heat on Dr.that dish out the pain meds.oh well......

[jollyman069]

if the dea had their wished we are going to lose all of our pain meds!!!!!!

[sandee1818]

In your case the amount of time between the doses is most likely the reason for the added pain control. In my case I take them at the same time.

[downnout]

thanks for your comment and yes maybe the chemist could help because the pharmacist i go to said that it is possible that the staggered delivery of the 2 doses may have something to do with it but admitted he did not know for sure with any degree of certainty

best regards,

[sandee1818]

I have noticed this too. I changes from the 20 to the 40 mg and the two twenties work much better than the one forty. The DEA had been causing some problems for me as getting 120 of the 20mg was considered wrong when you can get 60 40 mg but my Dr stood his ground for me and allowed me to stay on the two twenty for now. Although here in the near future that could be changing and he may be forced to give me the 40mgs.
The DEA is very conscientious about these things and I am lucky to have a Dr who will stand up for me and say hey this is what works for her.
I am at a loss as to why this is because your essentially getting the same amount of meds just in a different form I guess. I will ask our chemist here for his thoughts:)