Switching form oxys to a patch type med

[Dezdon]

HI,
I am a chronic pain patient.  I lost all my toes and half my left foot to meningitis and sepsis. The left foot wasnt just cut off, it was reconstructed to give me a walking plaform. I am in constant pain with out meds.
  I was on 7.5mg vicoden x8 day for seven years. I never had a problem, I took them like a daily vitamin. They had to reopen the amputations to do some work on the bone tips and my pain levels skyrocketed. I was taking percocets along with the vics to get by after the surgery.
  A new doctor switched me to 20mg oxycodone 4x a day and 5mg x3 a day for breakthrough pain. All hell broke loose in my life. I am addcited to them. I abuse them and thier all I can think about. I started snorting them also and will go through a months worth in a few weeks or less. I still get the vics so I take them when I run out, just get by to keep me out of w/ds and to manage some pain, but they dont work well.
  What do you guys think about stopping the oxys and asking my doctor about the fentanyl patch. I think it would be a no brainer, I wouldnt be tempted to snort a patch and I wouldnt have the little pills laying around to be taken at will.
  Im not looking for a higher dose or stronger medicine. The oxy pain relief works great, but there all I think about.
What do you think my doctors opinion might be and how would I explain this to her. I dont want her to think I am drug seeking. I am just trying to end this oxy nightmare and still manage my chronic pain.  
I also went ten days last month with no pain meds to see what my pain levels really are after seven years of being on meds. It was hell, my feet never calmed down. I couldnt do anything, if I walked, it just triggered more pain and I had to run ice cold water on my feet several times in the middle of the night just to get back to sleep. The pain is real.
I just dont want to be a slave to the oxys anymore and still want to manage my pain
thx
-Dez

[sandee1818]

Also as Tuck pointed out methadone is not only used for addiction issues it is also used for pain control too.
This may very well be an option your doctor may look into when you tell her all that's going on with you and the Oxycontin difficulties.
Again no one here is judging you or making light of your pain at all. We only wish to help anyway we can:)

[sandee1818]

Hi Dez,
  I deleted your post because profanity is strictly forbidden at Med Help. I am sorry you were offended by comments made but I assure you that you totally misunderstood. When someone openly admits to abusing the pain meds here in the pain management community it tends to cause problems because as you too know it is very hard for legitimate patients to get the releif they need because there are people who abuse their meds and doctors making it difficult for those in real need.
Now do NOT get me wrong I am certainly not saying your not a legitimate patient I am only pointing out why someone may be offended that you have admitted to abusing your medications.
Of course you know that being dependent and being addicted are two totally different things all together and while we who suffer from chronic pain that do take narcotics are definitely dependent on our medications to function and survive, we are not addicted nor do we abuse our medications because one if we did we would run short and then lose our doctor and lose the care and pain relief we so desperately have to have to live.
I do understand what your saying that you have taken the hydrocodone without incident and then got put on the Oxycontin and you got out of control with it and began abusing it. Your not a bad person, this happens sometimes and I applaud your ability to realize you have a problem and that it needs to be addressed and you definitely need to make some changes.
I suggest you talk to your doctor and be HONEST and tell her what is going on. Believe me she WILL find out and then you have huge problems because she will fire you as a patient and then you will have a very ,very difficult time finding a doctor that will help you at all.
Tell her that you need help getting off the Oxycontin and you need to find out what options are available to you that will help with your pain and keep it at a tolerable level but will also keep the addiction to the oxycodone at bay.
Your correct that the pain management community is the best one for you right now because you do need pain relief but you still have addiction issues. The SA community is for substance abuse and they certainly can and will help with that. The PM community will also do what we can to help you.
The pain management community and Med Help does NOT tolerate educating anyone on how to abuse drugs or medications and ANY post that suggest anything of this nature will be deleted and if the member keeps posting things of that nature they too will be banned from Med Help.
Please understand that we are willing to help you in anyway we can but you have to follow the guidelines that Med Help has set for everyone. I understand you have a problem and I and the others here will gladly help you and also remember we are not and will not be rude or misguide you in any way.
In my opinion you really need to let your doctor know what is going on so that she can treat you to the best of her ability. I try and remind everyone that the doctors can not treat you to the best of their ability if they do not know everything.
Talk to your doctor and let us know how things go and how your doing.
In the meantime is there someone you trust that you can have give you your meds at the schuduled time and the correct amount? This way you can still take your meds as they were prescibed until you can get with your doctor.
If you have any questions or concerns please let me know and I will help all I can:)

[Tuckamore]

Hi Dez,

We certainly appreciate your honesty. We aer not trying to judge you. I think the concern here is that you may (without even wanting to) abuse another narcotic, rather that's a correct concern or not it is a concern.

Please discuss this with your physician. Be open and hones with him or her. They are trained to treat you in all issues that relate to pain management. Many chronic pain patients are on Methadone to control their pain, not because they have been an abuser or not even because there physicians are concerned about about abuse. The fact in methadone a a good pain control narcotic with much less side effects than other similar narcotics. I by no means am suggesting that you should take Methadone. I think once you inform your physician of all the facts this needs to be a decision between you and your physician.

I beleive you must have some horrid nasty pain and that needs to be addressed along with the problem you have experienced with oxys. Good luck to you. I will look forward to your updates. Please take care, there is an answer to your predicament.
Peace, Tuck

[jollyman069]

you need to find a pain mangement dr or clinic that specializes in pain mangement and addicition there are drs out there thsat do this..like molly said if your abusing oxys you are going to abuse the patch and many people have died from abusing the patch..do yourself a favor and find a good dr, or tell your dr whats going on maybe he can help you if not your in a big loosing battle..you need help for your pain and your addicition

[Dezdon]

Thank you Molly for your honesty. Like I said in my first post, I took vicodone for seven years with out a problem, I mean never. I feel its the drug oxycodone that has done this too me. When I go back to taking the vics becasue I am out of the oxys, i dont abuse them, but they hardly work for me.I require something just a tad stronger. Thats why I have been thinking about the fentanyl  patch. Im pretty sure I would'nt abuse it, I just want pain relief and there is just someting about the damn oxys that get me. Its too easy just having the individual pills laying around to be taken at will. With the patch, i would just put it on and forget about it for three days. Doesnt that make sense?
  I do understand the fentnyl is a son of a gun if you run out, that would be a motivating factor for sure. Im just trying so despertly to get back to the innocents I had before the oxys came into my life. When i am out of oxys, i dont even think of them, I dont crave them or anything, but if there around, forget it.
  I also spend gobs of time on the addiction forum. But i thought this topic was more for pain management then my oxy addiction.
  Molly, I do understand what your saying and apreciate your honesty.
-Dez

[Mollyrae]

hi Dez:

You are in a merry-go-round world. It will never end for you if you yourself don't learn to control your pain meds. In my opinion, switching to the Patch will be no different for you. It's true you can't snort the drug but there are other ways to abuse the patch and if your abusing the pills then why not the patch. The Med is much stronger in the patch and abusing this would be dangerous. Drug users and those not in pain abuse the Fentanyl all the time.

You need to tart being resopnsible with your meds. Your tolorance is becoming so high from taking such large doses that I'm not suprised that your meds don't work. If you were to abuse the Fentanyl and run out, you'd be in a world of hurt. If you think that the w/d is bad on the pills....try going without the patch and see what happens. The w/d are ten times that of what you have experienced and once you start on the patch, the oxycodone is like taking asprin. It doesn't work because your tolorance is too high.

It sounds like your able to go without the big dog meds. From what you described, most of the pain was w/d related. I urge you to seek out addiction help. the Docs can control your pain meds. Methadone is very effective for ppl in your shoes. You go to the clinic once a day and get you dose of pain relief. I feel this is the only answer for you.

You are on a path that most ppl don't come off of unless they get professional help. I'm sorry to sound harsh but it's a reality.

Take care,
Molly