Aa
new meds
I have just started taking 10mg oxycontin I am prescribed one every twelve hrs and 5mg perc for breakthrough ever 6 hrs as needed I was wondering if anyone could give me a good schedule to be on to be completely pain free anyone with experiance please help I have Avascualr necrosis in my hips and replacement is a ways off
Hi Magnum,
You brought up a lot of good points but there were some I didn't agree with. Many chronic pain patients will require pain meds continuously for the rest of their lives. Just like people with high blood pressure require blood pressure medications for the rest of their lives or diabetics require insulin for the rest of their lives or people with depression require anti-depressants for the rest of their lives. People with the disease of chronic pain requiring opioid medications for the rest of their lives is no different. Unfortunately, many try to make it seem like requiring opioid medications long term is different due to the stigma attached to the types of medications that are used to relieve pain. People aren't psychologically addicted to insulin, blood pressure medications, nor anti-depressants so those medications are generally accepted by the public as safe to take long term. Truth is opioids are indeed safe to take long term as well as long as your liver and kidneys are functioning normally. Opioid combo products which contain tylenol are not safe long term. Tylenol is very toxic to the liver when taken everyday long term.
Yes, after being on a opioid medication for ~3 months or longer, the body becomes dependant such that abrupt withdrawal can cause very unpleasant withdrawal symptoms BUT as long as you work with your doctor and do a supervised taper and take any additional meds prescribed by the physician to help ease the withdrawal symptoms, discontinuing opioid medications when no longer required is a much easier thing to do. Many still have withdrawal symptoms performing a physician supervised taper, but the symptoms are not as severe. People can get physically dependant on chocolate, caffeine, anti-depressants, etc. and the body produces withdrawal symptoms when the drug is no longer provided. Opioids are no different but it is important to work with your physician on how to taper as the opioid withdrawal symptoms are much more severe than those from caffeine withdrawal.
Hi Jtizz,
You are managing your chronic pain appropriately through the administration of a long acting opioid. Keep in mind that you may need a short acting opioid like oxycodone IR for breakthrough pain as long acting opioids are imperfect and many chronic pain patients still have breakthrough pain despite repeated increases in strength of the long acting opioid. The long acting opioid strength is considered optimal typically when there is no more than 2-3 periods out of the day when you have breakthrough pain. It sounds to me like you have fantastic doctor to help you manage your pain. :)
femmy
You brought up a lot of good points but there were some I didn't agree with. Many chronic pain patients will require pain meds continuously for the rest of their lives. Just like people with high blood pressure require blood pressure medications for the rest of their lives or diabetics require insulin for the rest of their lives or people with depression require anti-depressants for the rest of their lives. People with the disease of chronic pain requiring opioid medications for the rest of their lives is no different. Unfortunately, many try to make it seem like requiring opioid medications long term is different due to the stigma attached to the types of medications that are used to relieve pain. People aren't psychologically addicted to insulin, blood pressure medications, nor anti-depressants so those medications are generally accepted by the public as safe to take long term. Truth is opioids are indeed safe to take long term as well as long as your liver and kidneys are functioning normally. Opioid combo products which contain tylenol are not safe long term. Tylenol is very toxic to the liver when taken everyday long term.
Yes, after being on a opioid medication for ~3 months or longer, the body becomes dependant such that abrupt withdrawal can cause very unpleasant withdrawal symptoms BUT as long as you work with your doctor and do a supervised taper and take any additional meds prescribed by the physician to help ease the withdrawal symptoms, discontinuing opioid medications when no longer required is a much easier thing to do. Many still have withdrawal symptoms performing a physician supervised taper, but the symptoms are not as severe. People can get physically dependant on chocolate, caffeine, anti-depressants, etc. and the body produces withdrawal symptoms when the drug is no longer provided. Opioids are no different but it is important to work with your physician on how to taper as the opioid withdrawal symptoms are much more severe than those from caffeine withdrawal.
Hi Jtizz,
You are managing your chronic pain appropriately through the administration of a long acting opioid. Keep in mind that you may need a short acting opioid like oxycodone IR for breakthrough pain as long acting opioids are imperfect and many chronic pain patients still have breakthrough pain despite repeated increases in strength of the long acting opioid. The long acting opioid strength is considered optimal typically when there is no more than 2-3 periods out of the day when you have breakthrough pain. It sounds to me like you have fantastic doctor to help you manage your pain. :)
femmy
yea we have talked about that he siad it may very well happen to become dependant on these meds....but he said when its all over with and it comes to where you do have repalcements i have medicines and can taper you to where there is little to no withdrawel i really like this dr and trust him he really seems to care about patients and he said he has seen it all to drug seekers to people in legit pain and people who become dependant after all he has been doing this line of work for 30 years so I am trying to watch myself and keep it to minimal but at the same time i went 2 1/2 years with no relief so i know literally what its like to be in enought pain I get sick to my stomach but thanks you for your input I respect it!!
Besides Cirrhosis (7 blood transfusions pre-1992), I have both total hips and a left total knee. (Childhood Rheumatoid Arthritis).
I'm on 15mg when needed. If I have a rough day, I will take 30... but that's only once a day and once in a while. These opiates are powerful and hard to get off of (detoxify). I've now changed my routine to one 15mg every other day. Soon one every three days and so on.
There are two kinds of addiction. Mental and physical. I don’t have an addictive personality, so I don’t worry about mental dependancy. However... the physical dependancy is another story.
You will notice that if you don’t take any for 3-4 days, you feel fluish and may develop a fever (as I did last night at 101). As soon as I took another 15mg two house later, one hour passed by and no fever.
Pain medication is wonderful, but comes at a physical price. Have the doctor keep and eye on your kidneys, and do blood work regularly. Better to catch something in the beginning.
Stress is another factor. My doctor said to not stay in pain. If you do, it can and most times will cause other physical problems. There’s no easy way around this. Damn if you do. Damn if you don’t. Use moderation and as soon as you can, get off them.
That’s my credo. Yes, you will hear other opinions, but what I’ve said is almost verbatim what my Gastro and Hepatologist said. By the way, I take mine when I go to bed at night at around 9 p.m. The medication will also help you sleep. In closing, be careful about getting hooked. That’s the hard part. Popping pills is the easy part.
Good luck...
Magnum
I'm on 15mg when needed. If I have a rough day, I will take 30... but that's only once a day and once in a while. These opiates are powerful and hard to get off of (detoxify). I've now changed my routine to one 15mg every other day. Soon one every three days and so on.
There are two kinds of addiction. Mental and physical. I don’t have an addictive personality, so I don’t worry about mental dependancy. However... the physical dependancy is another story.
You will notice that if you don’t take any for 3-4 days, you feel fluish and may develop a fever (as I did last night at 101). As soon as I took another 15mg two house later, one hour passed by and no fever.
Pain medication is wonderful, but comes at a physical price. Have the doctor keep and eye on your kidneys, and do blood work regularly. Better to catch something in the beginning.
Stress is another factor. My doctor said to not stay in pain. If you do, it can and most times will cause other physical problems. There’s no easy way around this. Damn if you do. Damn if you don’t. Use moderation and as soon as you can, get off them.
That’s my credo. Yes, you will hear other opinions, but what I’ve said is almost verbatim what my Gastro and Hepatologist said. By the way, I take mine when I go to bed at night at around 9 p.m. The medication will also help you sleep. In closing, be careful about getting hooked. That’s the hard part. Popping pills is the easy part.
Good luck...
Magnum
That's great news. For most chronic pain patients, extended release pills last 6-8 hours and most require dosing every 8 hours so you are not alone.
You are on a modest dose of medication. There is lots of room to move up if needed. And even when you get to the higher tiers, the doctor can rotate you to different medication for a year at equivalent dosage of the old medication and then you can switch back to the old medication at the same dosage and have pain relief again...this is called, opioid rotation which helps maintain your current tolerance level for longer.
I have read posts from chronic pain patients that have been on the same dose of the fentanyl patch for 4-10 years. Medical research shows that extended release meds slow the build up of tolerance when compared against taking only short acting opioids for chronic pain.
I'm glad the Oxycontin is working well and so very happy that your doctor listened to you and addressed your concerns right away. Keep in mind that you should give the new dosage a couple of weeks to a month to stabilize and then reassess your pain level at that time and request a titration from the doctor if needed. The titration period can last quite a long time especially when a trial of different medications are involved. I have been going through a 6 month titration period trying different medications and dosages and I just now found the right medication and the optimal dose. There may be one more tweak in the breakthrough pain meds but after that I'm all set for awhile.
Keep us posted and I am so glad to hear this great news from you! If you still have more pain than you can tolerate taking Oxycontin 3x a day, definitely talk to you doctor and continue to work together until you feel comfortable with the medication and the dosage. :)
femmy
You are on a modest dose of medication. There is lots of room to move up if needed. And even when you get to the higher tiers, the doctor can rotate you to different medication for a year at equivalent dosage of the old medication and then you can switch back to the old medication at the same dosage and have pain relief again...this is called, opioid rotation which helps maintain your current tolerance level for longer.
I have read posts from chronic pain patients that have been on the same dose of the fentanyl patch for 4-10 years. Medical research shows that extended release meds slow the build up of tolerance when compared against taking only short acting opioids for chronic pain.
I'm glad the Oxycontin is working well and so very happy that your doctor listened to you and addressed your concerns right away. Keep in mind that you should give the new dosage a couple of weeks to a month to stabilize and then reassess your pain level at that time and request a titration from the doctor if needed. The titration period can last quite a long time especially when a trial of different medications are involved. I have been going through a 6 month titration period trying different medications and dosages and I just now found the right medication and the optimal dose. There may be one more tweak in the breakthrough pain meds but after that I'm all set for awhile.
Keep us posted and I am so glad to hear this great news from you! If you still have more pain than you can tolerate taking Oxycontin 3x a day, definitely talk to you doctor and continue to work together until you feel comfortable with the medication and the dosage. :)
femmy
he bumbped it up to taking it three times a day now seems to be much more effective and I feel that it is working like it is suppose to but scared my tolerence will build rapidly it has evey since I started pm....
sorry im just now getting back to you...but i will let you know what he does they changed my appt to the 24th so i will be going in a little earlier, I have found that taking this med as prescribed just isnt doing it I get great relief at first but a few hrs later it comes back Im guessing its the low does. I find that I conntot get continuous relief from it the way I am taking it, I guess thurdays I will see what he has to say about it, and about being blessed with the drs we have, I sure know thats right It has taken me two years of drs to find this one and I am planning on keeping him he is young and really explains thing well and aint out there to give just anybody anything which is one thing I like!!!
It does indeed sound like you have great doctor. My doctor is fabulous as well and trust me, compassionate doctors are becoming rarer and rarer with each passing day. We are very blessed to have the physicians we do have.
There are two types of pain patches, the Fentanyl patch and the Butrans patch. The Fentanyl patch lasts 48-72 hours and the Butrans patch last 5-7 days. I have heard good reports from patients online regarding the Butrans patch; however, I have never tried them before. The Fentanyl patch really gives me consistent pain relief. Even with the the extended release pills, I would get periods of withdrawal symptoms approx. 10 hours after dosing if I didn't take a breakthrough pain medication.
I am also finding that on the Fentanyl patch, my breakthrough pain meds work sooo much better!! They work quickly after dosing and pain relief lasts 5-6 hours, which is very nice! :)
Please let us know if you and your doctor decide on one of the pain patches and if you have any questions. We are here to help and support one another!
femmy :)
There are two types of pain patches, the Fentanyl patch and the Butrans patch. The Fentanyl patch lasts 48-72 hours and the Butrans patch last 5-7 days. I have heard good reports from patients online regarding the Butrans patch; however, I have never tried them before. The Fentanyl patch really gives me consistent pain relief. Even with the the extended release pills, I would get periods of withdrawal symptoms approx. 10 hours after dosing if I didn't take a breakthrough pain medication.
I am also finding that on the Fentanyl patch, my breakthrough pain meds work sooo much better!! They work quickly after dosing and pain relief lasts 5-6 hours, which is very nice! :)
Please let us know if you and your doctor decide on one of the pain patches and if you have any questions. We are here to help and support one another!
femmy :)
thanks alot this is my first month on them so I hope it does get better I have severe pain from time to time and it feel likes nothing would work itll sometimes ramp up and then there ill be....but i got back to see him on the 30th so I will just tell him what I am experiancing and see if my dose will be increased, I found that if i take one in the am and then one 6 to 8 hrs later that it seems to work better but when I wake up first thing I am real bad off....but he did mention a patch I am guessing it is the one you were talking about but he wanted to try these pills first....he is a very informative dr and very understanding so i trust him!!! maybe just upping it will work better
The best way to take your medication is as prescribed by your doctor.
I am off of extended release pills and I am now on the fentanyl patch but when I was taking extended release pills, I found that taking it at 10 am and at 10 pm worked best for me as I would have more pain relief during the day when I needed it most and I would have pain relief at bedtime so that I could sleep. I did have breakthrough pain between 5-7 am and 5-7 pm and I had to take breakthrough meds during that time.
The problem that I always ran into is that the 12 hour extended release pills like the oxycontin didn't last the full 12 hours. I had the option of taking them 3 times a day (every 8 hours) vs. every 12 hours or switch to the fentanyl patch. I decided to try the fentanyl patch since I heard great things about it and I am glad that I did. I was having severe constipation issues that were ridiculous!! I was experiencing severe bloating, cramps, chest pain, and difficulty breathing. I tried fiber supplements, stool softners, miralax, gasx, milk of magnesia and none of them worked. It got to the point that only an enema would relief my constipation and even when it did, I still felt backed up. My constipation seemed to worsen after my gallbladder was removed late last year.
The fentanyl is great! I am completely cured from my constipation...all I take is one stool softner every other night and I am good to go.
I hope the oxycontin helps with your pain. 10 mg of oxycontin is a very low dose so if you are noticing that you have a lot of pain throughout the day, you may need to talk with your doctor about an increase in strength.
Please keep us updated on how your new medications are working for you!
femmy :)
I am off of extended release pills and I am now on the fentanyl patch but when I was taking extended release pills, I found that taking it at 10 am and at 10 pm worked best for me as I would have more pain relief during the day when I needed it most and I would have pain relief at bedtime so that I could sleep. I did have breakthrough pain between 5-7 am and 5-7 pm and I had to take breakthrough meds during that time.
The problem that I always ran into is that the 12 hour extended release pills like the oxycontin didn't last the full 12 hours. I had the option of taking them 3 times a day (every 8 hours) vs. every 12 hours or switch to the fentanyl patch. I decided to try the fentanyl patch since I heard great things about it and I am glad that I did. I was having severe constipation issues that were ridiculous!! I was experiencing severe bloating, cramps, chest pain, and difficulty breathing. I tried fiber supplements, stool softners, miralax, gasx, milk of magnesia and none of them worked. It got to the point that only an enema would relief my constipation and even when it did, I still felt backed up. My constipation seemed to worsen after my gallbladder was removed late last year.
The fentanyl is great! I am completely cured from my constipation...all I take is one stool softner every other night and I am good to go.
I hope the oxycontin helps with your pain. 10 mg of oxycontin is a very low dose so if you are noticing that you have a lot of pain throughout the day, you may need to talk with your doctor about an increase in strength.
Please keep us updated on how your new medications are working for you!
femmy :)
thanks for the reply I am just sorta freaking cause its new meds and i have not found a good schedule to take them on for good relief before i could take hydrocodone 10/325 as needed for pain every 4hrs and it worked great but he wanted to take me off of short acting meds....I hope it gets better
the pills are ment to be taken so that u can be comfortable with pain. being with chornic kidney and pelvic pain thats what i was always told along with my mother who was on 25mg every 6 of oxy with a 15 mg break through every 4
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