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Opana to Methadone.....

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Posted 1/24/2008 11:33 PM (GMT 0)
Well, I lucked out today. My PM who is moving to Puerto Rico was still at the PM office. I got to see him one more time before he leaves tomorrow.

We discussed the Opana and my disappointment in it, so we are going to decrease the Opana and switch, slowly this time over to Methadone.

 Last time we tried to switch, we went too high, too fast on the Methadone, which made me really dopey.

Anyway,  tonight , is the first cut for the Opana from 40 mg, to 20 mg, and 10 mg of Methadone with the 20 mg, so hopefully, the switch won't be too awfully bad.

I hope that the switch works this time, and that the Methadone works reasonably well....we'll see.

I'm sure that Opana is a good pain medication in some, it just doesn't seem to work quite so well for me.

Sandi

Posted 1/24/2008 11:56 PM (GMT 0)
Sandi - I don't have experience with either of these medications. I just wanted to wish you luck with your switch and hope you are as pain free as possible. Bummer that your PM doctor is moving away, I hope he/she has good associates to work with you.
Posted 1/25/2008 2:50 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks Sue. We tried Methadone early last year, but we did a straight switch from Oxycontin then to methadone 60mg a day and it was too fast, we think anyway. So , hopefully, going slowly this time will work better and I still hope that I can stay at a lower dose, and get decent pain relief.
I'll keep you guys posted how it works.
Sandi
Posted 1/25/2008 4:34 AM (GMT 0)
yeah  Finally a medication that's working for me!  My first day on opana er tabs(20MG) and my first day of relief from chronic pain in 20 years (decompressive laminectomy fushion & spinal stenosis).  Other meds just made me sleep w/no relief of my back pain. Opana caused a little drousiness, but I fought it; the doctor said this will lessen in time once I get use to taking the pill (one every 12 hours).  I can deal with the drousyness; I just couldn't see sleeping the rest of my life away with no benefit.  Hopefully now I will be able to walk and stand for more than 5 minutes at a time.  As chronic pain sufferers, we have to keep trying different meds until we find the right one for us. For whatever reason my search took 20 yrs.  I hope others will benefit from opana as well. 
Posted 1/25/2008 6:42 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Granny,
I'm truly happy for you to see that the Opana is working for you. I know it's supposed to be a great pain medication, but like all of them, some work better than others for every individual....
The drowsiness will subside in a week or so.....as your body adjusts to the medication, it will slowly decrease.
Best wishes to you,
Sandi
Posted 1/27/2008 3:54 AM (GMT 0)
How is this working for you so far, Sandi?
Posted 1/27/2008 5:16 AM (GMT 0)
This is my 3rd day on the Opana. I did not get drowsy today at all and my pain is practically all gone. I can now stand for longer than 5 minutes; Monday I will try walking short distances to see how that goes. It is the first med to give me any relief, and believe me, I tried them all including fentanyl and oxicodone. My surgery was also at the L4-5 level with a cage and titanium screws. Before my surgery I had a therapy called 'vax-d'. It was very effective but at that time insurance companies were not covering it and the neurosurgeon felt the surgery was necessary after a truck rear ended me. Since surgery it has been difficult finding a center that will administer vax-d. However, the orthopaedic doctors and neurologist say that my bones have fused together so there should not be a problem taking it with the cages. So, i've found a doctor willing to administer the vax-d (in April)...slowly; if it works again I can get off meds completely. If it doesn't, i'll stick with the Opana.
Posted 1/27/2008 11:06 AM (GMT 0)
you lucky one. Both of those meds were great for me too . But Ihad reactions to both and had to get on something else . Congrats

Posted 1/27/2008 11:22 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Granny, hope your still feeling great pain relief. I wanted to ask you, what is Opana? I take oxycontin and lortab or percocet for breakthrough pain and the oxycontin hasnt been able to knock my pain down in a few months. This weekend I finally reached a point of desperation after my pain got so bad I couldnt eat, sleep pr drink for 48 hours. and I was taken to the ER. I hate The ER because mostly all they can do for me is give me IV pain meds, that make me feel very much not in control of my body. And although the ER meds worked for a few hours, by the time I was dischaged my Pain had started to increase again. So I ended up leaving in almost the same state I went in, which is so frustrating. I have a great PM doc, and we have tried so many combinations but I'm afraid if I cant find something successful soon, she will reach the point of not knowing what else to do for me.
Posted 1/27/2008 4:40 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Hazel....I'm sorry for your pain. Don't give up. "Opana ER (also known as Oxymorphone HCI) is a prescription medicine that contains the opioid (narcotic pain medicine) oxymorphone. Opana ER is used to treat adults with constant pain (around the clock) that is moderate to severe and is expected to last for an extended period of time. Opana ER is not for occasional ('as needed') use. I don't know how it differs from oxycodone but for me it works better. Oxycodone, fentenyl, etc. did not take away my pain; they just made me sleep. and kept my head in a fog. With Opana ER my head is clear, and my pain is practically gone. Opana is a small tablet that must be taken whole; can cause physical dependence. The side effects that I have experienced so far are itching and nausea(first night only). My doctor also gave me an Opana ER $25 savings card which I mail to the company with my receipt for a refund. I hope you give it a try. In the meantime, sleep upright and rest as much as possible.
Posted 1/28/2008 3:55 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you Granny. I will do some more research on it and talk with my PM to see what she thinks. After this past month Anything is worth a shot!
Its been two years since my chronic pain started, and this is the first time it has become this out of control, so I'm trying to keep a positive attitude that its just a little stumble in the road and my PM wont get too frustrated with me!
I
Posted 1/28/2008 3:58 AM (GMT 0)
I hope the Opana continues to be a success for you.
Stay well
Posted 1/28/2008 9:27 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Sue,
So far, it's going okay. I am still nauseated by the Opana, so I will be glad to see that go in another week, and I am not having the huge foggy issues that I had the last time that we tried to switch to Methadone, so I am hopeful, that because we are going slowly this time, that it might actually work out okay.
Thanks for asking ,
Sandi
Posted 1/28/2008 9:32 PM (GMT 0)
I hope that it works well for you . I know that others have had great luck with it, I unfortunately didn't.......and those 25 discount cards from the pharmacy were great, since my copay was 30 each time.......it was nice to not have my usual couple of hundred dollar copays for a short time.
Sandi
Posted 1/29/2008 12:38 AM (GMT 0)
to: hazelB.....I forgot to ask if you've tried a TENS(transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator) unit.  I used one for 5 yrs and it helped a lot before it broke down. You need a prescription to obtain one and should be purchased from a rehab cntr or hospital, not a local health store.  Some definately work better than others. The only draw back for women is the wiring that has to connect under your clothes.  Insurance covers the cost. So I would recommend one of these and/or the vax-d therapy before anyone goes under the knife!  Why? Because these things helped me and the operation did not!  Problem: Some insurance companies would rather pay $165,000 for surgery than $100 per vax-d therapy.     Granny
Posted 1/29/2008 1:33 PM (GMT 0)
Granny thanks for the suggestion. I tried TENS about 2 years ago, a few people with IC really find it beneficial but it actually ended up increasing my bladder pain. Maybe I'll try it again, you never know!! I'm always on the hunt for new idea. But unfortunitly no matter how bad it gets my Dr's refuse to remove any of the problem organs. They say in 100% of cases the pain remains as ghost pain(I doubt the percentage is 100) and at 28 I'm too young. I dont know about that as my age seems to be just an illusion!! As much as I hate it, surgery is out for me:( But that does seem to be the case in so many situations, sugrgry fails and often ends up making the problem worse!
Posted 2/14/2008 12:06 AM (GMT 0)
re: Opana.....had to cease taking.  Very bad sad effects.  That's it for me. sad ..no more meds!
Posted 2/14/2008 6:52 PM (GMT 0)
Oh granny I'm so sorry:(:( You seemed to really like it at first. Isnt there anything else they can do, or are you saying thats it on the meds?
Posted 2/14/2008 9:51 PM (GMT 0)
What other meds have you tried? Narcotic and non narcotic. I have a sister in law who is a recent pharmacy grad, she is a wealth of knowledge and I have learned a TON from her.
Posted 2/15/2008 2:36 AM (GMT 0)
Until ten yrs ago, I relied mostly on therapies and my TENS unit. Since then i've tried the Duragesic (25mg) patch, Kadian (20mg), Acetaminophen/cod #3, Oxycodone, Oxycontin, Lyrica, Cortizone shots and Opana. Kadian did nothing; Lyrica helped the pain in the leg but did not extend to the back. Even though Opana didn't make me drousy as the others did, it began to affect my kidney. So I decided to leave the meds alone; most have side effects. I will begin therapy (vax-d) April 2nd. It helped me so much before the surgery. The only reason I had the surgery is because after being hit for the 3rd time (by a truck) the neurosurgeon advised that I might otherwise lose the use of my right leg. I regret having the surgery. I recently wrote the neurosurgeon who performed the operation and his contention now is that my pain is not coming from nerves around the operative region ( L-4/5 level) but from disc changes at adjacent levels based on his review of my mri. I appreciate his response and thus am banking on the vax-d. Thank you for your messages and your concern. Wish I could get all these meds to someone who uses them.
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