me and my CP....

Rhonda,
I wish I had ideas for you, but it really is something you have to discuss with your doctor. Each of us is so individual, plus your total medical history is part of it.

Did you try taking the OTC meds like tylenol or advil? Remember, many of our other meds. (percocet, for example) are oxycodone with tylenol. So what you take doesn't have the tylenol, and it might help. I know sometimes for me taking a couple of advil helps, although because of stomach issues I don't do it often.

If you haven't tried these suggestions from your doctor, why not see if it helps before your next appointment?

But it is frustrating for all of us because it seems we either can't find answers or they may need to be changed over time. I wish I had a magic answer for you!

Hugs,

PaLady

120mg of methadone is a VERY high dose and a pretty good indication that you need to switch to a new daily opioid. As for the oxycodoneIR 30mg, that's a pretty powerful dose and I'd recommend changing your daily med before you mess with BT pain meds. For the meantime, there are a few things you can do to "potentiate" or make your current meds more effective. Drinking tonic water is an easy way to increase the duration of opioids. It contains quinine, which inhibits a few enzymes for a period of time that are responsible for breaking down and eliminating opioids from the body; the result of which causes the effects of the medicine to be longer lasting. Plain white grapefruit juice (not juice cocktails) works very much in the same way as quinine. To amplify the pain-killing qualities of opioids, Alieve (naproxen) and other NSAIDs enhance analgesia.

Hey Uniquelyme,

Like others have said, every med works diffrently for all of us. Like for me, I've been through them ALL, methadone, oxycontin and oxycodone, fentanyl patches and actiq, Mscontin and Kadian, and the only med I've found releif with was Suboxone, a med that isnt even FDA approved for pain and this was after 8 years of searching and trying diffrent combinations and doses.

But one I have heard great reviews about but never tried myself was Opana which comes in both immitiate and slow releasing forms. I hear the pain releif with this med is awesome, but I wouldn't know. But if you have insurance then I would look into what they will and wont pay for, sometimes you have to try out cheaper meds before they will approve the more expesive meds. And if you dont have insurance, then I would look into what you can afford as most pain meds are very expensive. Since I'm on disability and get medicaid, they tried to push morphine and methadone on me, and finally after trying those and letting them know it didnt work would they pay for the more expensive meds like the fentanyl patch or Kadian. But I hate nothing more then getting an RX for something you think will help and getting to the pharmacy and finding out it's not covered and they want a million dollars for the meds.

-Carmen

 

Wow!! As usual I am not disappointed by the responses...I knew I'd get some great advice.  So, where to begin?  I know that when I was researching Methadone I read NOT to take grapefruit juice with it...that it would send you into WD's fast!! I haven't heard of the tonic water thing... That scares me a bit.

As far as just changing the Methadone...that scares me..I tried to change to Morphine and that was a mess...I was given a script for Opana once when it was hard to find Oxy IR...they wanted $700 for them...of course I didn't have insurance then.but OMG!!!  I can only imagine what the ER kind costs

 

The Oxy IR's may actually be helping, it's just hard to tell because the Methadone isn't cutting it anymore.

 

I did ask about Dilaudid and she told me that it was for Cancer patients only...same with Fentora.  I have tried MS Contin one time...can't really remember if it worked or not...can't even remember why?

 

I am just so tired of the Hit and Miss of it all...ya know?  I would love to find something that really works and keeps working for a long long time...

 

I do take Advil with my pills, I just can't do it very often because of my stomach problems... I also have to worry about acid reflux..that's fun!!

 

I guess i"ll just have to talk to the Doc on the 28th and see what she recommends...if she does at all.  I'm afraid that she'll say that she can't help me anymore if I complain... we are always looked at funny anyway, so who knows what she'll do..

 

Thanks everyone.

Me.

Have you thought about the pain pump?? I would think after being on such high doses of pain meds and them not working, then it maybe time to go the next step which maybe the pump, atleast thats what I was told by some doctors.

And I would be weary of trying the fentayl patches, I had such bad experiences with them cause of them not sticking or being recalled so many times. Even the makers of the Duragesic brand har remade the patch so the meds is mixed in the sticky stuff like the Mylan brand so that might make it a bit better, but that's only if your insurance would be willing to pay for the brand.

What about Oxycontin, is that one you've tried yet? I would think that would be a good choice since your already tkaing oxycodone for breakthrough pain so you have experience with that med.

Methaodne is an odd narcotic that cant be mixed with alot of stuff or it can cause withdrawals. Like when I was on methadone, I would take Fiorcet for my migraines, and I found out that the barbituate in the fioricet causes withdrawals for people on methadone, and I found that out the hard way. And their's not much information on all the stuff that shouldnt be mixed with methadone. It took alot of searching to find information on barbituates causing withdrawals for people on Methadone.

But I have heard of people drinking grapefruit juice and taking tagamet to make the narcotics more stronger, but I've only heard this from people misusing their pain meds. I know for Suboxone their's certain meds I cant take, like antifungals and some other weird stuff that can make me go into withdrawals.

But i know no matter what, that switching from Methaodne to any other narocotic will cause withdrawals from the methadone. I went into withdrawals when a doctor switched me from methaodne to the fentanyl patch, so he had me taper with the methadone and slowly raise the patches dose but even then I still was very uncomfortable for a month. So no matter what, you may be uncomfortable for a while til the methadone completly leaves your system, and the thing about methadone is that it gets stored in your fat cells and takes forever to leave the body. Thats why you hear about people tapering off of methadone they get from a methadone clinic have a very hard withdrawals from it and it can take up to a year for them to feel somewhat human again. Methaodne is a harsh med to stop for pair or opioid dependence, but yet it's great in what it does. I was up to 300mg plus daily for chronic pain, so maybe just going up a little higher in the dose maybe all you need.

-carmen

 

 

Hello....and yes I have thought about the pump...I have been scared of it though.  Of course I don't know much about it so I guess I should research it first.  My appt. is next week so I'd better come up with something to ask about.  The Fentanyl Patch...I have tried it before...before i was put on Methadone.  It caused me to have a rash and I couldn't keep them on.  So I gave the remaining back to the Doc and he put me on Methadone.  Haven't tried Oxycontin...it's way too expensive and TennCare doesn't cover it.  I think they cover the MS Contin...is that the same thing just generic?  I have no idea.

 

I agree about the Dr.'s saying that certain meds are for Cancer only...that is not really true.  I think that certain Docs just don't want to give it to you...no matter how long, or how bad your pain is.  I know that other CP patients are given Dilaudid and Actiq and Kadian...my Dr. won't give that...says it's for the big C....

 

I know that Morphine is a big "no" for me...it didn't work.  So I'm not left with much.  I think I am on the highest dose of Methadone that my Dr. will give...I did ask about increasing the dose and she said no.  I am terrified of changing from Methadone due to WD's...they are not fun...but I may have to bite the bullet and try it anyway...if they titrate me correctly it may not be that bad...so what's next for me?  I don't know..the pump?, taking me off the Methadone?, trying Oxycontin?

 

I guess I'll find out next week....

uniquelyme said...
...so what's next for me? I don't know..the pump?, taking me off the Methadone?, trying Oxycontin?

There's a relatively new drug on the market called Opana. I was on methadone for awhile, but had to stop after severe side effects (mainly pitting adema and fluid retention in the lungs). My doctor then put me on 20mg of Opana and it's worked like a charm. Besides some nausea (all opiods upset my stomach), it's provided better pain relief with the least amount of side effects than any other pain med I've tried. You should probably tell your doctor that the methadone is no longer satisfactory and that you'd like to talk with her about considering an alternative. Hope you find something that works for you!