Need examples on long acting Pain meds

Hello me again!  Until I can get my body figured out I need some help.  As you may know I was forced to stop taking (by FLorida legislators) a med that has helped me more than anything I have ever attempted in Pain management.  Because of this my PM doc and I are trying to figure what works for me.  I just dont think the morphine cr is cutting it.  I am on 60mg x 2 day it gives me up and down feelings with anxiety and bad sleep.   My pain levels are up as well.  I take it at about 7 am and 4-5 hrs later I start feeling that up and down feeling.  about 7 hrs after I take it my pain levels go up.  Sure I can take a b/t med but I want my long acting med to be just what it says... LONG ACTING!!  I dont want to have to rely on b/t meds.  I want them in emergencies only.  I know there is no miracle pain med.  Wait I am sorry yes there is,  for me it was methadone!  Anyway the governement has scared docs silly and soon I believe methadone will move to a schedule 1 drug.  I really believe this.  It is because of a small minority of folks who use it for what it was not intended for.  The folks who take it as presribed to relieve debilitating pain or addiction assistance are now the ones who suffer dramatically.  People need to educate themselves before they make rash decisions that effect the lives of many.  Anyway , I am sorry for ranting again.  My question is I know many of you have severe pain and are on long acting meds for pain.  I am asking for examples of long acting pain medications that work for you all.  What do all of you take for long acting pain control?  Does it work?  Does it last the full 12hrs?  Is it smooth with no up and down feelings?  Does it control pain well enough that b/t meds are only used in emergency situations?  Any comments would be greatly appreciated.  I know I will get this figured out.  I need to find a med that works as closely as the methadone did for me.  Thanks to all for helping me during this time of need.  I really appreciate all of you!

P.S.  How is Opana?  Does anyone take Opana long acting?

Meds work for some people and some conditions but not for others.

I was happy to take tramadol extended release for my fibromyalgia muscle pain, and it reduced, but not completely, my spine pain (arthritis, radiculopathy, etc). It worked for nearly 12 hours, where the instant release worked for only about 4 - 5 hours. However, after suffering a few episodes of serotonin syndrome (I think I am extra-sensitive to it), first when taking it along with Zofran, then with Flexeril, and recently just taking a single instant release a few hours after the extended release - and I was on the lowest dose - I have had to start the search for something else. Tramadol has worked the best for my fibro muscle pain, but did not do anywhere enough for post-surgical pain. At least it's generic, so worth a trial.

I hope you get some good responses. I need to find something affordable too!

What dose of methadone were you on previously?

Just switching straight from long-term methadone to Morphine CR (usually a generic form of MS Contin, which is an inferior substitute for the brand form, or the more advanced time release morphines such as Avinza and Kadian which sustain the time release longer, more smoothly, and more of the morphine is actually absorbed than with the generic MS Contin) is asking for trouble, even if the conversion ratio is perfect which is almost NEVER is.

Not only is there a lot of individual variance in terms of how much methadone or morphine will be needed for a given person to achieve the same effect (differences in GI tract absorption alone can be as huge as 2-2.5X from person to person for many opiates), there is a lot of debate as to what the right conversion ratios are between various opioids. Methadone is one of the worst victims of this uncertainty.

I cross-tapered from less than 30mg of methadone a day to 120mg of MS Contin per day during my last taper two years ago. And even that was a challenge. If your doc went with the commonly accepted 1:1 ratio between methadone and morphine, then it's no wonder you're having trouble!

I switched from methadone to Embeda and love it. No more hot flashes or sleeping 18hrs a day.