New member w/pain med information

Welcome to HW.

The med you're referring to is Zohydro.Time Release Hydrocodone.Supposed to be.

Evidently it's very expensive.Like $600-$700 a month.

If you're having to take Norco around the clock then you need to be taking an Extended Release pain med and maybe something like Norco for Break-Through Pain.

I take Morphine ER and IR.

I live in Alabama.So far so good here.

Take care and welcome to the forum.

Rick

Hello & welcome to the chronic pain forum. I think what Rick was talking about is most people that require long term narcotics, their PM drs has them on an extended release medication & then some thing for BT pain. For BT pain a patient is not rx'd the amounts you are currently taking. You get better pain control by being on an extended release because you don't have all the ups & downs & looking at the clock type of thing. The DEA has recommended this to the PM drs as well. I am really surprised that insurance is paying for that many a month. People get a lot of flack from the pharmacies for 4 pills a day, some pharmacists are refusing to fill that many. A lot are limited to 3 a day 90 pills a month regardless of what their medical issues are.

I have not heard anything about this taking its place either. No one can afford it. Some folks do run into problems getting their scripts filled the closer we get to the end of the year.

Take care.

The time release,abuse deterrent can be gotten around in all the er meds with the exception of one of the oxys which turns into rubber literally when tampered with. Zohydro is no different. It is very expensive and will remain so until it's patent is expired and that could be years. Medicare advantage will not pay for it regardless of your part and the reviews are actually showing in the early stages that its not worth the expense,not lasting its supposed time frame and the general consensus of pharmacy don't want to bother with the expense of keeping it on hand when so few Drs are prescribing and if they do so few can afford it's cost.

There are much cheaper equivalent meds.

Welcome to the forum by the way. Your a long time long-term CPer with a long-term opiate dependency and there in is your problem. In a nutshell the FDA recommendation for Chronic pain is a long acting medication at the lowest manageable dosage after all other nonopiate and conventional methods of treatment have failed.

It's going to likely get worse now that the CDC has stepped in and for the first time made recommendations for the ongoing treatment of chronic pain.

It's a scary thought for most of us that spent years getting to this point in our treatment protocol and finally gaining some ground in our quality of life not knowing if that's going to be enough to satisfy the criteria,were my many years of nsaid treatment that left me with stomach issues documented efficiently? Were the ungodly hours of physical therapy sessions enough,is the real reason I was treated for seven years for hypertension written that once my pain was under some semblance of control the blood pressure meds that contributed to some of my hearing loss could be discontinued? We don't know if any of its enough and only time I guess will tell us.

Zohydro isn't abuse deterrent, but Hysingla is both are long acting hydrocodone. Medicare Part D Plans have been under pressure to crack down on meds for chronic pain for a while. They have also received notices to watch for overutilization of pain meds and especially those containing acetaminophen
I think this has to do with Medicare Part D and not the DEA. Don't be surprised if Valium is the next med there is a problem with because benzodiazepines use especially with pain meds has also been discouraged.

I truly appreciate the responses and information pertaining to the Zohydro. I am not an abuser, so if my Medicare (I have parts A & B) and other insurance supplement covers it, that's fine by me. I think the key words on the prescription bottle are to "take as needed for pain." I am prescribed to take up to six per day, but I don't always take that many. In fact, my last pill count was over what it might have been had I taken the prescribed dosage of both the hydrocodone and diazepam. I am also supposed to take two of the Relafen a day, but if I take one in the morning it makes my blood pressure drop extremely low, so I only take it at night. I've learned to narrow down the problem medications and either eliminate them or reduce the dosage, and tell my PCP, of course.
There has been a significant decrease in the abuse of Lortabs, Percocets, Roxys, and Oxys in my area. People are turning to Suboxone and Subutex (sp) and even Morphine patches more and more each day. Just the other day I heard someone talking about a drug called Opana (sp). I haven't heard any talk by people or the media regarding anti-anxiety medications, not to say they aren't being abused.
As I said above, I was originally given diazepam for muscle spasms, but my diagnosis was changed and the prescription now reads for anxiety. It was determined that I have non-combat PTSD.

Vickie, I appreciate the information you provided as well. When I was hospitalized several years ago, I was taken off of everything cold turkey. I spent four days in the hospital and was afraid to take any medication at all for more than three weeks after returning home. I have to take a potassium supplement because my body will no longer retain what I need, but I can admit that I did go through withdrawal, not realizing that's what it was that made everything stink so horribly that it made me sick to my stomach.

There came a point when I couldn't tolerate the pain any longer, though and I slowly started taking only my pain medication twice a day because I broke the pill in half. Along with DDD, multiple bulging and torn disks, and the nerve damage, I also have osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. So, rainy days and/or cold weather had my ex-boyfriend carrying me to the bathroom. Even now, I have to soak in a tub with water as hot as I can stand it to help ease the pain on "bad weather days."

I am unable to exercise, walk, sit, lay, stand, kneel, bend, etc., for any length of time. I've tried aquatic physical therapy to no avail. It seems like everytime I go to a doctor, they find something new, and that only leads them to want to prescribe yet another medication, so I've stopped going to specialists altogether...not counting my yearly GYN and mammogram appointments.

I do believe that anyone who is a long-term user of any pain medication faces a certain fear factor when changes are on the horizon. I am no exception to that rule. I worry that, if my medications are changed they may not work and I'll end up in that wheelchair sooner rather than later. I also don't want to use the bedside potty chair that my doctor ordered many years ago because I couldn't make it to the bathroom in time.

I do want to add that I haven't allowed my disabilites to drag my mind down with my body. I brooded for a couple of years at first, but have always been a strong-willed person. I finally convinced myself that my body may have given out on me, but my mind was still very much intact, so I enrolled in an online college and am currently working on my graduate degree in psychology. I'm proud to say that I graduated the undergraduate program near the top of my class, and currently have a 4.0 GPA in the graduate program. My goal is to become an instructor because I love to teach, as well as learn from others. I still have so much to offer!

Still alive - just not kicking as much as I once did.

Early last fall, I was on Lortab/Norco and the doctor also wanted to switch me to something more long-acting and with less tylenol. He went with morphine ER, and personally I found it to work similarly--a very easy transition.

Misty,

No one want to be red flagged, their scripts threatened monthly. Especially us bottom feeders in last place of the prescription food chain.

I/my PM got around the high number of doses red flag by changing to the 48 hour fentanyl patch with 2-3 Oxys per day for BT pain, work great. I am still prescribed a benzo but those days are numbered too. As long as I stay under the 90/month magic number I'm good to go. I know you have anxiety about changing meds that work now but since I changed I've had no trouble getting scripts filled, its been about 2 years. The decrease in monthly meds anxiety has more than made up for any initial anxiety about changing.

I found your career choice very interesting and want to encourage you to consider becoming a therapist specializing in pain management. I recently found a brilliant similarly qualified therapist but it took a lot of looking to find someone so qualified and affordable. In addition my sessions are done over the phone & by email so there's no travel involved, a huge plus for us suffering from chronic pan. Good luck. Hope this helps. There's a great need for therapists like you!

Cary

By chance is it your PCP that rx's your pain medications? If so, that pretty much explains why you are still on instant release meds. Like CaryF said there are meds out there in extended release form that can help you without a lot of problems. Its always scary when we have to switch. Most of us in this forum are under the care of PM drs. PCP's are not wanting to see a patient long term that has chronic pain. They really do not have the time or staff to handle the patient load plus take care of their regular patients. And many want no part of the DEA being so heavily involved. They don't want to be monitored & deal with being audited. Are you on something to help with the RA & try to keep a balance with it?

What you experienced when you first started your journey of CP is pretty much normal. We grieve for our different losses it has caused. But, we have to rise above it all & make a new life & not let CP beat us down. Good for you to decide to go back to school. We have had several either finish or start back to school with a goal in mind. I think its great.

Take care.