22 Yrs Old in Chronic pain taking OC 40's twice a day

Hi every1, Im new to this forum stuff so ill try my best =) Im 22 yrs old. When i was 17 yrs old i was riding passenger and broke my back in 3 places T-10 threw T-12 in a car accident. I got 3 rods in 6 pins. I started off on 7.5/500 Mg of hydrocodone/apap 3x a day. Which worked well enough the first day home I actually passed out in the shower, hading never taking a vicodine. Over time I built a tolerance and got put on the 10/500 MG 3x a day in about a year. Then of course I built a tolerance to that and went back to my PM doc, and told em and he basically thought I was too young, and cut me down to 60 a mnth, guess he thought I was just askin for recreational use idk, im really in pain believe me.. =(  So I went to another PM doc and got the 90 a mnth back and basically didnt complain being affraid of being cutoff. This went on with me taking more and more as the years past. Got to where I could take ten 10/500MG hydrocodones a day and still suffer pain..So Igathered courage to go tell my PM doc bout my problems, and when I told em he basically chewed my ass for not being honest. He chewed my ass all the way till the point I told him my last PM doc cut me down when being honest with him. Then he understood. I was sceduled for the morphine pump on the 17th but my doc says im too young of course and trys to get me on some kind of med that works. He puts me on two Oxycontin 40 Mg's a day, and I got to admit, i didnt have high hopes.. Its the best thing thats happened to since my wreck, im actually more active and I dont abuse my medicine or anything.. Im more happy with my pain than ive been in years. more content with it. Like i can actually live with it. the prob is i feel like it only last about 8 hrs as opposed to the 12 hrs it says its supposed to do. Is that normal? or should i switch to the MS contin? Or should i get the pump?

Derrick I to welcome you to this forum. Yes the Oxcontin is a fantastic medication, my case in some ways is very similar to yours, I herniated my disc at T-12 and T-8 is bulging bad! and I also have some bones spurs in there. Anyway like you I was started off on hydrocodones and eventually I was switched over to Oxycontin, first 10mg twice a day rapidly going to 20mg every 12hours, after a few years 40mg every 12 hours, and the medication has been a Godsend for me!

But I have a question for you. Are you now geting the regular Oxycontin or are you getting the Oxycodone HCL ER tabs substituted for the Oxycontin? The reason I ask is the last three months I have been getting the Oxycodone substitute and I have noticed that it does not last the complete 12 hours like the Oxycontin did. I end up taking more Percocet for break through pain and it is aways during the last 4 hours of that 12 hour period! I am going to talk to my Pain Specialist when I go in for my refill this week! One time before (several years ago) he had tried to put me on the Oxycontin 40 mg every 8 hours but it was to much and it made me feel "drugged" so I had him put me back on the 12 hour schedule, but that was with the actual Oxycontin not the substitute! Now it seems if they are going to keep giving me the Oxycodone sub, maybe I would do better off being on an 8 hour scedule. Anyway I am going to talk with my Doctor about all of this! I would suggest that you might want to do the same!

Good Luck to You
White Beard

Hi, Derrek,
I just wanted to add my welcome to the CP forum. So sorry you have to be here at such a young age, but as fatherjohn said chronic pain doesn't respect age. It sounds like you're on the right track with the plan to talk with your doctor. Maybe some BT meds will be enough to do it for you. I'm so glad the oxycontin has worked, and that you are feeling some relief and sound more hopeful.

I'm just curious - is the oxycodone HCL ER the generic oxycontin that has been allowed to be manufactured? I know most generic oxycontin was discontinued because of the patent infringement, but had heard there was one company (I think Mallinckrodt) that was allowed to make a version. Or is the Oxycodone HCL ER something different? Maybe you or White Beard could answer. I'm just curious because I know i need to make some changes in pm, and I wondered if this was something less expensive than the oxycontin.

BTW Derek, our bodies metabolize medication differently so sometimes what's supposed to last 12 hours doesn't. Plus with generic formulations the ER components can vary from the brand name. I've also read there is even some genetic component as to how we each metabolize meds.

Again, welcome!

PaLady

Welcome, Derrick. Glad you came by so we could meet, but not especially why you came by.

As to your doses, know that we are all VERY different. Some long noses, some short, and some just nosey.

The same applies to pain medications. I was on oxycodone, which was supposed to last 8 hours (all these oxys and hydros don't chew me out if I mix them up, please). Problem was, it took the pill an hour to ramp up to pain suppresion, gave almost 2 hours of excellent, high-producing ZERO pain, and then I was at ground zero and screaming again. I loved that pill, but the doctor thought that only 2 hours of the 8 hour I should have been getting wasn't good enough so he kept trying alternates. And found a much better version that only gives 50% relief, but gets me away from high-producing addiction and can control through sleeping where the other wouldn't.

My point is, you just never know until you get there. But from what you are saying I guess I'd (personally) stick with that one for now but keep looking for alternates. It may just be, however, that what you have is the best you'll get.

(Tried to post earlier, but HealingWell was not feeling well.)

PALady

The pharmacy that I get my meds from is in the same facility and is connected to the medical group that my pain Doctor is in. They use to to fill the scripts with the original Oxycontin, then they went to the generic, and you are right PALady they quit the generic and went back to the original, and now lately they have been doing the substitute, the price must be cheaper, because my co-pay for original Oxycontin 40 mg tablets 2 a day for 30 days =60 tabs was 9 dollars. for the sub, Oxycodone HCL ER tabs the co-pay is 3 dollars. I only have two different co-pays either 3 or 9 dollars. This is through my TLF since I am retired military.

Derrek you are right the Oxycontin really does make a difference, I was taking so many Vicodin and Vicoprofen and I was feeling so drugged but still in pain. It was my new PCP at that time ( who I had previously worked with, he was an Internal Medicine Doc and also an Onocologist so he knows how to treat pain) anyway he is the one that put me on Oxycontin. The difference was like night and day!  Taking only two pills a day one every 12 hours and having no pain verses  the Vicodin every 4 hours and still being in pain. I wish I still had him as my Doctor, but when he took over the whole Oncology Unit he had to let go of all his non cancer patients!

I want to welcome you also, Derrek. I am new to this forum and I have found it so
helpful reading posts. It is making me feel so "less" alone with my pain. And I am feeling
like a part of this family.

I was on oxycontin for 6.5 years and different meds. for breakthrough, and the last was
oxycodone. My doses were high and yes it worked and I was living an active life - doing
my fundraising, organizing auctions, doing my projects with photos and paint and raising
my kids ( no reason for putting that last ) - and gradually, I became fatigued, had mem-
ory lapses, was very forgetful and no longer active. Maybe my metabolism and/or
hormones changed. Hope this doesn't happen to you. I'm not suggesting it will and I'm
not trying to scare tou about the oxycontin.

I told my pm dr. I had to get off it and I am now on dilaudid which is not new to me.
The level and intensity of my pain has increased and I need a med. adjustment.

I agree with Tony, that what you have is the best you'll get; however you may need
to change at some time, or have the hours between your does adjusted.

Keep us updated..... Suzie

t

Hi Derrek,

We have a little in common; I'm only 21 & I've had CP since I was just under 19. It's only been since November, though, that I have been on opioids. Frankly they did (and still do) terrify me, so I put it off as long as I could possibly tolerate while I tried literally every other possible alternative. I was really stubborn & would refuse every time my doctor suggested putting me on pain medication. I was a real mess from the pain (to say the least) when I started opioid therapy. Oxycontin was the first that I started with. It only lasted 8 hrs for me as well (from what I hear that is quite common), and after a month or so, my doc did increase me to 3X/day. Unfortunately I was not able to get to a therapeutic level of oxycontin before all the side effects caught up with me (apparently this can happen with the longer acting medications). It was a disaster. It made me so sick that I couldn't take anything for several days & then started going through withdrawls. My doc then switched me to regular oxycodone, which was a pain, because I had to take it every 3 hrs! Long story short, the oxycodone didn't help me either, and we switched to dilaudid, which I've now been on since February. Unfortunately, my biochemistry just seems to be incredibly resistant to pain medication. I've only ever gotten minimal relief, if any. I'm still quite a mess, sitting here in constantly in severe pain, not a normal college student to any degree. It is so draining, both emotionally & physically.
I'm currently tapering down off of the dilaudid to re-evaluate things. Just last week I asked my doc about the possibility of switching to another med which would be more helpful. He said that if it were anyone else, he'd say another med would be helpful, but with me... We are now looking into alternative pain management strategies -- for those people like me who don't respond to normal treatments. The stuff we are looking into scares me, but I suppose it scares me even more to think of what will happen to me if I continue to live in such severe pain with little hope of relief. Who said just because you are young doesn't mean you have problems (although I've been through my fair share of doc's, and I'm sure you probably have too, who don't believe you because of your age. they need to live in our shoes for a day. then they'd understand)? Oh, I don't think I mentioned, but my pain is from a severe, traumatic eye injury. I still don't have a diagnosis, but we are continuing to find out more and more, we just don't know what any of it means, or how to treat it, because my condition(s) is very rare and characteristically unresponsive to treatment. I suppose I'm a case for the medical journals. Once my docs finally decide what to call this thing.

Oh, and welcome to the forum. As you've probably already begun to notice, we are a very supportive bunch! This forum has actually helped me more than anything else. It's really a godsend for me, and others as well. Good luck with the doctor's appointment tomorrow.

Skeye

Post Edited (skeye) : 4/13/2009 7:47:05 PM (GMT-6)