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Posted 3/17/2013 4:36 AM (GMT 0)
I have lived with intractable chronic cluster headaches for 23 years. I resisted opioids for the first 15, then began rescue with Stadol. It helped reduce a 10 to an 8, but quickly required higher doses.

Skip ahead a few years. With daily multiple 10-level attacks comes depression. I now take Nucynta and Pristiq, and the attacks have stopped. For the first time in (now 24) years, I've not had an attack in 3-4 months. It is a miracle to me.

I'm writing because I have had, from day 1, a problem with the 200 mg ER tablets. They last only 8 hours, after which I experience pretty severe withdrawal symptoms. Has anyone else had this experience with ER Nucynta? I do not take any other opioids except about 3-4 times a month I take a Percocet 10/325 when the withdrawal symptoms are unbearable.
Posted 3/17/2013 7:15 AM (GMT 0)
I don't take Nucynta so can't comment on that but I know that my long acting medication only lasts about 8 hours as well.This leads me to needing breakthrough pain medication to cover the time until I can take the next dose. I think some people must metabolize medication quicker or they are extra sensitive to pain as I am.

I am sure you will get some replies from those that actually take the Nucynta. The only thing that I have found that has helped me is hydromorph contin for my long acting, and dilaudid for breakthrough. I would be interested to find out how well Nucynta handles pain. Okay I have rambled on enough. Welcome to the forum!
Posted 3/17/2013 10:58 AM (GMT 0)
I'm not familar with that medicine but maybe write this down and then talk about this with your doctor, it's good that you finally have some relief, but I wish the medicine worked better for you...I get migraines and have yet to find a medicines to help, Has any of your doctors had you on medicines that help with migraines to see if those might help? Hope you can get better relief soon, others will come by with better answers, may prayers and well wishes...
Posted 3/17/2013 1:44 PM (GMT 0)
Hi there...Welcome to the boards....

I would definitely speak with your Dr. about this as there are many people who don't find the 12 hour (ER) medications last that long but it's usually just an increase in pain that happens between the 8-12 hour mark.

It is quite unusual that you would be thrown into severe withdrawals after only 8 hours....

I've been on many ER meds over the years from Oxycontin to MSContin and I take them every 12 hours but I have the option to add in a third one for the day (to move it to every 8 hours) if I am having a higher activity/pain day. But I never feel any type of withdrawal symptoms....even if I go past the 12 hour mark...

So, because it could be the way you are metabolizing this particular medication, I would sit down with your Dr. at your next appt. and discuss this matter. If they are wanting to keep you at the 400mg total for the day...You could move to a 200mg pill, 100mg and 100mg at the 8 hour intervals to spread it out more evenly through the day.

Let us know what the Dr. thinks!
Posted 3/18/2013 6:15 AM (GMT 0)
Hi, welcome to the forum. I have never taken the ER Nucynta, but have taken the short acting version, in both the 50mg and the 100mg forms. While I never had withdrawal from them, I did find that they only lasted about 2 1/2 - 3 hours, far less than the 4-6 hours that my PM said they would or should last. My pm was willing to write the script for up to six times per day after we discussed the problem with the longevity of it.

My PM later told me that many patients have similar issues with that medication, at least in the short acting form, we never discussed the long acting form. Have you discussed.with your PM the possibility of going to there per day instead of two? I believe from the Nucynta website that this is a possible dose, but I'd have to check again to be sure. You may want to go on the Nucynta website and see what it says about possibly using three per day, print any available info, and bring it to your next appointment. I hope you can get this issue cleared up. Take care, and keep us posted on what happens.
Posted 3/18/2013 9:37 PM (GMT 0)
Hello Cluster!…and Welcome to our forum!

I do take the 200mg ER Nucynta, and yes I also experience the shortened hours of effectiveness. However this is quite typical with many of the scripted pain meds…prompting many Dr's/PM to change the scripts to every 8hrs.

At the moment, I'm taking the 200mg once a day, and then 100mg IR twice a day. I will have to say that in my case, the 200mg does not seem quite as effective as the 100mg IR tablets. I have seen this same complaint on other forums as well and agree with those findings.

Recently my Dr added Lyrica to the mix,…however it's at a low dose, so I'm not quite sure it is effective or not. I will ask for an increase on my next visit. Also I have not taken any BT meds since being on the Nucynta…but I'm beginning to think I could use it towards the end of the life cycle of the Nucynta.

Unlike you,…I have not suffered bad withdrawals towards the end of the effective hours of the Nucynta. For me, the Nucynta has been the best pain med I have taken to date…by a long shot. I admit that I had to get past the thought of taking a med that didn't end with Condone! LOL ….and the 200mg is an odd, long,.. baby blue pill!

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

SE
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