July 31, 2009 - 11:15am
#52
oxycodone
people have different tolerances to pain relief, oxcodone has helped me a lot and looks as though it is stronger than hydro, but when a good level of pain relief is gained I am the last person to bother counting the dose level.
going from pain to no pain is what we want and when the relief is achieved all I and I think many people just want is to rest and counting pills is not high on the list (as long as you behave with the doseage - 5 mg is no good i agree you need 10 to 20 depending on your tolerance) - one caveat though !!, idiots who abuse drugs will suffer in the end and they have made it harder for people like myself and others to initially get decent pain meds.
this will always be the case with anything that has an effect on the CNS in a positive pain blocking way - can't they just stick to booze!!!.
July 31, 2009 - 12:33pm
#53
Saying that 5mg of oxycodone
Saying that 5mg of oxycodone is no good is relative. When I had my first shoulder surgery at the age of 18 I was prescriped 5mg percocet. It worked very well.
July 31, 2009 - 8:14pm
#54
Thats right spence...I long
Thats right spence...
I long for the good ol days when a 5/500 percocet practically eliminated my pain...
That was long ago but there was a day...
August 8, 2009 - 9:28am
#55
oxycodone
if your a drinker or have a messed up urine you should stop taken them its not the opid its the aspin and tylonal and guess what aspin and tylonal scar your liver affter a long history taken those meds if your a drinker thats 10 times worse on your liver i have ms plus 3 bad discs in my back and a bad shoulder
i was on vikeadine first then loratabs then to percett 5 then perk ten not to long ago i found out that i have a enlardge liver and spleen from my drinking days here all those years of taken the meds with not knoing my liver was messed up it made my liver scar big time if i do a crunch you can see my liver bulging it looks like a soft ball so just remember try not to take a pain killer that has anithistomine or aspin in it im just looking out from my exspeience
August 8, 2009 - 9:35am
#56
ocycodone
look i agree with u on the idiots taken pain killers just for the high but you just cant blame them there are doctores out ther if the price is rite u can get anything u asked for ok thats hurting us real people who need the meds its harder for the people who need the neds to get them ok and i beleave you should be in all comps in pharmacys this way you cant go to 3 or 4 differnt docs for the same meds what they do is pharmacy hop and u must show id plus if thease phamacys where smart they call the doc to make shore he wrote out the scrip not alot of pharmacys call doctore to verafie they wrote and orderd the meds
August 26, 2009 - 9:03pm
#57
OMG !!
Reading the replies here was a bit shocking to begin with!
Then I thought back over the years how I had been treated, mis-treated & neglected by doctors and even being called a " Doctor Hopper" by members of my family.
After a mass transit city bus hit & rolled (2 times) my vehicle years ago, leaving lifetime injuries that get worse by the day, Yes I guess I could be considered a "doctor hopper" !
If one does not work for me I would go straight to another doctor. Ones opinion is not carved in stone OR any enforceable law in Tennessee!
Thank GOD I finally walked through the door of (1) doctor, Who also is my Psychiatrist !
After reviewing MRI's, CT's, X-Ray's and all of the other medical jargon- I was asked why am I continuing to seek someone to give me proper medical attention ????
Appearance-wise, Yes I look like a fine, healthy individual, However I am mentally and physically scarred for life.
My spleen was removed in Emergency Surgery- Just an hour or so earlier I was yelped at by an ignorant ER nurse to "Get up an get me your insurance card out of your pocket - You are OK"!
Minutes later the attending Trauma Doctor rushed into the bay and told me I was bleeding to death and I had to go immediately for exploratory surgery to define the cause- He told me he thought it was the spleen but not not a 100% sure.
Then I didn't know a spleen from a Raccoon-now I do, because I don't' have a spleen.
My existing problem is my Back- What's left of the spinal section! I have had Nerve Blocks, Physical Therapy and GOD only knows what I have repressed in my mind!
I was prescribed Ibuprofen 800Mg, Lorab 5Mg, Flexiril and NOTHING worked - Due to low dosage & quantity I believe.
My current Doctor Prescribed Hydrocodone 10Mg - # 200 per month.
Soma 350Mg - # 120 per month
After a year or so the Hydrocodone was replaced with OXYCODONE 10Mg - # 120 per month, Because I was not getting the initial pain relief. And honestly the Oxycodone doesn't do much either, but it is much better than nothing at all!
I have friends say all the time " I wish I could get the medication you do".
My reply is always - I will trade you the PAIN, THE DISABILITY CHECK, MEDICARE, MEDICAID AND EVERYTHING ------FOR YOUR QUALITY OF LIFE vs MINE.
I have even had some of them get my Doctors name off my medicine bottles and actually got to an appointment- Telling my Doc I referred them!
Needless to say they didn't get the drugs they were seeking!
That's one thing that keeps US that need PAIN MEDS from be adequately treated is drug seekers!
I'll sum this up - Keep Your Chin Up and NEVER GIVE UP!
YOU WILL FIND A CARING, CONSIDERATE & RESPECTFUL DOCTOR THAT WILL HELP YOU ----KEEP LOOKING UNTIL YOU FIND ONE!!
August 27, 2009 - 9:24am
#58
Oxycodone is much more POTENT
Oxycodone is much more POTENT than hyrdocodone. (oxycodone is in percocet, oxycontin, oxyfast, etc., while hydrocodone is on vicodin, hycotuss, etc.)
POTENCY is a very important term when discussing medications and pain management. It indicates the AMOUNT OF DRUG NEEDED FOR EFFECT. Example: 10mg of oral morphine is approximately equal to 1.5mg to 2.0mg of hydromorphone. Hyrdomorphone is therefore about five times more potent, but no more effective (neccesarily), than morphine. When patients ask for more potent drugs or stronger drugs, they usually mean more effective drugs. The effective drug is the one that deals effectively with the pain, or reduces the patients pain to a reasonable level. Oxycodone is more potent than Hydrocodone. It is usually more effective than hydrocodone at reducing pain. But sometimes, some patients feel that hydrocodone, even in equal doses, is more effective than oxycodone at reducing their pain, even though oxycodone is more potent then hydrocodone. So effectiveness is subjective, while potency, is not. (Potency is usually what patients mean when they refer to strength of a medication.) So it is important for both physicians and patients to differentiate between those two words, and know what eachother are referring to when discussing them in opiate pain management.
August 27, 2009 - 7:05pm
#59
In response to benzo
I am sure that doctors know better than you how to treat pain. And the whole addiction HYPE is very real. I started taking 5 mg vicoden for lower back pain 3 years ago. It helped with my pain but over time i developed a tolerance to it. I then started on 10 mg's. After a year of being on pain meds my doctor wanted an alternative to narcotics so he switched me to ultrams which in my opinion works well for the pain but I then realized i was hooked on the opiates. I started getting 10 mg perks then i moved to oxycotin then heroin. It was in a place I never thought I would end up. I am currently going through treatment and am on the suboxone program which has saved my life. Opiates are extremely addicitve and I think that all doctors should be careful when giving people pain meds. It has been the most difficult battle in my life thus far. I am all for treating pain without narcotics if at all possible. You also have to realize that everyone has different reactions to different drugs so what is weak to you could be very strong for someone else.
August 29, 2009 - 8:24pm
#60
That's why we have to jump
That's why we have to jump thru hoops to get meds. Most drs start people out on non-narcotics. If your dr would not have tried you on ultram would you have ended up on heroin? Were you abusing the vics? Just curious. Take care, htmom
November 5, 2009 - 2:03am
#61
age and medication
This is an old thread but I was saddened to hear of responses about age and perscription pain killer availability. I suffer from chronic pain due to spondylolithesis at nearly 80% and am unable to have surgery due to other medical conditions. I suffer day in and day out with pain so I can honestly say I understand the position of many people with pain. I am in my late 30s and have suffered with this degnerative birth defect for over 15+ years. I too was very insulted when in my early 20s many doctors refused to give me the pain pills i so much needed to cope with every day life. However, now that I am a little older I understand why and am thankful that my doctors helped me to find alternative answers. As my condition begins to worsen I am able to use medication as needed, but had I begun with pain pills when I was 18, I am not sure where i would be now. Let me also say that ( maybe I am unique in the world and have had very good luck) but I don't know any doctor who is involved in pain intervention that would purposely withold medication to let people suffer, that is just not the nature of their career. I believe that many doctors simply are looking out for your best interest and when you are suffering daily it feels insulting when you just want to feel better and it feels you are not getting what you need. That being said...
Pain medication, when you are suffering from potenially long term and chronic pain, is only a small part of the solution. For one, it is easy to become addictive over long term use, even when you have a reason to take it, and even if you don't plan on becoming addicted (in truth no one really sets out to become an addict anyway) when you need to take medicine everyday to control pain you do run a high risk of becoming addicted (no matter how unfair that statement feels). You are not at higher risk of addiction because you are younger however, you will be taking the medicine for many more years than someone who is older.
Another reason doctors may consider other options when treating younger patients is that many of these pain pills contain acetominiphen (sp?). Not all- but many. It has been suggested that long term use of tylenol and large dosing of tylenol causes liver damage. Your risk increases if you begin taking these meds when you are younger and must continue to take them for many years. Even if you are taking ibuprophen based drugs you then run the risk of stomach problems over the long term. Your immediate pain is helped but long term effects can also be devastating.
And lastly, as most all of you know who suffer from with chronic pain, after awhile (depending too on the person because we are all individuals with different pain threshholds and tolerences) you body becomes tolerant to the medication you are taking and it becomes less effective and you find yourself needing something new or increasing dosages to dangerous amounts. Personally, I can only take pain meds for a little while before they have no effect at all (strangey I have found Ultram to be one of the best meds for my back pain and for some reason my body is slow to build a tolerence to it- go figure??)
I DO NOT want to minimize anyone's pain and sufferening on here, but It hurts me to think you feel are being treated differently based on age. If at all possible try to consider as many of the less evasive options before beginning these types of medication. They don't always work, but you might be surprised. (I have heard many stories of success with things such as PT, injections, pain pumps, and even accupunture and theraputic massage.) Only you and your doctor can have this personalized discussion to help you! Any docotor is taught try items with the least side-effects first before moving on to more dangerous medication. It always surprises me when I hear people talking about how "dumb" or incompetant a doctor is (and yes, these doctors do exist, there are dumb and incompetant people in all job fields in all of society) because quite simply it is diffiuclt to become a doctor and they may just know something we may not. They are however human and not infalliable so always get a second opinion before you get upset.
If you are young and suffering do not give up hope and please explore all your options, you have a long time ahead of you and you will need to reamin strong and positive on your journey! I am so sorry you must lead a life of suffering...it is not fair-not at all, but that is what we are dealt and we need to make the best and most well informed decisions as possible.
November 5, 2009 - 7:27am
#62
lots
of facts in your post spondo..great post
November 6, 2009 - 6:28pm
#63
very good post
very good imformation.i have been taking hydro for quite awhile and its not working so good now.but i'm going to have surgery in two weeks so i'm not going to ask my pain dr for something different.i have only took percocet after my neck surgery.i thought it was better then hydro.
It is not the state of NY that wont prescribe you anything stronger than tramadol. Your doctor does not feel you need anything stronger than that. If you feel you are not getting adequate treatment find another doctor but stop saying that its NY that wont prescribe anything stronger than tramadol because you are wrong.