Dilaudid As A Oxycodone Replacement? (Page 2) (Top voted first)

Hi. I suffered a L1/L2 complete SCI injury some 4 years ago. After 6-7 weeks when the spinal shock wore off I noticed I had a burning pain in my lower groin area even though I can't really feel much below my hips, we thought maybe it was a UTI but all showed negative. It was diagnosed as chronic nerve pain and it never goes away, I get acute nerve pains in my legs on top of this chronic pain.

I have been taking 10mg Oxycodone four to five times per day and methadone 10mg once a day for the chronic pain + 800mg Gabapentin three times a day for the burning in my legs. The only way I have been able to keep my doses so low over the years is by being very hard on myself as to when to take the pain meds but as hard as I have tried I'm now going up to around 60mg total Oxycodone per day and 15mg Methadone.

I have a very good pain Dr and we always wanted to do a pain med rotation before levels of any one drug got too high so we have changed the Oxycodone over to 2mg Dilaudid tablets. I have been told to try anything from 2-4mg at a time, four times per day to replace my Oxycodone.

I have only just started to try the Dilaudid like 1day ago but even at 4mg it doesn't seem to work on my chronic nerve pain as well as my Oxycodone does, all it seems to do is make me sleepy and I can't have that. I work a professional demanding job where I can't be feeling out of it or tired. I was wondering if anyone here that has tried both maybe let me know if Dilaudid is normally a replacement for Oxycodone?

Should I be giving Dilaudid a few more days before throwing it off my list of pain meds? Or should it have worked straight away if it was going to work at all for me?

If it doesn't work I'll have to return to Oxycodone and hopefully find something that we can replace it with that won't have terrible side effects and also let me work normally. I guess we could increase the methodone to make the oxycodone last longer, I find the methadone great like that but that is not a real solution to replacing the Oxycodone so we can give my body a rest from that kind of opiode and hopefully reset the switch so after a short period on the replacement drug I can return to a lower dose of Oxycodone.

I would be greatfull for any advice.

Cheers.

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I am having the same exact problem, on the same meds! I'm not glad you are having these problems, but it's nice to know I'm not alone. My doc now doesn't know what to do with me and pretty much just dropped me and is referring me to someone else. I'm very hurt and upset by this. I was having alot of side effects from Dilaudid and it was't working that great anyway, so I wanted to try something else. I figured that there were lots of meds out there to try but my doc couldn't understand why I am still in pain and I felt as if he just threw his hands up. I put so much trust and faith into him for the past 3 years and I feel like he just gave up on me. It makes me lose some hope about being able to get better when this doc, who is the top doc in my area, doesn't know what to do with me. It's very discouraging for me when something doesn't work, which has happened alot (with procedures, surgery, meds) and I think it's depressing to be in pain ALL THE TIME. But to have a pain doctor not understand your pain - that's a set back. It makes me feel like I have some rare freak thing going on that's never going to get better and I'm going to be stuck like this forever. As it is, I already worry about that. I can't do the things I want to do or even spend much time with family and friends. I can't go on vacation or even walk thru the mall. My whole life is on hold and has been for the last couple of years. I don't know what the next step is, if there even is one. I hope there is something someone can do to help me. But at least I don't feel like a total freak because the dilaudid didn't work well on me. I was also given this after oxycodone didn't have much effectiveness anymore. I find that cymbalta helps alot. When I'm not on it, I have pains that come back all over the place. But it doesn't cover everything and if I wasn't on pain meds, I would not be able to get thru the day or sometimes I'm sure I wouldn't even be able to get out of bed. It's very scary to be in this position where people don't know what to do with you or no meds are working to help you feel better. It's not only scary but frustrating and depressing too! I feel for all the people who have written on this page and I can't believe there are this many people going thru the same thing.

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I have bulging lumbar disks and gangrene on my shin for 18 months. My leg wound was recently infected and treated with daily rubbing of an acid wash. I just switched from oxycodone 15 mg. every four hours to 30 mg. every four hours. The doctor offered me dilaudid but I did not know the dose to ask for so I stayed with Oxycodone. I wanted dilaudid because it is made from opium, a plant. Oxycodone is man made pharmaseudical . It fools your brain and has no opiate in it. I can see the dilaudid making you drowsy but it still should lower your pain. You need a higher dose for the pain but after a week, if the dilaudid still makes you drowsy then it will always make you drowsy. I too wanted to switch to give my body a break from the oxy.Plus nature made opium; man made oxy I can drive safely on the oxy 99% of the time. It dulls the pain, it does not eliminate it. I'm like a horse so I need larger doses than most folks plus even controlled pain keeps me alert. Good luck.

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I completely agree junkies make it had to get meds for people who really need it if only there was no such thing as addiction

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Guys the increased problem in Florida is legitimate pain patients being profiled and price gouged by pharmacies as well as pain docs too scared to treat patients because of pressure from law enforcement and dea
..i agree with the monitoring program and am happy they are cleaning up the lill mills and drug dealers that have made it difficult for patients who truly need the meds and dont abuse them access. I am a member of a Florida support group and unless all of us legitimate pain patients ban together and fight back, these meds won't be available AT ALL!! please look at and sign the petition (link below)...let me know if you are interested in joining our cause...our cause is fighting for YOUR RIGHTS!

Florida Pharmacies: Stop Florida pharmacies from denying pain patients vital medicines

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methadone dont seem to help pain as much but works so long so its worth the trade off so it and a smaller dose of short acting seems to be the way to go but you have got to stay aware that you have the methadone in you at all times and there is nothing anyone can do about the ignorance of those that havnt been there and tha goes for DR too if your dr dont get it then get one that does & tell the truth ,you arent going to change a dr that dont or wont get it some are just cta and the other just dont get it and tune out the people there worse than the dr because they know it all and they have never been trained

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I am an RN. My specialty is mental health and. more recently, chemical dependency. Though I have always been an advocate for my pts, i.e. I BELIEVE most of them if they tell me they are in pain, anxious, angry,
whatever, it makes me absolutely sick
to see health caregivers talk down to
anybody especially the pts. This is, in
part, because they ( caregivers) feel so powerless
in their own lives. I have taken
Darvocet for migraines and Lortab
and Oycodone for severe pain in my
left knee. I need surgery which I will
get. I decided a year ago that I no
longer want to be in such pain all of
the time and decided to get the Oxy
and SOMA, the latter of which I have now
stopped completely. From getting the
script to trying to find a place to get it
filled ( do not go to Hollywood with a
pain prescription in your hand) was
humiliating at best. I was accused of
being a junkie even though I
requested them to check the state (or Federal?) record to see if I ever had
Oxy filled
anywhere ever, to being accused of
being a dealer. I am a very large, white 60
year old female and I had a big
sunhat on. In this case it sure didn't
help matters. (Like the tourist look).
I don't really get the whole pain
thing. It is totally subjective anyway,
just as what medications work better
for certain people. I broke my hand
about 5 weeks ago and the radiology
tech said it just couldn't be broken
because I was not behaving as if I
were in pain. Guess what?! Yeah you
got it.
I want to thank you all for expressing
your views and sharing a part of a
very secret life with strangers. It
helped me go take a full dose of Oxycodone just now. My adult
daughter has been staying with me for a short time in a teeny apt, and
she hears me moaning (not fun moaning!) in the night. She just
strongly told me to take the full dose. She was correct.
I learned a lot from your info and comments, and, I must say, especially
after working with so many true
junkies, not one of you sounded
addicted. My sweet patients anyway
know why they are indeed patients
and are addicts.
To the one person who
periodically stops their pain meds for a certain period, you need to let your doc know. I know that you know not to do this. Ever. Playing with matches and seizures. Very dangerous. Please!!
I thank you all again. Good luck in your trials and tribulations.
Love and hope from Sherri

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Hey thanks for your reply Steve.
I've tried Cymbalta 30mg & 60mg but it didn't work for me.
I am taking two medications for nerve pain.
Lyrica is meant specifically for nerve pain in fibromyalgia and diabetic patients.
Also as mentioned, I am taking Elavil as well which is categorized as an antidepressant. It's amitriptyline.

The opiates are prescribed to help with pain because with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, the most painful disease known to man, nerve medications alone just don't cut it. For me though nothing seems to cut it. Most people who have posted about their illnesses/injuries/diseases in this forum would agree that nerve meds don't give enough relief,

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Greetings, I, too, just switched over to Dilaudid after using Oxycodone for years to knock - down chronic Pancreatic pain. I recently had pain episodes that woke me up during the night. Once the pain is (already) high enough to wake me, I'm kinda in trouble; typically requiring 20 - 30mg of Oxy's to get on top of the escalating pain.
My doctor, with whom I have a great relationship, consulted with a pain specialist, and they suggested the switch to Dilaudid.
Not quite as fast acting, but 2-4mg seems to ultimately work for me. Mind you, nerve pain is a different beast, so you may need to use a greater dosage.
Hang in there, and give it some time. I have read several articles that acknowledge the 2mg Dilaudid not quite the strength as 5mg Oxycodone, but the "half-life" is longer, ultimately better long-term pain control.
Try it and see how it works for you. Wish you all the best!

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Ask your doc for Opana. It comes in 10, 20, 30mg tablets. Ask for opana-er 40 mg for 12hr. pain control. I take them and my doctor did the same thing to me, so I feel you. Get better. I hope I helped you a little. later...

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Honestly it sounds like you should just try to stay on the Oxy with having a demanding job...I've been on both as well and I've found I'm alot more alert on Oxy than Dilaudid and if the 10's aren't working for the pain....maybe ask for like 20 mg Oxycontin

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I have severe chronic pain in my testicles following a serious strep infection 4-5 year ago. I have been thru darvocet( A joke) Vicodin (Makes me sick) then on to dilaudid which did help with the pain, but made my body feel numb and messed with my taste of food, switched from that to methadone 20mg 3 x a day which worked great as soon as the drug would kick in up to 3-4 houirs for relief, finall I just went to percocet 10-325 4 X day combined with neurontin 800mg 3x day and also klonopin 3 x day. I have to say that the lower the pain medicine the quicker the relief compared to diluaid and methadone. I had no prob stopping the diluadid, but when I stopped the methadone I went thru a week of hell, I couldn't sleep, very irritable, sweaty and it also made me constipated as all hell. I don't know if they will work for all pain problems especially deep pain, but Lidocaine patches are the best thing in the world for me, also ambien to help you sleep and not stay up all night with pain is a major plus. It takes a long time to figure out what works best for you, and even when you get that sometime things don't stay working,you have to up doses and switch it up sometimes. Hopefully you can find a Dr who really wants to help relieve your pain, not tell you that you are a drugy, which some people are only out to get meds w/o any true problems, so you must understand where they (Dr's) are coming from, but most egite people can prove their problems with x-rays, MRI's and other backup evidence. Just be honest with your Dr and tell him what works and what does not, there is nothing illegial about try to relieve your pain. Try to stay on the least strong as long as you can, it always scares me that if I was to get in a major accident that the drugs won't help because I am so used to them. Good luck! I f anyone else out there has chronic testicle pain, please contact me I would love to swap stories/ treatment ideas. joshlp56 [at] roadrunner [dot] com Thanks good luck

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Al Good luck going downward, you should check into a inplant of some sort not necessarily a drug either. Jerry Lewis had to have an inplant, I have one & for 15 years now it keeps getting turned up but I do get relief.

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Take nothing but 60mgs methadone, 20 3x a day. You'll be able to work and if you want to detox off it then 10 a week until you're on 10mgs, then 5 each of the last 2 weeks. You shouldn't have a problem

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Stay on Methadone and you can work and be alright.I have been do that for years.I do 70mg or 80mg a day.Everything has work out good for me.

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MIRICLE DRUG! I have suffered with chronic neck pain for 4 years. I had a C5-C6 fusion 3 years ago. I have had chronic pain ever since and have done EVERYTHING to search for relief Two months ago a neuroligist at the Mayo clinic told me that my neck was struturally sound - But my nerves never stopped firing after the surgery. I was given LYRICA to try. I gave it no chance just like the dozens of other remedies I tried. HOWEVER after a couple weeks of increasing my dosage from 50mg to 100mg X 3, I no longer experience the horendous pain that I have endured the last 4 years. LYRICA IS A MIRICLE! There is a similar drug that is far less expensive called Neorotin (I am not sure of the spelling). Demand these drugs from your doctor. They have changed my life!

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Hello there is a very good pain clinic in Winter Haven thats called the Gessler Clinic next to the Bond Clinic,don't go to Bond clinic if ya wanna get ya pain meds because they will detox you there! Go to Gessler Clinic only! ok Good luck trying to solve your pain problems I know its very hard at times & almost nothing works after a good while when taking pain meds,bye now & I hope this info can help you man,God Bless now!

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Thanks and
Merry christmas everyone

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You are so true I found this out this week when i went to get my pain meds and they told me the cheapest was 500 t0 1200 because none of the real drug store had them such as cvs and walmart walgreen etc what the hell I cant afford that but because so many can pay for them and sell them at a profit Im left to suffer...

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I've seen Dr. Chun at Sarasota Pain Associates on the boarder of Bradenton/Sarasota. He's great and cares about his patients. He's right next door to Lakewood Ranch Hospital. His number is 941-429-5588.

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Dr. Chuns new number is 941-361-1123

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