Hydrocodone - Not To Overdo It! (Page 3)
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I was put on Hydrocodone for 3 years due to a stroke I had. My pain is coming from the brain. The PM'S started me off with 5-325. No results on the pain. Then they increased the dose 7.5-325. Some relief but not much in order to have a quality of life. Then they increased it to 10-325 90 per month. In the wee hours of the morning I would wake up with pain, so I was cutting one in half, leaving me short of pills for the month. So they increased it to 120. I got to where I was taking too many and the PM discharged me for a breach of contract.

Then I found another PM. Same thing happened, but this time instead of discharging me they put me on week to week basis - 21 pills a week. I had to visit the doctor's office once a week and then take the script to my pharmacy. Once I proved I could be trusted they now have had me on Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen 10-325 (90 a month) for the past 3 months. I still have my moments but it's not like it was before. I asked for an increase to 20 a month but they say I need to prove to them. By the way, the pain is coming from the right arm and hand, no blood circulation. Do not want to lose this PM.

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Re: David (# 1)

Quality of the medications, especially the generics, have fallen off tremendously. Not only are they less potent in quality but they are made with garbage inert ingredients. You are correct in posting that people could tend to take a larger dose than prescribed to attempt to get pain relief when all that needed to be done is just leave the quality alone and that would probably cure the problem. As I have posted in several earlier posts, I have spoken to two Pharmacists from two different MAJOR pharmacies and both of them told me that they are receiving many complaints on these new reformulated generics and BOTH of them recommended that I ask my Doctor to write NO GENERICS on the prescription as they have received very few complaints on the name brand. Other factors go into asking for the name brand. They are the strength that is written for generics can be, for a 7.5 hydrocodone for example, as low as 6.0 in strength. Plus generic ingredients are of poor quality. When you make a product worse it seems to me that all you do is make them unpalatable and ineffective. I am trying to get my health insurance to cover the name brand now. I will let you know how that works out. Btw, with my insurance there is no "bridge" 30 day prescription allowed. I must go through their pre-approval process first to get them to pay for it.

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Re: David (# 1)

As for what you say is correct and until we can make big pharmacy to give us the amount that is correct, dea has a 20% leeway so instead of 10mg it's 8mg or less. Who polices them? I'm 60 and I remember the meds in the old days were correct. The word they use is generic. We need to cut the different drug companies down to maybe 5. One for each medication. Of course some are more readily used than others but others are cheaper to make, and Mike, I'm like you. My pm kick me out because I was on oxygen. Hope we hear from you.

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First, my heart goes out to you. Clearly, the amount of medication you’re on is not enough to treat your pain, and give you substantial quality of life. This is not your fault, I want you to know. Under normal circumstances with any other drug, the doctor would review treatment and increase your dosage. You’re no where near the maximum in morphine equivalent and the issue with narcotics and opioids is that our bodily tolerance tends to increase quicker than some other drugs. The doctor should be considering this instead of treating you like an addict mismanaging their Rx. But getting aome doctors to see their own area for opportunity is too much like the right thing to do.

I’m not a doctor but I’ve been in pain management for over 3 years, spine curvature, degenerative spine disease, herniated discs, and spinal nerve compression with severe sciatic nerve and back pain...not to even mention the arthritis in my neck and migraines. Needless to say, Hydrocodone does nothing for me as I’m not opioid naive and have a bit of a tolerance. I always take as prescribed and I’m not a recreational drug user.

Suffice it to say, as one patient to another, I would ask the doctor to consider other medication options. The Hydrocodone is immediate release medication; which, means it works fast and almost immediately, but unfortunately doesn’t last long enough to carry you to the next dosage. Trust me I know. And now with your body becoming more tolerant, I’m sure it doesn’t work as well anymore. I personally would request an ER, or extended relief medication, like a low dose of Oxycotin with maybe Percocet, same medicine different form, 10/325 3xs a day for breakthrough pain.

This issue is that of the doctor and unfortunately you end up paying the price in pain. But they should’ve been considered your tolerance level and trying a different medication. Over the years I’ve had to change medication a few times when I had become so tolerant that it didn’t work well, if at all.

With the Fake War on Opioids doctors and pharmacists alike are afraid to prescribe the necessary pain medicines to give people quality of life back and it’s sad. Any knowledgeable doctor would know that the likelihood of you overdosing taking meds as prescribed and not potentiating it or mixing other drugs is unlikely as you’re not opioid naive, and long as the doctor has prescribed you according to the least amount necessary to treat your pain.

So, ask the doctor to consider an extended release option and something for breakthrough pain because the ER is not going to work right away where it immediately hits your pain.

Good luck to you as we fight this fight. It’s such a shame we’re being treated this way because of recreational drug use. It’s also a shame on our government that instead of crackdowns more on street operations they are making like difficult for those of us with legitimate illnesses and real pain.

I wish you well.

NADA

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Hi Michael, I think maybe u should move to Colorado and be on the medical cannabis because I have a close friend that has a head injury from a horse fall and he uses the stuff just before bedtime. He cannot function without it but it does work. The only thing is it can make u hungry at times but at least he can still drive without all that intense pain. When he got hurt he broke his neck clear down to his legs and he had to learn how to walk all over again and talk, everything. He spent 2 yrs in a Dallas hospital but he is living and he doesn't use pain pills to keep him going. Just thought I would mention that...

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Hi Michael,

Sorry to hear about your situation. In light of the so called opioid epidemic going on, I'm beginning to think that the reason patients feel the need to take more, is simply due to drug manufacturers creating weaker medication and not necessarily because you're chasing an effect (which is the way law makers see it). Truth is, real pain patients are just seeking pain relief and 'chasing relief', not a high. But with increasingly inferior medication, it gives law makers a reason to justify their point of view, watching things play out in this manner and not realizing that less effective medication equates to more frequent dosing. I feel that within that last decade or so, the quality of pain medication has gone from a 10 to a 4, to help cut down on production expenses while retaining profit margins. There's a better way for doctors to police their patients than restricting medication (without knowing who abuses and who doesn't). Better quality medication = less abuse and more adherence to standard dosing protocols. Does anyone else agree?

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