Morphine Sulf Er By Rhodes (Top voted first)

I have been getting my morphine from CVS for over 5 yrs. They will only get Rhodes mfg. generic. These pills are so bad some times my nose runs, I am in a with draw state. Every month its the same some thing. It seems like sometimes they have the right amount of morphine in them while most times Its as though I am taking nothing. Anyone else out there with this problem? I think some of these pills are bootleg. No way to prove it and CVS does not seem to care.

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Here's the deal, I only go to one pharmacy, and I only go to one Dr for my pain med. And that's the way it's been for over12 years. People who are shopping go to multiple Dr's and multiple pharmacy's. I don't go in there and say I must have this one brand of morphine. I say I can take anything with the exception of Rhodes. I also never try to get my med filled early as a matter of fact some month's I get my morphine filled several days after the date on the Rx. Like I said before this is their loss cause they weren't the only game in town. So following all the rules I have now transferred all of my meds to Kmart. I refuse t be treated like a drug seeking person when in fact I'm a person who has to live in daily pain.

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Sassyblue,
I'm no longer having any problems. I now take my Rx's to Kmart. They understand this situation and order me anything but the Rhodes brand of my morphine. Dealing with Kmart instead of CVS makes my life so much easier. I had all my Rx's transferred there. And as I stated before it's CVS's lose and Kmart's gain.
The pharmacist at Kmart is so very nice treats me like a human being not a criminal. It's bad enough when a person has to live in daily pain but then to have people treat them as just another drug seeker is wrong on so many levels.
Thank you for your input.

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I would love the FDA to do some research on the Rhodes lab. Something isn't right about this situation. Now there is another possibility and that would be that they are boot leg drugs. Just saying. Stranger things have happened. It doesn't matter to me one way or another. But something needs to be done as far as CVS pushing drugs on people even though they are aware of the poor quality of the medication. I'm just glad I'm off of the CVS merry go round!
I wish you all well in your quest for a pain free or should I say tolerable pain life.

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I have been taking the Rhodes morphine ER for over one year at 30mg BID. I have noticed that this brand of morphine has little or no effect on my pain. I am a member of PACE and must use their doctors and their pharmacy. I will talk to my doctor and see if he can change the brand to one that works. I have noticed this problem for some time now but have ignored it for fear the doctor will refuse to change the brand or give me a medication that works.

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I too had a similar experience with this brand of MS ER.
(30mg).I was taking Kadian 60mg 2 x a day and after having some surgeries to repair the problem(s), I asked my pain management Dr to help me begin tapering off. Thus I was prescribed MS ER 30mg 2 times a day. (3 if needed). The taper down went OK for the first two months but on the third months fill I went to CVS and they gave me the Rhodes version. Within the same day i started on those, my pain levels shot up and i felt as if i had not taken anything! 2nd day worse, 3rd day it was apparent that I was beginning serious withdrawals, even taking an extra third one during the day. The following days--total hell! I ended up a twisted knot of muscle spasms and pain.
My PM Dr. switched me back to the prior brand generic and everything went back to normal. In my view it HAD to be that particular brand. Although CVS argued with me about it, I ended up taking my script to Walgreens.

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I have the same problem with my Norco. They have to be the yellow ones not white ones. White ones make me itch and nauseous and don't have the most pain relief as a pose to the yellows. Cvs claims they are all the same but no we do no the difference. I have in my file "yellow" only lol

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I take all of my Rx's to Kmart, problem solved. They are kind and at least listen to what I have to say. It's all about the money. I still wish there was a way to have someone check the the Rhodes brand. Something is not right.

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Ironically, I am having your same problem with a different brand and when I got the Rhodes brand it was way better. I think there are bootleg issues with all brands. For some reason small private pharmacies (non chain ztore) seem to receive genuine meds and the large chains have the issues. I think it is more about the pharmacy than the brand. Maybe even chain stores have discount suppliers?? I would love to get to the bottom of this issue. I do not abuse these meds in any way, so having withdrawal issues is humiliating and unfair. Also I dont want to use multiple stores. Any advice how to complain about this?

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Thank you so much for your input. It was comforting to hear someone out there agrees with me. The thing is people who have real pain issues know their own bodies. I work for a doctor and some days on these darn pills I go into withdraw while working, sweats, nose running the whole bit. It is embarrassing to say the least. I wish there was a way to send these pills out to be tested. I am quite sure something is very wrong. I do realize different generic drugs have cheap compounds to hold them together that's why they are so much cheaper. But at whose expense Ours of course. I will be taking my Rx's to Kmart from now on.

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That's because they think you are a pill shopper, addict. Not saying you are one but that is what they think.

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I also gave up on CVS. Last time took 3 weeks & 6 different CVS pharmacies. I had to end up accepting 45 instead of 90. Of course here in Fla, there's no going back for the rest later on. You just lose out. I have gone to the same Pain mgmt Dr almost 4 years, & never try to fill my RX early or anything. Most times I stretch till I'm just sick to make them last. I researched and started sending my scripts in to Express Scripts and it's SO much better. They have been on time and early most months.I don't have to get out in the car, propped up on pillows to withstand the bumps in pain just to find my meds. Also called them & requested no Rhodes brand & they offered several other options instead. Very nice. Now I can gingerly go about my life and stop wasting so much time trying to find my meds 30mg MS ER & NSAID patches.

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Maggiemay, I have been taking MS ER 15 mg. for 7 years made by Mallinckrodt. The pharmacy switched to Rhodes Pharmaceutical same dose MS ER 15 mg. and it was like I was taking nothing at all. Called the doctor he made some calls and called me back and told me to take the medication back to the pharmacy. They took the bottle that I had with 80 tabs. left and gave me a new bottle with 80 tabs. made by Mallinckrodt. After I took the first pill 3 or 4 hours later I started feeling better. And in 3 days I was back to the way things were before taking the Rhodes tablets. The doctor told me that he had other calls form PT that were having the same problem. He told me to report it to the FDA so I did. FDA.gov

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CVS pharmacies and their a**hole pharmacists treat anyone who takes these meds like i****s and like drug addicts. It doesn't matter who you are. They also will NOT order a different generic. They take the lowest bidder, which for MS Contin is Rhodes Pharmaceuticals' paltry concoction of bulls***.

Furthermore, my CVS pharmacist acted like I was full of s*** when I tried to explain the obvious difference between the Rhodes formulation and the 3–4 others I have plenty of experience taking. She tried to throw scientific jargon at me in hopes I'd walk away with my proverbial tail tucked between my legs (being that I'm an i**** druggie and all). What she fails to realize is that human bodies don't operate like a controlled lab analysis. Additionally, even if Rhodes morphine earned an AB rating, that doesn't mean it's identical to other similarly rated generics.

The bottom line is: CVS is only going to use the cheapest generics it can get; there's a reason those generics are the cheapest; and CVS will always treat its customers like s*** because it knows we're forced by our insurance companies to go there for our prescriptions.

F*** you, CVS, and your a**hole pharmacists. I really miss Wegman's Pharmacy.

One last note: The CVS I go to is 10 miles from my home. It's also the third CVS I went to before choosing it. This is because the pharmacists at the first two CVSs were even bigger a**holes than the one I have now. They also said they would not guarantee that my maintenance medications would be in stock on the days that my scripts are due for filling. They wouldn't even acknowledge that serious complications would arise if I had to go without said medications. Why would they? It's not their problem if I don't have my meds! I f***ing hate CVS!

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Have you tried asking them if they can order in the ones made by a different manufacturer for you? They usually can, but you'll have to pay any price difference between it and the existing generic, because your insurance usually won't.

Another alternative would be speaking to your doctor about trying a different medication, or trying a different pharmacy. Have you considered doing either one of these?

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That is the way cvs treats all their customers. Nothing new to me. I hate cvs!!!!! I will be glad someday when I can go back to walgreens. They know how to give customer care!!!

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That's because they think you are a pill shopper, addict.

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I was at ER yesterday for abdominal pains on my left side. A couple months ago I had abdominal pains on my right side & was admitted for surgery for hernia. At the ER They put me on IV with dilaudid & something for nausea & did CAT scan & took lab work & U/A's. They said they didn't find anything & sent me home with Rx for Bentyl, nothing for pain. I had taken Tylenol 3 the day before & forgot to mention it to the Dr & I overheard someone say something about a crucial lab report was back. would taking the Tylenol 3 have showed up something that would keep them from giving me a Rx for my abdominal pain which they've given me before my previous abdominal pain leading to hernia surgery. I am still suffering in pain & can't see my Dr for 3 weeks but am afraid to go back to ER in fear they won't treat me due to me not telling them I had recently taken Tylenol 3. What else would taking Tylenol 3 come up as on my U/A? I'm scared because I read Tylenol 3 is codeine & can come up as heroin. I never took heroin in my life & how do I find out if that's the case to let the Dr know. Very irritated. Please advise.

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I had the same problem with mall I brand, so I asked for this kind back. Hopefully they will work better.

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Re: Maggiemay (# 5)

I agree....poor quality. Control.! Rhodes brand m sulfates are weak. Pharmacys push the cost effective generic brand. Reason ; perks n discounts from pharmaceutical. Company

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Re: wishing to be pain freee (# 6)

A locally owned pharmacy that I've been patronizing for decades sold out to Walgreen's, who, of course, does NOT carry the same mfg's of MS. I learned ages ago (at "my" pharmacy) one time when they got a different mfg in stock that all generics are not created equal. I was able to fill at Smith's - they were very helpful when I called to ask about brands they carry. But when it came time to fill, I did, but the pharmacist or pharmacist aid there tried to say they didn't carry that brand. I stood my ground and got the rx. This month she says they don't have enough pills to fill my rx. So, here I am scrambling to find a pharmacy to fill it (And Yes I WILL file a complaint about her). I generally avoid wishing bad things on people, but I DO hope these judgmental types end up with an affliction that gives them SEVERE pain -and that they are then treated like street junkies when they try to get help for their pain. Not enough that we're in pain 24/7 but then to be treated like this... it's shameful.

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