Morphine Sulfate - Generic For Avinza
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I was in an auto accident 8/21/96 and ever since then I have been dealing with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD). For the last 11 yrs I have been on Avinza 270 mg (2 120mg, 1 30mg once a day) by King Pharmaceutical and now my ins company is insisting that a generic is made and sold in the US by Acatavis Elizabeth. I cannot see anything current that it has been released. There is a legal suit between King and Acatavis because it states a generic cannot be released until 11/2017. Generics do not work for me and right now I'm fighting it, but would like to know if it is true about Avinza being made and sold in the US by Actavis. Please let me know if you're able to, I would surely appreciate it. Thank you!

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I have been taking morphine sulfate in replace of avinza and it's not the same. I don't like taking it at all. I feel like ever since I stopped using the avinza everything's been downhill and I don't know what to do. Is there anything that anybody can recommend to me that's equal to avinza please?

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Re: Annie (# 66)
I take avinza. I take the generic brand. Its called morphine sulfate capsules. If u get tablets it Ms Contin.

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King pharmasudical Bristol out fondness bought by pfizer will pray for you. Dont give up find purpose in suffering for greater good. Write call local state agencys complain phone to medicare social security medicare. Exploitation of the week diseased infermed young aged is a sin its inhumane hurting all mankind

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Avinza developed comp. Oregan were partnered with King Pharmaceuticals in Bristol. Tn. King was to pay iterated dividends over the course of years. King's in trouble with the feds over irregularity in manufacturing regarding schedule 3 drugs. CO 30 days jail, 34 mil fines, no longer can manufacture meds. Pfizor bought King out. Oregan Co. Out. Dividends due to stop. Pfizer knew the date and already had a new more costly drug in sight. Now charged approx. 100 0/0 to 500 0/0 more profit. This is well out of my budget. I'm disabled, 61, R.N. WE ALL HAVE A VOICE. This is wrong, sinful and shameful. I have all of you in prayers. More regulation and stiffer fines from companies price gouging all Americans.

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All I can say is that I was on Avinza since 2005 maybe? 120mg daily. Worked great.
I was forced to get generic 120mg timed released morphine sulphate ER.
There are beads inside this capsule also.
I can't get Avinza at all (pharmacist says no longer made). I am NOT pleased with
the generic, however, my body is adjusting but now with constipation.
I go to the Pharmacy at the hospital as cheaper places do not carry the capsule one that I need and works the best 24 hour one is the only one that works for me generic......I do miss Avinza sooo much!!! Don't try `12 hour ones - don't work for me. Good luck and I know how bad pain can be - I slowly have been decreasing as I get older - hope the same works for you.
Don't listen to so many criticize the amount you take. You know what works!!

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I was on avinzia worked best no sideeffects also on tetracycline for intermittent psychosis worked great. Both discontinued affiliated pfizer. Reason profits. I'm sure tetracycline is being outplayed so it can like avinzia can be charging more than 100 0/0 in future. Anyone reading this check out history behind these meds patients consumer reports. I'm praying for you please pray for me. I cant afford Embeta or expensive creams for my conditions. I am a disabled R.N. God have mercy on all

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240mg of avinza per day? Unreal! I was on 90mg for 5yrs, had enough, cold turkeyed 3 weeks of hell, but now i take aspirin twice a day! My neck is fused, all of it, left ankle reconstructed, two torn rotator-cuffs with multiple tears, bicep tendinitis, carpal tunnel, tendinitis on wrist. If i can get off it, you can!

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I have to jump in here as I have been an Avinza user since it came out. I was taking
120mg 1x a day with great results. Then they quit making Avinza. I tried the generic, but it can go from being strong, to weak, etc. I am also getting depressed on generic.

My Doc tried to prescribe me Embeda, but my insurance would not cover it and I got the generic 12 hrCR - DON"T TRY IT!!! It was horrible for me!!

Had to go back to the doctor so he could change the prescription back to generic Avinza and now I realize a depression has set in plus the med is too strong.
.
I am afraid to make any more changes as I have had more doctor visits and pharmacy than I want to even believe.
This has been a nightmare for me.

I went from having my life back in control to just staying home. Hard to believe the one pill Avinza was really saving and giving me back my life!!!

Please I pray they bring the brand name back - although my doctor says it is all about profit, and I do believe him.

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Actavis is not manufacturing Avinza, at least not in the Atlanta MSA. I believe they were some instances where some of the pharmacy had somewhere unexpired left over and they sold them however there is no new manufacturing. The drug has gone generic to morphine sulfate er. I'm well aware that some generics do not work as well as others. I experience that when I was on fentanyl. I will be contacting this manufacturer again tomorrow I hope, I have had trouble getting in touch with him during the right hours, in any event I will call these people and anyone reading this can call the manufacturer direct and they will give you this information. My prescription was written for Avinza. However when I was trying to find a pharmacist to fill the prescription which was a replacement for some bad patches, no one had it in stock and every pharmacy, CVS, Kroger, Walgreens, Walmart, Sam's Club, Kmart, RiteAid -none had Avinza in stock & ALL told me it was discontinued. I immediately contacted my doctor because I was very sick and we had destroyed all of the remaining bad patches so of course I was in withdrawals and I have been put on a cocktail for opioid withdrawal syndrome. My doctor took action and contacted my pharmacy, Walgreens. She explained the situation to the head pharmacist she told him the prescription was written for Avinza, he told her that it was no longer available and manufacturing has been discontinued, she had written a prescription for the drug the day before and had heard nothing from her patient. He told her that the equivalent was generic and it was morphine sulfate er. This is what she told me the medication was in the first place however when she wrote the prescription she wrote it out as Avinza. My medication is going to have to be increased in any event however we have been putting it off until after I could get out of a donut hell hole and in January and February a very large ridiculous deductible. Those of us on Medicare Part D, the Obamacare plan was to get rid of the donut hole so of course the insurance company and they are going to slam us with large deductibles upfront. Sometimes it seems that we cannot win without losing but that does not mean we cannot fight! It sounds like what you may have to do is go up on morphine sulfate er if it is not working for you. Again this is what happened to me when Duragesic patches went generic. Manufactured by a number of companies, patches made different and people not getting enough of the fentanyl into their system. The pain clinic I was in at the time had numerous complaints from patients and most of us they increased the dosage. It sounds like that's what it's going to take for you to get some relief, I would contact the manufacturer regardless. Again that is what I am planning to do before I return to my pain doctor to ask them what the equivalent of morphine sulfate er would be for 50 or 75 micrograms of fentanyl.

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The only thing I've been able to get is the genetic.

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It is not being sold under the name Avinza. At least not in the Atlanta area and Actavis will take your calls, my prescription is called morphine sulfate er. One of the problems that we are facing is that so many of the pharmaceutical companies are merging and the larger ones are taking over so it is difficult to know who to contact. If I were you I would contact Actavis Pharm.

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How long does it remain in your system for?

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I'm not on blood pressure medicine, but you cannot drink/eat grapefruit if you're on morphine either.

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If you are on any type of blood pressure medication please do not drink grapefruit juice! It does not mix because grapefruit juice is a natural diuretic and a lot of blood pressure medications have diuretics in them, so check your meds and make sure that you are not going to cause yourself to have a deathly interaction.

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I went through a nightmare from Hell because I got some bad patches from a company right now I cannot recall the name. The gloom was so thick on these aluminum foil patches there was not enough fentanyl getting into my body and I went into withdrawals. My doctor got on the phone with my insurance company to try to order by new prescription fentanyl patches to replace the bad ones with mylan brand which has been the best for me for years! My doctor thought like a tiger that little girl little lady! Lol no way the insurance company would not do it Aetna, you know they don't. Make enough money. Haha! At that point my doctor became so frustrated she wrote a prescription for Avina? Sp?, unfortunately I could not find it at any pharmacist and was told that it was discontinued. However my doctor said that she had just written prescriptions for that medication the day before and that person had no problem getting the medication. However we did find that it was available in generic form and yes it did work quite well in fact I'm probably not going to go back to the fentanyl patches its a pain in the ass to get the right kind anyway and after my deductible I believe I will pay $7.75 as opposed to $7 for the fentanyl patches. She has been on 90 milligrams er once a day. It is sufficient with percocet 7.5 3 times a day. I do suffer a lot from intermittent pain however it does not get so bad that I can't make it through a day where as there was a time when I could not at all. My medication may have to be reevaluated and we may have to go up however that is very expensive and I'm not sure I can afford it. The percoset alone would cost me a mere fortune however the morphine sulfate er may not be as expensive. I'll just have to work with Aetna on that and see what they decide to charge. By the way I am also on klonopin and Aetna copay is $35! My God in heaven I can go by klonopin, 90 1 milligram tablets for $20 at Sams Club, now Walmart is equivalent to Sams whereas before they were more expensive. I hate Walmart regardless and I realize Sams is a part of it but still I hate Walmart and I don't shop there. In any event it is my understanding again to answer your question that the brand name for morphine sulfate is now generic. You may be able to find a pharmacy where they still have some in stock, have you contacted the manufacturer? If not it is my suggestion for you to contact the manufacturer directly and they can tell you best what is going on. I have no problem contacting the manufacturers directly. In fact the FDA is after these people who are manufacturing the aluminum foil patches and there's also been lawsuits because of the lack of fentanyl getting into people's systems. Let me move and I will get the manufacturer ok I now have the name of these i****s, APOTEX. They were absolutely asinine to work with. When I was in the donut hell hole I had no choice but to use a less expensive brand of patches, however they do not stay on as well as Milan and I was literally out 3 patches. My doctor was aware of the situation and approved more of the percocet. I contacted the manufacturer and gave them the information and of course they told me to use the tegraderm brand or style whatever one of those band-aid type waterproof to cover the very long patch. I was mostly getting enough fentanyl, but of course I had to go through the aggravation of buying those band-aid type things to put over the patch. Nevertheless one good thing I can say about that manufacture, Watson they were on the ball and my next prescription was free! Yes absolutely they replaced or gave me the next prescription at no charge because of the problems that I had had. There was no reason Apotex could not have done the same thing. Especially with all of the lawsuits and everything they've had against them. Of course I did contact the FDA however I have not yet contacted the lawyer who is handling the legal action against them. I do know that as far as the fentanyl patches when they went generic most of the patients in the clinic that I was in at the time had to up their medication because the generic was not as strong and was not working, so I understand your concern regarding the difference between generic and brand name. In some cases they are absolutely not the same and you have to use more of the medication. You are on a very high dose of morphine sulfate, regardless of brand name or generic. Very high dose! I realize your pain is probably up there, I am bone on bone in my spine. Facets syndrome, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis all joints, God I don't know what all else! My last bone density, I am 57 my bones are 79! I was getting inj's. in my spine and also epidural I may do the nerve block, however at this point they have done just about everything they can do, and of course you know how insurance is and because I was forced into disability at a young age I am on Medicare. However Medicare I have done very well on in getting my help, so to be honest I have very few complaints about them. Exception the part D, which in my opinion was created by Corporate America, major insurance companies getting into the program and they absolutely make more money! I hate to get political but I'm going to do at this point. The Republican party gets more money for their political action committees from the medical community and the Democratic Party. I am neither however I am just a common sense photo and I am a retired research analyst and I will do what it takes to know the truth. I encourage you to research each medication you are taking, if I can learn how to look at the chemical makeup and which medications may interact with others, which many doctors do not take the time to look at, even when your charge is staring them in their faces. One serious example, I was on antidepressants SSRIs, two different types, I honestly felt like a zombie all the time, I had no energy nothing. I began to research and I found that SSRIs cause what is called serotonin poisoning or syndrome. Meaning my body was creating too much serotonin because I was on fentanyl patches. I have now changed to a different antidepressant which is not an SSRI, serotonin uptake and I am doing much much better with it. It treats a variety of medication and one of them is a very old tried and true, buspar. Sometimes you have to do your homework and tell your doctor what it is you need to make it through each day however you must do you research your homework take your paperwork with you and talk to your doctors and show them the proof is in the pudding or rather the PDR! I believe anyone who is not stupid can read and research and learn. Ignorance is not bliss but it can kill you. I don't like to use the word stupid however there are some people who just cannot be educated and they need someone to assist him if you are in that unfortunate category which from your posting information I doubt you are however for those of you that are please get someone to assist you. There are people out there who know what they're doing and more times than not a nurse or a physicians assistant takes more time and no more of what is going on than a doctor does. Of course that depends on your doctor! Good luck I realize this is a long post but I hope this assists you, again I'm going to encourage you to contact the manufacturer of the Avena to see if you are able to get that medication before it is completely expired because it is from what I understand from a number of pharmacies in the Atlanta MSA no longer available generic only. Morphine sulfate er. Good luck with your situation it sounds like you have a whole lot of pain going on. Of course we have the issue of dealing with being drug addicts, lmao if they could live one day in our lives. Just one day that's all it would take. Thank you for your time.

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Why did I think Avinza is same as Kadian? Are they both not extended release morphine? Early 2014, I couldn't find a pharmacy with enough Kadian in stock to fill my prescription. Finally, the kindest Pharmacist I've ever met told me he had a "ton" of generic morphine but that he rarely saw a script for Kadian therefore they didn't really stock it. I agreed to the generic, he called the Dr to confirm and I never saw or felt any difference at all.

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In addition please note the morphine sulfate er replacement is manufactured by activis

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The medication you are requesting from what I understand from a number of pharmacies has been discontinued. Morphine sulfate er has taken its place. I would suggest you consult your pain specialist. That is in the state of Georgia, USA, Atlanta metropolitan area. I just went through this a few weeks ago and my doctor was able after writing a prescription for avina to contact my pharmacy and request that order the generic equivalent. This order was to replace fentanyl patches 50 micrograms due to a bad prescription of patches, the aluminum foil type. I was not getting enough fentanyl and it caused me to go into withdrawals. Of course my insurance would not replace and the manufacturer would not replace. The manufacturer is under investigation by the FDA and there have been numerous legal suits. At this point the more thing is working well for me however it is 3 times more expensive than the fentanyl patches, so I don't know if I can afford to continue. It is my experience that Milan makes the best patches and I have been on fentanyl patches since 2004.. wishing you luck but again check with your pain specialist regarding morphine sulfate er I am taking 90 milligrams which is the equivalent of 50 micrograms fentanyl patches according to my doctor and I have not had any problems. I take percocet 7.5 for intermittent pain three times a day. Good luck!

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Unfortunately king no longer manufactures avinz, I have fought like hell for years to stay on it only thing that works for me the generic seems to work as well they must use the furmic acid also. When King no longer manufacture It not many other options and now unfortunately for me my insured does not want to cover the generic so now I'm in a fight with them. For me personally I'm not taking it to high I'm taking for pain management, and so I can function throughout the day I do believe I have tried every other opiate on the market and Avinza was the only one that didn't make me euphoric, give me the same dose and MS cot. Or kadian I might as will just become a Heiron junkie cause I just get the nods and fall asleep. Avinza was my saving grace, and although the generic seems to work the same for me at least I don't notice a difference I don't know what I will do it for lose my fight with my insurance company. it truly is only thing that works for me that doesn't make me have that euphoric feeling. Been taking it for 15 years.

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Cowgirl, I don't know why I didn't think of this before but, take your morphine with grapefruit juice. Or eat grapefruit right before you take the medication. Grapefruit juice "ups" opioid potency. It's worth a try right? Also, Google search "foods which make opioid stronger" or something like that. Good luck!

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