Multiple Sclerosis And Oxycodone (Top voted first)

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I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2008. Over the years my nerve pain has gotten a lot worse. The pain has gotten so bad that it's ruining my life. I cant walk due to my legs not working correctly and experiencing a loss of all balance. I have pain everywhere but it's the worst in my feet. My Dr. has me on 10 mg oxycodone for about 5 years now. I was on percocet prior but I worried about my liver with all the acetaminophen. My problem is I'm not sure if I have built a tolerance or if I should be taking more at a time but it's not doing much for me. My pain never goes away. The pills slightly take the edge off for about an hour. That's it! I have tried 3 different types and strengths of pain patches and they didn't do anything. I tried morphine with the same results. I even went to a pain specialist who took me off oxycodone and put me on methadone and gabapentin. I had to stop those after one dose because I was in so much pain and wondering why, so I called that dr. and he said it takes a couple weeks to work. There's no way I can miss any pain med dosage. Let alone a couple weeks. Can anyone steer me in a direction to help me not be in misery all day? Thanks for your time.

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37

Hi all. Regarding my MS... For pain i can only stick to Stilpain and Lioresal 25mg. In South Africa those 2 kinds of meds remain 'last option' for me. Except Morphine for pain relief. Last 2 months my pain in neck and spine suddenly got worse, to a state that nothing even helps CLOSELY! The pain goes from the neck to my eyes. My vision decreased to about 50% and my left eyeball has moved to the side of my eye-socket, causing double vision. This pains is 100 times worse than the worst migraine, mainly right into the skull, where all spine muscles meet the lower brain lob. Also bad pain and difficulty to walk, from my hip to foot on my right leg. However, my Neurologist suggested that i should try walking every day, to prolong the muscles from giving in..OR dayle fisio. The walking every day really helps with the muscle pain and after a while, i walk 'normal'. What also is on the increase, is my short-term memory and speech. My BP could not get controlled for 5 years now. It remains around 170/90. Now it suddenly started dropping continuously to as low as 90/40. Dr suggested that i must not alter my BP meds yet! But after all is said and done, my MAIN Dr remains GOD and i'm still managing every day as best i can. Regards and never lose HOPE!!

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3

I have been this rte in chronic pain for 25 yrs i started off low at 7.5 x 4 per day hydrocodone. As yrs went on my joints got worse from a inherited blood disorder high iron. i went from 30mg a day to a whopping 240 mg a day of morphine oxycodone, etc. I finally had to detox for a month. Then go without opiate meds for 6 months to retrain the BRAIN ...

Now i cant belive i did this and it worked. I now am starting back at 60mg per day of oxycodone 15mg x 4 day. Your brain like everyone else's, becomes TOLERANT of the current dose of medicine you take. So detox is the only way to overcome the tolerance then start over. You may also try nerve block injections in trouble areas along with your meds. they do work if you let them.

I have been to the greatest pain clinics in the United States. After being in chronic pain 25 years i have learned a lot about pain relief and management.

D.

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6

Oh crap! I so forgot the YouTube connect you need to see. The woman had MS and found a way out of the madness through natural methods. I may have seen it through Dr Mercola's blog. She recovered. She got there. Was it an exception? I don't know. All I can say is - search and ask. There is hope. Stay open. Much love, Lucky Cat Liz

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9

10 mg of oxcodone is a small dose You are correct about Tylenol ( paracetamol) but opiates should kill pain, I would need to know the doses as opiates (and opioids) ... increase pain sensitivity when blood plasma levels are low. Addiction comes second to quality of life. I ( being very badly injured ) study medications, mechanisms of action and effects. But opiates at the correct dose kill pain and I have not heard of a sensitivity case yet. I have a suggestion. Put aside any stigma..... medicinal cannabis ( cannabis grown with the main phsycoactive substance THC bred out. The CBD ( pain relieving and anxiety relieving chemical is left intact. There is much scientific research just starting to develop on the many therapeutic benefits of this substance. I know..... my previous proscribed drugs, Fentynal, Oramorph, Physeptone (methadone) Oxycontin ( long release supposed to last 12 hours but lasted 7 with me and scientific studies back this up) also Oxycontin or Oxycodone is synthesised from the poison part of the opium poppy (thebain) and withdrawals come quick and nasty. I myself persuaded the doctor to put me on dihydrocodeine, effective but since 2 days ago I started using CBD.... it comes in a vapiing solution, my dihydrocodeine intake is down by 2 thirds with no discomfort. I think you will see by my narrative you will struggle to find a better answer. I wish you well.

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11

For real try medical cannabis go to a dispensery and get something specific for your symptoms I am sure you are not going to regret it.

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21

#11 , i am the one who is on hospice and 50 mg of ultram with a tylenol every 4 hours , my daughter suggested for me to be on cannabis to see if it will alleviate my nausea and pain , i feel for the ones suffering ms , i am not in that dx group but i do have chf , cardiomyopathy ,left ventricle failure , diabetes which i take 320 u per day , my pain in my back is unbearable , my muscles from head to toe hurts so bad , #9 , i wanted to find physical comfort so i could do last minute things with my two adult children , i hurt too much to even go to a nice restaurant , it takes all i have to shower and put pj's on , or even to sit up and watch tv with them , i am only 53 i thought i would live longer than this , i do want to be comfortable but all pain narcotics make me vomit so i have to take a phenergan with them and i do not like not being alert just knocked out for a few hours , help , i live in arkansas

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31

If you do go with lyrica.beware of weight gain legs and feet swelling and thoughts of ending your life plus stomach swelling i looked like i was 9 months pg.i have been trying to get get this drug off the market. It is very dangerous.some can take it but alot of others can't.it did help with the burning and stinging in feet.the bury vision.for me the side effects on top of ms.i just wanted to die.it has been over a yr. Since i took this drug i am almost able to walk again.but the pain is always there.just be aware of side effects.I hope you can find relief.i haven't so far.

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33

Hello everyone,

I tried to find a spot to just post what I wanted to say but was only able to respond to something for it to post.

I was diagnosed with MS about 4 yrs ago. I was told by my neurologist that according to some of the lesions I have I had this illness for many yrs. I can actually remember around the time when I knew something was wrong. The very first time I went to a neurologist was about 25 yrs ago. I remember losing my vision. The neurologist gave me blood work and found I had thyroid disease. I can remeber the neurologist taking the blood test again. He thought the reading I had may have wrong. He stated that normally when people have critically high/low results like I had were normally in a coma and at the time I was working 70hrs and more a week. I was very tired but blamed working 7 days a week with many hrs as the cause. My thyroid results were the same as the first test. After he gave me synthesis he sent me in my way.

I struggled everyday with the nerve pain every single day for as long as I was able to. Approx 6yrs, and until I just couldn't do it anymore. I was never in any pain medication before and never believed in it. I always thought people just wanted to get high from taking that magical pill so I never took a pain pill. About three yrs ago I was in so much pain I had to walk with a walker, couldn't drive myself anywhere, couldn't lay down, sleep etc etc. The pain was so bad it hurt to even eat. The Dr tried putting me on different meds. Dilaudid or whatever it's called, Percocet, Morphine etc etc. None of it worked without being a zombie.

Then the Dr put me on Oxycodone 30mg. I'll never forget how I felt within 15 minutes after taking that pill. I still cannot believe how much of all of my pain was relieved. For the first time in a month I was able to get in and out of my bathtub. It was the best bath I ever had in my life! I was even able to literally wipe my own ass. Little by little my life started to come back. I was even able to volunteer my time at an animal shelter and was thinking about going back to work. The volunteering was allowing me to see what I was capable of doing and how much I'd be able to do. I was never able to stay consistent. Some days I had were really bad. To the point I could not get out of bed or move for the entire day. I can remember the feeling of dread I had thinking that I couldn't take these pills because of how sick I felt and how I would throw up.

The Dr gave me a script to ease the sick feeling and it worked. It was no longer an issue. I was initially put on the 30mg 4 times a day but never really needed it 4 times a day. The Dr started to lower my dose which I was fine with. Eventually I went to the 30mg a day. Last month the Dr took me off the 30 mg and put me on 15 mg. I noticed immediately the difference. There was a difference taking 2 x 15. It makes me very groggy and I felt like I didn't want to do anything. I decided to just take the one pill in the am to see if it worked. Unfortunately the 15mg doesn't feel as if it helps my pain. I'm in more pain this month than I've been in for yrs.

My Dr wants to completely take me off of this med. I understand the reasons as to why. Apparently the medication causes people to die. Most of all of my old pain came back. My migraines was the first thing that came back and everyday. My dizziness came back more, the nerve pain in my hands and feet is horrible. I used to have a system when I woke up to start my day. I would get out of the house and do things I needed to do. This last month my quality of suffered a great deal. I don't know why this 30 mg works so well for me. I'm actually beginning to think that it jump started my body to access my natural opiates. Even though 2 x 30 worked perfectly i am able to tolerate one 30mg a day. I really think way more studies need to be done for the 30 mg.

I never had an addictive personality or was able to relate to being an addict. I still don't understand why people abuse medication or take it when it's not needed. I'm certain I'm not the only person this medication truly works for and improves a persons quality of life. It's saddens me to see the medical professionals not seeing the benefit of how much this medication can actually improve a persons quality of life and help. Not all people on this med abuses it. These were the medications I was on when I started this med and the meds I was able to get off of being on this med: Ativan, Lexapro, and Ambien. It helped me not only physically but mentally and I was finally able to sleep well without a sleeping pill and never felt the need or desire to off myself.

I truly fear going back into the hell I used to live in without the Oxycodone 30. I even told the Dr to give me random drug tests and check blood work all the time and count my pills randomly if needed. It is so sad that a pill that can help so much will never be recognized as being beneficial. I wish people wouldn't abuse this med and wish Drs would do more to study the benefits it will actually have in a persons life. I'd also want to know if it's possible for the human body to naturally be able to access their beneficial hormones from taking oxycodone 30? This pill seems very different compared to the 15 mg. Good luck everyone and hope all find relief.

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39

Re: Mark (# 38) Expand Referenced Message

Thank you for your respons Mark.From the bottom of my heart! God Bless.

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1

I am a hospice patient and i understand the pain level that some are in even though they have a different dx as yourself , the dr is correct when he said it takes a couple of weeks for a different pain med to work , remember you are changing your whole pain rx to something your body has never had . Each person is different in how long a drug gets in their system to relieve pain , so maybe take plain tylenol with your med for temp relief , you will need to wait and give the new meds a chance to work

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2

You might be a p450 rapid metabilizer, it's a test. idk what insurance covers it. I've tried all of the above meds and morphine works for me, methadone works really well. So you might be metabolizing these medicines so fast that's why you are only getting an hour of relied.
Good luck to you, there are times when my pain gets so severe that after I've taken meds, a bit bath or use tens machine, that nothing helps, but this is only during a flare.90% of time my meds work

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4

I also have MS and can completely understand the issues you're having with pain. For me it took several years and several pain specialists to find which medications work best for me and at what doses. What you really need to do first is to make an appointment with a pain clinic, not your regular doctor. Google "pain clinic" along with the city and state name to find ones that are near you (for example put in quotations: "Columbus Ohio Pain Clinic" and replace the city and state I put there with your own city and state). Some pain clinics require a doctor's referral, but some do not. They will require copies of your medical records however and so you will need to work with your regular doctor for all of that. The reason you need to go to a pain clinic is because federal regulations prevent primary care doctors and general practitioners from prescribing stronger pain medications, they can only be gotten through a pain clinic doctor. The dose of oxycodone that your doctor prescribed is much too low for someone with MS. Once you get in with the pain clinic you can discuss which medications will work best.

For me they first started me on 15mg of oxycodone three times a day. Along with that they prescribed a drug called Lyrica which works very well for nerve pain. Some people experience side effects with Lyrica, but not all do. For me it made my ankles swell up, but as I said not everyone experiences that side effect because it's based entirely on a person's genetics and what other meds they might be taking. Gabapentin is a drug which is similar to Lyrica, but Gabapentin has a very common side effect of making a person feel like a zombie and very groggy. It does work for the nerve pain, but the grogginess and zombie feeling can be too much for some people to put up with. But if you can get a pain clinic to start you on Lyrica and Oxycodone 10mg three times a day then you will have a lot of relief lasting all day. But until you can get in to a pain clinic (which sometimes can take several weeks just to get your first appointment) there are some things you can do to help alleviate some of the pain now by combining it with your daily dose of 10mg Oxycodone. Aleve works much better for nerve pain than acetaminophen. You can simply buy the generic store brand version because it's cheaper. It'll be under the name of "Naproxen Sodium". That pain killer doesn't affect the liver like acetaminophen does. Another thing to add is Ginger root. Go to your health food store, or go to one online, and look for capsules of Ginger root. Make sure it's from a natural source. It is an amazing remedy for nerve pain. So in summary, make an appointment for a pain clinic to get on Lyrica and 10mg Oxycodone both three times a day. Until then, take the over the counter pain killer Naproxen and add a ginger root capsule. You might also be able to cut your 10mg pill in half and take 5mg in the morning and 5mg in the afternoon along with a Naproxen and a ginger root capsule. (Morning: 5mg Oxycodone, one Naproxen, one ginger root. Afternoon: 5mg Oxycodone, one Naproxen, one ginger root. Bedtime: One Naproxen and one ginger root). You can be inventive and experiment a little to see what works best for you. Be sure to talk to your pain doctor about what other things you've tried and whether or not they work. Let me know if I can be of any further help.

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5

Hi,
I read your post and am positive you need an increase in your meds. Ask your doc for higher dose extended release medication and also add on an instant release tablet for breakthrough pain. You have developed a tolerance for the 10mg and it's just not working for you anymore. Your doctor should know this. Maybe, you should see a Pain Management doctor. Good luck!

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7

The first person that answered your question was correct.The fifth answer is definitely incorrect and some of the worst advice I have ever heard.. Opioid/opiate medications are immediate acting unless they are time release formula's..Immediate meaning a few minutes of course..As the first person stated it's standard protocol to have a time release and an immediate release formula for chronic pain..

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8

Unfortunately once you have been on all the pain meds for a long time and everything seems to stop working and the md prescribes methadone and that is not working options are running out , as i mentioned i am a hospice patient and retired nurse and all i have for pain is ultram 50 mg every 4 hours , i am in end stage heart failure , lung disease ,( never a smoker ) and diabetes , i feel pain every day and sometimes severe pain level 9 , i never say 10 because to me 10 is dead or wishing to sleep , every person is different with their amount of pain that they can stand , my muscles absolutely kill me not getting oxygenated blood thru my body including major organs , i am swollen like a water balloon but i chose to be alert and feel some pain , i have come to terms i will never be pain free in this life , i do take tylenol with my ultram every 4 hours because my insurance will not pay for ultracet , i wish you the best in your pain control

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10

Have you ever looked into an implanted TENS or implanted pain pump that delivers pain medication right to the spine where the pain impulses are sent from the other parts of body to brain. Without the pain impulses reaching the brain, one either has significant pain relief or has more of a numbness were pain used to be. I have had a pain pump since 2006 due to damaged nerves from a car crash. I have arthritis in spine as well. Let me know if you want to find a pain specialist that will do this for you.

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12

Link since you have a pain condition close to mine. You have MS and I have an epidural abcess from 28 years ago with scar tissue rubbing on the dural sac and nerve bundles at 3 levels. I can definitely say that you're on an extremely low amount of narcotic analgesics for the type of nerve irritation that you have to be experiencing. You should be on some type of long acting time release formula. Like Oxycontin, Opana or Exalgo. Your MS is only going to get worse which in turn will cause even more nerve irritation. The amount of narcotic analgesics you should be on is what it takes so you can tolerate the pain, so you can have some type of life outside of being bed ridden.
It sounds like you need to find a good pain management doctor who will work with you and that is not afraid to do the right think when it comes to your personal pain situation. Not everyone perceives pain the same nor do the same amount of analgesics work the same for all.
Good luck finding adequate pain relief, so you can tolerate your personal pain situation.

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I would be careful with Methadone. It is a synthetic opiate (not a real opiate, but acts like one) but it has many unpleasant and potentially fatal side effects which is why people who are on Methadone for long periods of time require regular medical examinations to ensure you don't develop a hearth rhythm disorder. 10mg of Oxycodone once a day is a very small dosage, and because a person can develop a tolerance to opiates the dosages need to be slowly increased over a period of months. However, there are alternatives for opiates which can work depending on the person. One other person on here mentioned a TENS unit which is useful if you have some kind of central nerve damage or disorder of the spine. For MS which often affects the entire body a TENS unit might not work. Another person mentioned a nerve blocker and that will have similar results because it will only work on particular areas as opposed to the entire body. Your best bet is a combination of a low dose opiate given three times a day and Lyrica which is not an opiate. It works very well for whole body nerve pain which many people with MS experience. Another comment mentions combining a fast acting opiate with a slow acting "buffered" opiate and that treatment protocol does work for chronic pain. However it increases the chances of developing a strong opiate tolerance and will make it necessary to increase the dose once every year or two. The better option for most people is low dose opiates with something like Lyrica or Gabapentin and an occasional Naproxen. This is what is known as "combination therapy" and is proven to work.

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14

I to have ms. Got the diagnosis in 2015 my feet hurts the worst to i was on lyrica and gabapentin.what the dr.won't tell you is all that medication has side effects. The gab.will cause your feet and legs arms your whole body to swell. And gain weight which is really fluid. I stay in pain all the time but i quit taking those med. I now can walk better but have pain.the side effects are just as bad as the pain. I hope you feel better soon.

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15

Try researching CBD oil via vape pen.

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