Oxycodone's Deathly Issue (Page 2)

I've been using Oxycodone for five years for pain management. I read about all the deaths that were associated with this drug which were being attributed to intentional over medications by patients in order to get high. I discovered by pure accident that there appears to be a major flaw in this pill's ability to consistently breakdown in the human system like it is intended to do, especially in the time release tablet. As the pill fails to breakdown and release it's medication, they begin to build up dangerous levels within the upper gastrointestinal track. They eventually do release into your system, but not when you planned for it, and sometimes many stored pills open at one time and dump into your system all at once. It could look like an intentional overdose to those who don't know about this issue. Has anyone else noticed that sometimes they feel like they never even took their pain pill? Or has anyone else noticed that every once in a while they seem to get super loaded for no known cause every once in a while? I discovered this issue when I went in for a colon test and after six hours of cleaning out my whole system, I began to notice at the very end that about fifteen oxycodone pills, fully intact, began to pass through my system from the upper gastrointestinal tract. The actual test showed that there were still five more left in my upper gastrointestinal tract. Nothing else in my whole system but those pills stuck inside me. I tried to inform the manufacture, but they did not want to hear what I had discovered. Meanwhile, they continue to blame all deaths related to Oxycodone to addicts who purposely took too many pills to get high. User's beware. I like to hear from anyone else who have noticed some of the oddities I've mentioned about this drug, especially if they have a reason to believe they too had a pill build up.

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Just a note to all about a major error I made regarding the exact pill I was using. My first posting repeatedly used the name Oxycodine vs Oxycontin. I was using Oxcontin when I first discovered this pill breakdown issue, and when I discovered recently that they did not breakdown as they should have by accident, I was again using Oxycontin. Some have asked if it makes me extremely sleepy after using it. Absolutely it has at times. However, some times I feel as though I've taken five times my normal dosage and have actually fallen asleep while I was in the middle of eating! I'm not having this issue as much as I did last year, but I've cut back by 20mg since then. Still...

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PATIENT'S BEWARE: Although this is not about Oxycontin, I feel a need to warn those of us who are already have enough pain in our daily lives. There is a whole class of antibiotics on the market that are taking a painful tole on those who have used them. The drug's side effects are being referred to as being FLOXED. Check them out, you won't believe what these drugs are doing to people who have used them for something as simple as a sinus infection and as short as one day! The side effects are ruining peoples lives. Just two names within this drug group are Cyprofloxaein and Levantine. They are widely prescribed and words commonly being associated with this group of drugs are deadly and poisonous.

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Good word, FLOXED! I think the first-mentioned antibiotic there is available, and has been for some time, under the name CIPROXEN; these reports are not new, in fact I remember reading about unwanted side-effects with Ciproxen quite a while ago now. But you are right to bring it to people's attention again, because these reports were not long after they were introduced as the 'new wave' of antibiotics, which were supposed to counter the immunity the human race had developed to more traditional and older antibiotics like penicillin, amoxycillin, flucloxacillin etc. Whether they are so bad as to be described as being 'dangerous' is still a moot point; but certainly there are a lot of people who react quite badly to this group of drugs.

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I think I should also bring to the attention of readers the current policy of switching patients with severe anxiety/panic problems, like myself who has suffered this syndrome for 30+ years, from benzodiazepines onto SSRIs, whic are essentially anti-depressants which they say help people with these panic issues. Well last year I was put on one of these, citalopram, and far from helping, I suffered constant 24/7 anxiety, and at least one full-blown panic attack per day. The doctor persuaded me to try and persist with this drug, but I could not stand it any more after only six or seven days' treatment. I have never felt so bad in my life; much worse than any anxiety-related symptoms I have ever experienced. Right from the first pill. Needless to say, I have now reverted to a drug, alprazolam, which actually works well as a preventative and keeps my anxiety at bay. My dose has been cut and I am only taking 2.25mg/day, but that appears to be just enough to be effective. Since strting alprazolam, I have suffered far less panics than before, and I have been through a LOT of the benzodiazepines over the years. I did a little research and found that these SSRIs actually work in only about 50% of patients at most, and at least 25% reported what I experienced - a dreadful worsening of the symptoms of this disease (for anxiety and panic syndrome is certainly a disease). Why then, in the face of these statistics, does it appear to be becoming official policy to prescribe more SSRIs to people who suffer the same illness as me? Off-topic again, but no more so than the antibiotic debate. Has anybody else here been through the same attempts at switching drugs for anxiety and panic syndrome?

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Good Afternoon Michael & Others,
Yes, we both have made postings that no longer pertain to the initial subject matter. This only demonstrates our desire to peel back the layers of mystery surrounding the pharmacology industry and medical fields which are intricately intertwined in our daily lives. Why indeed do they do some of the things they do, when they know the cure is frequently worse than the illness? A very good question and hopefully an observation other frequent users of the medical field have taken notice by now. Maybe we could start a new thread and start it with a lead in question like Questionable uses of Pharmacology products? This could open the door to all kinds of discussions which are related, including how dependent Doctor's have become on prescriptions to treat patients when they know too little about the actual clinical studies. What do you think?

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Since I've gone off the main topic twice now, here is my third diversion. I have too many health issues, and too much pain that mess with my daily life. However, there is one thing that I've found that always makes me feel better. Five years ago I bought a small house that sits on the shores of a San Fransisco Bay inlet. Everyday I can sit here at my computer, when I hurt, and watch the incredible life of shore birds which live, hunt and migrate beyond my windows. Too bad they can't make a pill like that for everyone who is hurting and ill. Right now I'm watching a Night Heron and a Great White Heron cleaning their feathers on my boat dock while about four canvas back ducks hunt for food in the water nearby. Smooth thoughts for all in pain today.

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I wish... we have a lovely view over the River Forth at one side and the largest petro-chemical complex in Europe on the other (to which my late father, a doctor, atributed the high rate of asthma, leukaemia and other nasties in this area).
YES. I think a new thread intertwining all aspects of healthcare, especially those of us with multi-faceted ilnesses, is a great idea, and let's leave this one for the oxycodone issue. Over to you, Ginny!

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Hi Michael,
I'm glad your interested in this idea. So what should we write about that would capture the interest of patients in chronic pain and the use of pharmacology products vs side effects? So where is the river forth? Your turn.

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PS. I must warn you that there are days when I don't know if I'm coming or going because essentially I am constantly in the act of trying to balance out my medications as they wax and wane along with the tides. So please forgive me if I ramble along or become unusually critical of what ever gets caught in my web that day.

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Where to start? The River Forth is the river upon which stands Edinburgh, capital city of Scotland.
I too wax and wane and can ramble on a bit with my meds, being that they are things like oxycodone, a powerful opiate, and alprazolam, one of the most powerful benzodiazepines. And they are often supplemented by carisoprodol, which metabolises into meprobamate, a sedative rarely seen since the advent of benzos and which, by the way, was withdrawn in the UK last week. It looks like more and more countries are banning this skeleto-muscular relaxant, which I find helps me a lot, my arthritis being of the spondylo type.
Now, as to what qualifies for inclusion in this new thread we are discussing setting up; probably all side-effect issues arising from the use of analgesics, especially narcotic analgesics; drug interactions (I have heard of people being prescribed some incredible mixtures); almost anything that pertains to the use of thes drugs to help different types of pain. Just as you would not expect 2 x 500mg paracetamol for a broken leg, you would not expect to be prescribed morphine for a headache. Living as I do in the UK, it is noticeable that we are lacking a whole strength range of analesics which are available in the US. I have trouble getting anything at all for breakthrough pain - normally in the USA you would be prescribed 30 or 40mg of hydrocodone, but that is a drug unavailable outside the USA, except for the pure hydrocodone 'DICODID' from Germany. I have tried hydrocodone/apap as a breakthrough agent and found that, despite the ridiculously high price for such a moderate-strength analgesic, 4 x 10/325mg pills are a good enough dosage for that purpose. I just don't like the idea of ruining a perfectly good painkiller by adulterating it with one of the most dangerous analgesics kown, and which, despite the amount of deaths from liver failure every year, is even available for sale on supermarket shelves. It (paracetamol) should really be a controlled drug of at least class 'B' Schedule II. f alcohol and tobacco were discovered tomorrow they would be classed at least as highly as that, and in the case of tobacco in the USA, you have a definition of a Schedule I drug which has no known medical use which would certainly apply to cigarettes.
There you are, rambling, what did I tell you? Any other ideas for what this new thread could cover?

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APOLOGIES for the unusually high number of typos in that last post.

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Ahhhh... you got me good on your last post. I'm not sure what the time difference is between California and Eninburg, but I read your post with complete fascination and a highly sedated mind. You know what I mean; Nurse Ratchet came by with my night round of med's. One Flew Over The Cookoos Nest So off I went looking up 75% of the pill's you named to see what they were, and then I found myself feeling much like Alice In Wonderland' as one page led me into another, and another and... You are obviously highly educated about medications and their many side effects. I have much to learn.
I think it's fun to be talking to someone in Scotland. When my Oxycontin pills all de-solve at the same time, I know I'll be reading your post with a Scottish accent and hearing bagpipes in the background.
Anyway, regarding a new thread. Let's play around on the various threads and see if we can discover what type of search entry words would help draw in the type of people we want to chat with about pain and RX issues. Meanwhile, since you and I are the only ones left on this thread we can just assume this is our own little chat room until we figure out how we want to expand our forum. Hope you have a good night.

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I too have noticed an issue with the pill's ability to release medication when it is supposed to be released. I never had any issues with this medicine until the manufacturer changed the formula to combat folks chewing the pill to get a better high. For the most part, many of these folks were drug addict abusers and as always they screw things up for the legitimate patients. The change was to void out the abuse by chewing or crushing the tablets and it is dangerous to many patients who get their medications via a doctor's prescription. This change was rushed into production and I believe they need to rush it out of production in order to save people from the adverse affects caused by this modification. The mod may work for some, but it doesn't work for me and many others like yourself. Some times the drug works, but most of the time it seems to be like taking a placebo and I get no help what so ever. Patients need to take these writing to their doctors to get the FDA to force the makers to pull the mod until more tests can be done. Like you said, it seems there is a build up of the pill in the patients GI track which can eventually be deadly for a lot of us. The government needs to stop punishing the patients for misuse by addicts period. The FDA and DEA needs to stop thinking of all the users of this medication as addicts and abusers and realize they are doing more harm than good for the people who really need this medication which was given to them by Pain Management Doctors and not drug pushers. I am tired of paying for the actions of a few abusers, addicts and this mod that is making valid prescribed users look bad. I almost felt normal before this mod went into effect and now, I feel as bad as I did before going on the oxycontin ER, with the exception of several times a month it appears to work as prescribed. I have gone from a completely viable member of the community to a person who can hardly do anything and have been advised by several doctors that I should consider going on permanent disability. Damn it, I wouldn't have to if the medication worked like it used to before this idiotic modification.

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I was under the impression that the reason for the high cost of OxyContin (compare 20mg OC price with 20mg OxyNorm, the i/r form) was the state-of-the-art sustained-release system, which is so complicated that its basis, the different thicknesses of the coverings of the grains of oxycodone with the waxy 'balls' that determine how long they take to dissolve in gastric fluids, cost a fortune to develop. Now here we do not have any generic forms of oxycodone, only name-brand due to UK patent law, and so far as I am aware the system has never changed. The patent holder, NAPP (subsidiary in US is Fred.PURDUE), has always maintained that its m/r system is the most accurate ever devised.
I did the experiment that Ginny asked me to do, leaving four or five 40mg tablets in a glass of water overnight and found that the shells had all burst open and that about 60-75% of each tablet had dissolved. Just as should be. I had added two or three drops of acetic acid to the water to imitate the Hydrochloric in gastric juices, so I think for an experiment on the hoof, it was quite accurate. There was therefore no problem seen regarding differing rates of dispense through the body, and that OxyContin, at least the original brand, works as it should with no undissolved bits or tablets apparent.
I have never had a problem in that regard; only that perhaps I am under-prescribed and my doctor will not prescribe anything for breakthrough, which I think she refuses to believe even exists! In my experience a single 40mg OxyContin lasts for 8 or 9 hours at most. Ayone else find they don't last 12 hours?

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Hello Again,
Your Doctor won't prescribe for breakthrough pain? What category of pain treatment can we put this under; stupid? I'm given Norco 7.5/325 mg tablets ( 8 per day) for breakthrough pain. From the start I found the Oxycontin only last in me five hours max. That is pretty much the same for all my drugs. My Doctor was not surprised when I told her about the shorter life-span of the drug than what is published. I think the manufactures are hiding many accidental deaths related to the Oxycontin which may be caused by a build up of un-desolved tablets releasing all at once in the system as intentional over medicating to get high. It sure would hide a big issue if this is true. I do not put anything beyond their scope of rational when it involves billions of dollars each year for them. I have read that many drug manufactures hide, or bury, negative drug outcomes from their clinical studies. Here is a good case in point. The new bone building drug called Forteo, comes with a black box warning. They earned this FDA warning because the first study they conducted on rats with this drug ended up with every rat in the study getting bone cancer! They conducted two more studies on rats with different, lower levels of the Forteo and yet the rat's still got bone cancer in the second study. The second study delayed the release of the drug because they were trying to prove that the first study was invalid in order to get rid of the dreaded Black Box warning. When they couldn't get rid of the warning, they wrote in the patient information leaflet that because the doses were much higher than what humans get proportioned to their bodies, they can't really determine if these studies show anything meaningful. Right! While they had to sit on their behinds to see the outcome of the second study, they spent all their time and efforts redesigning the actual box itself probably to reduce the visual impact of the Black Box warning itself. This information is factual and it is only the beginning of some highly questionable outcomes on their clinical studies which are written up in a manner to hide the real big issues of this drug!

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Hi Ginny,
Yes, stupid seems about right. I tried again today and got the same answer. No increase in dosage, no breakthrough, no increase in alprazolam, no nothing, we want you off these things...
and they wonder why some of us have to resort to internet medicines!
As you can see below, my OxyContin behaved overnight just as it should, so no undissolved issue with my name-brand tablets; I am still getting 8 hours from them, which is more than you appear to be. I am concerned about the huge gap in analgesia between dihydrocodeine and morphine, which is filled in the USA by hydrocodone, meperidine etc. But then again, I can not get a US-based pharmacy to ship any of these things to me in the UK. I can't even access Dicodid, the 10mg pure hydrocodone which is sold in Germany. (They do not put paracetamol in with hydrocodone in Europe, unlike the US). More and deeper discussion is required on the whole subject of analgesia, especially since you lot over there have things that could help me which simply can not be had here. Mallinckrodt make an 8mg instant release hydromorphone which would also help - the strongest available here is 2.6mg! Peanuts to an elephant!
I need help in the form of decent 'in-between' analgesics and stronger alprazolam. The strongest tablet here is XANAX brand 500mcg! They deleted 1 and 2mg tablets a couple of years ago and are heading towards deleting alprazolam altogether. I need help. I can not get help. What on earth can anyone suggest? 40-50mg hydrocodone is pefect for breakthrough. Not available and even if it was, I doubt my doc would even write me up for it.
Can someone research how I can access anything of the nature I have described? I'm sick of those hours of pain and taking half an hour just to get out of bed in the morning.
Michael

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Hi Michael,
Hope you got my email today. If its any consulation, the US Doctors are pretty skimpy when it comes to handing out RXs for pain that actually work. They will mess with your Seritonin levels and prescribe you medications intended for Epileptic seizures before they will give you a pain pill. Sorry your having such a rough time of it. My Doctor recently started working within a large connected group of Doctors run by a big corporation and she has been lowering my pain med's every time I've seen her in this new group. I'm sick of the War on Drugs because the only ones they are actually affecting are patients who need the meds and are getting them legally. The Doctors over here are actually afraid of having their licenses pulled from them for prescribing pain meds that actually work.

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My father was a doctor, and the way the NHS was going was a factor in his taking early retirement. If such a situation prevailed here that a doc could actually be afraid of being 'struck off' for his prescribing, he would have seen it as an affront to his knowledge and abilities and an interference with his right to prescribe the correct medicine for the correct condition. Looks like we may be headed in that direction as well, now I see how you put it.
Utterly disgraceful state. A human being has a basic right to proper medical care.

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Its all very wierd. I used to take 1 30mg oxy and feel great but now I'm taking 6 at once to get that same feeling. I have taken 100 perks 7.5mg's in 2 days. When I finally ho to the bathroom ther are white specks in the turds. Can anyone relate. l

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Kell,
Taking 180-mg. of Oxycontin at one time is far, far beyond the danger zone for this medication. You must realize that you are playing Russian roulette every time you take this high dosage of this strong drug. I don't know what you mean by perks, but 100 of any pain medication in a two day period is again beyond dangerous. In all honesty it sounds as if you are intentionally putting your life at risk every day. I don't believe any Doctor would prescribe such large doses of Oxcontin in or out of a hospital situation, so you must be obtaining large quantities from more than one source.
As some would say, we are not medically trained so we can only offer personal opinions, but your routine appears to have a suicidal mission behind it. If not, you need to get some serious help A.S.A.P. because you are on the road to dying from an overdose every time you take such high doses of pain meds. The white flecks are the least of your worries. I hope you take my words to heart and seek help for your problem before something terrible happens to you. Good luck.

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