Transitioning From Oxycodone
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Hi! I've never posted here, but hopefully you guys can point me in the right direction. I have been on oxycodone 10mg for six years. The problem is, it's just not working as well for me anymore. A friend of mine, who had been on oxycodone for 16 years, has recently transitioned to methadone and is almost completely pain free. Does anyone else have experience with trading these two medications? Has your experience been the same? I just don't want to bother changing what I'm on now to something else if it's not going to relieve my pain. (I've also been on Dilaudid, Demerol and morphine, and for me, they're pretty useless for treating arthritis pain, so don't recommend those! LOL) I'm looking for something long-acting that will maybe give me my life back. Any suggestions are appreciated!

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Hi Raebelle, I highly suggest that you do NOT get on Methadone as it is an EXTREMELY hard drug to get off of- if for any reason that this drug just isn't for you. Although you would have to take it for a good length period of time to experience this withdrawal. My best friend went to a 30 day in treatment center to get off of methadone, unfortunately and sadly she left 8 days before completing the program and tried very hard to keep away from them, however, ended up going back to them. She told me out of all the people that were there with "thier" specific drug addiction, by far methadone was the hardest to wean off of and her experience was unsettling, couldn't sleep, RLS (restless leg syndrome) was awful, high blood pressure (which is normal when getting off any narcotic ie: pain medication. I'm not a doctor, but I've looked into it myself because I myself take NORCO 10/325 for 5 years and they just aren't working like they use to. My doctor said the next medication to take that is safer is Oxycodone or as what people call them "Oxy's" But I chose NOT to up my strength and just remain on what I'm on. Knowing how hard to get off these meds scare me. If the pain is that bad my doctor also prescribed me a steroid pack & believe me I don't like steroids but it does help tremendously with the inflammation. So with the valuable information that I received from my friend, I would keep away from Methadone. OR at least have a sit down talk with your pain doctor and see what he says. Make sure to ask him what the long term affects are and if you have to change meds again, how hard will it be to switch. I hope this helps. Good luck and God bless

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Well, I'm almost positive that the OxyContin is going to be way too expensive, but I have also been looking at the oxycodone 15mg. For some reason, they are less expensive that the 10/325, so I think I'll talk to my doctor about that and see what happens- if we go to the 15mg three times a day, it's only 5mg more a day than the 10mg four times a day, which is what I'm taking right now. Thanks for your help- I'll keep you posted!

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Thank you for your response. And my pain is definitely not something to apologize for, it's my cross to bear- we all have them, and I'm sure it's not uncommon on this site. I have thought about going up in dosage with the oxycodone, but unfortunately for me, the price goes up as well. I have no insurance at the moment, and my prescription last month shot up to $240 (I normally take the 10mg oxycodone, but the pharmacy could not obtain that dose from the manufacturer and we had go with the 10/325 oxycodone/APAP- costs literally three times as much.) The methadone, however, costs $12. I made a list for my doctor of other options- hydrocodone, etc. (even the 15mg oxycodone is cheaper by over $100). Ultimately it's up to him, I just kind of wanted some opinions. Another thing- I will be in pain for the rest of my life. I do not have an injury that will heal, or anything of that nature, so it's pretty much guaranteed that I will need some sort of opioid therapy for the rest of my life. I've made my peace with that, but it would still be nice to find something that helped a little better. I miss out on so much right now. I know it could be worse, but it could be better, too- that's all I'm looking for!?

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Hello, RaeBelle! How are you? I am sorry that you're in so much pain.

The main issue with switching to Methadone is that it is highly addictive and most people can't ever stop taking it, which is why those that use it to treat drug addiction usually end up on a lifetime maintenance dose of it. Thus, it's generally preferable to not go to it, unless you've exhausted your other options.

The FDA classifies this medication as a narcotic analgesic, so it has the potential to be habit forming and may cause side effects, such as nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, dry mouth and constipation.

However, there are higher doses of Oxycodone that you can try, as well as a time released version called Oxycontin.

Does anyone else have any ideas or suggestions that may help?

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