What Is Stronger/longer Lasting Than 10mg Percocet (Top voted first)
UpdatedMy primary dr has me on 10 mg percocet, 2 every 4 hrs for chronic/severe leg pain but it has lost it's effectiveness. I have appt w/pain mgt clinic on the 18th for the 1st time and am hoping they rx something stronger & definitely something that lasts longer. I haven't slept a full night in almost 2 years due to waking up in pain, taking meds, waiting for them to kick in and waiting to fall asleep again. Does anyone have an educated guess on what they may rx or what works well for this problem? Just curious and very excited at the prospect of having this pain under control.
I have been in the medical field for almost 20 years, every year gets more disappointing & aggravating to me. I have worked in Family practice, internal medicine, rehab & 4 specialty practices from interning to 2-8 years at 1 practice. I have come to the conclusion, patients are treated by their insurance not by their illness. If your HMO dont plan on seeing an M.D. you will be scheduled with an N.P. & if your PPO the M.D. will see you. Medicine use to be my passion but seeing how medicine has become is changing my perspective, I'm actually looking to pursue another career because of it. My husband is going through a back issue, congenital spinal stenosis, DDD, disc herniation & buldges, free fragments on S1. Ortho sent him to Pain MGMT of course for epidurals to buy him time from getting a spinal fusion & laminectomy. Epidural wasn't effective but cost $$$ copay. Ortho basically told him find a new job where you can stand but not sit, lift, twist or bend. So we were looking for mannequin jobs. WTF? Really Doc? He also told him if he plans on going back to Motocross he doesn't feel comfortable performing the surgery. He's retired, does not race or freestyle. He's not risking his life out there he just rides cautiously now. He's had 1 epidural next one is next week, takes percocet 10/325 3-6 a day. Ortho RX'd 2 every 6-8hrs. Pain MGMT RX'd 3 a day. Flexeril isn't working, ice then heat neither. Sleeping with knees bent seem to be a miracle, he can get out of bed without the electrical shocks. Invest in a knee elevation pillow. Ortho office staff does not submit STAT referrals until a week later when protocol is immediately so it can be approved within hours so an appt can be scheduled ASAP. were changing primary doctors eff Nov 1st so we can transfer to a different group all together due to their incompetent staff. Being in pain daily is no quality of life & people question addiction, suicide, depression, divorce, etc. Pain can cause people do whatever it takes to get relief. I've seen it all. Compassion in the medical field has disappeared. It breaks my heart. Sorry this was a novel I guess I vented.
WOW! Sounds EXACTLY Like what we deal with ALL the time!! Doctors who DONT check or take the time to read the History! Dont even KNOW WHY you are there to see them in the first place HALF the Time! Then WONT give DOCUMENTED Pain Management Medications that have CLEARLY been documented successful. Yet they will prescribe rarely a Narcotic which you can NOT take and or are INEFFECTIVE! Chronic PAIN is Debilitating, Frustrating, Deppressing, Defeating, Emotional, Scary, Exhausting and makes you feel completely out of control and Helpless! That is on a DECENT Day!! Let alone ADD to the pain by being refused medication to help you, Doctor after Doctor because EVERYONE is SO afraid of the Narcotic Addiction Fairy who apparently turns EVERYONE in to an Pill Popping addict the minute they start taking any Narcotic or Opiate. Ridiculous! If ANY of them went through days of constant Chronic Pain, what the BLEEP would they do? Let alone 5YEARS of it!
I'm looking for a good in-between medication to take. I'm already on 10/325. I'm trying to keep my pain under control.
I have spondylosis, spondylithesis, degenerative disc disease, sacroiliac joint dysfunction, and several ruptured discs.
I've gone through 5 different "doctors" in the past 2.5 months of being on medi-cal. I'm shocked and appalled at how lame these doctors are. I've been taking pain medication since '08, after landing on my head at 50mph after being launched 20 ft in the air. Two years after that accident, some i**** in the Army pulled a hit & run that fractured one vertebrae, and ruptured 3 others, in addition to acerbating the neck injury 2 years prior. I had been prescribed methadone 10mg 3x/day for the long term pain, and percocet 10/325's for the breakthrough pain. That combination was almost working for me----enabling me to at least get out of bed, anyway, but the side effects from the methadone were worse than the injuries themselves. I got off the methadone-quit cold turkey, no withdraw symptoms, (it was ONLY prescribed for pain, NOT for any substance abuse issues) and because the last doctor I'd seen retired, I didn't have anyone to prescribe anything different for the long term pain.
The several i****s I'd seen while trying to find a pain management specialist, were all afraid to prescribe my usual percocets, EVEN THOUGH I had documentation from my pharmacist proving that I (for the past 4 years) had NEVER run out early, or otherwise abused the dosages. These losers would only prescribe the 5/325's, and for a few days at best. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that by completely cutting off the long term medication AND cutting the breakthrough medication IN HALF, that I'd run out sooner.
So instead of looking at my medical records, my medical reports, and my prescription history, they just pulled a number out of their heads, and by not having the medication I needed, I was subjected to excruciating lower back pain & cervicogenic headaches for a month.
I hit a new pain management doctor who decided to not prescribe anything for the long term pain (even though I have spinal surgery coming up-plates, rods, screws at L5), and in his infinite wisdom he decided to DOUBLE DOSE 5/325 Percocets (so i went from 90 10/325's to 180 5/325's). I had explained to Einstein that I've literally been constipated since birth (at 3 days old I had 'rhoids and fissures, and at 6 weeks I had an upper/lower GI, as well as a barium enema, and the same again at 17 years old plus a fun sigmoidoscopy....and was never on pain meds tip 4 years ago). I explained to him that I DONT want that much acetamenaphine, AND that my pharmacist, who knew my medical history, suggested the straight 10mg's of oxycodone for the breakthrough pain, and oxycontin for the long term pain. That formula would've had me taking a much lower QUANTITY of pain meds, which is what I want, as well as completely taking out the acetamenaphine, because I worry about my liver, and that much acetamenaphine makes me feel nauseated.
I found a nurse practitioner who had the balls to actually prescribe what my pharmacist suggested, but only for a short amount of time. THAT formula worked better than anything I've taken in the past four years, yet the new pain management doctor (who completely ignored ANY of my history, including the constipation and my spondylosis and spondylithesis) only wants to give me the double dose of acetamenaphine. Has anyone found a pain management doc in the Inland Empire of Southern CA who actually LISTENS to you, and who does his due diligence in trying to actually help with managing pain? The guy I'm seeing is at Loma Linda, and is full of himself. I need someone who will LISTEN to me, as I've had this body for the past 46 years, and know what works for it, what doesn't, and what makes me feel worse! The staff was totally condescending....when I mentioned that I have a T.B.I., the resident intern sarcastically said, "oh yeah? and what's a TBI?" REALLY!?!?!?! I only blacked out SEVEN TIMES while en route to the ER after my head trauma, and had been diagnosed by the ER doctor with my head trauma and subsequent TBI, (which was in my records that the jerk never bothered to read). He also insulted my intelligence about something else, but I forget (short term memory from the TBI). I'm sick and tired of these assembly-line medical practices, where you have to hurry up and wait, only to be rushed through once in an exam room, and where the doctors rush me to the point where I don't get to explain everything that I wanted to. I actually had one doctor tell me "I was confusing him," when I attempted to explain that I had three different issues to discuss. Apparently all of the doctors in the hi desert of CA are from the very bottom of their graduating class, let alone the shallow end of the gene pool.
If anyone in Southern CA knows of a GOOD pain management doctor who understands head traumas, fibromyalgia, & spinal injuries, PLEASE let me know!
When you start dealing with high buffer content from raising the amount of pills in a day, one has to worry about the liver. So your Dr. would likely go with Oxycodone 15 mg, which is the same narc. thats in the Perc. I've been on the stuff this stretch nearly 10 years, I know pain sucks I deal with it every day and have been for nearly 30 years, My advice to you is to take the bear minimum, because you will only become resistant to a higher dose, and so on until you start running out before your next script is due, then you think you cant sleep now, I lost some pills (hid them from myself) and ended up going 11 days without sleep, none, not 40 winks but nothing, and you will get sick, take a bad case of the flu, and think 50 times worse and that may come close. He will probably go with the Oxycodone but my advise to you is think about it long and hard before going up. P.S. Tip, if you start taking the Percs. you are on now every 4 to 6 hours, and after 2 weeks go from 6 to 8 and go 2 weeks then you wont suffer withdraw plus at the end of those 2 weeks you go back to 4 to 6 I would do 6 but you will feel them working better. Just be careful, the s*** will put you in a hole.
There are actually several time released medications that they may choose from. The most commonly used contains Oxycodone, it's called Oxycontin.
https://rxchat.com/wiki/Oxycontin/
There's also a time released Morphine available as a generic and under the name brand MS Contin:
https://rxchat.com/wiki/Morphine/
And a patch that contains the very strong narcotic Fentanyl:
https://rxchat.com/wiki/Fentanyl/
There is, however, no guarantee that they will prescribe anything, because not every pain management clinics uses medications.
I do hope you get the help you need to get this problem under control.
Does anyone else have anything to add?
This is so stupid. Dave here. Not going into details of my back issues. But to the point, if suicide is the only form of relief, and why has this always got to come up ? Do I need to make serious attempt in order to get the attention I need ? Stupid, stupid, stupid. If THOSE people are so smart and know what's better for me, then why do I have to threaten with suicide? Is that all they know? Pretty sure they wish I would just go away. What goes around comes around. Explicative.
Pain clinics tend to avoid prescriptions. In my experience (I've had mind blowing lower back pain for 5yrs now)...anyway I ended up getting a cortisone injection into my spine. And I was sent there bc I was on 60mgs 3X's a day plus 7 vicoden for breakthrough pain...when I said the meds weren't working well is when I was sent to a pain clinic. So don't get to excited about their prescribing a medication bc most likely they wont do Jack except injections. And stay away from the patch bc the patches occasionally don't stick well or don't have an even dose & then your stuck with a lot of pain. If u r upped by ur present prescriber use the MS contin extended time release. It's easy on ur body, u know ur pain will remain under control, & it's really easy to stop them w/ little to no withdraw.
I'm in the same situation with the acetaminophen. They just don't listen! .. I'm from MI, it's the same way here. ...I think there just trying too kill off people with long term chronic pain. Slowly wiping out are stomachs and liver with acetaminophen.
In response to your question, I have found a very good pain management clinic in murrieta. It's American spine in murrieta. Stan actually listened to me and gave me what I needed for the pain.
ive been to 5 pain clinic they want to just do the shot,they dont like to give out pain meds,they make alot of money giving the shots,they never helped me i had 5 sets up and down my sine never halped,i have degenerate disc disese,2 bulging disk in my necl fibromyalga,and both legs have the knee caps out of place,my last pain clinic after the shots put me on oxycodone 10mg 4 times a day and morphine extended release,i move 3 years ago,my regular doctor was giving me the same,i have copd,i cant take morphine he put me on the fentl patch ive done before,dont work lowered my pills to 60 a month,i had 120 a month,dont count on the clinic they try getting you off pain pills all the way and keep you takeing the shots,its hell when you have lots of pain and it ends up them not doing much,im pushing 60,
I have severe nerve pain and am *sort of* okay with my meds program. I take gabapentin and cymbalta at night, Percocet and Celebrex for pain. The first to do a pretty good job and the last to take me all the way. Unfortunately, spinal injections/cortisone don't help.
So glad you posted about how insurance causes different treatment. I know for a fact that if you have medicaid in Virginia and go to the E.R. that the on call physician will have you diagnosed before physically seeing you. I asked the Dr how he even knew for sure what was wrong with me without doing an exam and he just stared for a minute and handed me a prescription and walked out. My daughter who knew one of the nurses had told her about this so I paid more attention. She was threatened with losing her job for having said to the Dr that it should not make a difference if you have insurance or what type if they truly cared about their patients. That same week she saved another patients life because she handled an emergency better than the dr. She was one of my favorite nurses because she truly cared and used common sense. It's hard to find a compassionate caregiver that makes you feel safe.
I have had 5 spine surgery and have nerve damage to my lower back and legs. I've had an implanted pain pump for 6 years. To date I can honestly say there has been nothing put in my pump that works. If anyone is having the same problem please let me know what works.
Who did you see in Loma Linda?
Over at Inland Pain in Colton see Dr Hesseltine
Great pain mgmt in Newport Beach.
I totally know what your talking about.
What is Celebrex for? Does cymbalta speed you up like say wellbutri? I'm on Methadone 10mg twice a day, tram afoul 3 times a day, and Percocet for break thru. I am in constant pain and working full time is killing me.
Celebrex is an anti-inflammatory and really helps me. The cymbalta doesnt speed me up, it was quite a bit of help to me in reducing my pain. The gabapentin has the nasty side effect of making me tired.
Also, i think if you havent tried accupuncture, it is worth it to try. It helped me some.
Dr. James Rho. I know this is an old post but just in case you haven't found one yet.
Dr. James Rho great Dr. He is totally a cool doc. Reviewed my films and reports Haveva hernation at C6-C7 with nerve damage down both arms. Also a hernation at L5-S1 with nerve damage. Orthro would only give me Norco at 180!a month. Dr. Rho put me on Nucynta ER 150mg 2x a day and 10/325 Percs 3xday for break through pain. Extended release meds work great except only last about 8hours and the Percs make me really sick bad side affects. But I have gotten my life back and can do a lot more then with out them. I see him tomorrow and am going to see if he can bit me on Diludid for break through pain. I had taken them one before and the worked great. Wish you luck.
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