What Is Stronger - Dilaudid Or Opana?
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What is stronger, a Dilaudid 8mg or Opana 10mg? I was taking Dilaudid 8mg every 6 hrs for six months and then the pain would come back in three hours. My doctor has switched me to Opana 10mg er and this is the second day... I am in so much pain. How long will it take for Opana to be effective? I'm suffering, help.

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Re: Jac (# 23)

Sadly the rules have changed. Doctors used to be able and write the scripts with nobody questioning them. Patients didnt question, pharmacists didnt question and the government didnt question. Now we have one too many pharmaceutical companies that have made huge mistakes and back treading. We have the govt telling the dr what they can or cant do. We have patients that talked with a friend about meds that worked or didnt work for them. We have the t.v. advertising meds so we as the patient are armed and ready to tell the doctor what we think he or she should write for us. Doctors often aren't even aware of new drugs unless the salesman is stopped by the office to hand out pamphlets, pens, lunch and if its not scheduled the many free samples. I dont blame dr for not wanting to write the scripts. They would rather push the writing off onto the pain clinics. Most doctors arent in private practice and the insurance has to be outrageous. I cant imagine what it must be like for them. I truly think in most cases most doctors dont agree with all thats going on. Doctors sure dont want to be questioned on a daily bases. We are one of 2 countries that advertises drugs on tv, billboards, radio and print. That says something.. Crazy.. Peace & soul.

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Re: BackPainRN (# 17)

WOW just wow. I have no idea how you even function at all. Your hospital story is a good representation of my last 3 surgeries and a 4th unrelated stay. Hospitals suck. I was extremely lucky to have a great aid after my 3rd surgery who was a godsend. He had been a teacher and wants to be a PA. Most other aids have been like $8 hr workers who couldn’t get into the MVA.

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Dilaudid's mg are small in Number but the more powerful of the two. I still have 40 mg opana's which I did not appreciate in it's rubberized reformulation. I'm sorry you are in So much pain as the change was not to help but more of the governments regulations which does not give a darn for legitimate folks with chronic pain. Still researching as to what WE. Can do,. If anything at all.

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Re: Sherry (# 24)

Sherry, im not on pain meds ( very fortunate) i do have older parents in 80s that have been on them for years. Now they want or are cutting back and forcing them to seek the pain clinics. Hey.. i get we have a problem. Its not the public that brought it on.these pharmaceutical companies and greed. I am all for new changes that work. Start with the new patients. Changing old habits old ways can be very difficult for elderly. For others that have been taking pain meds for years they need to realize it took you probably some time to figure just how the meds work for you. Everyone is different. To find that window of which meds work to not working is or can be a long painful process. I dont envy you. Have strength . Hopefully it will change. Peace & Soul, Dierdre

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I have constant pain and now they are dropping my dosage and I have to work, and it’s not by doctors choice. I don’t want to be on disability, I want to work. I’ve been on the same medicine for 10 years. I’ve done all their tests and pill counts and do everything I’m supposed to do. So I’m being punished for others that don’t do what they’re supposed to do. They're going to make it worse for people in pain. They think people OD now..... well it will only get worse. I can see them trying new ways for new patients but people that have been on medicine for 5 or more years just leave them alone. Just my opinion.

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Re: Kaydollasign (# 21)

AMEN. AMEN. AMEN. AMEN. Does this ever sound familiar! Drs with no backbone running away from epidemic problems. Turned their backs on us and have decided it's easier for them to paint us all with the same brush. It's HORRIBLE.

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Re: Kaydollasign (# 21)

Sounds like you have something pressing on a nerve in your back. I have suffered with back pain & back problems all my life nearly. I go regularly to a chiropractor who uses an Activator, (no crunching) and his method has given me a lot of relief over the years. I go regularly once a month & he keeps me virtually pain free. You should go to one who uses the Activator method of treatment, it works wonders and doesn't hurt or anything.

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Re: BackPainRN (# 17)

Wow, we have a lot in common. I have so many issues with my back also including Spondolothesis, a fracture, scoliosis, stenosis and arthritis. My vertebra slippage pain started the morning after I gave birth to my daughter 24 yrs ago. I worked through terrible pain all this time because I was so against pain meds because my sister was addicted to them. I'd go to work with ice bags strapped to my back and Ben Gay rubbed all over it. I too was married to a sociopath who tried to kill me then a couple of weeks later did shoot someone in the head and killed them. We had a business together and I worked like a man, very hard labor which all made my back so much worse. I finally had to give in and get some relief from the pain. I only get 3 hydrocodone a day, 10 mg. but they don't really help. My doctor won't prescribe anything stronger and I am disabled from this crippling pain. I was approved right away and I too am now poor, struggling just to exist. I once had everything and now I have nothing. I cannot believe your doctor prescribed you Cymbalta for pain, LOL, that is an antidepressant, what kind of quack is he? That crap doesn't help pain and I don't know why some doctors give an antidepressant for pain, sounds like they're assuming all your pain is in your head and an antidepressant would help you. I cannot stand how some of these doctors are taking the recommendations from the CDC as LAW, it's NOT the law and doctors are free to write whatever they want, whatever they see fit to help their patient. What is so wrong with prescribing something strong enough to help someone get out of constant pain?? Thanks a lot to all the narcotic thrill seekers who lied and got narcotics just to feel high. There's a lot of people to blame for this disaster, doctors who prescribed to people without requesting MRIs, Xrays or anything to prove and show that there was reason for serious pain. Also the drug seekers, but they couldn't get the meds w/o the doctors so the doctors who wrote them for people with NO pain are now the same doctors who won't write them for people who have real pain and no quality of life. I have no life, my life is lying on the couch crying in pain.

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Opana is a time released drug, an no time released drugs work well at all compared to an immediate release drug.

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My cousin would say Dilaudid, but they would be doing them wrong. I have had both and neither one helps me.

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I've been on just about every narcotic there is for my chronic pain. Opana did less for me than a Tylenol. This has Been my experience but honestly it did absolutely nothing.

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Re: Sosickvic to (# 7)

Did you have your spine fused for the scoliosis? Your back sounds very similar to mine, and after 20 years of learning to live with pain, I got pregnant and continued working 12 hour shifts on my feet in a hospital neuro-unit (most patients are total - care and the work is physically grueling). My lower back, which had begun to degenerate in many ways: I had only 3 remaining lumbar discs after having 15 levels of my spine fused and my rib cage "re-shaped"--1 full rib plus 3 partial ribs removed and my whole rib cage broken and re-shaped to look normal/even, the rib bone was used in the disc spaces to replace the 14 discs that were removed to fuse my spine. Hardware was screwed in place, and I was put in a body cast for 4 months. The recovery was beyond grueling. 1.5 years after the fusion, I required another major surgery to remove the hardware and excess scar tissue and re-fuse the lowest level of fusion (L2-L3) which hadn't properly fused (and it still hasn't--it's unstable bone on bone and it moves and it hurts). Anyway, I recover from all of that (physically & mentally) and was able to live a full active life with chronic pain that I didn't let hold me back. I had a weekly 90 minute deep tissue massage, and weekly Chiropractic treatments, and I lived on 800mg of ibuprofen 3x/day from the time I was 14 until I got pregnant. On that regimen I lived life to the fullest and wasn't held back or troubled much by the chronic pain I lived with.

Then, in the 2 years before my pregnancy, my low back was becoming unmanageable. I wore 2 back braces under my scrubs to work, I continued to live on ibuprofen, but also had to take norco 5-10mg with 10mg Valium when my back was out so bad that I was stuck in bed. Prior to that, a Vicodin 5/500mg bottle of 30 tabs would sit in my medicine cabinet untouched for 4+ years, and I'd have to go to the doctor and get a new bottle if my back was acting up bad enough to reach for the Vicodin 5/500. About 3 years before my pregnancy, something changed in my low back. The arthritic joints were getting worse & the 3 remaining lumbar discs I had were bulging, had tears, and the vertebrae had become unstable, one level had moderate spondololisthis ("slipped vertebrae"). The severe arthritis of the facets caused an extremely painful "facet syndrome" and my lower back, mid-back, buttocks, and hip muscles were in chronic spasm--completely locked up/"charley-horse" muscles. My back would "go out" putting me in bed for a week, followed by two months of extreme pain with any activity, including simply trying to stand up straight (standing up straight still requires a lot of effort and causes a lot of pain, and my muscles have to work very hard to achieve an upright stance), plus muscle spasms that were constant and beyond severe. I don't think it possible for muscles to cramp up more severely, and it NEVER let up at all. My back began "going out" more & more frequently, and I was suffering the after effects of it going out pretty much 24/7, with no relief/healing before it'd go out again.

Then my pregnancy (which I told my husband I needed to postpone until I saw a neurosurgeon to find out what was going on with my back, but he had other ideas, and I became pregnant even though I knew my body wouldn't tolerate it well, as I could barely manage to work full-time at that point--and I was physically fit & very strong, and still struggling to stand up straight, and seriously struggling with my work load). Working those grueling 12 hour shifts while pregnant completely destroyed my back. There were many days where it would take me more than 30 minutes to walk to my car after work. And when I'd get home, I'd sit down & cry uncontrollably, with severe pain from head to toe--including pain in every lymph node, joint, and muscle in my entire body. Oh, I didn't mention, I also suffered from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue for 2 years prior to my pregnancy (it started about 1 year after my back began going out). My doctors thought it was due to working the night shift, but it didn't change when I switched to day shift. They evaluated me for everything, and after MS, lupus, Lyme's disease, cancers and everything else was ruled out, the decided I had fibromyalgia. Fun, fun, fun. My life was pain and pain was my life. And I still had to work those grueling 12 hour hospital shifts in the Neuro-Unit to pay my mortgage. I was out on disability intermittently when my back would go out really bad, and then more frequently during and after my pregnancy.

I couldn't take medication during pregnancy or for one year afterwards so that I could breastfeed my daughter. I did aggressive physical therapy which did make me stronger, but mostly the exercises aggravated my back and did more harm than good. I was very strong and very fit, but still in blinding severe pain most of the time, and moderate pain some of the time. And when my pain was in the "moderate" zone, I was very happy, and felt like I could do more (physically), and so I did, and I'd end up back in "severe" pain because I'd over - exert myself. Oh, and the pregnancy not only destroyed my already deteriorating low back, it also destroyed my abdominal wall. I cannot engage my abdominal muscles. I lost my core strength. This put an enormous strain on my low back after the pregnancy. While I was pregnant and in overwhelming pain, I put up with it, believing it'd be over with after I had my daughter. That didn't happen. And I could only do physical therapy for the pain because I was breastfeeding. After my daughter was age 1, I stopped nursing and, on my doctor's advice, I went on Cymbalta for chronic pain management. It did nothing for me. Physical therapy did little for me, however, I was able to train my deeper abdominal muscles to engage and I regained some core strength although the majority of my abdominal muscles no longer worked. I had surgery to fix an umbilical hernia (which had likely caused my abdominal wall to seperate during pregnancy). I developed this umbilical hernia 1 week before I was impregnated. I told my husband that I needed to be seen by a surgeon before I get pregnant because I believe I had an umbilical hernia--my "innie bellybutton" had suddenly turned into an "outie" bellybutton, as an RN I recognized it was a hernia, and common sense told me the strain of a pregnant abdomen on an umbilical hernia could end up bad.

This brand new hernia plus my back deteriation caused me pause on our family planning, and I wanted to see two specialists before we proceeded with a pregnancy...I was impregnated 5 minutes after giving him that speech. No surprise, we are now divorced. I am no longer able to work because of the damage done to my body during my pregnancy. I went from being financially independent, supporting myself, my husband, and my daughter, to being disabled and poor, sharing custody of my child with the sociopathic monster who took away my ability to work, and my ability to care for myself or my daughter without the aid of strong pain medications daily.And he tried to use my disability and my dependence on medication, to take my daughter away from me (and only because now that I couldn't work, he had to pay alimony & child support). Thank God (and thank my family who loaned me money for an attorney) the court saw through his lies and he lost. Even after years of intensive physical therapy, I am not able to full engage my core muscles to take the strain of standing and physical activity off of my low back. Unfortunately, the surgeon who fixed my umbilical hernia after I had my daughter said that abdominal muscle separation sometimes happens as a result of pregnancy, and even though mine is significant/severe, the surgery to bring my abdominal muscles back together is considered a "cosmetic procedure," and I should simply consider my split abdominal wall "a badge of motherhood," and accept that my stomach will never be flat. I don't think he understood how unstable and decaying my low back was, and how much I depended on my abdominal muscles to reduce the strain on my low back.

Just standing up puts an unbearable strain on my low back, and I could feel it everyday after my pregnancy. The Cymbalta did NOT help my pain in any way. It is intended for "moderate chronic pain." And my chronic pain was by no means "moderate." It was (and still is) SEVERE, and it's constant, and there is a mechanical cause for it. My low back was completely destroyed, as was my abdominal muscles which now provide very little support to decrease strain on my back during activity. I saw two Neurosurgeons who both said my back was too complex for them to do surgery on. They both said I'd have to see Dr. Ames at UCSF to find out if surgery was an option. If it is an option, Dr. Ames is said to be the only surgeon who could operate on a back as complex as mine. They also both said the likely surgery for me would be a complete fusion of my low back to my pelvis: fusing L2-S1 and also S1 fused to my pelvis. I am already fused from vertebrae levels T1-L3, although the L2-L3 fusion hasn't taken after 2 surgeries. I do not want to be fused to that degree. I would be completely stiff except for my neck--and those vertebrae & discs will likely go next...after vertebra are fused together, because their movement is limited, the vertebra above and below the fusion are subjected to more strain and develop wear and tear at a faster than normal rate, and the "degenerative disc disease" spreads to the next level...and that level will need to be fused. I'm already fused 15 levels, I most likely need the rest of my lower spine fused AND my spine fused to my pelvis. How long will it be until my neck needs to be fused? I have a lot of problems with my neck, but it's not nearly as severe as my low back, so I don't mention it to my doctors.

I fear getting an xray or MRI of my neck. I fear the outcome. I know it had problems. Like my legs and feet, my arms, hands, and fingers experience nerve pain, numbness, and tingling. I don't even want to know! My hips and knees kill me too. Sometimes my knees hurt more than my back. A low back xray has already revealed I have degeneration in my hips, and my hips don't hurt nearly as bad as my knees. I'm afraid to have my knees xrayed too. If my doctor's examine and treat everything that's breaking down in my body, I'd likely be fused from C2 to my pelvis, double hip replacement, and double knee replacement. If you have experienced anything close to the back surgeries I have had (spinal fusion of 15 vertebrae and rib cage contouring, then later hardware and scar tissue removal), you would not want to undergo any more major surgeries until it was completely necessary. BOTH times I had surgery, I contracted hospital borne infections (and, while in ICU recovering, I was molested by a staff member during my last back surgery). No thank you to hospitals. I became an RN because I knew how shitty it was to be helpless and at you're most vulnerable, relying on hospital staff to tend to your every need. It's an awful feeling. And an awful feeling made worse when the staff treats you like you're putting them out when you need their help to use the bathroom or bed pan. And even worse when they ignore your calls for help, then treat you like you're the a**hole because you vomited all over yourself and your bedding because they left your tray table and vomit basin out of your reach the last time they were there, and you were left helpless...pressing the call button like an a**hole, with no one responding, and when someone finally comes around, you're passed out with dried vomit on your face and everywhere else, and they hym and haw as they clean you up, and you're desperately trying to fight back tears.

No thank you! And don't get me started on medication errors, and under-medicating pain. As a patient I've personally experienced the worst, and as an RN I've personally seen the worst in the care of hospitalized patients and patients in rehab/sub-acute facilities. No Thank You!! As an RN, I was not allowed to provide the level of patient care my patients required. Those who finished work on time cut corners in patient care--it is the only way to complete all of your responsibilities without doing overtime. When overtime was banned, patient care went out the window. I wouldn't and couldn't allow that with my patients, on my watch. I performed patient care at the level required, and I charted on my breaks, lunch, and after work off the clock. I will NEVER be hospitalized again as long as I have the ability to prevent it. And when my family members are hospitalized, I'm right there, or on the phone constantly making sure their needs are met, and errors are avoided--and tryst me, I have prevented multiple medication errors on behalf of my hospitalized family members by being involved, asking questions, and having the knowledge that I have. A piece of advice: avoid hospitals! They are dirty, and dirty with germs you do NOT want to mess around with. They are set up to catch & prevent errors, HOWEVER the most important component of error prevention, and providing you with the most appropriate course of treatment is the staff--mainly the doctors and nurses, but they are stretched too thin to pay close enough attention to actually meet your CHANGING needs throughout your hospital stay. It is very rate to find a good nurse, who will detect something is wrong, and choose to investigate further and call an MD and get new orders when needed.

They're more likely to function as robots and only complete the existing orders, doing the bare minimum required to complete each task, as they are overwhelmed with tasks and their main objective is time management in order to avoid overtime. Trust that is the truth. They are task oriented. Even the experienced nurses are now also completely consumed with completing their tasks timely. It's their number one goal. Patient care is NOT their number one goal. There is a very very small percentage of nurses that will intervene until/unless it's life threatening EVEN THOUGH the signs of trouble start two or three shifts before a life threatening emergency occurs. And your pain!? If it's not controlled, they will not pick up a phone and page a doctor unless you are willing and able to make a fuss, demand help, advocate for yourself. If you or a family member doesn't advocate for you, do not expect a nurse will intervene on your behalf. This may sound long and rambling, BUT this one major obstacle in the way of me getting a surgery that may or may not fix my body's problems and reduce my pain. This is one reason I prefer to live on pain pills rather than have yet one more back surgery. Hospitals suck. Hospitals make you sick. The care you receive in a hospital is a gamble, and the odds are not in favor of the patient. Hospitals are dangerous. It is very hard for me to again put myself in the precarious position of making myself vulnerable and completely in the hands of others that I cannot trust to have my well being in their interest. Getting their work done on time is their main goal, and their work load and responsibilities are always increasing.

I know this because I worked in a hospital for 7 years, and in th as t 7 years, my administrative responsibilities tripled with increased regulations and changes in how we chart, where we chart, double charting, and what we were responsible for always increased, and my patient care responsibilities doubled as auxiliary staff--nurse aids and lift teams were cut. The take away here: I personally avoid the hospital. Especially now that I'm on regular pain medication. I know for a fact, they will NOT properly control my post-operative pain as an opiate tolerant person. When pain isn't controlled, your movement is limited. When you don't move enough, recovery takes longer. The longer you're at the hospital, the greater your exposure to hospital born infections and medical errors. When your pain isn't controlled, it hurts to even breathe, and you become higher risk to catch pneumonia. Also, when your breathing is shallow, you develop fevers and your tissues aren't well oxygenated and your more susceptible to infections of your surgical incisions. Very few nurses actually take the time to make you do your incentive spirometer (more importantly, to advise you how to do it correctly, observe you doing it, set goals for you, and check to see that you're doing every hour at least 10x, observe your progress, and if you're not reaching your goal, work with you to do it...BUT they'll CHART that you did it 10x every hour, and they'll chart your highest number you reached when they watched you do it THE ONE TIME when they assessed you at the beginning of their 12 hour shift. You may not use the incentive spirometer again until the next nurse comes on duty, but they will chart that you did it 10x every hour and even falsify the number you reached--every hour. If you're a nurse like I was, one that won't falsify charting, and one that wants to see their patients recover well and recover quickly, you will actually be in the patient room every hour, making them use their incentive spirometer while they're bedridden...as we are trained to do, and as we chart we HAVE DONE. If you actually do that, like me, you will be charting off the clock on your own time, risking getting fired for charting off the clock because actual patient care took up too much of your time during your shift for you to chart everything you did. There is no place for REAL NURSES in the hospital anymore...only EFFICIENT nurses. And efficiency comes at the cost of patient care.

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What is the pharmaceutical or medical difference between Dilaudid and Opana? I mean what is the equivalent dose of Opana 15mg in Dilaudid?

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I have been on opana 10mg for years...Alot of years and fentanyl 10 or 15 years.... I had a Drs appt they changed my
Opana10mg I was told they no longer make the opana... Is this true????

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Hi! I just left my doctor and have a new prescription for 1-8mg Dilaudid ER daily. This is in addition to the 10/325 Percocets 4x's daily. Am I looking at some relief finally?
Not familiar with ER Meda other than Fentanyl patch...which helped pain...but after 3 days caused hallucinations! That was CRAZY! Haven't ever had hallucinations but I couldn't afford to continue the med due to my profession.
Thanks and God Bless all of you!

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Find another doctor!!! ASAP
no Doctor should get upset when you ask questions pertaining to your condition or treatment of your condition....please PLEASE find another doctor and release your records so the new one can go over everything. also, always take notes, after your visits just jaunt down what he said while it's fresh in your mind. God Bless you!

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Please go online and look up red vein kratom; get some and take 3 grams in hot water with honey, then go to a narcotics anonymous meeting. There is help for u there for every problem u have. May the lord bless you.

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6 failed lower back operations damage nerve scar tissue on nerve 5 deterioration disc upper back 3 severe multiple bone spurs sticking me in my nerves and I need both kneese replace I can chew 4 oxycontin 40mg and they do nothing swallow 1 and went right through me the op 40mg suck very bad. I need something that will stop all this pain, oh by the way I feel I would be better off dead than alive at least all this pain and depression would be gone and I take 20mg oxycodone but the 40mg suck very bad

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U could try Exalgo. It's time release Dilaudid. Most Drs don't wanna give u more than one pill a day, so u may need breakthrough meds. They come in 12, 16, 32, & 64 mg. Hope this helps. I know all too well the struggle is real.

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Of course he won't be able to tell you take 8 mgs of dilaudid 4x's a day when you're prescribed 4 mgs of dilaudid 8 x's s day. There's no difference because either way you're taking 32 mgs/day of dilaudid so your levels remain the same in both scenarios.

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