What May Work Better Than Oxycodone 15mg For Severe Neck Pain?
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I have had two cervical fusions, five levels of herniated lumbar disk, stenosis, bone spurs and arthritis. I have been taking Oxycodone 15mg 3 X daily for one year. I have noticed less pain relief for shorter periods lately. I see a pan management MD once a month. I don't want to come across as asking for stronger drugs. I would like to know what the next step is when Oxycodone is not effective any longer? Also, how is the best way to talk to my doctor about this? I have had steroid shots and neurotomies performed with little success. I am still keeping up my Grandchildren every day and have no problems with addiction. I have noticed my pain has slowed me down though and I'm just tired of hurting all the time. Any info will be very appreciated. Thank you!

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Re: Verwon (# 2)

Well.... in my opinion as a retired Anesthesiologist, one must NOT conclude that one's doctor is behaving within the guidelines of professional pain specialists! In my opinion (as a doc and as a 'certified' chronic pain patient, my experiences are such as to cancel any concept that one's MD is deciding appropriate pain relief protocols. You describe a totally legitimate case where increasing the does is WARRANTED... even required.. for you're not apparently suffering any intolerable side effects of narcotics (e.g. constipation, urinary retention - BOTH of which can warrant a visit to the ER!!). Talk to your doc! If he/she persists in the 'government endorsed torture of elderly patients' approach to pain patients' needs, then get another physician... IF you can find one!

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Re: Angry 65 year old (# 26)

Really? That's what happens? Omg see I was on Oxymorphone Angry 65 and I have NO choice to be on oxycodone now. They took Opana off the market. I have noticed some problems with my teeth tho. Hmmmmmm thank you. Going to check in on this.

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Re: Angry 65 year old (# 26)

It's not only pain medications that cause your teeth to root. I have been put on many different meds over the last twenty years that caused dry mouth. I now need dentures. I was on methodone for pain and it was great for pain relief, but my vitamin d level has been very low ever since. I am now on 60 mg er of ms contin every 8 hours, and that works well for me.

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Re: Blacksaddle (# 15)

Really?? Read your post (if you're ever not over-medicated). Jeez man! You're all over the place and super paranoid. Quit this crap, there is no such bill, and you're ranting is chasing good folks off this site...

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I have recently had surgery on cervical 3, 4 and 5 that literally compressed my spinal cord in half. I developed tingling, numbness amd burning pain in my hands, feet and legs. I was eventually required to use a walker for my unsteadiness and there was no promise I'd ever be back to "NORMAL", and it may be a long time before I see a change of improvement. Ten months later no change. Excellent surgeon who didn't sugar coat it. He was good enough to give a new pain medication called Nucynta when the oxys and the hydros wouldn't help. Yes, it gave me a good temporary high but no long-lasting relief. I had to come to the realization that sometimes we have to live with it and try to find other avenues to help keep from losing your mind. I even had to make the agonizing decision to give up my job as a pianist because you need your hands obviously. Try physical therapy even if you need to try it again. The same with injections.

I'm sorry but sometimes oral meds just don't work. I'm one that went down the hard road of unintentional addiction seeking help from a quick fix and I didn't mean to but I did. Sometimes oral meds help and I'm happy they do but then there are the percentage of us that have to find a way to live life differently. I do hope you find what will give you relief.

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Re: Cactus Arizona (# 13)

Wait til you've been on Oxy a while and your teeth start to rot from the inside out and you have chipped teeth and need dentures or implants. You'll be REAL IMPRESSED with OXY. I keep warning and I guess no one is lisening. Look up all the posts about Oxy and teeth. Lord knows what it does to your bones...it effects calcium, has to if it rots the inside of teeth. Good Luck.

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You should be honest with your Dr about what your experiencing. It's not uncommon for you to build a tolerance. Bring your meds with to your appointments so they can see that you are not abusing them. It's always scary because of how afraid Drs are these days to write scripts, but as long as you are transparent you should be okay. I would ask what your Dr feels is the best option. My guess is that they may need to add a pill or add a long acting med to stretch out your relief. Don't be afraid to ask about these options either. Best wishes!

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Re: Blacksaddle (# 15)

I feel your pain (no pun intended). We're all be thrown under the bus eventually. It's a sad state of affairs. Doctors really don't really think about what they are doing to their patients and then when you try to talk to them about issues they get angry. I have a friend who swears by Methadone. That's why I thought about trying it. Taking MS Contin 200 mg. 2 x day plus the oxycodone is incredibly expensive and we are on a lot of meds to start with. The first car accident I ended up with a triple cervical fusion, back surgery, 2 broken ankles (1 had surgery) and also had 3 shoulder surgeries. Then a lady ran a red light about 11 months ago and we collided...totaled our car, and it has set us back light years. I have a broken back, a torn rotator cuff and that's just the beginning. We are getting nerve ablations to try to avoid surgery. My neurosurgeon is hesitant to do what he wants to do (fuse 3 more disks in the lumbar area and put in stabilizing rods, but he is afraid the screws would migrate out because my bones are so brittle from years on steroids (my endocrine system is a mess..adrenal glands don't work, pituitary is barely functioning, low thyroid and also the hypothalamus.And lets not leave out the fibromyalgia. Sometimes I think that's the worse part because the pain is so widespread and it keeps me from doing sooooo many things. Everything I have tried for fibro (Cymbalta, Lyrica, Gabapentin, Tegretol, etc.) none have worked or the side effects were too horrible to stay on it. I'm an RN but it seems that most of my adult life has been spent as a patient! NOT the plan....Good luck to you with all of your issues. Blessings...

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Be careful of the manufacturer you are getting your Percocet from. I have had two neck surgeries, two lower back and for the past six months or more started noticing some rather bothersome bad side effects. First off I felt no relief what so ever from my Percocet, another thing I noticed was I felt a constant nervousness in my body to the point that I thought I was losing my mind! I've also lost my appetite resulting in a loss of 50 pounds within 4 months or less. Constant runny nose, stomach problems. But worst of all my Percocet did not show in my system at all! I thought I was losing it, I thought hey I'm taking my medication just as prescribed and it's not showing up how the hell could that possibly be? I began to do some research on this medication because I noticed it was a different pill than I had had prior to this all happening. I looked up the pill on the internet and there were no results for it anywhere! I then looked up the manufacturer Aurobindo, that led me to this sight. The complaints were endless, just the same as mine! Might I add they also found THC and something called MDM in my system. And no, I do not smoke marijuana and don't have no idea what MDM even is! I'm on heavier meds than Percocet, it's just my breakthrough pain med and have been on meds for over 27 years and have never failed for anything or not having my meds in my system! This company by the way is buying up so many other manufacturers and keeping their names such as Mylan which is one of the largest in the world! After showing my pharmacy technician and my doctor these documents on this manufacturer they both agreed I was not to have anyway from this manufacturer anymore.

Since changing all of my symptoms have disappeared, I've stopped losing weight, and my meds are actually working again! Best of all it's showing up in my urine again and no THC or MDM? So you may be getting a product from them or someone they've bought out and it's been said their barely putting any of the compound for pain in their pills and God knows what else! Or with the bone spurs I do know when I had my first neck surgery I kept telling them It felt as if I was being stabbed with a knife in my neck yet two surgeons missed it! The third seen it right away and the bone spur had actually wrapped around me spinal cord like a rope and the end of it was sticking in my cord like a spear and stabbing me! So all the time it was choking off my cord and stabbing me like a knife. You must find a doctor that does not ever go off of what a radiologist says and knows how to read reports like the back of his hand. Those reports are read by nobody's who are sent hundreds of reports of all types all day long! When dealing with your neck, back, you need a doctor who has an eye for MRIs, and CTs, and if nothing is found maybe you need a CT Mylogram only as a last resort and by someone who knows their s***, because it's a very dangerous procedure. I myself even had a pain pump put in, but after my doctor who put it in kept me on oral meds with it and screwed it up after my first back surgery I opted to have it removed. But it did help alot and I am getting another one and have been promised this time I will be solely on the pain pump after a short amount of time which is much better on your organs and health overall. Something to think about and you only have to have it filled every 3-4 months if your a candidate for one. Good luck!

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Try marijuana. It's the only untreated and untouched plant-based medicine out there. AND it's NOT addictive.

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Re: Blacksaddle (# 15)

Hello, I live in Michigan and have had chronic pain for over 20 years. I would like more information on the bill you said if passes in Michigan, no doctor would be able to prescribe any medications for chronic pain. Thank you

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Re: Cactus Arizona (# 5)

Norco and percocet both have Acetaminophen BTW - Which you probably know and are rightfully upset about. Acetaminophen is a poison that is actually used to kill animals in some cases. I'm convinced they prescribe those combo pills to force people off medication before they destroy their livers.

The oxycodone is something I was put on because I can't take Acetaminophen. You might try asking your doctor for the same dosage you are getting but in the form of oxycodone so that you can avoid the Acetaminophen or at least take it separately so that you can more easily limit your consumption.

Not to nag but I really encourage you not to push for the extended release. Oxycodone is the exact same medication but the lack of buffering agent allows you to keep your blood level much more constant and the fluctuation in blood level is what causes almost all of the negative effects.

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Re: Cactus Arizona (# 6)

When you use the term breakthrough are you just referring to how long it lasts? Why would adding something to a medication to slow down its absorption be good for anything except reducing the number of times you take a pill? I don't see much value in taking pills less often but I find a huge value in not going through the euphoria and withdrawal you get with the same amount of medication on an extended release. The increase in energy, improvement in mood and reduction in digestive issues are huge plusses that make the extra trouble of taking pills more often insignificant. Not having the euphoria and withdrawals every 12 hours also eliminates a lot of the forces that encourage addiction. Being addicted to a lack of pain isn't an issue. Seeking a high or increasing the dosage to avoid withdrawal is.

I don't know if you have tried both without the other in your system but the exact same dose of the extended release made me uncomfortably high in hour 2 and included 2-3 hours of a significant reduction in effectiveness and withdrawal. I get none of that with the Oxycodone and therefore don't spend hours every day thinking about feeling euphoric and going through withdrawal. I'm convinced that this cycle of feeling euphoric and undergoing withdrawal is what causes people to become addicted and to always feel like they don't have enough.

Oxycodone doesn't have acetaminophen which I agree should be avoided. I haven't needed an adjustment in my medication for years. It works just as well today as the first day I took it.

I went to the Stanford pain management clinic. I went from spending 10 years unable to walk over 300 feet, talk with my eyes open or even email family members to working multiple jobs, being able to walk for miles every day and to be viewed as an impressive person in great shape instead of someone people would either avoid or offer help. I prayed for it to end every day for those 10 years and I haven't had a single day where I'd rather not be here in the 5 years since.

Proper medication is the most wonderful miracle in the world and it doesn't have to make you high and cause the cycle of addiction it does in this country. The extended release is what causes that addiction in people who aren't drug seekers in the first place. If someone can't take a pill every 4 hours they probably don't need them.

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Ask to up the milligrams or to add a long pain medication. Morphine is my long term and oxy short. It's a law in Florida I think. The morphine you usually take every 12 hours.

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Naltrexone 2mcgs to clean the nerve synapses will work

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Doctor Sharon Scot in Kansas City is Best you all need to make a apt with her nib judgemental loving listens. U are un charge if ur healthxare and u she will tell u only kniw which pain med work for u. We are all different so it varues abd a tolerence gets built uo abd we have ti increase or switch all the time she understands caresvand wants u pain free. No pain contract just honesty any love u will get

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Please try and stay away from methadone, less pain relief, and terrible withdrawal. I am in Michigan and very few pain clinics that prescribe ANYTHING but my friends Dr said effective 1/18, NO Dr, NOWHERE will be able to prescribe narcotics if bill 1040 (I think) passes. This is information doctors aren't telling us until it's too late, then it's tough s***. After being put on ms contin 60mg x2, percocet 10/325 4x, xanax, 25 x3, seroquel 50 mgs daily, my Dr dumped me via letter because I had accidentally taken a 10 mg methadone my husband had left 9n our night stand. My crime? Not putting my glasses on first. I've never been in any trouble, did not ask for these drugs, have been on them 4 years, and now because of laws coming we patients know nothing about they are getting ready to pull the rug out of many senior's lives. Not once in those 4 years did my Dr explain the down falls, the tolerance build, the soon coming laws. I called some drug rehabs but at my age with Medicare nothing is available. Medicare doesn't care, with our age and health problems we have been told how dangerous it is to cold Turkey stop. So what do we do? No one Care, no one. So when dead seniors start showing up in Detroit because from the papers we know we can get something there. Yes ripped off, raped, used, abused and if all goes WELL more illicit drug addicts. What happened to first Do NO harm? Gone with the wind. I'm almost glad I only have a couple years left... Sad state of affairs. Want to win the next out of country war? Airdrop Oxycontins all thru the countries, every day. Purdue brags about how cheap and safe they are, go show em Perdue. My death wears squarely on their shoulders. Watch their vice TV program.

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Wow...there's so many combinations to try to find the right one. Currently I'm on 600 mg. of Morphine a day and oxycodone 30 mg. 4 x day, but my body has just gotten used to it. I currently have a broken back and a torn rotator cuff from another accident. I want off of this combination. I'm thinking of Methadone and Narco. I've had Narco before...10 mg. and it worked pretty well but I've never had Methadone. The oxycodone is a joke...any ideas?

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Re: Angry 65 year old (# 10)

They do the crush resistant because of people abusing it. It was not that way when I started taking it. It was a powerful pain killer and like I said maybe it was too strong for you? In any case, like I said, for me I don't care if I can't crush it. I don't use my meds any other way than orally, so it makes no difference to me. As far as stomach issues I never had any concern about the coating on it. Doesn't matter anyway as the drug was pulled off the market. Thank you.

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Re: Angry 65 year old (# 10)

Well everyone is different, if Opana didn't work for you and Methadone does than that's great. I tried Methadone and it didn't help me at all. Opana isn't for everyone in fact it's off the market. For constant round the clock pain control there are other drugs is all I'm saying. I'm not on Opana anymore. I am on Oxy and it works so so in my case. To each there own I say. What works did me doesn't always work for someone else but there are other alternatives and Methadone for me is not a option and may not be for others as well.

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