Hydrocodone - Impossible To Get In The Uk...? (Page 4) (Top voted first)

I am currently on an oxycodone m/r script, and find that it certainly does not last for the claimed twelve hours per tablet. No matter what, my doctor refuses to prescribe anything for this 'breakthrough' pain, not even a 20mg OxyNorm to carry me over. I have heard, however that a DIFFERENT analgesic is best in this situation. Since most drug information sites and forums are American, the drug which keeps cropping up and is most highly recommended to me is hydrocodone. This is NOT available in the UK, and despite many attempts, I can find no place to access it. The only other country which uses hydrocodone, in a much better pure form, is Germany, where it is available under the brand DICODID by Knoll, 10mg per tablet. Unfortunately I have had just as little success in tracing a source for this as for the US version, which is ALWAYS adulterated with paracetamol, usually 325mg/tab.

Does anyone have any idea where I could obtain a supply for these dreadful times when the OxyContin doesn't work? Dicodod would obviously be the preference but I HAVE tried the US hydro a few times and found that by far the best I have tried is Mallinckrodt's 'M367' 10mg/325mg tablet, in a dosage of 30-40mg.

This is a matter of access though, so if anybody can suggest any way that I can manage to get a stock of this most useful drug, then please post. There is a gap between dihydrocodeine and morphine in the UK which has nothing of in-between strength to fill it. In he US you have hydro and meperidine and hydromorphone in 4mg and 8mg strengths, instant release. All I want is relief from those bad times. Under-prescribing and refusal to prescribe for such occasions is becoming almost an obsession with me, and I really need something of this order to help.

Thanks for any replies.

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Re: myra brackins (# 1)

Hello
I just read your post. I am an American citizen who lives in the UK. It is 2017 and the problem with pain meds are still the same in the UK. It's horrible. The pain meds make me so ILL and there is nothing for this breakthrough pain. I had good medicine for pain in America but have no choice but to stay in bed due to my back condition. There is some nearve damage now. The NHS is installing a chair lift but will not prescribe proper pain meds. Does anyone know of a way to get proper pain medication in the UK?

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Re: michael (# 2)

myra brackins (# 1) --
Hello
I just read your post. I am an American citizen who lives in the UK. It is 2017 and the problem with pain meds are still the same in the UK. It's horrible. The pain meds make me so ILL and there is nothing for this breakthrough pain. I had good medicine for pain in America but have no choice but to stay in bed due to my back condition. There is some nerve damage now. The NHS is installing a chair lift but will not prescribe proper pain meds. Does anyone know of a way to get proper pain medication in the UK?

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I am looking for either Vermor 60mg or Sevredol and wonder if you know of any pharmacies? In exchange I will track down suppliers of Dicodid. The problem nowadays is if they aren't blister packaged, what is in them?

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wat is oxynorm 40mg yoused for

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know this is an old post but most of those painkillers are avalible in the uk us mepridine is just pethidine which is stronger than dihydrocodeine but weaker than morphine, i doubt your gp would issue pethidine 50mg tablets long term because pethidine use can cause fits with some people hydromorphone is available here. Im not supprised about your gp not likeing to issue diconal tablets due to their very high abuse potential and black market value you would have every addict in your town hassleing you to sell them some. Do not go on methadone though after around 3-6 months your body will adapt to the methadone and you will get no analgesia from it dueto the way it accumulates in your system. taking into account its very long half life and a whopping 92% bio oralavalibilty it is around 3times more potent than oral morphine METHADONE=TROUBLE !!!

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Anton Says: Report Abuse
Friday, 5/21/2010 7:59:08 PM

So back to the question. Does anyone (mike) know of a contact in the US, or elsewhere that will ship dihydrocodeine or similar into the UK? I have similar problems with back pain and my fathers medication works best, however, my doc is reluctant to prescribe it :-( You can buy a slightlyweaker form of co-dydramol otc in the uk called paramol it contains 7.46mg per tablet and 500 paracetamol hope that helps ;-)

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First to all of you guys in teh UK I am sympathetic sincerely. Chronic pain needs managment via time released pain medication as well as something for breakthrough pain. The reason you are feeling releif from hydrocodone is because it's an actual OPIAT. It'snot synthetic such as morphine, or demoral or even delautted. The reason you aren't feeling constant releif from Oxy is b/c it's not meant for that as it is time released and is meant to be taken along with an immediate, shorter lasting, breakthrough pain medication. I'm saying this because I am a believer in medicine and doctors --- Do not continue to fight with your doctor. Change doctors... I realize it's expensive to get to the US but if you can just get one appt with a doctor - a real, decent and caring pain mangement doctor in the US I think you'd be surprised at wshat suggestions they may have for you in regarding to getting pain medications, etc...
Otherwise, go from doctor to doctor in teh UK until you find a doctor that does not call you a junkie. If a doctor doesn't understand your pain then he orshe will not effectively be abvle to treat your pain. It's like going to internalist for a gastro problem - it doesn't make any sense... Don't be afraid to find a new doctor. YOu deserve a pain free life. it's possible!!
One more thing!!!! In the united states when they start people on pain managment many times they use Oxy or Methadone and breakfthrouh they use Roxi, Perkiset or Hydrocodone - depending on severity, how long you've had this pain, your toleraance etc etc.... I'm saying this b/c you can see how much your pain is not being treated.

LASTLY.... Neurontin, Lyrica etc do work if you have nerve damage -- they must be taken along with narcotics but trust them unless it's doing more damaage , as well as an Anti Inflammotory such as IBProfin but MUST be taken daily - everyday....
And finally, don't give up....

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Michael was there really any need to me that rude? Whether someone is right are wrong you don't need to go about it in such a was as to belittle them. I to have chronic pain and am prescribe Oxycontin 30mg twice a day. I too sometimes need breakthrough pain medication or sometimes something to take on or around the 10 hour mark as the drug levels reduce in my blood. I've never had an issue on obtaining this from my G.P who prescribes me 56 Oxynorm 10mg capsules for this purpose a time. Maybe your Doctors refusal to give you them maybe something to do with your stinking attitude, i've only read a few paragraphs and don't know you from Adam but can already tell that you think you're in some way better than everyone else and know more about the pain management area of medicine than your doctor. Maybe if you change your attitude to people instead of walking round with a huge chip on your shoulder you wouldn't have such a problem obtaining additional medication!

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YOU NEED A PRESCRIPTION IN THE US. THEY MONITOR ALL NARCOTICS.

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Hi there just decided I'd pop in and hand some facts out as I'm currently training as a doctor in the uk but have always had a keen interest in opioids as I suffer from m/e, first of all hydrocodone is illegal in the uk it is a class A non prescribable drug, also it is only around the same strength as dihydrocodine, which isn't nearly as addictive, your best bet is to tell your doctor you understand the risks of opioids and ask for a prescription of diamorphine or morphine, diamorphine however is extremely addictive, it's basically a medicalised version of heroin, and secondly tell you doctor gabapentin isn't working, anti seizure medicines rarely work for neuropathic pain, I would advise you buy a "British national formulary" their available online and gives you a list of every prescribable medication in the uk, you can buy a brand new edition for around 14 pounds on amazon, secondly to the person saying they have fibromyalgia and m/e both of these are practicaly the same thing, they are completely impossible to tell apart as they are both believed to stem from the same thing and there is very little knowledge on what causes the pain, I'm working a lot from next week onwards so wrote back as soon as possible if you need any advice.

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Hi there if your still struggling with heroin or methadone withdrawal there has been some success with tramadol as a temporary replacement, it's far weaker has less side effects and is only slightly physically addictive, withdrawal from tramadol is rare so you can easily step down to it and them stop all together, hope this helps.

Scott Jones

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I have been on chronic pain treatment, I myself have a condition that cannot be fixed, so what I can tell you comes from tons of experience.

First off, Oxycodone is the strongest drug on the market that you can get by prescription, it is natural for your doctor to want you to stay on the same dose for as long as possible. If you jump to a higher dose too soon, then your tolerance will develop much too quickly and you will eventually run out of options for any type of pain treatment.

Secondly, there are some narcotics, such as Morphine, that are actually bad for someone with spinal problems, they actually make it worse, rather than better. I found this out the hardway, so there are some drugs that you have to stay away from, because they cause inflammation and joint pain and would not help you.

Now, if you are using the generic version of your medication, then that could be causing your problem right there.

Generics are allowed to differ from the name brand medications, in the US they can differ by as much as plus or minus 20% of the ACTIVE INGREDIENT, so you may NOT be getting the full dose necessary to help your pain.

In addition, your doctor has to protect himself, by being careful what he prescribes and he has to worry about creating an addicted patient.

No offense intended, but the more you carry on about wanting more drugs, then the less he is apt to prescribe something else, because you are making him think you are only there for the drugs.

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Has anyone yet discovered any clinics or pharmacies which would be willing to dispense the Mallinckrodt M367 10mg +apap hydrocodone combo mentioned earlier in this thread?
I too find that this is by far the most effective of the three brands I have tried, and is of a perfect strength for three tablets to cope with breakthrough from my modified release oxycodone, which the writer is quite right in saying does NOT last the 12 hours it's prescribed for. I'm lucky if I get 8, more usually 6 hours pain-free.
I also was on carisoprodol when it was withdrawn from the European market and it's true, there is no alternative for that kind of pain in the large muscles. Mine has plagued me for over ten years. I disagree that the analgesic 'takes care' of it; the muscular pain is not helped by my oxycodone, and carisoprodol is now one of the most difficult meds to find online. I think it can now only be had in the US and India.
However, the question in hand is, how on earth can I access the hydrocodone combo? Yes, it is mainly an antitussive but the addition of paracetamol does make it a weak opioid analgesic comparable to dihydrocodeine, which it resembles chemically, being I think a ketone derived from dihydrocodeine tartrate. In strength 10mg combined with 325mg apap would be equivalent to around 50mg dihydro. The point is that these Mallinckrodt tablets were more effective than two 30mg Teva dihydros and helped inflammation, which the other fails to do.
ANY suggestion will be gratefully received. Thanks, folks.

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A childhood school friend buried his son two years ago. He shot himself at his parents' home at age 24, after a youth and young adult life of addiction, rehab, addiction, rehab, etc. At age 12 he smoked marijuana, as a teen he took hydrocodone that he found in his mother's purse and that was the start of his addiction which ultimately led to his death.“The morning he died he sought relief from a lifetime cycle of relapse, rehab, relapse and rehab. He died in pain and despair." Friend, give it up.

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I have been where you are, I suffer a severe spinal problem that cannot be fixed, so my information comes from both experience and my work.

I did not mean Oxycodone was the strongest of all. However, for spinal issues, it is not safe to use medications from the Morphine class, they cause swelling and joint pain and can actually make spinal conditions worse. I discovered this the hard way, my doctor was not aware.

Fentanyl is, indeed, much stronger, but should only be used when all other options have been exhausted.

I also did not say that the information I gave on generic drugs being allowed to differ applied in all countries, I said it applied in the US and I can point people to the applicable law that allows such differences.

As to the Oxycontin generic, there was one available in the US until very recently, when due to abuse, they took it off the market and now will only let Perdue Pharma manufacture the name brand, which is why they have an extended patent. Pharmacies here may sell whatever generic stock they have left and then they are done and will have to sell only the name brand. (This information is available in various US news stories!)

As to dependence, I understand that as well, I was on tremendous doses of both Morphine and Oxycodone for over 5 years and when I stopped taking them, I was miserable for about a week.

I am not familiar with your countries drug laws, but I would ask you to please make sure you are and won't be getting yourself into any trouble if you obtain drugs from another country. In the US, if there is a legal equivilent drug available, then it is illegal to bring something in from another country.

Now, that said, the only other suggestion I can give you is, if this doctor isn't helping, then can you try seeing someone else?

From my own experience, I do know that not only should someone who needs long term pain management be on a time released me, but they should also have something that works faster that they can take for breakthrough pain.

That is why I was on both Morphine and Oxycodone, the Morphine was a generic formulation of MS Contin and the Oxycodone was an instant release to take when my pain was out of control.

Doctor's responsibilities are often dampened and controlled by the laws of the area they are practicing in and if they say that he has to watch what he prescribes, so he doesn't lose his livelihood and up in jail, then that is what he must do.

Their obligations generally only go so far, they can try to help you and prescribe something to help you be more comfortable, but they do not have to provide you with complete pain relief and, in most cases, they can tell you that they can't help you and tell you to find someone else, and there is nothing you can do about it. (I also did not say doctors worried about dependence, but addiction, which is quite a different matter!)

You do have the right to find a different doctor to help you, you are obviously having problems here and your pain is not being managed properly.

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This is incorrect.....Generics and Brand active ingredients have to be the same to be labeled as a generic. Color, shape and size can be different but the active ingredient has to be identical. This information is from someone that has been and will continue to be in the pharmacy industry for over 15 years. Keep your facts straight...

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Hey you in the UK. . . .Sounds like you are butting up against a brick wall Try a mind shift (a different approach) to try to get to the source of the pain rather than a topical pain pill. Give me (us) more details as to what has happened with your health breakdown.
For example, in the US we have a catch-all health problem that has been labeled FIBROMYALGIA.
There are many different drug classes with medications that are more acceptable and easier to obtain. What about nerve pain from a previous surgery or injury? Let me stop here; my information may be irrelevant. Go to the source and also please advise. Love to the UK. Myra

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