How about those that have actually DONE the drug give replies? Better yet, those that have done more then a 20mg pill they paid $40 for...
I was on 3 of the 40mg Opana ER's a day (q8h) with Opana IR (10mg) for BTP (I got 60 of those a month) ... I was also on Duragesic ... I was on this combo for, shit, I was a part of the clinical trials in fact ... in all, I was on Opana at doses of 120mg a day (as directed) but I often would crush up and rail 5 or 6 of them at a time....
Honestly, because I am at that point where my legit chronic pain is so bad that when my doc wouldn't take me back up to the Duragesic (200mcg q48h) with Actiq (1600mcg x 60 pops a month for BTP) so I had to dump this doctor that was willing to give me all the Opana I wanted (his next move was to go to 2 of the 40mg tabs every 8 hours for a total of 240mg of the Opana ER and double my Opana IR for btp) ... I finally had enough and I found a doctor that has brought my pain from levels that would often keep me bed-ridden the entire day, to having almost no signs of pain at all - all in only a couple months (I am back to the Duragesic 200mcg/hr q48h and I get 60 of the 1600mcg Actiq for breakthrough) ...
The problem I had with my doc was that a new drug would come out on the market, well, I had been on a regimin that had worked for OVER 2 YEARS but this ew drug comes out and suddnly my doc had a list ofreasons why I needed to make the switch ... now kick-backs are illegal (other then pens, calanders, clocks, coffee mugs and other kitsch .. but amazingly EVERYONE was being moved to Opana from whatever meds they had been on, some for years and years ... and 4 months later his office gets a full remodel with leather chairs inthe waiting room and a huge ass LCD TV ... I know they gavce him the TV as there is stll the little "Opana" name hanging from a little sign beneath the TV, yet they always have it tuned to some soap channel ... now their entire office makeover (new wood floors, an entire flouroscope machine for facet blocks and epidurals) had to cost easily over $50,000 (that doesn't include the flourosope machine that has to be over a couple million) .. I best somehow since he has became the largest prescriber of Opana IR and ER in the area (and he likes to boast he is "#2 in the entire state") that he has madelots of money for the makers, re-sellers, and the drug reps.. I am sure they could write off a total overhaul of his office - after all, he got the TV legally as they gave it to him to "display information about the drug" ... yeah right...
As for effects, again, my tollerance is so high I used to have to rail about 6 of these to get a tinge of warmth, to get "fucked up" ... shit, probably about double that....
Do they work for chronic pain? Yes, clearly they do as some of the patients he moved onto it has said nothing but good things.... was it as effective as the fentanyl has been for me? No.
That "15x1" ratio - yeah, in the world of textbooks and manufacturers inserts for prescribing, but when I gave some to some opioid naive friends (I ensured the dose was under 10mg's of the ER forumulation) ... even they agree that in 100% controlled conditions on paper 15x1 may work, but everyone metabolizes drugs a bit differnt ... sure, same enzyme, but everyone reacts a LITTLE differnt... before I dumped that doc (and the Opana supply) I had kids that could get FUCKED UP off a 30mg OxyIR needing to take a full 20mg's of the Opana to get a high they felt was close enough to the OxyIR ...
If anyone has specific questions I can reply as both someonethat did a lot of research about the drug, and was on it for over 5 months ... I still like to cop a buzz but these days it is more about TRUE pain mgmnt ... I have also been on OxyContin (over 3 years) so I know how a 40mg OxyContin and a 40mg Opana line up .... sorry, those conversion tables in the prescribers info the makers of the drugs put out are based on math and not so much real world data...
//p