Opioids OxyContin/Oxycodone breakthrough dose question

[Stratt2828]

Hi fellow BL's. I'm a newbie on this forum and like and appreciate the information offered from members.

I suffer from from severe spinal stenosis and three severely herniated discs. I took Tramadol for years and recently came off it about three weeks ago. After a new MRI a few weeks ago my primary physician saw how bad my lumbar area really is. Until I see a neurologist next month, she put me on disability and prescribed me 10mg of OxyContin, one every 12 hours, and 5mg of Oxycodone for breakthrough pain, one every six hours. This was almost two weeks ago. My issue is that the 10mg of OxyContin doesn't seem to be helping that much. I'm still in lots and lots of pain. I've been taking the 5mg of Oxycodone about every 4 hours and it's only helping the pain a little. I was in the emergency room a few weeks ago and they sent me home with Oxycodone, 5mg, two pills every four hours. That seems to worked a lot better than what I'm taking now for a dose. I believe my doses are on the very low side now? My question is: am I safe to take the 10mg OxyContin every 12 hours as prescribed and take two of the 5mg Oxycodone every 4 hours without getting messed up? I'm only looking for pain relief, not to get high.

Please let me know if you need any further information, but I think I covered it? Funny thing, it's my shoulders that are killing me more than my back now. I have also stopped drinking all alcohol about two weeks ago after having been drinking a lot of vodka every night for a long time. All set with that now. Could it be the alcohol was masking the shoulder pain for which I'm not even diagnosed with anything? I also have moderate to severe arthritis in my lumbar region around the herniated discs. Maybe coming off the Tramadol is contributing to my pain? I have a small low density spot on my liver we are following up on as well. Therefore, no Tramadol or alcohol which I am very cool with.

I'm more interested in feedback on the Oxy dose mentioned above.

Very much obliged for any feedback!

 

[laCster]

i mean, no one knows how you will react to the doses you stated, but 10mg XR oxy every 12 hrs and 10mgs every 4 hrs not an unheard of dose, and it definitely a dose a doctor would prescribe. just be careful because you dont want to run out of pills before you see the doctor, because then you will be shit out of luck.

wait, im a little confused, so now you have 2 scripts for oxy IR? one from the doc who put you on disability and one from the ER? the doc who put you on disability doesnt sound like she knows what she is doing. like 10mg XR? wtf? that makes no sense because the OP works by releasing 1/3 of the dose, so you get around 3mgs right when you take it, and a measley 7mgs over 12 more hours. that is like less than 2mgs per hour. does she think you are a little kid or something? i am sorry but this doctor sounds stupid and i am glad you are finding someone new. i didnt even know 10mg XR oxycodone was even made? it seems stupid. she should have given you 20mg XR every 12 hours, and 1 oxycodone 5mg every 6hours.

10mg XR every 12 hours + 10mgs IR every 4-6 hours is fine. i cant tell you how messed up or pain relief you will recieve because peoples bodies are different. but i can assure you that you are physically safe taking these doses, and will not overdose by increasing your dose by only 5mgs.

i cant explain what your shoulder has to do with anything. you probably pulled a muscle or have arthritis. i dont know. i would ask your doctor. i do know that your shoulder pain has nothing to do with your alcohol or tramadol use. you have been off both of them for long enough to be out of physical WD if you had any.

 

[Stratt2828]

Thx laCster...I should have clarified that the emergency room script for Oxycodone 5mg was finished before I got my new Scripts. Now it's OxyContin 10mg every twelve hours and 5mg Oxycodone, one every six hours, from my physician. I received my new scripts on Dec. 19, one week ago tomorrow. Sorry for the mixup on the dates. Thanks for the reply.

 

[laCster]

Thx laCster...I should have clarified that the emergency room script for Oxycodone 5mg was finished before I got my new Scripts. Now it's OxyContin 10mg every twelve hours and 5mg Oxycodone, one every six hours, from my physician. I received my new scripts on Dec. 19, one week ago tomorrow. Sorry for the mixup on the dates. Thanks for the reply.

i would call your doctor and sincerely tell her that you are still in pain. if she wont accommodate your need an prescribe more medicine, good riddance! however you will have to find other means of treating your pain while you wait to get in to see your new doctor. you could try adding in some naproxen sodium (aleve) to combine with the APAP in the oxycodone IR. you can try adding in a little caffeine to your diet to help as caffeine has been found to synergize with pain killers and help provide more analgesia. you could try getting a heating pad and wearing that on your back and shoulders 3 times a day, or if you have a membership to a gym with a hot tub or sauna you can get in there to loosen your muscles and help your pain. or you can soak in a hot bath with some epsome salts or bath salts or something to help with pain. in addition, you can try taking some benedryl(diphenhydramine) to help with sleeping troubles associated with pain. benedryl is also good at relieving negative side effects of opiates such as pruritis (itching) and nausea. the next thing i would recommend are other holistic means of treating pain such as deep-tissue messages, reflexology, and accupuncture. i do NOT, i repeat, i do NOT recommend going to a chiropractor, they are crooks. when i was in a car accident, i went to one because my back and neck were in pain, and the chiropractor made the pain WORSE!! DO get some messages or accupuncture or reflexology, do NOT go to chiropractor.

light exercise can also release endorphins and relieve pain and make you mentally stronger to deal with the pain. if you can get out of the house and walk around the block for around 15mins a day it will really help. also pay attention to your diet aswell, eating shitty foods can cause you to feel shitty. stress, anxiety, and depression all exacerbate preexisting pain. stay away from fatty and greasy foods, and stick to lean proteins like chicken and fish, veggies, fruits, and limit processed foods. also try eating more spicy foods, capsaicin (found in spicy foods) is a known anti-inflammatory and will help with pain. you can also invest in some capsaicin cream to put on areas of your body you feel pain along with eating spicy foods. in addition, sometimes the best thing you can do for do is to stay occupied like "out of sight, out of mind." if you are sitting on the couch all day focusing on your pain, your are going to experience more pain even with oxycodone. you need to stay busy with things you like to do like hobbies or maybe a job in the future if you can manage to work. support from family and friends also helps a great deal as well. some days you will have bad days and feel more pain than others, but that does not give you an excuse to take some extra pills to help. sometimes you just have to push the pain aside and stay busy and push through the day. but i can assure you from experience after you get stabalized on your pain meds under the care of a responsive and intelligent doctor, continue to eat healthy, exercise regularly, have fun hobbies to relieve stress, and family and friends to support you, that you will be able to live a fulfilling pain-free life

i definitely suggest pursuing all these options i wrote about in the paragraphs above even after you get to see your new doctor because while opiates definitely help with pain, they are not a quick fix and do not treat your pain. they merely treat the symptoms. and adding in non-narcotics such as aleve, caffeine, and benedryl are good because opiate pain killers like oxycodone are very addictive it is not a good idea to just keep adding in more narcotics just because you are still in pain. all these things i mentioned will work with the oxycodone to help relieve your pain. and any good doctor would agree with me that you need to take action and steps outside of taking pain killers to effectively manage your pain..

finally if you try the things above and they just dont help and you cant wait to go see your new doctor in a week and need some relief, i would recommend trying a low dose of DXM (dextromethorphan, the active ingreidient in cough syrups) such as 30-60mgs every 8hrs to help with pain. DXM acts similarly to tramadol in a one way or another and will help you get some relief in conjunction with the oxycodone. DXM is not really an orthodox addition to pain, but i can attest that it does help. however, kratom is better for pain relief and is more like tramadol than DXM and could be safely added to your oxycodone instead of taking an extra 5mg pill. you do have to order it off the internet, and consuming kratom is not for the feint of heart as it is quite nasty to swallow, but many people can attest to it's pain-fighting capabilities. there are some other medications i can tell you about but they are prescription only and would need a doctor for them. if you want more info on DXM and kratom send me a personal message. DXM can be bought at any local pharmacy over the counter, and kratom is legal to purchase online in the US. if you want more info about some other medications as well shoot me a pm. however, i would recommend going with the options i wrote about in the first couple paragraphs before trying DXM, kratom, and other medications.

 

[Stratt2828]

Wow, you are very helpful. I am calling my doctor tomorrow as I just told my fiancé before reading your last reply. I honestly prefer other methods as well. I do exercise as I feel I can. I didn't know about the DXM or kratom. I have had massage and it has helped. The only other thing that has helped is weed, which I don't have any of now. Also, I took my 10mg ER three hours ago, not any relief at all. I took my prescribed 5mg thirty minutes ago and feel some relief already! Thanks so much for the formula breakdown earlier. I had no idea I was only getting a third of the ER when I take it and the other 7mg over the twelve hours!!!! No wonder I felt MUCH more relief with the two 5mg IR from the ER!!! That was the relief I more expected from this awful pain. I can't thank you enough for this great information. I will keep you posted when I know more after speaking with my doctor tomorrow.

I hope you had a great Christmas.

PS...I have tried chiro.....did zero for me and it was a joke...never again!

 

[laCster]

what state do you live in? could u get medical MJ? also, i would NOT mention DXM or Kratom to your doctor as they are very unconventional to most doctors in the U.S.


no problem! i am glad i could help! weed helps alot too, but some people get paranoid, dont like to smoke weed , cant smoke weed because it is illegal in most states and get drug tested by their doctors...etc...

be careful because some doctors are really strict about marijuana and using other illegal drugs while on prescription opiates! i personally agree that marijuana is a very good painkiller and is very effective and much safer than opiates, but i am not the one with the prescription pad!

if i were you, i would take two of the 10mg oxycontin pills, so 20mg XR and half a 5mg (2.5mg) pill in the morning. and take a half of a 5mg oxycodone as needed around every 4hrs, with one 5mg right before bed. this way, around 10mgs of oxycodone will be released instantly into your system right in the morning. the idea of pain control is to keep your oxycodone levels at a constant and sufficient amount so that you wont experience the ups and downs of feeling pain, then not feeling pain while still providing you adequate pain relief to function. the point is not to keep you 100% pain free 24/7, but to keep you at a bearable level throughout the day. and if you start to feel the pain creeping back in, you can just take an oxycodone IR to keep your pain in a manageable margin. this way you will get more pain relief during the day, but you might end up with slightly more pain at night because the oxycontin lasts roughly 10-14hrs. i say only take half a 5mg pill so that you can take it more often without running out of pills before you Dr visit

 

[Stratt2828]

Thx laCster. I live in NH and while they are gearing up for medical MJ, it's not a reality yet. I know from being a long term on again, off again smoker of MJ that it does work amazingly for my pain.

PS...the breakdown you last gave me taking 2-10mg in the morning, and the splitting of the 5mg to 2.5mg doing the math that would make it so I end up taking the same amount before the script runs out right? Where is my calculator when I need it...lol

 

[laCster]

yes so for example it would look like

8:00AM - 20mg XR oxycodone + 2.5mg IR oxycodone + aleve + caffeine (TAKE OXYCODONE ON EMPTY STOMACH BEFORE BREAKFAST)
1:00PM - 5mg IR
7:00PM - 2.5mg IR
12:00am (or before bed) - 5mg IR + 50mg benedryl (diphenhydramine)

that would be TWO 10mg OxyContin pills, and THREE 5mg oxycodone IR per day. this way you start out with 10mgs ( the dose that you say reduces pain the most) of oxycodone hit you instantly in the morning and have 10mg stay constantly throughout your blood throughout the day

 

[Stratt2828]

Wow, thanks very much for the math. And you feel pretty comfortable it won't get me too buzzed? I have a pretty high tolerance.

 

[BeachBum4u]

this way you will get more pain relief during the day, but you might end up with slightly more pain at night 5mg pill so that you can take it more often without running out of pills before you Dr visit

I found that the OxyContin lasted more like 8-10 hours. I was on it for years and I actually had one doctor who stepped "out of the box" because of this real life data, and prescribed it for me at 3x a day routine. This actually was more like it should be, IMHO.

 

[Stratt2828]

Thx to you BeachBu4u for your feedback.

laCster....I called and got a call back from doctor this morning, explained my situation to her. She was very good at listening to me. Good news is my last CT scan for my liver came back clean, just fatty deposits, kind of normal shit.

So regarding my scripts.....she will give me a new script. Her new instructions.......20mg OxyContin ER every twelve hours and 2-5mg Oxycodone every four hours for breakthrough pain of which I have a ton of. I'm happy with her listening to me. I also added the Aleve and a moderate amount of caffeine....enjoying a double bag cup of tea now, coffee this morning. I actually coughed this morning and my back "went out" on me bad. Good news is, I started the 20mg OxyContin this morning before I spoke with doc and took two 5mg IR an hour ago...what a difference! As you know I was worried about how it would affect me as far as getting too buzzed......good news is that this is working MUCH MUCH better today! Knowing that my doctor started me on low doses and LISTENED to me makes me extremely happy. She said she doesn't want me too close to 60mg of Oxy per day ("too much" she said...lol) and I'm cool with that as long as this works and it seems to be. I'm so grateful. I've been with this doctor for just over three years and she knows me well enough to trust me. I want pain relief, not a big fat high. Still gonna add the MJ soon when I arrange it as I KNOW it works wonders for me. Nothing much else to say except thanks again. Your sincere feedback goes a long way just to have someone with experience and knowledge to bounce things off. Very much obliged

next step is neurosurgeon consultation January 22. Will keep you posted with anymore questions about meds, etc.

I thank you!

PS...loving my heating pad right now!

 

[dirzted]

Thx to you BeachBu4u for your feedback.

laCster....I called and got a call back from doctor this morning, explained my situation to her. She was very good at listening to me. Good news is my last CT scan for my liver came back clean, just fatty deposits, kind of normal shit.

So regarding my scripts.....she will give me a new script. Her new instructions.......20mg OxyContin ER every twelve hours and 2-5mg Oxycodone every four hours for breakthrough pain of which I have a ton of. I'm happy with her listening to me. I also added the Aleve and a moderate amount of caffeine....enjoying a double bag cup of tea now, coffee this morning. I actually coughed this morning and my back "went out" on me bad. Good news is, I started the 20mg OxyContin this morning before I spoke with doc and took two 5mg IR an hour ago...what a difference! As you know I was worried about how it would affect me as far as getting too buzzed......good news is that this is working MUCH MUCH better today! Knowing that my doctor started me on low doses and LISTENED to me makes me extremely happy. She said she doesn't want me too close to 60mg of Oxy per day ("too much" she said...lol) and I'm cool with that as long as this works and it seems to be. I'm so grateful. I've been with this doctor for just over three years and she knows me well enough to trust me. I want pain relief, not a big fat high. Still gonna add the MJ soon when I arrange it as I KNOW it works wonders for me. Nothing much else to say except thanks again. Your sincere feedback goes a long way just to have someone with experience and knowledge to bounce things off. Very much obliged

next step is neurosurgeon consultation January 22. Will keep you posted with anymore questions about meds, etc.

I thank you!

PS...loving my heating pad right now!

Dudeeee it's great to see a thread like this guys, so great that you got to accomplish a more effective pain relief regiment through laCster and using his info to talk to your doctor. All this without anybody yelling for twice as much oxy or some other benzo or something, just a basic understanding of time-release medication and dosage schedules.

Exemplary thread laddies! ahahahaha

 

[OCLINDSAY]

hello all please guys pm about anything related to h or oc, i really need some advice im also thinking bout it right now