Am I taking too much opiates?

[bleegs]

I had a serious accident in December of 2006 in which I fractured my spine, (cervical, thoracic and lumbar) in 8 places. I also have 5 herniated disks, and have had hip replacement surgery. I am a 52 year old white male who lives in constant pain every second of my life. I finally have a really good pain management doctor who is trying to get my pain level to a livable level. Right now I take 1 40mg. Opana ER with a 20mg. Opana ER at 9am. I take the same meds at 9pm every night,too. For breakthrough pain i take 3-10mg., oxymorphone typically around 5pm. My pain level is still around a constant 8/9 on the 1-10 pain scale, 10 being unbearable. Am I already taking what would be considered a dangerously high amount of opiates? I've read a lot here about snorting the oxymorphone 10's for quicker pain relief. Does that really work better then swallowing them? Thanks in advance for your answers!!

 

[bronson]

For chronic pain I would recommend just taking your medications by mouth. You'll get longer lasting effects out of them that way which serves you much better for pain relief. The other ROA is faster acting, but you'll run into more recreational effects than ones that help your pain. The duration of action will also be shortened.

As for if you are taking too much or not, it's really something only you can judge, just like your pain level. You will surely become dependent at those doses, but that's a trade off you may wish to make for the relief provided.

 

[TheLostBoys]

You still are at a pain level of 8/9 after taking these meds, wow, thats serious pain! Opana is definitely stronger when snorted from everything I have read & talked to Opana users, I myself have never used Opana.........but like Bronson has mentioned, it wont last as long when snorting. Sorry to hear you still are at an 8/9 pain level after using Opana.

Imo, you are not taking a lot of opiates if it barely touches your pain. Maybe you should talk to doctor about getting something stronger? For someone like yourself with constant pain & at a high level, I dont like recommending Fentanyl but you may have to............have you tried Morphine?

 

[Swimmingdancer]

I would urge you to tell your doctor your meds are not lowering your pain level enough rather than starting to misuse the meds you have. You may also want to consider if there are other non-opioid drugs your doctor might add to your regimen as well as non-drug therapies.

As for whether or not your doses are dangerously high, that really depends on tolerance, but I assume your doctor wouldn't be prescribing you a dose they thought was dangerous for you. But if you start taking your meds in other ways like snorting them it could be dangerous, so if you're going to do it please come back for advice on how to do so as safely as possible.