I wonder if the efficacy of oxycodone against neuropathic pain has to do with the stimulating effect we have been discussing. Two strategies for combatting nerve pain are to combine a narcotic with an anticholinergic and/or a stimulant. There are other reasons too, like somnolence and orthostatic hypotension for combining stimulants with narcotics, but they also potentiate them. Merck made a combination of oxycodone, hyoscine (scopolamine), and ephedrine called Scophedal from 1928 to 1987 and compounders can still make it, and when I take it for breakthrough pain, I feel not like Jesus' son but the Boss God Himself. It was specifically designed to produce "Very deep analgesia and profoundly intense euphoria whilst maintaining vital signs within 20 per cent of baseline" during surgery, sedation, battlefield injuries, severe pain, and so on.