hydromorph contin + hydromorphone IR + gabapentin, whats next?

[TOMMAX]

I just started these today.

For the past year Ive been taking oxy 20mg x2 per day and percocet 5/325 x2 for break through.

Today I switched to hydromorph contin 9 mg x2 per day and hydromorphone IR 2mg x2 per day, and gabapentin 300mg x2 per day.

So far the effects arent that different from my old regimine and I expected more pain relief.

Should I give it a week to see how things work out and then if the pain management is still unsatisfactory to call back my pain management specialist to book an appointment?

What would be the next step up from this for pain relief?

I think something like 12 or 18 mg hydromorph contin x2 per day and 4-8 mg diluadid x2 per day would be alot better.

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[allegator]

Hey TOMMAX,

I read through your previous two posts detailing your knee pain. Honestly I can't relate but the best I can say is you should view pain meds not as pain relief but pain moderation. You are a young guy and the last thing you need is to be is maxed out (or zonked out; albeit that might seem preferable I don't know) on your meds. This is probably what your doc is thinking too. The gabapentin is a good idea for possible neuropathic pain but keeping opioids at the bare minimum to function is more important that using them to feel comfortable as unfortunate as that may be.

As I said though I'm not a chronic pain suffer myself so you might want to check in with some people who are. The Pain Management Mega Thread v2.0 over in OtherDrugs is probably a good place to start. Best of luck!

 

[Pjkt2501]

^This. As a CP patient myself, you're not going to completely remove the pain, and that's also NOT the goal. The goal is to get the pain down to a manageable level where you can do other things (stretch, exercise) to build / tone muscle in the affected area. THAT is what provides the total removal of the pain: strengthening the area that's creating the pain.