Opioids Morphine vs. Opana (med switch)

[dopemaster]

So I get pain medicien prescribed and well I was not doing well with the morphine. I was on 200 mg. Anyways I ask just switched to 20 mg of opana a day. They told me I was gonna get a dose equivalent to the morphine but I dont think thats anywhere close. I used a internet dose calculator that said 60 mg of opana would be the equivalant.

So I know they like to start you low and double your dose every 3 weeks usually till you get situated but this seems like a rough transition. What do you think Im in store for in terms of discomfort switching? Im sure in the long run I will end up with a good dose. Do you think it will be better in the long run if I get an appropiate dose like 60-80 area?

Morphine wasnt really doing me well, but its hella habit forming so Im a bit worried about the transition. I feel a bit shafted as I honestly expected to get two 30s. I spoke to the receptionist and she checked in the back and came back and told me it was oxycodone and morphine combined so I question her medical knowledge, because its not. Oxymorphone or Opana is what Oxycodone breaks down to kinda how hydrocodone breaks down to hydromorphone or dilaudid. Also Morphine breaks down to heroin or diamorphine and fentynal depending on your chemistry set.

Anyways do you think opana will bring me better relief in the long run after my meds are leveled out? Also how uncomfortable do you think the transition will be?

 

[Morphling]

They gave you a massive dose reduction of 75%. You'll probably withdrawal, I'd say, yeah.

Opana always worked a wonder for my pain, better than morphine. Everyone is different though, so it's hard to say.

 

[Tommyboy]

Yea that's a pretty big dosage drop. You can take a few extra in the beginning if you are in withdrawal, but then you have to allow yourself some time to taper a bit at the end of the script so that you make it until your next appointment. Or you can just tell the doctor what is going on. For all we know this dose may work for you and you will not experience any withdrawals, so just try to take it as prescribed and see how that works for you.

 

[dopemaster]

The doctor said he was going to give me an equivalant dose. Do you think it would be a messed up move to call and ask if they made a mistake. I asked the receptionist and shes like oh that opana stuff is strong. Im thinking yeah so is that morphine stuff especially at 200 mg. I know this clinic gets downright pissed if you make an apointment to go in early and its only 3 weeks. They did the same thing to a friend of mine and she got sorted but it took 3 or 4 trips to the doctor. They do give the highest doses in town. I also get 60 mgs of oxy so that should help a bit. I dunno if its some sort of game with them or what. They clearly get off on their power and in the long run they give alot of medicine. I had a good doctor but due to my insurance the shift me around to different ones in the clinic.

The bottom line is that they said they would give me a dose equal in strength to morphine. The receptionist said opana is ten times stronger but thats bollocks and Im sure any reputable source of information would agree with me. Should I call them on monday and say hey this aint cutting it? Im afraid they will just shift me back to the morphine. I want to be on the opana and I know that they will up it but its like I think the doctor calling the shots today wants me to suffer. There are two docs and its like good doc/bad doc. The bad one is just an assistant. I was still having my dose adjusted when they pulled this insurance crap and bad doc caps my dose.

So I had gotten new doc today and asked for help. New doc says I get equivalant but this is definetly not that. Im willing to tough it out, but Im worried if I dont stick up for myself they will fuck me over. Thing is Im in so much pain I cant stand it and thats why I asked to switch meds.

I feel like one particular doctor is fucking with me and Im considering maybe talking to my family physician to get an outside opinion. This doctor referred me there. Any ideas? Im just frustrated cuz this medicine could really help and things havent been going well and then shit just got worse. Im not sure if its protocol to start me on this bs dose or what. I do got an apointment in 3 weeks though so I could wait till then I suppose. Im not sure if I should raise a fuss or not going to my family doctor and all.

The are 3 docs. Good doc/bad doc and new doc.

My pain issues have fucked up my life completely and even led me to some abuse which has since ceased, but Ive got scars that are healed. I feel really pinned down and Im walking on ice with these fuckers. Honestly Im scared to post this, but I have no one to talk to.

 

[Tommyboy]

See how that dose works for you, and if it doesn't treat your pain adequately then call them up and tell them that the new medication wasn't treating your pain as well as the previous medication/dose, and so you looked it up and saw that the new drug/dose you were prescribed is low than the equivalent dose of the morphine you were on.

Some doctors have different conversions than others. I know that with benzos a lot of them use the conversion chart that's used in the Ashton manual, but my doctor put me on half of the dose that the manual said was equivalent to my previous medication and I was fine, so it depends on the person. Like I said, see how the Opana works for you at that dose and go from there.

 

[deidara]

Even though they did massively drop your dose, oxymorphone is stronger than morphine anyway IMO. I would say just try to get on a bigger dose if 20mg doesn't work for you.

 

[dopemaster]

I think I like opana better but this dose is no where near enough. Im not sure how Im not supposed to go into horrible wds and pain from this switch. Ive already had to hit up my friendly neighborhood spiderman and I steal feel like shit. Im up shits creek. Its labor day weekend and I cant call doctor. Even if I called they would just switch me back to morphine which is not what I want. I would like when they switch medications not to send me into withdrawals. I dont know how to communicate this.

 

[Jktm]

Give it a week before you call up to your doctor if you can. Docs like to wait at least that long for your serum levels to peak.

 

[dopemaster]

Well I gave it a day. I was going apeshit so I ended up taking what the doctor had told me he was going to prescribe me which was 60 mg. I feel alot better. I might get kicked out of this clinic but I dont really care. Im gonna hit up my family doctor and ask him to write my scrips for a while and refer me to another clinic if they kick me out. Ill call them after the weekend and tell them that it was ungodly awful at 20 mg. It really was. I was getting really nasty withdrawals. Im not a methadone patient. I wasnt on any drug when I got on CPM and now I feel like a junky, but its because everyone gets habituated to the medication. They make you sign a waiver saying that basically you are going to become a drug addict by taking pain medication.

Im there for pain treatment so there really is no justification for this treatment. I thought about it and its just bollocks to say your going to give me one dose and then have the receptionists tell me that someone changed it and to just call if Im having probs. Of course they pull this on a friday of a holiday weekend. Dude said 60 mgs in the back and I get 20 on the scrip so its their fuck up. Im not gonna suffer. Im sure they are not gonna appreciate my attitude towards this matter and may try to make me suffer. I guess we will just see what happens. I really feel like some of the doctors dont care. Some do though. Its just that you have to have the right insurance to even see a doctor at most pain clinics. IME you get treated like scum for being on medicaid.

 

[Tommyboy]

I recommend going back to the pain clinic before going to your family doctor. If you go to your family doctor and he prescribes you something and then your pain clinic finds out about it then they will definitely kick you out, but if you try them first they may properly adjust your dose. If they don't then you can proceed to plan B which is going to your family doctor to get the proper dosage and have him/her refer you to a new clinic.

Since everything is computerized now it may appear that you are doctor shopping if you go from pain clinic to family doctor back to pain clinic. The pharmacy would probably catch on to this and notify each doctor which is why I recommend trying to fix this by going back to the pain clinic first and explaining your situation.

 

[dopemaster]

Im gonna hit them up first and make an apointment. Im gotta go to my family doc anyways next week so Ill get some advice. Ill stay on with the clinic if they sort things out. Im starting to think they wont trip out. They made an error. All I did was take more than I was given on the scrip so I didnt have to suffer. They said one thing and I got another. Ill call them and it will have only been a few days I will have been off and I will go see them ASAP. If they do kick me out Ill have my family doc to fall back on. Im not trying to fill scrips from two docs. If I switched my new doc would call my old doc and than I sign a new contract. Thats how switches seem to work here. Im not trying to pull a fast one. I just got put in a situation where I got a raw deal. I should have gotten alot more medicine and if I took what the bottle says id be in so much pain. So yeah what you said was what I was planning on doing. Im just not sure if I really like this clinic. I was definetly freaking out earlier before I took the dose I was supposed to get. I think this medication is alot better. Its less sedating, more effective, and no constipation.

 

[dothedew69]

My mother actually went through the same thing. Now are you taking 200mg in a day or each dose. My mother was at 60mg Ms contin ER with 10mg oxycodone 3 times a day for brekak through pain. Anyways a huge factor I would initially say is are you getting brand name Opana ER "TRF?" The time release formula is a joke and the morphine works WAY better for my mom at least. BUT recently she tried it again and the only pharmacy that had it had Impax Oxymorphone 20mg pills imprinted G73 on one side green in color. Is that what you received or did you get the concave version or G74? If you are dosing 200mg of morphine 2-3 times a day yeah you need a lot of oxymorphone. Its roughly 8 times stronger. I would even suggest, if your contract allows, to visit another pain management physician for a second opinion. My mothers PM doctor never saw her. She was in a ton of pain and they never increased her dosage. They thought she abused pills (which I keep in a safe for her so she never abuses anything) because she had an accidental overdose (they prescribed her 150mg percocet a day for 6 years yeah her liver ceased to function. Her doctor didn't have her do a liver test in over 4 months. He medication built up in her system as her liver slowed down and eventually stopped functioning and she overdosed because of that. They treated her like an addict until we we sued them for malpractice among other things, we settled but we really wanted that guys license taken away). My best friends mother has this amazing PM doctor so my mother went to see him for a second opinion and needless he's her new doctor which she sees every visit and RELIEVES her pain, it's incredible!. Make sure you find the generic Impax oxymorphone, its the old formulation and works very well. My mom did have to cut the pill in half because 12 hour pills NEVER work for her. She is taking it 10mg every 8 hours and she is a happy camper. I wish you he best of luck. Opana or oxymorphone is a great pain medication that makes my mother exercise again let alone get up and move around. You need to find a doctor who cares about you and relieving your pain!

 

[dopemaster]

The dose was 3 60s of morphine er a day and 3 20s of oxy a day. The oxy stayed the same. I ended up with 10 mgs of opana twice a day. The doctor had told me in the exam room he would give me 3 opana 20s a day, but I got the script in the waiting room and it was two 10s a day and the receptionist would not let me speak to the doctor.

 

[dopemaster]

OK so after going thru hell and high water and sacrificing a goat I was able to get a hold of a doctor at my clinic. They changed my dose after intense negotiations. It was hella sketchy convo and they almost kicked me out. It was fucking emotionally and physically draining.

 

[opiatekrzy]

i believe morphine (mscontin, kadian) or IR morphine is much more effective with pain management than opana. morphine believe it or not has a long half life atleast for me, i can skip a day and not be sick, unlike opana ill get a speedy high, with weak pain relief, and feel withdrawl symptoms later that night..

 

[dopemaster]

Im not too crazy about the opana and Im stuck with it for at least a month. I cant fucking sleep even though my dose has been tripled. I even injected 30 mgs in a single shot and didnt feel any pain relief or really much of anything. I miss my morphine so much. I had 200 mgs a day and opana is just like taking tylenol to me. Everyone I have spoken to in real life about opana has asked me to sell them some. They think its better than sliced bread. Im not seeing what the big deal is. My back fucking hurts. This shit just doesnt work for me. Id go to the hospital if I wasnt on chronic pain maintainance. Its not like I give a flying fuck about my pain contract, its just that they wont treat me. I would be willing to part with my pinky if it meant I could have two days to sleep, eat, and do things I used to enjoy. I feel like my life is over and that Im doomed to live in agony for every second of my life. I cant get my pain under control ever. Its been five years since I got hurt and everyday gets worse. I wake up every time I sleep covered in sweat, sneezing, puking, and sometimes screaming. I guess thats the good thing about sleeping 12 hours a week. FML.