I've taken both oxycontin and opana in the past. First here's a little information. Opana ER is a long acting medicine while Opana is the short acting, kind of like Oxycontin is the long acting and percocet or oxycodone is the short acting. They're used in combination to relieve both pain over a 24 hour period and break through pain.
Opana and Opana ER have the same ingredient, OxyMorphone. OxyMorphone is about twice as strong as OxyCodone i believe (im not 100% sure though, so check a conversion chart 1st). But it also has some draw backs, while it may be twice as strong, it's bioavailability is very very low. Something like 12% orally.
Now if you were IV'ng OxyMorphone it would be different, then you would only have to use a fraction of the dose, but since it's only available orally AND it's considered impossible to abuse (they have there own patented abuse proof system) it doesnt seem worth it.
Your on 20 mg twice a day? I'm sorry but that is such a small dose and if you've been on it for a while your tolerance is just probally up. Just tell your doctor that you'd rather just increase your dose since the Oxy was working for you.
OxyMorphone and OxyCodone work just like Morphine and Codeine. OxyCodone turns into OxyMorphine in your blood after you take it, but OxyCodone's bioavailability is like 65-80%, so a lot more is getting absorbed.
I've been on both and yes opana does work and feels just like OxyCodone, but I had to take a lot more then i should have.
Bottom line is they both turn into the same active ingredient. One has a higher absorbtion then the other. So why change to the one your going to get less out of? Just tell your Dr. you'd rather increase.
And besides you shouldn't be switching to Opana if you've only been on OxyContin 20mg twice daily, Opana, even in its lowest dose, is a very strong narcotic, the warning label and website even say your Dr. shouldnt prescribe unless you've been on narcotics for a very long time.
Currently I'm on OxyContin 80mg, 3x daily and 30mg OxyCodone 6x daily. There's always room to go up, but if you dont want to and want to try opana, hey go for it, maybe it'll work better for you.
Hope this was helpful.
If you have any questions, send me a message on AOL or AIM, my screen name is guess..
"OxyContin"
