Arachnoiditis :: OPANA? Anyone With Experience
Sep 12, 2015
I wonder if anyone taking Opana, long acting (la) and short acting (sa).
What is your experience with this med. ?
Did you take anything else before Opana?
I am going thru a very tough time now. My Dr. transitioning me from Oxycontin - LA and Oxycodone - SA because I been on them for a very long time, developed tolerance and stopped working.
Will take 2 full month to finally stop both oxy and take both Opanas.
I was told Opana stronger drug than Oxy, then why I suffer so much from withdrawal symptoms? This is horrible, never had such problem before? I read on Opana forums, where so many people complain about new Opana due to withdrawals. They say old Opana, before 2014, was an excellent drug without problems, but new one causing bad symptoms.
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I was on Oxycontin for 9 years without so much as a hiccup for a side effect. Best pain killer I have ever taken. Not only did it eliminate my nagging back pain from degenerative arthritis, but it also cured my refractory depression. For those of you who aren't familiar with the word refractory it means you do not respond to any type of medication for depression. Those were the best nine years of my life. Then the health company's prescription plan made it impossible for me to continue by throwing up road blocks such as Pre Auth's, that became harder and harder. Formulary changes that they made up as they went along. I would jump one hurtle and they would throw up another. Finally I was running out of meds real fast and they couldn't care less if I was going to crash and go through severe withdrawal. My Family Dr saved me at the last minute by giving me just enough Methadone to keep me comfortable.
I was taking 180 mg of Oxycontin daily for the last six years with a total of taking the drug for nine years. I was so ****** at the Insurance company. So I was off of Oxy for 6 weeks. Then I had switched pain clinics and they had filed an appeal on my behalf for 40mg oxycontin 3x a day. A slight reduction in dose as I had been taking 60mg 3x a day. To my utter surprise the appeal went through and I was back on Oxy's. Now I had to wean myself off of methadone. I worked my way down to 1/2 tablet of 10mg (5mg) a day. Finally I thought I was ready and Oct 1 was my first day without Methadone. It was a horrible withdrawal that lasted a month to get it completely out of my body.
At this point I believe I had set a Guinness book world record for going through withdrawal 3 times in under 3 months. Worst three months of my life. Next month my PM DR wants to bring me back up to full strength at 60mg 3x a day of oxycontin. So off to the pharmacy I go and you know it, they want another freakin Pre Auth. So because it was a Friday and the Pain clinic shuts down at 12:00 noon, I am now without Oxy's for the weekend. So here comes the withdrawal again. The Pre Auth for 60 mg was rejected. Monday morning I was back at the clinic to pick up a script of 40mg Oxycontin which I still had a good Pre Auth. They continued the fight filing an appeal. Meanwhile I called the Insurance company only to find out now they had some new formulary rule that said you have to try at least 3 out of 4 pain relievers they listed. One I never even heard of. The hand writing was on the wall. They simply didn't want to write Oxycontin any more because of the cost. My one prescription of 90 60'smg cost $1460 if you paid out of pocket with no insurance.
So the next time I saw my PM DR I gave up and said forget it, I am tired of beating my head against the wall with the insurance company. So I switched to Opana ER 30mg. Here's the crazy part. This prescription costs over $700. They have a generic called Oxymorphone which is a tier one drug and is a fraction of the cost. The insurance would not let me get the generic and insisted on name brand Opana ER.
I have been on Opana ER 30 2x a day with up to four 10mg fast acting Oxymorphones for break through pain for eight days. By the way conversion is 2 to 1 with Opana ER being the stronger of the two. One 30 Opana ER is equal to a 60mg Oxycontin.
My opinion of Opana ER is it absolutely sucks, it is the worst pain med I have ever taken. It is causing me shortness of breath and extremely severe anxiety. Just the anxiety on a scale of 1-10 is an 8.5. I can't sleep right at night, and with the anxiety I am ready to rip somebodies head off. I am afraid someone is going to set me off and I am not going to be able to stop my aggression. I did speed when I was young and this pill reminds me of the speed, certainly does not act like a pain killer. I know it works for others, but I am not so lucky. I finally hit my wall when the back pain returned at about a 6. That was the deal breaker. So I have put in a call to go back on Monday to pick up a different script for anything but Opana ER.
I was so Happy and pain free for nine years. Why did the insurance company have to take away the best Med I have ever taken and completely destroy my life? It really Blows.
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I've been having issue with my arm for 6 months now, tingling, numbness, burning in my forearm, hand and up to my shoulder. I also have a stiff neck. It all started with pain in my hand,thumb and wrist while using the mouse (I am a computer IT analyst) and slowly started to affect the whole arm, shoulder and neck.
I have had an ultrasound to check for tendonitis, Nerve studies to check for Carpal tunnel and cubital tunnel and they didn't find anything. I had an MRI of my neck and it's normal apart from some cysts adjacent the nerve roots.
One doctor wants me to see an orthopedic surgeon to have them checked and another thinks they are asymptomatic and aren't the cause of my problem.
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I have just set up an appointment for a ulnar shortening osteotomy here soon and was hoping to possibly get some advise as to what I should expect for my recovery. I had torn my cartilage about four years ago and had it fixed six months ago. For the past two months I have been in a lot of pain and we have found out that my ulnar is pressing into the cartilage and making the injury worse.
I have had a few arthroscopic surgeries and know the recovery to expect for those but this will be my first non-arthroscopic surgery. I believe that my pain level and recovery will be worse and longer due to the plate and screws going in and the larger incision. Also I work at a desk job and am thinking that will take longer to get back to due to the maneuvering of the arm and wrist.
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I have been on Morphine Sulfate 15mgx4 per day for chronic pain. Now my outrageous insurance is saying I must try Opana in it's place before they will let me use my morphine. I am concerned that it will not take care of this pain as I have tried tylenol w/codeine, tramadol and a patch and none of them work. I am afraid that this will not take care of my pain and it will be days before I can get an appeal in. Is Opana/oxymorphone stronger than these others that I have taken. I apologize if I'm not making myself clear...I am totally handicapped and bed ridden and I am fearful that I will be in pain.
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I have an addiction problem with my prescribed Opana and I need some advice and help from anyone who knows about my situation.
I'm stuck in the middle between a legit need for strong pain meds and apparently a predisposition to addiction. I was on Fentanyl patches from 2005 to 2012 when I went to residential treatment for 30 days because I had been "cheeking" strips of my patches for over a year. Anyway, long story short, the plan there was to transition me from fentanyl to suboxone using Opana as a bridge med. I tried induction from Opana to sub twice and felt horrible. The day after the second attempt, the place was raided by the DEA so I chose to come home on the Opana for my pain.
Fast forward a year and a half and my pain doc has kept me on the Opana but the problem is that I've been snorting the IR for almost a year. I'm on the ER 20 mg twice a day which I take orally as directed, and I am prescribed the IR 10 mg 5 x day, those are the ones I crush and snort....10 mg - 5 times a day.
I want to stop doing this but I am so scared...I have read that Opiate withdrawal is very hard. And I wonder if the original plan to have me on Suboxone is a good one....if it will give me the pain relief I need. Does anyone know if the bupe is a good pain reliever? What about if it doesn't work well enough....I've heard that suboxone is a b**ch to come off of too!
So I told my psychiatrist (who does some addiction work) and she wants to refer me out to an addiction specialist. I've been with this psy doc for 14 years and she knows me well and how delicate my stability is. They want to do this switch in a detox center in town where I live which I am OK with if I can get my questions answered about the suboxone...and it may turn out the addiction doc (who does chronic pain as well) will want me off opiates to try and treat my fibromyalgia in other ways. I'm skeptical about that....but I digress
So. To sum it up I came to this board because I obviously am an addict. I need help getting off the Opana, which is coming...but I am scared. Terrified of the withdrawal and being left in pain. And to repeat my main questions.... does anyone know if suboxone is a good strong pain reliever? What about then being stuck on suboxone long term... is that done for pain? Sorry, I know,that's a bit off topic for these boards but I figured you here may know more about Sub.
Thanks in advance for any help. Oh...I forgot to mention....I am stalled at the moment with the new addiction doc....my psy doc called him while I was in her office and told him about me. He said I could go to the detox center but I want to have a consultation with him fist to get my questions answered...I've called his office twice in the past week to make an appointment and he hasn't called back. So I am continuing to gather info while I wait.
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I first started using opiates in 2010 when I was 24. It first started with 1-2 Percocet 10mgs a day or every other day. Then over the next few months it went to 3 a day then 4 a day. After two years of 4 a day and at the very most 6 a day I was introduced to 30mg roxys. I would do no more than 3 of those in a day. I had a great family life with my high school sweetheart and our son. I had a good job, owned a nice house and was very productive. Then I kept using more and more and was getting bad mood swings and spending bill money to pay for my habit. Fast forward to late 2013 and my company was closed I was was jobless. So we were only on my wife's income and even this TH she made good money it was nowhere near what I was making but I was still taking the same amount of drugs. So I was using our bill and mortgage money to buy drugs for myself. I would take cash out of our joint bank account and say I was paying mortgage but would buy pills. I missed 4 months of mortgage and they said they were hook g to foreclose my home. My wife had NO IDEA that we had missed any and when she found out she was devastated. Luckily her father is very wealthy and bailed us out by paying all the past due amount and saved our home. But me and my wife's relationship was ruined. She didn't trust me anymore and it kept going downhill until she left me and kicked me out of the house. I went to live with my mother and kept taking Roxie's and percocets that my mom would give me because I would lie and say I was getting off the roxy and needed something to taper down so was doubling up on both meds. Me and my wife started to try and rekindle our relationship and things were moving in the right direction with us but not my drug use. Then in late 2014 while I had been out of pills for two days I had a giant fight with my mother as I was asking for more pips or money to stop withdrawing and she refused to give anything to me because she was trying to help me. In this fight I broke some furniture and other things but never touched my mother, but she called the police on me. I was arrested but after only 2 days in jail she bailed me out. I went to court and they ordered me into anger management and drug treatment for 6 months and was told that if I didn't do that I would ha e to spend 30 days in jail. After only going twice to therapy I stopped going and since I was still out of work my mother had been paying the 50$ a month fee for therapy. So I told her I was going and would use that 50$ to buy pills. I felt like the biggest waste of space on the planet for all of this and thought of suicide daily. My great life had completely fallen apart and I was losing everyone I loved and cared about. So a few months after my first court date I had another date to go back and show I had been taking the classes and therapy but since I hadn't and knew they'd put me in jail I skipped out on court and had a warrant for my arrest out for me. After a few months of hiding I decided I was tired of running and living like this so I turned myself in with he support of my now separated wife and mom. My wife told me if I went in I'd be forced to get clean and I could move back in and we'd work on fixing us when i got out. So on February 1st 2015 I turned myself in to serve my 30 days. Jail is awful but withdrawing in jail is hell. But while I was there I was with others much worse than me and with sharing stories and supporting each other it made it much easier and kept my mind off of it as much as possible. My sentence ended up being shortened to 17 days but on that time I had great time to think and self reflect as well as detox. I also talked with my wife every night by phone and we had great talks every day and she was very supportive and excited for me. When I got out everything was great. I felt great, was clean, was back in my home and with my family again and had a new start. But after 3 months things with me and my wife went down hill and issues from before with trust and me not working was too much for her and she left me again. So once again I moved with my mom but was still clean. Then after two months there and things not getting better with my job hunt or my relationship I started feeling depressed and lonely again so started hanging with old friends who were users. I didn't use at first and would just go for company but then my wife started a relationship with someone else after us being together for 13 years and it crushed me. In a moment of desperation and weakness I was over a friends and he offered me a roxy 30mg and I took it. And then from there on I was right back to where I was. Eventually I was introduced to a drug I hadn't ever taken, opana. It was much cheaper and more effective than oxycodone so I switched to that just because it was cost effective and more powerful. So now I've been taking a minimum of 15mg a day of opana but usually 30-40 mg a day. It's gotten so bad I've pawned many of my possessions just to get my daily fix. I am back to being suicidal and depressed again as I'm alone and ruining my life and losing my things. I'm tired of it and want to stop so now is the time. I have started to taper off and stopped hanging with friends who use but I know I need professional help to stay off once I stop tapering. So is like some help from you folks with what you've done and if any of you know of good/cheap programs in Tennessee. If I don't stop I'll end up dead either by drugs or from my own hand. I've lost so much but I'm only 30 now and have so much life left if I can turn it around. Any help or encouragement would be a life saver. Thanks in advance.
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I recently switched from Avinza to Opana after Avinza went generic. I had been stable on Kadian for a long time (6 years) until my insurance company dropped Kadian and wouldn't even cover the generic version. So I went to Avinza and it was okay until the generic came out and then we decided to try Opana. I'm not sure that I'm getting 12 hours of coverage all the time with Opana and I wonder if anyone does 8 hour dosing with this. Also, I have pretty much daily nausea, but I can't tell if it's from the pain or from the medication. I didn't have this when I was taking Kadian or Avinza. I'm not so sure this is the right medication for me, but I just wonder if others have any feedback about their experiences with this medication.
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I'm being switched to opana 20 mg. I'm curious if anyone has tried it and can tell me about it. I'm reading it's 3x as strong as Percocet and that freaks me out. I'm afraid by that logic that I'll be high. I don't want that.
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Hi im new to the site..heres my story. 05 was in a car accident head on collision by a drunk. Injuries..fractured acetebulum and broken left pelvis plus 3 fractured ribs and puctured lung. Now 11yrs later im 34yr old mother of of 1, 6yr old son a wife... On ssi since 09... I have been on 10mg methadone bid for about 2months and much higher doses in the past.now my pm is switching me to opana er 7.5 bid. At my request. Just needed a change...methadone was making me feel exhausted and not helping my pain as it usrd to. So i tried the butrans patch a few months ago and it went horrible...after 7days without methadone and 3days with butrans patch on i had major withdraw symptom and i started to have major difficulties breathing. So to no prevail i went back to the beast (methadone)up till now... Now im on my second day of opana er7,5 bid with vicoden 5mg tid for break thru. Im not sure what to expect...im very confident in my decision in swithing meds but...i just started feeling slight withdraw effects n having insomnia...how long will this last...has anyone been on methadone for 10+yrs and swithed to a pain med that significantly helped...thank you for reading. I appreciate all of your posts and i hope to be of help to someone with my many years of experience of living in pain with a smile. Thank you...
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I had spinal epidural on lumbar area which is very successful, as always. Same time I transition from Long Acting 30 mg Oxycontin every 6 hrs and short acting Oxycodone to 10mg Opana Long Acting every 6 hrs and 20 mg Opana short acting 3 times a day.
I feel such terrible upper back pain! Due to shot, i don't feel treated area much, but upper back never hurt me more than it does now.
I know that Opana not working well for me, although was told Opana is stronger then Oxy's, this why my Dr decided to start from lower doses first. I take 20mg of short acting hoping at least some relieve, but 3 hrs later I am still in agony; this can't be normal.
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I am at the end of my rope!!!!!! I have crps following botched surgery almost 5 years ago. I was on percocet for the first 2.5 years until a new pm doc told me it was bad for my liver and changed me to opana - 5 mg, 3 times a day with oxymorphone 5 mg times a day for breakthrough pain. About a yr and a half ago I developed horrible anxiety which has stayed with me since. The doc said maybe the new formulation didn't agree with me but made no changes. I wake up from sleep in the morning screaming and crying, so agitated. The pain docs don't care as long as your pain is under control. the doc added methadone at my last appt to curb the anxiety in the mornings but I'm to scared to take it. I've read it's more addictive than all of them. I don't function anymore, don't leave the house, cry several times a day. Has anyone experienced this? I feel insane and these docs don't seem to care. Last year I went to a psychiatrist and spent the entire year trying every anti-depressant int the book but none worked. They just raised my anxiety. I really think it's these pills.
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I was switched from Nucynta 50mg to to Opana 5mg (OxyMorphone) by my Pain Mgt doctor and I have a total different experience. I don't know if they messed up or what, but here's the issue.
While I was on Nucynta, I would take it, and eventually feel the effects, i.e. the lightheadedness, the "high" feeling, and also the pain relief. The reason I was switched was that Nucynta gave me migraines. Bad enough where I got ill and had to run to bed with all lights off.
Onced I was switched to Opana 5mg, things were different. I took 3 last night, my very first dosage, and took the first. No effects, no pain relief, no "high" feeling, nothing. So, about a hour and fifteen minutes later, I took another one. Still nothing. So I wait again, same amount of time, took a third pill...... Nothing.
So, when I saw the doctor originally and was switched, I was told that Opana was an equivalent to the nucynta. So, if it's an equivalent, why did I go from 50mg to 5mg? I'm just curious. I know they are different drugs and probably manufacturers. Can anyone shed some light on this bizarre issue?
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After the usual IV insertion, walking to OR and walking up rather groggy, I must say the first few hours were strange. Having limited hearing in my right for the past 7 years ( and getting worse) I decided to go for the operation.
My mouth and throat were very dry (11am operation with no food or drink in 12 hours) and deep breathing was challenging. I was encouraged to take deep breaths to clear anything from my lungs. My OP ear was full of cotton and gauze so hearing from that side was nada. My good ear was very amplified like I had a microphone inside my mouth, I would scratch my head and it was LOUD. I was discharged after I could stand without aid and at home crashing on the couch.
I had a protein shake and a bowl of hot soup and felt very stable with no dizzy spells or balance issues, but still the amplification inside my head. I had ringing tones on my OP ear on and off but no pain. If I plugged my good ear I could hear nothing but the ringing.
Five hours now and I feel good but I can hear everything around me, the talking , the tv, things very far away are very clear. My dog barked right beside me and I nearly jumped off my chair, scared me. It was loud. I used to watch tv on 65 volume now it's at 40 volume.
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I am a 29-year-old male of Asian decent (Taiwanese) living in the United States. My first episode happened last November and has continued ever since. It was diagnosed by a dermatologist this April. The worst that I've suffered was when all my fingers and palms, toes and soles were covered with small itchy blisters. Currently my hands are 90% pompholyx-free (yay!).
I think there are three major factors that contribute to the outbreak (environmental, mental, and diet), and I'll explain each in more detail:
Environmental: During dry winter seasons, I develop skin rashes all around my body (guys hate lotion), I think if dry skin can contribute to skin rashes, it probably can contribute to pompholyx outbreak as well.
Solution: Make sure your body is well moisturized, I really don't enjoy the oily sensation, but it sure beats waking up to the itch in the middle of the night! Cetaphil cream (not lotion) work very well for me. Stock up when they're on sale!
Mental+Sleep: I was unemployed when the first episode occurred, and I think stress has a lot to do with it. Also, make sure you sleep at least 7 hours a day, and try to relax and think positive thoughts as much as you can.
Solution: I just try to be grateful of what I have... there are people out there who are suffering diseases 1000x worse than pompholyx or being unemployed....
Diet: The dermatologist told me to cut out chocolate and nuts (especially peanuts) completely. It was HARD. But I started about 2 weeks ago, and it's been working so far. There was a scientific study about the possibility of chromium in chocolate that induced a flare up (from breast milk)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17671414
For nerds like me, you can check it out (be aware though, it's just a sample size of 1!)
solution: see above, you can cut out coffee too, but that will be too hard for me.
Medication:
As a prophylaxis, I take a 180mg fexofenadine every night. In addition, when you see (or feel) small blisters starting to accumulate, there are two topical steroids that I use.
0.05% clobetasol propionate (GSK markets it as Dermovate), ointment form
0.5mg/gm fluocinonide, cream form
http://img.medscape.com/fullsize/migrated/551/352/dn551352.tab4.gif
clobetasol is listed as class 1, very high potency steroid, and fluocinonide is listed as class2, high potency steroid. My dermatologist assured me that applications to the extremities (fingers, toes) will not cause a lot of absorption to the body, so you can be very generous in your application.
I also take multi-vitamins. My dad (who's an MD) told me Asians do not absorb B-vitamins very well, so it's important to supplement with either B-complex or B-12 vitamins.
This is a pesky condition to have...
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I was wondering if anyone had any experience with seizures with their lupus. I had one seizure last see summer before I was diagnosed with RA. I have been told by rheumatologist that I have RA with overlapping lupus symptoms, no positive lupus labs. My question is about the seizure, it was not a grand mal type, no convulsing but I did lose consciousness for almost 5 minutes. Is this a lupus sign. They found NO medical reason at the time for this.
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I am 39 years old and since 10 months cystitis is been part of my life. I took many antibiotic and resulted positive to 2 urine test with the “Escherichia Coli” bacterium. I went to the specialist and had an ultrasound, which was normal but now he is insisting on having the flexible cystoscopy which consist in inserting a small tube with a camera inside the bladder to make sure that nothing is obstructing the urine tract such a stones, small extra tissues etc.
Wouldn’t the ultrasound identify these if any? Has any of you done this test (Flexible Cystoscopy)?
Does any of you managed to have an Antibiogram test (or ABG) which allow to identify what antibiotic is right for that type of bacteria?
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it's not as bad you people think. I must admit I was fearing it a lot and this might be one of the reasons why I overreacted to the discomfort felt by the pumping of air to distend the bowels. There are no nerves in the bowels so you cannot feel any pain. Proof of this was when they did a random biopsy on me and ripped out samples of tissue from my bowels (as I watched on the screen). There was no pain at all apart from the odd sensation which felt like someone flicking a rubber band inside my gut.
It's always fear of the unknown which scares of most. After the procedure the only pain I really experienced was wind as they had probably pumped the world's gas supply into me (ok so I might have exaggerated a bit) but seriously, it's not all that bad and you'll feel ok right after one big release.
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I have had the implanon since I was 17 (now 24) and it has served me well...most of the time. I am actually considering having it removed because I have headaches five out of seven days a week; have gained about four kilos, which I cannot lose despite a healthy lifestyle and diet; I am moody; and I have trouble sleeping.
Most of these things I thought were just normal women's behaviour, but after speaking with many other women who have since gone off various other contraception, it has been brought to my attention, this all might be a side effect.
I have not had a period since having it inserted -except when it was removed after the three years while waiting to have it inserted again- which has been great. Despite this my main concern are the constant headaches, so I am having it removed and staying off contraception like this for a while to see what changes may occur.
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Anyone have experience with SI joint injections?
I have been dealing with pain (from nagging to disabling) for almost a year. A year ago, the pain slowly progressed to the point that any position was uncomfortable...sitting, standing, walking, sleeping was impossible (for some reason the pain seems worst at night). At that point, I called my spine surgeon (had a lumbar burst fracture 5 years ago so already had a doctor ), but the first available appointment was a month out...I scheduled the appointment and went to the ER after not sleeping any more than an hour or two for several weeks in a row due to pain. They gave me a Toradol injection, muscle relaxers, and Vicodin. I went home thinking that I would finally sleep...WRONG! All those drugs did nothing to stop the pain! I struggled through the next few weeks until my appointment. My doctor's first guess was a disc problem due to my history; however, MRI showed healthy discs and fracture site looking as good as a burst fracture can After a few more tests, he diagnosed me with an SI joint problem and put me on Relafen for 6 weeks to control inflammation. After 3 weeks, I did see improvement...The pain returned to the "annoying" level. Since that time, the pain has been up and down...Always there, not always awful, but sometimes miserable for weeks at a time. I had a foot/ankle reconstruction in November and had a HUGE flair up after that...I realized that I really had an issue when my back pain was keeping me awake at night, not the heel bone that had been sawed into three chunks! I was hoping this problem would just disappear as mysteriously as it began; but, unfortunately, it looks like it's here to stay. My doctor has recommended an SI joint injection as the next step.
Has anyone had success with SI joint injections? My typical symptoms are left side lower back, hip, and thigh pain from just annoying to feeling like my bones are disintegrating...that's the best description I can come up with I also have a lot of muscle soreness in those areas.
How was the "injection experience?" I've had cortisone injections in my foot before, and they were not pleasant...So, I'm definitely not excited about this. I have a high pain tolerance and have dealt with a lot of medical procedures, but something about someone sticking a big needle in my back doesn't give me a warm, fuzzy feeling.
Did you have increased pain for a few days following the injection? After the ones in my foot, I had fairly severe pain for several days...I think they called it a cortisone flair.
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Just saw this product a couple days ago, trying to search for hemorrhoids treatment for myself. Anyone try this before? Is it good? Any other suggestions which product is better for hemorrhoids treatment?
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