kimbell1
Board Addict
Reged: 08/20/03
Posts: 306
Loc: Route 666, Painville, Texas 6...
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It seems to take no less than 1 hour in every case and sometimes 1 and a half hours. While it does work, I thought Schedule 2 drugs drugs were supposed to work better and quicker than class 3 (example hydro).
Seems to last about as long as the hydro (about 9 hours tops.
They also seem to make it hard for me to get to sleep.
Being new to this drug and all the good that I have heard about it, is it me or is this a drug that I should get off.
I have heard that it is one of the most addictive drugs and at some point, I doubt I will see the same sympathic doctor after 2 years since I plan to relocate about that time and I may be lucky to get Tylenol 3.
Comments welcomed.
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hudson
Stranger
Reged: 01/28/04
Posts: 24
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Some very helpful advice... I was switched into first Oxy 10 and then 20, and 40, and they are rough. Be very careful, as I started missing work because of them, after only 4 weeks, so I decided to stop cold turkey (it had been such a short time)....I went through 3 full weeks of ABSOLUTE and SHEAR HELL. Vomiting, sweating, headaches, the works. Don't do it to yourself, if you can avoid it!!!
Good luck,
H
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Do your self a BIG favor, STAY AWAY from oxy unless you have a guaranteed supply for a long time and /or a good Dr. who knows how to wean you off of them. Talk about withdrawal you ain't seen nothing untill you've tried to get off of them, Good Luck, T
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gboronc
Newbie
Reged: 01/27/03
Posts: 39
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MY EXPERIENCE WITH THEM AFTER MY KNEE SURGERY I WAS GIVEN OXYCONTIN 20 20mg PLUS PERCOCET FOR BREAKTHROUGH. MY DOCTOR TOLD ME THEY ARE VERY SAFE. HE SAID JUST DO NOT CHEW THEM UP, LEAVE THEM WHOLE. WELL I CHEWED THEM UP. WHEW... ANYWAYS AFTER ABOUT TEN DAYS WHEN THEY WERE GONE I WAS GLAD NEVER WANT TO SEE THEM AGAIN. AND EVERY ONE IS DIFFERENT WITH OPIODS BUT AFTER TEN DAYS AND TWENTY OXYS I WENT THROUGH TWO DAYS OF WITHDRAWAL, EVEN WITH HYRDO. SO IN MY BOOK THEY ARE VERY DANGEROUS.
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night_shade
Threadhead
Reged: 08/26/03
Posts: 907
Loc: The State of Hockey
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Well, it looks like you finally got the OxyContin you wanted. I hope you find it more effective for your pain.
First of all, the main difference in schedule II vs schedule III drugs is that drugs in schedule II do not have additives such as acetaminophen, and are (supposedly) more addicting than drugs in schedule III. The benefit to not having additives is that there is no upper dose limit/ceiling dose. For example, hydrocodone with APAP has an upper dose limit only because of the Tylenol in it.
All long acting narcotics without additive ingredients are schedule II. OxyContin is a long-acting narcotic. If you are looking for the euphoric affect and judging the drug's effectiveness by this, you will be disappointed with EVERY long-acting narcotic. The reason is due to the drug's design and/or mechanism...it is released slowly over longer periods of time, whereas IR drugs (such as MSIR, OxyIR, Percocet or Vicodin) are released immediately and therefore give a more bumpy ride than the "contin" drugs (or methadone) do. The plasma levels spike and recede quickly, making their effectiveness approximately 1.5 - 3 hours. With the long-acting narcotics, plasma levels are more stable for a longer period of time...more like a bell curve rather than a spike on a graph. This helps PREVENT pain rather than just treat painful symptoms.
It looks like your doctor started you out small on OC. Are you still taking hydro for breakthrough pain? Perhaps you need to have an increase in dose? In any case, give it a week or two and see if it becomes more effective. The goal is to use the smallest possible dose to ahieve TOLERABLE pain levels. It is doubtful that you will EVER be "pain free" as evidenced by the symptoms and conditions you wrote about in a previous post. My PM doc told me right off the bat that they would never be able to make me pain free.
Don't make the mistake of stigmatizing the "schedules" of narcotics. The schedules may mean NOTHING when it comes down to pain relief. All opioids are like apples and oranges...some work better for some than others. Just because a drug is classed as a schedule II substance does not mean it will be "better" or "more effective". For specific information on how and why drugs were scheduled, do a Google search of the Harrison Narcotic Act.
As for withdrawal...the oxycodone in OxyContin is the very same oxycodone in Percocet. There is no difference in withdrawal symptoms in OC vs Percocet--they are exactly the same drug---one is simply formulated with additives to make it release more slowly into your body. Oxycodone is a relatively short-acting narcotic (even in the "contin" formulation) and is, therefore, not much worse to kick than any other short-acting narcotic. Methadone is a far harder drug to kick than OC because the drug itself has a very long half-life--about 48 hours, compared to oxycodone's half-life of around 2 hours. Besides, with your condition, the likelihood that you would ever need to quit taking a long-acting narcotic is doubtful. I don't worry about withdrawal any longer as my own condition necessitates the life-long continuation of narcotic therapy.
Good luck.
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Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.
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fxrguy
Banned: posting about recreational drug use.
Reged: 02/10/04
Posts: 10
Loc: frisco, calif..
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well i dont get it?? all the reading that is done here and most cant figure it out yet about class 2 drugs. those of us in real pain have no problem with cotin or methodone. for those who are just abusing pain med and need a spring board for new and better ways to buy the drugs they crave. its a shame that those of us in real pain now have such a hard time finding doctors that will help us. its a real bummer. i am very lucky it only took me 4 months to find great carring doctor that handles all my pain needs and i do have a back up one just in case something should happen (lighting bolt, car crash, black cat, ect.ect.
there are ways to get off class 2 drugs that are middley pain full, bupernix is one of them.
i have tried oxy, 20-40-50 and 80's and now i find that methadone 10 2times a day works better and i dont need break through meds.
well take care, and good luck
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tone
Veteran
Reged: 06/29/03
Posts: 554
Loc: Chicago
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Quote:
I thought Schedule 2 drugs drugs were supposed to work better and quicker than class 3 (example hydro).
where in the world would you get an idea like that? that has nothing to do with anything but how controlled they are under the controlled substance act.
(Oxycodone) is C II
Dont forget, (Hydrocodone) is actually also C II
it is (Hydrocodone + APAP) that is C III
Hmmm so Hydrocodone + APAP , a Class 3 thing, actually has more anti-pain ingrediants in it than Hydrocodone alone, which is a Class 2 thing
Guess that means the Control Class its in has nothing to do with how fast or how well something works. its more like class 3 has more liver poison to screw you over, therefore it can be slightly less contolled.
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indiacat
Stranger
Reged: 04/27/04
Posts: 8
Loc: Sunny California
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Night shade has made a VERY valid point that I hope will not go unnoticed. Pain meds are meant to control the pain. i.e. keep it at tolerable levels. Chasing the pain with inadequate doses of meds doesn't do much to help any pain condition. A realistic dose of oxy should actually help prevent severe pain and help keep things to a tolerable level. I have a dear friend who thinks that her oxy should only be taken if she is grey faced, sweating and totally unable to move. If she takes it more often she is a junkie. Who puts these ideas into peoples heads!!!??? Makes me want to scream (sorry about the soap box there). The short of this is, take the oxy if it helps, ask for help if it doesn't, realize that you will probably need higher doeses. Good luck!
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IMSUSCOT1
Threadhead
Reged: 10/23/02
Posts: 892
Loc: usa
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I think nightshade covered the topic pretty thoroughly....as one who takes OC, I can tell you a.) as long as you take it AS PRESCRIBED, it won't ruin your life (as one poster so elegently put it) but it won't give you any "buzz" or eupohric feelings either...so if that's what your looking for, look elsewhere...OC is a longterm med, designed to keep pain under control continuously...it takes about 72 hours of dosing to reach effect and you may need breakthru meds in addition to it...but you're not gonna "feel" anything except the absence of pain...and that's the whole point
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SuseCue
Member
Reged: 04/25/04
Posts: 169
Loc: Tampa, FL
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I was taking Oxycotin. I started at 20mgs with Percocet10 for breakthrough. I was needing an average of 6 percocet a day for breakthrough. So I was bumped up to 40mgs of the oxy. I was still needing the BT meds. After three months of this I told my doctor that this was just not working. I was too tollerant of the Oxy. I switched to Avinza 120mgs and my breakthrough meds were cut by more than 50%. I like the Avinza. It is a sustained release Morphine. I only take one pill a day! I love that. The best part of it is there are no ups and downs of the medication wearing off. I am on a steady plane of pain relief. No euphoria. But for someone who has been taking pain meds for any length of time, I don't think that the euphoria feeling lasts. Everyone is different of course. But for me the oxycotin was just not working. It would work for a few days and then my body just needed more and more.
I was so happy to get off of it. The best part was that I switched to the Avinza overnight and had zero withdrawl. I was very concerned about the withdrawl after hearing horror stories. I don't know if it was the Avinza that kept me withdrawl free or if I was just lucky.
Now I hardly ever take any meds. Pretty much only if I get a migraine, which I was getting frequently prior to the Avinza. Now I get maybe one a month. Avinza is my miracle drug. I love waking up in the morning and not needing a pill. I wake up feeling exactly as I did when I went to sleep. I haven't had any trouble sleeping or waking up and no groginess during the day. The oxy did cause me to have trouble getting to sleep.
I hope you have better luck with it. But if it isn't working for you, definately get off of it and make sure your doctor eases the transition to whatever you try next.
Best of Luck,
Susie/Cami
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Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.
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trixxie
Member
Reged: 05/23/03
Posts: 130
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I guess this falls under "everyone is different" category. I take 3-4 10mg oxyc, and sometimes I get by with less. I have been taking it for 4 months, and just started with b/t meds. I am trying my damnest to keep my tolerance down. The weather plays a huge impact in my pain levels. I finally asked for b/t percs, and my PMD prescribed for me. I do not as yet, have a tolerance issue. Oxycontin is meant to be taken every day as presribed. I find that it doesn't eliminate the pain, but makes it more bearable. There is no brain confusion with it, compared to the hydrocodone. I like it much better. I don't watch the clock waiting until my next dose. I don't have the side effects. I don't let it run my life. I use it to let me live my life. Thank God for this med. I wish I didn't need a CII med, its a pain in arse for refills, and if you are traveling for work, and in a different state you have to have a great smaller pharm for the refills, ie, postdated scripts left at the pharm for them to fill and sent out to you.
Relief is found in whatever schedule medication gives it to you. Be it schedule III or schedule II.
Communication is key. You need to speak up to your doctor otherwise he/she won't know what is working for YOU. You have found a compassionate doctor, now put that relationship to work for you to make your life more liveable.
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The truth shall set you free!
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LumbarSpasm
Silent Chaos
Reged: 05/07/02
Posts: 1538
Loc: USA
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Quote:
First of all, the main difference in schedule II vs schedule III drugs is that drugs in schedule II do not have additives such as acetaminophen, and are (supposedly) more addicting than drugs in schedule III. The benefit to not having additives is that there is no upper dose limit/ceiling dose. For example, hydrocodone with APAP has an upper dose limit only because of the Tylenol in it.
Just wanted to point out that Percocet and Perodan both have added ingredients. They are Cll due to oxycodone.
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LumbarSpasm
Or just a pain in the butt?!
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night_shade
Threadhead
Reged: 08/26/03
Posts: 907
Loc: The State of Hockey
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Right, Lumbarspasm. There are SOME drugs that no matter what added ingredients they have are Schedule II, such as oxycodone. That is due to the high abuse potential.
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Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.
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kimbell1
Board Addict
Reged: 08/20/03
Posts: 306
Loc: Route 666, Painville, Texas 6...
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First, I am NOT wanting to be in a stupor or expect to think I live on the moon when I take a pain killer. My question was that it seemed it took an unusual long time for this medication and other class 2 medications that I have taken (the duragesic patch which is now unavailable in my area and the reason I am on this oxy, and avinza which might have worked had my doctor kept increasing the dosage since I was at 120 mgs and it can be increased to 1660 mgs. So there was a larger margin to work with before he threw in the towel plus he wrote some VERY serious erroneous information (which he did not correct on my chart when I pointed out his error) on my medical chart that I stated I was having trouble breathing on avinza. I never said I had this trouble. I said that the dosage was not enough for me to even feel it.
I know certain people provide very informative information like Night Shade did. And some like to keep track of what other posters have written in the past. I have no idea how they do this nor do I care.
I welcome constructive information like night shade provided. But I took time to write this for those who think I am looking to get 'high'. If that is all I wanted, it would be easier and maybe cheaper to go visit the local pool hall, night club dive or whatever to get a thrill.
I am not sure at this point that any pain medication will work unless it does put me in a stupor. Therefore, I am considering alternatives like metaphysics since this pain may ultimatately be in my head since a study was recently done where one group with a similar medical condition was given no medication and did as well as the group that was given medication. While my condition may be 'painful on paper', it may be the pain is in my head or I just have to find ways to live with it.
I do know that I am tired of spending money on medicine, waiting on doctors, and dealing with the medical community in general at this point. I had read that Oxy had given people back their lives. I did not know if the reason it worked so well was though euphoria or what. I was only seeking pain relief and I though this Oxy was the Holy Grail of pain relievers. But now I just want to get on with living and not be chained to some drug that at a doctor's whim, be cut off.
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LumbarSpasm
Silent Chaos
Reged: 05/07/02
Posts: 1538
Loc: USA
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Taking one 20mg Oxycontin in a 12 hour period is approximately the same as taking 3 10mg hydros.
It is not a very strong dose if you have a tolerance.
However your doctor will hopefully work with you to find the right dose for you.
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LumbarSpasm
Or just a pain in the butt?!
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trixxie
Member
Reged: 05/23/03
Posts: 130
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Due to the coating on the oxycontin pills, it can take an hour for the medicine to be delivered to your bloodstream.
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The truth shall set you free!
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kimbell1
Board Addict
Reged: 08/20/03
Posts: 306
Loc: Route 666, Painville, Texas 6...
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I was wondering what a 20 mg oxy was equivent to in comparison to a generic watson hydro 10/500.
And the information concering the coating makes me wonder-why put such a thing on a pain pill that makes the medication take so long to work?
I have taken the two 20 mg pills together and they do work well. I was given instruction one 20 mg pills every 12 hours. i thought I was getting the time released version BTW.
But I still need the allotted 2 hydro 10/500 at night.
One thing is the stimulent in oxy. It is nullifying (at even 20 mgs) the effect of the klonopin that i take for the grinding of my teeth. Since taking the oxy, I got an abcess under a Best if kept off the board within two weeks of being on this drug.
I feel that this is not for me.
IF I stay with medication, maybe it is time to see another pain management doctor. However, I did go to one in 1998 and all he wanted to do was give me those $2000 shots in my back. I thought HE was the one to write the pain killers that general practioners are frwoned on writing. As soon as I told him the shots did not work (think God I had no co- payment since it was considered day surgury), the man showed me to the door just like all the other doctors did until I found the GP that I have been with since 1999 who is trying to help even by writing the oxy.
Trouble is that even though I live near Dallas, my current insurance does not cover many PM doctors and even the one I went to is not one the list now (this was around 1998). Plus now I have to pay 20% of all treatments like those shots.
Lastly, I tried everyone I could when I had great health insurance because I knew one day, it would be watered down with high co pays which I did not have in the 1990's.
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johng
Board Addict
Reged: 02/13/03
Posts: 358
Loc: great lakes
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kimbell1,
Quote:
I was given instruction one 20 mg pills every 12 hours. i thought I was getting the time released version BTW
A few things that about what you posted. Oxycontin is time relesed!!
oxycodone/percocets are not.
Quote:
And the information concering the coating makes me wonder-why put such a thing on a pain pill that makes the medication take so long to work?
The coating is what makes oxycontin time relesed. chewing crushing removes the time relese function. you get all the oxycodone at once.
Quote:
One thing is the stimulent in oxy. It is nullifying (at even 20 mgs) the effect of the klonopin
THERE IS NO STIMULANT IN OXYCONTIN
I have been following this thread because I had to learn the hard way about oxycontin. to me the W/D of oxycontin was the worst expirance in my life to the point that i learned my lesson and never repeated it. If you run out early of the oxycontin the doctor will not be sympathetic. the missuse and/or diversion will keep him from proscribing more. if a person claims it was stolen they will want to see a police report and I have heard that if the MD has suspicion even then will not proscribe more early.
please please be careful with this med. you are lucky to get it at all. if your pain is dropped from a (ie 7 to 5) it is doing its job. I am in chronic pain it will never go away. I learned, again the hard way, to get the best pain relief in conjuction with life style changes. so i live with pain that is 4 with meds and i am happy I am not trying to deal with pain that is 7 and try to do what I do now..
good luck and please work with your doctor not yourself. and you will eventualy get a better quility of life.
johng
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Ask and it will be given to you Matthew 7:7
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LumbarSpasm
Silent Chaos
Reged: 05/07/02
Posts: 1538
Loc: USA
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John is correct. Also oxycodone has a slightly longer onset of action than hydrocodone. I think whether you take IR or time release the onset of action will be 45 minutes to an hour.
The difference between IR and time release is the duration of action.
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LumbarSpasm
Or just a pain in the butt?!
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