Oxycontin - Pain Management Message Board

deerme · 01-07-2004, 01:54 PM

I have be on/off hydrocodone 7.5 4times a day plus 400mg neurontin 4 times a day for the last few years. 5 major shoulder operations, 3 herniated disks in my lower back. Yesterday my PM. Doc. took me off the Hydro. and put me on Oxycontin 20mg evry 12 hours. I have some questions now, that I did not think of in the Docs. office, maybe someone can answer. Will I be getting the same amount of pain killing medicine with the Oxy. or will it be the same as the Hydro. Will I experience withdrawl from the Hydro.? Will I be as edgy an moody with the Oxy. as I was with the Hydro? I did not like taking the Hydro. because I did not like the way it made me feel, + Aceteminiphen was a big concern for me. Thanks.

wirry1422 · 01-07-2004, 07:46 PM

Previously, you were getting a total dialy dose of 30 mg of hydrocodone. Now you will be getting a total daily dose of 40 mg of oxycodone. Oxycodone on average is around 20% stronger than hydrocodone mg for mg, so if you were getting 30 mg a day of oxycodone, you would already be ahead in strength, but you are getting even more- 40 mg, so this should definetly be, at a bare minimum, equally as strong, if not stronger, than what you were taking previously, plus you will not have to worry about the acetominophen as you were before, and you will only have to take two pills per day- instead of four. As far as comparing the oxy and hydro's effects on mood or edginess, this varies greatly from one person to another, so there is really no way to answer that question. You will simply have to find out by taking the oxycontin and making your own comparisons. I can say with 98% certainty, that you will NOT experience any withdrawls with this change in medication. It sounds like your doc made a good move for you! let us know how it works out. Take care.

Wittesea · 01-07-2004, 09:16 PM

I switched from Percocet to OxyContin in October. I have to say that I am a lot happier with the Oxycontin. It doesn't give me the ups and down of pain levels like the short acting medication did... and once my pain levels stopped fluctuating so much, my moods stopped jumping all over the place too.

You shouldn't notice any withdrawl. The active ingrediants are different in hydro and oxy, but they are so similar that you shouldn't have any withdrawl at all.

You may notice some drowsiness or dizziness for the first few days. That is due to the fact that your ovelall dosage of pain meds has been increased. If you do notice symptoms like this, they will go away fairly quickly. When I switched to Oxy I felt dizzy and lightheaded for the first 2-3 days. Just use extra caution if you are going to be driving or anything like that in the first few days after you switch.

Overall, I am very happy with OxyContin. It has worked very well on my pain, with almost no side effects. I think your doctor made a good chioce.

~Wittesea