WalkingPharmacy

Hello All! I have been reading these boards for a while but this is my first post. I had to express my opinions on the new generic Oxycontin being given at the pharmacies. Firstly let me give you some background on my situation. I had a work related injury in 1996 which resulted in tearing my L4-L5, L5-S1 disks. I have had several procedures done. At first I had cortisone shots done which did not work. Then I had nerve blocks done which did not work. Then I had something called a nerve burn done which also did not work. My doctor then decided to have a diskography done which confirmed that I had tears in my disks. My doctor then reccomended to have an IDET done which my insurance refused to cover at first and became a back and forth communication between my doctor and insurance case manager. Finally they approved it and I had it done in April of 2001. Being forced to wear a personally fitted back brace with a plexiglass insert for four months afterwards. This also did not work. Since then I have been taking medication to maintain the pain I have which mostly is apparent after laying in bed and trying to get back up or switching sides in bed. After trying several different pain med's he finally started me on Oxycontin 10mg every 12/hrs and percocet 7.5/500 for breakthru pain. I am now up to Oxycontin 100mg (90 80mg pills and 90 20mg pills) every 8/hrs and Percocet 10/325 (240 pills/mth). This month when I went to refill my meds they gave me generic Oxycontin. I'm not sure if it's just in my head or it really just does not work as well as the brand name but it is not working as it did last month with the brand name pills. I dont get sick or have nay side effects, it just does not take away my pain as the brand name pills did. My doctor agreed to check that box on the script to require brand name only next month since in my state (Maine) if there is a generic version avail that is what you get, the patient does not get the option to choose even if you have private insurance. I would rather pay the higher amount if it works instead of saving a few dollars for something that does not. 90 pills of brand name 80mg costs $1024.00 and I cant remember the cost for the 20mg pills. The Percocet costs $551.00. The total comes out to about $1800.00 a month. My insurance is a reimbursable coverage so since I already met my deductable I get a check back for the expence but if it works better its well worth the money. Am I the only one that feels this way or will other people be willing to pay the higher costs to continue getting the brand name stuff...