Vicodin vs Percocet Oxycontin Morphine - Pain Management Message Board

theweaver2 · 03-11-2006, 01:56 PM

I am in a dilema... I have been using vicodin for past 2 years for pain and its been pretty much useless most of that time. And, I have only been prescribe enought to take 1000mg once or twice a day - definitely not enough for the 6-10 24/hour pain I have. I FINALLY was referred to a pain specialist who has suggested Oxcontin time release (2x day) or Morphine time release (1x a day).

I used percocet for a while after my surgery and it did squat also, but I weaned away from it about 2 months later because my surgeon thought my pain levels shouldn't be that high. ha - five months later he wanted to do another surgery.. but that's another story.

So, here I am facing using more pain meds until I can find out whats going on with this chronic unrelenting pain in my neck shoulder arm and scapula... and scared to death of the drugs I need to take to get some of my life back.

Guess my question is where should I start??? Try to manage my pain "on call" and take something 2 or 3 times a day. Or is time-release the way to go??? Is percocet less addicting?

Wouldn't the time-release depend a lot on your metabolism?

I'm scared - can someone help me decide which of these 3 evils I should try ?

Thanks for any feedback... I have a doctor's appointment Monday and need to decide then. Just found this forum and hope to get some feedback before then.

theweaver2

Blasterboy · 03-11-2006, 03:20 PM

I wouldn't be worried about what medication is addicting, it's more about what will treat you. If you do go down the route of opiate treatment then you will have a dependency that will require you to taper of the drugs, now unless you have a history of addiction, it's much less likely you will become addicted and abuse these drugs. For example I'm a recovered Alcoholic but I wouldn't dream of abusing my pain meds, because if I did, I would be left without them and in awful unbearable pain. I've been honest and unfront with my doctors about my history and I keep a strict regime on my med use.

There are many other ways to treat pain before turning to opiates, have you tried acupunture, massage, Tens Machine, Meditation, Nsaids if your stomach can handle them are great! I don't look at pain meds as evils, they've helped my get my life back, but I do take the use of them very seriuosly, be careful how you word your conversation with your specialist on Monday, you don't want to freak him out of treating you with the full strength meds that you might need.

I wish you the best either way.

ARANGER · 03-11-2006, 04:03 PM

Weaver,

Welcome to the boards. Couple things regarding your post. You mentioned three different types of drugs. To start with, do you know the Mg of Hydrocodone (Vicodin) that you were taking. They don't make a 1000 mg. There is 5, 7.5 and 10mg. The other other amount is the amount of Tylenol (APAP) that is in it. If you were on a low dose like 5/500, then there is always 10/500 that may work for you.

Nexy, Percocet and OxyContin are the same primary drug other than the Tylenol. Percocet has Tylenol in it and its primary drug is Oxycodone. OxyContin is just time released Oxycodone without Tylenol.

Both OxyContin and MSContin are time released that should be dosed at least every 12 hours, but better at 8 hours. I'm surprised they would suggest OxyContin twice daily, but MSContin (Morphine), once daily. Since Oxycodone is stronger than Morphine.

Of course you can go the short acting route with Percocet and dose every 4-6 hours. I prefer long acting meds so that there is not the ups and downs of short acting.

I argree with Blaster in that there are many ways to manage pain. One of course is Pain Meds, but sometimes the best relief is different modalities of treatment as he suggested or a combo.

Either way, I hope that you find some pain relief. Take Care

theweaver2 · 03-12-2006, 09:39 AM

You don't know how much your replies (and before my appointment Monday at ten) mean to me.

You ask many questions. Here are my answers and a couplel more questions...

Yes, I have tried to manage my pain in every way possible for years as I also have a history of chronic migraines. I have been in a biofeedback/meditation study many years ago at a local college, have had massage every couple weeks for about 20 years so I am very much in tune with my body, use Celebrex now 200mg daily but don't think it offers much relief and why should I take something that isn't helping me?, have tried accupuncture 3 times over the years and it doesnt offer the kind of relief I need and at $80 a try I can't afford it, I have a TENS unit that I use on occassion for pain, but that pain pretty much has to be muscular for it to offer much relief - the "buzzing" and "twitching" it offers distracts from the pain rather than prevent it, I have a deep whirlpool tub which helps some of the "side" pain from being in pain 24/7 (like the lower back pain I get from sooo much pain in my shoulder), and I also have other little things I do like gels and numerous ice packs and heating methods. I've tried tons of things to say the least and am not new to pain.

I find your responses to my question of pain meds amazing... I have so much to learn about them. As for vicodin, I didnt know there were so many types. Honestly, I don't think my pain has been addressed adequately because it seems doctors are so afraid to prescribe these type of drugs for their patients.

The vicodin I take says on the bottle 5/500 and I am allowed 1-2 every 4-6 hours for pain. However, only being given 90 a month I have to pick and choose when to take them. So, most of the time I'm at high levels of pain and when I do take them it doesnt do much. Ya think I need a pain specialist by now???? I pray this doctor can help me find a way to bring my almost constant 7-8's to at least a 4-5 once in a while. Living with migraines has pretty much trained me to live a lot of time with some level of pain. I never resorted to pain pills with migraines tho, because I knew I would always get a break after it was over and I have migraine abortives to help break through those attacks.

As for oxycontin vs morphine release... the doctor just mentioned using something once a day (oxycontin) or once (morphine). Now that I realize there is probably vicodin that is much stronger than I'm taking maybe I should start with that? However, I just want to knock this pain out for a while. I have so much pain I couldn't even tell you the source anymore. I'm hoping by reducing my pain the areas most affected will linger and I will better be abel to tell doctors where it "hurts". The only time this happened was when I accidently misdosed and took 2 percs (375 I believe) within one hour. I was like

(thought I'd stick one of these in for some humor) the pain has gone except here and there. I could actually point to two places on my shoulder where the pain lingered... Maybe pain meds will be a good diagnostic tool at this point as I have pain all down the right side of my body at times now.

The idea of a time release is appealing, assuming it is strong enough to last 12 hours. But taking something 4-6 hours also has its pros as I can take it prior to an activity like running errands or, should I get some of my life back, going out to a movie or dinner. I guess I just have to pick a direction and try it... I'm leaning towards the every 4-6 hours because if I'm having a good day I might not need it so much. And, if whatever I'm taking is strong enough, it will actually work 4-6 hours lol.

Again, I can't tell you how much your feedback means to me. I didn't realize there were so many variations on drugs - even ones like vicodin...

As a side note - I live in Ohio and have finally been referred to Ohio State for consultation. This doctor gave me a cort injection in my coracoid process and my pain levels dropped like 3 levels almost immediately (from the lidocaine I'm sure). I cried I was so relieved. After the hour and half drive up there I was at level ten and cried with the relief it gave me. It was strange because the pain in my neck and scapula also got better... weird. Too bad it didnt stay with me

. This doctor has some new ideas and told me my last 4 EMGs didnt even test the nerves that might be causing some of my problems (llike my winging scapula...) OK - I'm getting wordy now. It would take ten posts twice this long to tell you what I've gone through the past 3 years.

Right now I want to learn all I can about pain meds and what will work best for me.

Should I try a stronger vicodin at first? Go with percocets every 4-6 hours? I'm thinking a stronger percocet than I was using after surgery might work best but I don't think it would be a good idea to tell my doctor what I think I should take... lol I'm so afraid doctors will start thinking I'm seeking pain meds because I'm "addicted".

Any posts prior to my appointment would again be appreciated.

Barb

mpvt · 03-12-2006, 10:03 AM

Vicoden isn't much good for chronic pain because you end up dosing every 3 hours.In my opinion you should be on a sustained release like ms contin (morphine),I'm not a big fan of oxycodone as it seems to be abused alot,to mind altering.So you would take the ms contin 2-3 times a day with a small amount of vicoden for break through.Most doctors that I've been to like to get you up on the sustained release so that you don'y need the quick release.Good luck....Dave