Hey there everyone.....I am a 27 year old male with severe, chronic abdominal pain caused by nerve damage. The nerve damage is a result of my adrenal insufficiency going undiagnosed for almost two years....I was labeled a narcotic seeker and I went through three PCP's before one would do the appropriate tests to diagnose me...but that's another story for another day.
I am currently on 80mg of Oxycontin twice a day....with 5mg Oxy-IR for BT pain....my doc just put me on Paregoric as well....and that is what I would like to talk about. Based on my research I know that each ml of Paregoric contains .4mg of morphine. I am supposed to take 15ml every four hours...which means 6mg of Morphine. I am concerned that this might be too much.
Has anyone else ever been on Paregoric, or something equivalent? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated...thank you!
Hi STP, Mprhine is just the gold standard to which other opiates are compared as far as strength. The Oxycodone you take is 50% stronger mg to mg than morphine, so 6 mgs of morphine wouldbe the equivelant of 4 mgs of oxycodone, I really don't think you have anything to worry about. People use different break through meds frm their bnbase med all the time so 6 mgs of morphien isn't going to interact in a dangerous way to the 40 mgs of morphine an 80 mg OxyC sustains in your system. It's a drop in the bucket as far as additional opiate. howecveever, because oxy and morphine are in two completely different clases of opiate, you may feel a little differential withdrawal should you discontinue the paragoric after months of continued use. I really doubt that would happen but some folks are very sensative to any med change. Droping your dose of oxy by 4 mgs wouldn't cause withdrawal, so it really would be odd, but not unheard of.
Do stay on top of preventing constipation though, morphine is much more constipating even in small doses so keep up whatever maint plan your doc should already have you on to keep things moving. Personally I like Cascara Segrada, it's natural, cheap and available at health food stoors. You can also get senna tea which is much cheaper than having to by Senekot, 20 bucks for 20 pills Vs 3 bucks for 50 tea bags or doses.
Paragoric is another opiate, but the dose is so small I doubt it's even enough to be effective as a BT med proportionally to what your used too from the OxyC.
I certainly appreciate you taking the time to write back, and for the information! I have been on my current pain management regimen since June, and it has been working relatively well. My only concern is that I am noticing that I am beginning to develop a slight tolerance, but that is to be expected.
I am currently taking senekot and colace, but I will definitely look into the tea you suggested. I also try to eat some prunes every day, and so far the combination of the three has been working rather well. Once again, thank you for the response...have a great day!
