question about my pain medicine! - Pain Management Message Board

videogamecrazed · 10-09-2007, 08:40 AM

Hello all,

Hope your days are going well and pain free! My question today is how about how my pain meds are "working" I currently take 20mg LA oxycontin
3x a day but it seem that its working "backwards". My pain releif takes much longer to come on after taking the pill than usual sometimes as much as 1.5 hours before I can say that the relief is adequate. and lasting almost as long as it should (that being 8 hours) probably more like 7 max however. Normally my short acting meds would work in like 15-30 mins but last 2 hours at best not take longer to work and the end result being it would last awhile.
Has anyone had this effect. Is this a tolerance issue? Also the manufacturer on my pain meds switched from Watson to Teva, would that make a difference? Thank you for the answers and God Bless!

shoreline2 · 10-09-2007, 09:43 AM

Hi Gamecrazed, The slow onset is part of the design of all long acting meds. Slow onset means no assoiation with a buzz, slow termination means your pain doesn't spike out of control before the next dose reaches max efect. 6 hours of relief stlll sounds better than waiting 30 minutes for 2 hours of relief and then going with nothing untill it's time to take the next short acting dose. 7-8 hours is about the best oxyC ever worked for me.

There is no such thing as a perfect med or complete relief. It's just not a realistic goal and would require almost monthly increases an would never allow you to acomadate to the side effects that do deminish with time to maintain total pain relief. We all have to deal with tolerance to some degree but once the right dose is found many people go years before needing an increase. The first sign of tolerance is actually shorter duration, not lack of relief or slower onset. You can actually go to purdues' web sight and read the full prescribing info and an hour and 20 minutes is pretty much right on target.The idea is to maintain some relief even between doses. You may feel some of the pain return but you don't have the rapid and complete termination you would with a short acting med that makes catching up and getting the pain back under control even tougher when a short acting med has worn completely off for several hours before the next dose.

Good luck, Dave

ozzybug · 10-09-2007, 09:50 AM

Switching brands absolutely CAN cause a huge difference in the pain relief you feel. I have never used a Teva product, but have been given Mallenkrodt and that stuff is not worth the copay it costs me. It's horrible stuff and far inferior to any other generic I've used before.

Personally, I've used Watson brand before and it has worked just as good as the name brand, so you may want to talk with your pharmacy and request they NOT give you Teva the next time and see if you get better results.

My pharmacy just merged with another chain pharmacy, and they have started stocking Mallenkrodt. I just noticed this morning when I started my new bottle of meds. They used to use Watson, but I guess these chains are all about the mighty dollar and pay much less for Mallenkrodt.

Generics can have up to a certain percentage LESS of the actual active medication in it and STILL be in compliance with the laws or whatever, and some of the generics (Like Mallencrap) obviously take advantage of that.

Watson seems to be the best generic (in my opinion). Believe me, I will be talking with the pharmacist before my next refill.

Good Luck & I hope your pharmacy can get the Watson for you in the future. Some pharmacies will help that way, and others either can't or just won't. Let us know

videogamecrazed · 10-09-2007, 10:08 AM

Ty all for the wonderfull posts,

I will talk to my pharmacist and also my Dr., if the generic Watson is not available then I will ask my PM about maybe getting Namebrand as a medical necessity. Never had to worry about that one before so not sure how it will work. I always fear that my actions will promote suspiscion with my PM dr. just because my old PM always treated my pain as an addiction to meds and he was the one writing them. LOL...needless to say I dont see him anymore. Ty again, and will add to this post or write another one on Friday afternoon when i Arrive home from my Dr.'s office.

butrfligirl28 · 10-09-2007, 06:52 PM

I also take oxycontin and it takes at least an hour, sometimes more. If I know I will need a BT pill, when pain is very severe, I will take the LA and then a SA 30 mins. later. This works better for some reason then taking them at the same time, or taking the BT med an hour or two later. I found this out by accident, and only do this when my pain is severe, such as during my menstrual cycle. Good luck!