Switching to Methadone from Oxycontin

01-15-2009, 07:25 PM

Hi,

This is my first post...so please bear with me.

The first of this year (2009) my insurance prescription coverage hit a wall. I was currently taking Removed mg oxycontin three times a day,REMOVED mg oxycodone up to four times a day, REMOVED mg valium up to three times a day, REMOVED mg paxil a day, and levothyroxine REMOVED mcg a day.

Well, my insurance decided to change my copay. now instead of a flat copay rate...they went to a percentage with a tier. My oxycontin alone was going to cost me over a hundrend dollars a month compared to forty. I called my pain doctor right away and he had me in his office the next evening.

I am switching my oxycontin over to methadone. Methadone is only going to cost me ten dollars a month at most. I am also going to stay with the oxycodone for break through pain. That only costs me now seven dollars a month.

Methadone has always scared me for some reason. My doctor started me last night on REMOVED mg at bedtime for two days. I then take REMOVED mg twice a day for a few days. We will then take it from there. I do know that this morning I was in some pretty severe pain that I assume is because of the Oxycontin leaving my body. I am wondering if anyone else has made the switch and what was their methadone dosage finally at to equally make up for the oxycontin. Remember...I was on three instead of two. My doc got creative due to that there was no REMOVED mg oxycontin just REMOVED mg. Also...around 8 hours is when my pain would rebound.

Okay..I also wanted to add that Oxycontin is now out in a generic form again. They came out last month....but did not help me much with my insurance but will help those with a tiered copay.

Thanks for the patience of me being a newbie

01-25-2009, 10:13 PM

camsheila,
welcome to the group and you should find a lot of support here. I am not quite sure about the answer to your question. I do know that the dosage of the methadone will be much less than the dosage of the oxycontin you were taking. REMOVED

I do know that Methadone does take awhile to build up in your body. So that is why your doctor started out at a small dose. I am assuming he wants you to take it 2 or 3 times a day? Is that right? Or maybe he will want you to work up to that. I know once the Methadone builds up in your body at the correct dose you will know it.

I only took Methadone one time and I had tons of itching with it and had to stop taking it. I know that is not a good med for me. Hopefully someone who has made the switch will know more. Keep us posted ok?

brian

01-26-2009, 04:44 AM

welcome, I'm new too, and I'll tell you what happened with my specific case.

I injured my back in August '07, and went straight on oxycodone. I can't remember what dosage I was on, all I know is that after maybe 3 or so months, and of course the whole time I was prescribed a handful of other drugs; the drugs wouldn't work anymore. I was switched to Methadone, or physeptone, and stayed on that until it no longer worked. They tried me on morphine, which actually worked even less. Then they put me back on Methadone.

For me, the methadone was a good idea as it was good for long term pain relief, because you don't need to up the dosage with constant tolerance problems. However, I have lost teeth through it - this may be due to lifestyle beforehand making them 'weak' and the methadone perhaps clinched the deal. I lost 7 teeth (at the back luckily) during the total of less than a year on the methadone. And the other negative is that it was quite hard to come off of. The detox itself was bad but my weakness, food aversions and nausea (complete inability to eat anything but fruit for 7 weeks)...that was hard to deal with on top of the pain.

I don't want to scare you off it - it's the best as far as I'm aware for treatment of long term pain...I'd say definately see your dentist and if your previous lifestyle was bad for your teeth, ask your pain doctor about what could happen to them now. If you don't have any reason to come off the methadone, you don't have to worry about detoxing.

I'd much rather stayed on methadone than oxycodone.

01-26-2009, 07:52 AM

Thanks for your support. To update you... I had a horrible reaction to Methadone and am now back to my Oxycontin and Oxycodone. I was hoping that the switch would have worked due to the much cheaper cost.
Methadone is now another medication on my long list of either an allergy or non-tollerant.
I did find that Purdue has a form that my doctor can fill out and send to them for assistance. I will then only have to pay 25 dollars co-pay every month for the oxycontin if I qualify.
Thanks again for your support.

01-26-2009, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camsheila

Thanks for your support. To update you... I had a horrible reaction to Methadone and am now back to my Oxycontin and Oxycodone. .

do you mind telling us what kind of reaction you had? I was just wondering if it was the severe itching like I had

brian

01-27-2009, 01:53 AM

Hi,

No, I did not itch. My blood pressure dropped extremly low. I also could not sleep for days. My doctor assumed it was seritonin (sp?) syndrome. My eyes constantly watered, and I had a severe headache.

01-27-2009, 05:21 PM

8 year cp person. mathadone didnt work for me. actually nothing does anymore

Switching to Methadone from Oxycontin

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