Oxycodone labored breathing, info PLEASE!!

Rrector

Labored breathing is a side effect to medications which usually indicate too much medication has been taken. I think you should contact her doctor or a health professional right away to see if the dose is appropiate. What dose does her doctor have her on and how long has she taken it? It may be just too much for her or maybe she needs to be switched to a different med.

d_Random

She has been on various opioids the last nine months, all have repressed her breathing. She has been on oxycodone the longest.
She has addressed this problem with her doctor the entire time and she has seen a pain specialist. Neither have given her relief.

Rrector

OK, you said your Mom had chest surgery nine months ago to remove a tumor. Did she have lung surgery? Was it benign or malignant? What doses of meds has she been on? Do you know? If malignant has she had chemeo and/or radiation?

I had lung surgery two years ago and I took Oxycontin for a period of time getting up to 480 mg per day plus Roxicodone (Oxycodone) 30 mg two or three times a day or 60-90 mg. for breakthrough pain. So, I was taking about 540-570 mg of Oxycodone a day. It just depends on the person and if this is an on going problem and her doctor is aware of it, I guess it's something that she has to live with for now. The trick will be to get her proper pain relief. There are several different long acting meds out there. Morphine, Fentenyl (Duragesic patches) and Methadone. I'm on Meth now, 180 mg per day. Has her doctor tried her on Methadone?

It's really hard to answer a lot of the questions that should be addressed without more information. If you can write more about her condition and med history, maybe we can come up with some answers.

Take care.

d_Random

Thanks so much for your reply and time Director!
I called my mom and she said that she is taking:

oxycotin (oxycondone -HCL) 40 mg a day (time release)
oxycondone 15 mg (no time relase) every 4 hrs

She had a tumor removed from her breast bone that was
malignant. She was on Methadone last month and the
repressed breathing was so bad that she had to switch
back to oxycodone. The breathing problem (which she
describes as heavyness in the chest area) has persisted
for 9 months. She has asthma and the doctor is aware of
this but doesn't think she should still have this much breathing
problems. Is it possible to be allergic to opioids?

Rrector

I doubt she's allergic to the opiates, it just sounds like she's having a hard time tolerating them. What I mean is, all drugs of this nature tend to supress your breathing. If she's had the health problems she's had I think she is having a harder time with them than most. I had trouble with my breathing and also my blood pressure went low when I was in the hospital after lung surgery. They had to "lighten" up a little on the narcotics. That's what the doctor just did with your Mom. Went from Methadone to Oxy. Is she on Oxygen, by chance? That would explain part of the breathing problem. Also, was she, or is she a smoker? There are a lot of factors that could enter into the overall picture.

I'm on Methadone myself, and I can't really give you another medication for your Mom that would take care of the pain and ease the breathing difficulties other than the Oxy. Let me know about the questions when you can.

d_Random

Thanks for the feedback Director. If anyone else has any info on oxycodone and breathing problems, please reply!