Posted on 03/02/2011 12:07:40 PM PST by Pan_Yan
Hydrocodone combos such as Vicodin are Sch III, Oxycodone, SchII. Do you have a current DEA Certificate? I do.
The point is that the modifications to opium allow for closer titration of meds to the patient's pain. Morphine, opium, dilaudid, demerol all have their place but for chronic pain the oxy/hydromorphones are functionally similar.
The person posting about their concern about taking opiates should know that any differences between vicodin and oxydocone (the same but without all that acetaminophen) is very slim.
And with your limited knowledge of pharmacology thats a concern for any patient that happens your way.
Do you have a current DEA Certificate? I’ll take that as a no.
If you can’t prescribe them, then you haven’t observed their effects in real patients.
Wrong again. But I will give you a pass as you don’t know me from Adam, have no idea of my opiate research, and my years in treating patient in detox. Soldier on Joe, I am actually a fan of your posts. But it is striking how shallow our understanding of the various facets of pain, the damage caused by demonizing opiates (Nanny State totalitarians) as well as romancing opiates (Hollywood). More damage has been done to patients with NSAIDs as part of avoiding opiates than direct damage from using opiates. For example, why the hell is the 7.5mg Oxy/750 mg APAP still on the market? A lot of hepatic damage has been done by all that APAP. It is frustrating the damage caused by good intentions.
Dude, did I touch a nerve? Are you stoned on Prescription meds and driving around?
As a disabled Veteran who has experience the wrath of pain med’s, which I refuse to take any longer no matter the pain I am in, and I have pain,I say there is a huge problem!
Never mentioned alcohol because gess what, this styory isn’t about alcohol is it!
I care because I drive my family around, as do many other people, and I know people who are high on prescriptions who can berely oprate at work, and hop in their cars and off they go.
Yeah I got a problem with it, as should you.
Hydrocodone and acetaminophen
Been headed down that road, and I won’t go that way again.
I have no idea what you are referring to. But you do raise an important issue - folks with chronic pain and in need of constant Rx opiates in order to remain productive. For those so unfortunate the constant opiate use reduces what you refer to as "stoned". For those in pain there is not a lot of pleasure in using opiates other than making the pain "go away". But what is a concern is the choice we all make when getting into a car under medication. Tolerance to opiates develops within weeks and requires a gradual increase in the dosage. It takes a disciplined patient who times their dosing so as to avoid dangerous tasks in the first hour after a dose. This is why Oxycontin - a sustained-release product where there is less swings in blood concentration - a valuable tool. Unfortunately those who have abused it have allowed the Nanny Staters to demonize it making access to it a challenge. Im sorry for whatever affliction you have that causes you pain. I hope it can be resolved so you can get back some pain-free time.
Thank you, and I am 100% for self-reliance. Hence, my distaste for abuse and misuse of all forms of drugs. It’s a unneeded crutch in most cases from what I have seen. I hated the feeling of being stoned, could not live my life that way. I’ll take the pain over that any day.
They are both synthetic Morphine.
I was on Oxycontin which is Oxycodone in a sustained release formula. I was given Percocet (5mg Oxycodine immediate release along with 500 mg Tylenol) to handle break through pain.
When I started going to the VA clinic, I was told that they didn't handle Oxycontin and they put me on Darvon which was worthless. It was a major step backward going from the Oxycontin/Percocet to the Darvon, but they didn't seem to care.
It took almost a full year to get into the pain clinic where they put me on Morphine, but that still wasn't enough. It took another three years to get a high enough dose to be effective.
After fighting with my Primary Care Physician (PCP) he finally sent me to a different PCP rather than prescribe enough pain medication.
My new PCP and I talked things over and he increased my dose AND he gave me Oxycodone (Immediate Release) for times of breakthrough pain.
Darvon has been taken off the market as both ineffective and unsafe.
Anyone who has been on any of the opiates and that includes hydrocodone/Vicodin will build up a tolerance and require ever increasing doses over time.
The VA's opinion is that there is only so much medication that one can take and an overdose will have no further pain relief effect. It is believed that when all of ones pain receptors are fully occupied with the medication, the best they can hope for is 25 to 30% pain relief.
It is only after many years of being on a pain medication and developing a tolerance that the higher doses are necessary.
As an aside, the formula for Oxycontin has been changed so that if one grinds it up or chews it, a chemical is released which negates the effect of the Oxycodone.
I am suprised that people are still abusing it for recreational uses since it is no longer effective when crushed. The abusers used to crush the Oxycontin to convert it from a slow continuous release to an immediate release formula.
The reason they chose the Oxycontin rather than Oxycodone is that the Oxycontin due to it's sustained release nature was sold in much larger doses than Oxycodone in it's immediate release formula.
Even though the VA doesn't seem to provide Percocet, I effectively achieve the same result by taking a 500 mg Tylenol along with a 5 mg Oxycode pill.
Even though that was a large number of pills, the individual dose was very small.
I suspect that your friends doctor was trying to avoid writing two different prescriptions at different doses which might be looked at suspiciously and possibly considered as ‘shopping’ to get more pills,
He is taking Hydrocodone, not Oxycodone. Oxycodone is stronger than Hydrocodone.
...which make them a lot safer for the cops to bust. Crack-heads are dangerous. It's so much safer for cops to harass folks at the mall.
My doctor prescribed oxycontin (or oxycodeine) after my second triple bypass in 2008. I was in extensive rehab and when I left, I took one pill after I was helped upstairs. It made me physically ill. The post op pain was already history, so I dumped the rest of the bottle down the toilet.
Actually, no. Vicodin is a name brand version of HYDROCODONE. Oxycodone is a much stronger opiate. People have been taking Vicodin/hydrocodone for years for moderate to severe pain. Some people have gotten addicted to hydrocodone (Courtney Love, Anna Nicole Smith) but the reason the Oxy situation is such an epidemic is that it is WAY more powerful and addictive than hydrocodone, and the potential for overdose is 20 times more likely. Oxy is to be used to treat people with: late stage/terminal cancer, busted backs (or either serious back injuries), gun shot wounds to the stomach...you get the idea. SERIOUS pain. Not 25 year old kids who say their back hurts, and yet they can walk fine. I have been addicted to this shit for 12 years, since i was 18 (currently 2 weeks clean and headed for rehab!!) and it is no joke. If you’re doc wants to put you on oxy, and you wanna live a long happy life and are under the age of 60, i’d resist it. Try other means: phys therapy, herbal meds, meditation, anything but oxy. if you’re on oxy, you are on a purer form of heroin. its that simple.
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