I am completely disabled due to broken facets in my neck, damage to the rt frontal lobe, and ruptured and ?!
Question: I am completely disabled due to broken facets in my neck, damage to the rt frontal lobe, and ruptured and .?
bulging discs C3,4,5, &6. C1 and 2 were shaved off (about half) during brain surgery. My question is, I have chronic pain and have been on a multitude of pain medication, by far the worst being Oxycontin. I did get off of it and survived, which I thought was hard to believe at the time, but I am now taking OPANA ER and Opana instant release.
Does anyone know anything about these meds.? I hear that they are fairly new on the market and I definitely do not want to make the same mistake as I did with the Oxycontin, and that was believing my Dr when he said that it was a "safe" drug as long as you took it as directed. Which I did.
And I assure you, there is nothing safe about it.
Sorry, the question is regarding the Opana. Has anyone taken it or does anyone know anything about it.?
Thank you for your time and information. Health Question & Answer
Does anyone know anything about these meds.? I hear that they are fairly new on the market and I definitely do not want to make the same mistake as I did with the Oxycontin, and that was believing my Dr when he said that it was a "safe" drug as long as you took it as directed. Which I did.
And I assure you, there is nothing safe about it.
Sorry, the question is regarding the Opana. Has anyone taken it or does anyone know anything about it.?
Thank you for your time and information. Health Question & Answer
Answers:
Sorry for your troubles but I can relate to a certain degree. I am a totally and permanently disabled veteran as a result of a spinal cord injury secondary to a fracture of C-6. I have put a link below with info on the drug Opana and Opana ER. As I am sure you are aware the "ER" refers to extended release. Opana is the brand name for a generic drug known as Oxymorphone. As you can guess it is an opiate, narcotic pain reliever similar to morphine. My educated guess (I was a medic in the USAF prior to my injury) is the doctor is having you use the 2 meds concurrently to maximize pain relief. I am on a similar regimen using Morphine sulfate 30mg twice a day and 10 mg Hydrocodone with 650 mg of Acetominophen for "breakthrough pain". Normally with chronic, severe pain patients these medications are safe. Oxycontin is a potentially dangerous drug if not dispensed and monitored closely. I had a bad experience with narcotic pain relievers many years ago after having my wisdom teeth extracted. I made the mistake of not writing down when I took the pain meds and kept falling asleep for an hour or two, thinking much more time had passed and ended up taking too much Demerol. Anyway, the link I have provided for you below is fairly informative relating to medications. I strongly suggest you keep track of when you take the medications. Do not chew or crush the Opana ER as you will get too large a dose of the narcotic. I believe that is why your doctor is goiving you both the Opana Extended Release which breaks down slowly in the body and gives you a regulated dose of the medication over 8 -12 hours. The Opana "instant release" is for what is known as "breakthrough pain". That is pain above and beyond your normal pain scale pain. Feel free to contact me through email at YA and I will gladly speak to specifics of pain management as I have been dealing with it since 1980. I find my pain medication regimen works fairly well. As you are aware they use the pain scale of 1-10. Upon awakening in the morning my pain is in the 3-4 range. By late afternoon it sometimes gets up to 7-8 depending upon my activity level and whether or not I thought to use my Hydrocodone before cleaning the house or doing a little yard work.
The other advice I can give you is if you know you are going to be active then take the Opana instant release about 30 minutes prior to pain aggravating activity. You can't chase pain it is an exercise in futility. I hope this information is helpful to you. Hopefully your doctor is aware of your previous problem with Oxycontin and believes that the potential relief offsets any potential risks. My medical estimate would be that you are suffering from nerve pain from the damage done during your surgery and spondylolisthesis of C3-C6 (C-6 is the vertebrae I fractured) causing bone and probably muscle pain. As I said feel free to contact me and I can answer any direct questions you have individually. I strongly suggest keeping a diary of how you feel after taking the medications to keep an eye out for the Oxycontin pitfalls you encountered. It also will help you keep track of any side effects and how often they occur. Remember to take whatever laxative they give you as that constipation can be a *****. Best of luck to you. I hope you find some relief from all that ails you.Health Question & Answer
The other advice I can give you is if you know you are going to be active then take the Opana instant release about 30 minutes prior to pain aggravating activity. You can't chase pain it is an exercise in futility. I hope this information is helpful to you. Hopefully your doctor is aware of your previous problem with Oxycontin and believes that the potential relief offsets any potential risks. My medical estimate would be that you are suffering from nerve pain from the damage done during your surgery and spondylolisthesis of C3-C6 (C-6 is the vertebrae I fractured) causing bone and probably muscle pain. As I said feel free to contact me and I can answer any direct questions you have individually. I strongly suggest keeping a diary of how you feel after taking the medications to keep an eye out for the Oxycontin pitfalls you encountered. It also will help you keep track of any side effects and how often they occur. Remember to take whatever laxative they give you as that constipation can be a *****. Best of luck to you. I hope you find some relief from all that ails you.Health Question & Answer