After a grand total of five days on methadone (long enough in light of the drug's long half-life to get the amount in my bloodstream up to its dose dependant maximum) my pain doctor agreed this afternoon to let me throw in the towel and go back to Oxycontin until I see him in a month, where methadone (for me) was worse than ineffectual.

I started it on Sunday, taking 10 mg. 3x/day. And as noted in the initial thread in this post, by Monday I was so stuporous that it was suggested that I change the dosing to 5 mg. in the morning and at bedtime, with 10 at mid-day, when the pain was typically at its worst. I was okay for a couple of days thereafter, but then by Thursday, as my blood levels continued to rise, I was totally messed up by my mid-day 10 mgs. (okay, I know a number of you folkj are on doses that are an order of magnitude higher) and was concerned where this arc was taking me. I called my doc. who said to skip the nighttime dose and then just stick with 5 mg 3x/day beginning today, commenting that the good news was that we had found an opioid I was sensitive to.

This morning, I drove to a store near my home, and realized that I was having trouble staying awake, notwithstanding a 200 mg. Provigil with the rest of the morning meds. Around 1 pm I took the afternoon 5 mg. dose and by 3 pm was totally out of it. Fortunately, I was able to reach me doctor who told me to get off of it entirely and go back to the at-best marginally effective Oxcycontin, where I still had enough of it to get through a couple of weeks. It's now past 5 pm, I'm still messed up, overheated, never did get any pain relief, and am dependent on enemas of all things, notwithstanding my regular use of various medications that should of addressed that issue.

Now, my reaction is no doubt atypical and might be due in part one or more of the many medications I take: Xanax being high on the lists Mrs D was kind enough to provide. Whatever the cause, I seem to have drawn up a whole bucket of side-effects without any pain relief to show for it. Strange daze indeed.

Mike