I'm 3 days in on my 2nd 10 mcg/hr BuTrans patch.

I started getting an earache early last week and finally broke down and went to the dr on Saturday morning. Dx: Sinus and ear infection.

I can't remember the last time I felt THIS bad ! Because of the infection I have no idea what is related to the infection and what to withdrawal from titrating down on the BuTrans.

I was finally able to get out of bed late yesterday afternoon and shower. This morning I feel like I'm on the road to recovery thank goodness.

We'll see how it goes from now to Feb 8th on this 10 mcg/hr patch.

Thanks to anyone reading this

ps....why do dr's insist on giving antibiotics that are linked to neuropathy ? I have severe SFN with no A or C fibers left in my feet per biopsy. He gives me Cipro after I specifically asked him NOT to give me any antibiotic linked to neuropathy. Vent over

Take care everyone.

Debi

Hi Debi,

Sorry to hear about the earache. I think a lot of doctors rely on "Cipro" as their go to antibiotic in most instances. For example every time my Mother has an urinary infection her GP insists it's the only antibiotic that will work, perhaps that's true but I question it.

If you don't mind my asking what type of side effects (if any) have you had from the oxycodone 10-325. My pain management Dr. told me they it does not work well on nerve pain but obviously it does in your case. I've reached 1800 mg of Gabapentin and it's not helping much with the pain.

Cliffman

You are probably right about the Cipro and I'm allergic to Penicillin so that may be why he gave me that.

At first I was on hydrocodone and it helped. Then when I went to the pain mgmt. dr and he put me on BuTrans he had to switch me from hydrocodone to oxycodone because he said hydrocodone doesn't mix with the BuTrans patch.

No side effects from it other than having to take a stool softner maybe once a month if that. I guess I'm lucky on that end

And yes the oxycodone does help me. I can take up to 3 a day and most days I have to use the 3. Not sure why your pain mgmt would say that. Sounds more like my neuro talking

When I was just going to my PCP and a neuro the neuro would not prescribe me any type of pain meds...I had to get them from my PCP and my neuro wasn't too happy about it but it was helping me.

I'm also on 1800 mg of gabapentin. That's my personal limit with that drug

Does your pain mgmt. dr not give you anything for pain ?

Debi

The only drug the pain management doctor suggested was Nortriptyline, which my Neuro could have easily added. Plus, it will take 2 to 4 weeks to work. It makes me feel spacey and drugged up during the day and I'm only on 10 mg. He also is working on a topical compound that I have not received yet. Frustrating because the pain is overwhelming most of the time.

Cliffman

I don't have any experience with pain mgmt. dr's because I've stayed with the first one I saw because I liked him and his staff so much.

I agree with you that your neuro could have gone through those types of meds with you before sending you to pain mgmt. I'm sure you have told them how bad the pain is ?

Maybe he's ultra conservation on starting pain meds ?

I don't get 'high' on any of my pain meds except when I first started the 5 mcg/hr BuTrans patch and I was pretty 'high' for a few hours.....my daughter and son in law thought it was funny But after that it never bothered me again.

I actually used this forum when I was talking to my pain dr about something new I could try. I think there are a few on here that the combo of Morphine ER and oxycodone works well for them. He totally agreed with my suggestion.

My opinion is (for what it's worth) is that he start you out on 5 or 7.5 mgs of oxycodone or hydrocodone and see if it will work for you. As we all know on NT everyone is different but you won't know unless you try it out.

If he keeps on like this you may have to look for another pain mgmt. dr as frustrating as that can be.

I've heard the compound creams can work very well. I only tried the one with the pepper stuff in it sold at the drugstores but I would not even feel the heat of it. I'd just slather it on until I realized my feet were worse instead of better. That may be because I have to use ice and not heat on my feet.

Debi

Hey my friends

First......my experience the last 3 weeks after reducing my BuTrans pain patch from 20 mcg/hr to 10 mcg/hr.

I put the 10 patch on on a Thursday. Didn't notice any change until the next Monday when I started getting sick (sinus/earache). When Saturday came I was in the dr's office with a fever and feeling pretty bad. Dx was sinus/ear infection and he prescribed an antibiotic. Over the next week I honestly thought I was going to die a day or two when I was hurting so bad.

So the first 2 weeks I have no idea what was withdrawal and what pain and feeling badly was coming from the infection.

This past week. Infection has mostly cleared up and I'm feeling ok. The pain has been sharper and I've had more pain in my arms than usual. My mouth/teeth were also hurting me more than normal.

When I saw my pain mgmt. dr yesterday I had been on the 10 patch for 3 weeks and 4 days.

He prescribed me extended release morphine 15 mg and reduced my oxycodone from 3 a day to 2 a day. He explained that the morphine is much stronger than the BuTrans patch......I thought it was the opposite. We decided I would take my patch off this morning and take my first new pain pill.

He also said I need to take the morphine as close to 12 hours apart as I can. I've set my cell phone alarm for 9 am and 9 pm everyday to help with that. He said it might take a few hours for the first pill to kick in and not to take an oxycodone until I see how the morphine is working.

Well that's where I messed up ! I did take my patch off but I am so use to taking my morning pain pill that I FORGOT and took the morphine and the oxycodone. Stupid me !

I asked my daughter to keep checking on me today to make sure I'm ok. I'm sure I'll be fine but will not do that again ! A stupid mistake like that could really cause some bad problems I'm guessing.

I'll give it a few days and report back on how this is working for me. I'm hoping it will give me more relief than the BuTrans patch was.

I had a meltdown last Wednesday night. I rested more than normal that day knowing that we were going to dinner that night. I was doing well until we came out of the restaurant and by the time I got to the truck I knew I was going down fast. BUT......we wanted to stop at the new Wal-Mart Market as I had not been. So........Christina pushed me in a wheelchair/cart and we were in there less than 30 minutes. By the time we got to the truck I was in tears....tears because the pain had climbed to an aggressive 8 and tears of absolute frustration !

Why can't I go to a sit down dinner out and a short trip to the market ? I don't think that's asking for much is it ? Then I felt ashamed of myself as I know there are many out there much worse than I am

Thanks to all who are following my SFN journey. I really appreciate the support and love I get from everyone here on NT.

Debi

Oh Debi,

I know this is hard, but you can do it and I certainly hope you have enough pain relief with the morphine pill.

You may want to journal your pain levels over the next few weeks, just so you can accurately tell the doctor what you've been experiencing. Also make notes on your activity...as it may relate to your pain levels.

Just a thought.

Hoping to get a good report form you soon.