Quote:
Originally Posted by Suzsthings
I can take 3 percocets (oxycodone) a day. I take anywhere from 2-3. Sometimes I just say screw it and don't take the 3rd one bc it's not helping really. Well, it does take a small amount of the edge away at times. What is mscontin? Gabapentin? The pain mgmt. doctor did try me on the time released pill a year or so ago, I believe it was morphine? I had a weird reaction to it so he switched me back to the perco's. I'm looking at my prescription bottle and I don't know if mine is time released or not. How do you tell? If time released is the better way to go I want to figure this out.
All I want is to get some relief so I can have a semi normal life. I don't want to get high, I just want some relief from my pain. Thank you for responding and trying to help me.
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As Ginnie said, your dosage of three a day is not very much at all. You may well need something else in the mix.
You will have to keep better track of your medications to know exactly what you had a weird reaction to. Morphine causes itching, but that it about it usually. Methadone is extremely effective for nerve pain, but has more side effects. What you are currently taking is not time release. There is a time release version, OxyContin, but it has been reformulated because of all the abuse and is rarely prescribed these days. MS Contin is time release morphine, it would help if we knew what you had taken.
Gabapentin, or neurontin, is the standard first line medication for neuropathy. It is an anti-convulsive that calms the nerve endings, and works for some patients. It does help me, but not with the major leg pain, just the burning in the feet. Many, if not most, of the people here have experience with it, or the newer version, Lyrica. They are very similar, but some people do well on one but not the other.
I was also offered a spinal tap, but my neuro at Hopkins was offering it like a waiter offers dessert, he didn't expect me to take him up on it, and wasn't surprised when I didn't.
If a cause can be found, of course you should pursue it, but please research this site. There is so much information here, and you will see that sometimes there is only palliative care and a definitive diagnosis can be elusive. I know what I do about pain medication because it is all that can be done in my case. Hope for a treatable cause, never trust just one doctor unless you have a long and satisfactory relationship of mutual respect, but sometimes you do have to accept things the way they are. I am only a few years older than you. I do not think I am in as much pain, but my condition is progressive. This site represents a lot of collective wisdom and some very thorough research from a wide variety of PNers.
Hope that you get relief ( and a treatable diagnosis) soon!
Glenn's response is very valuable. He is extremely well informed on the subject, much more comprehensively than myself.