For those of you on the higher pain killers such as Methadone, Oxycontin 80mg, and Dilaudid. I thought It of great importance to discuss the new brand name Oxycontin that may or may not all ready be flooding your pharmacy stock piles. Purdue the creator of the brand name Oxycontin has created a new version to release into the market Oxycontin OP (meaning instead of OC on one side it will now have OP). Now from speaking with patients on these new versions its a mixed debate. Half are saying its like the generic once put out before by another company trying to make a generic for sale instead of paying brand name costs. Problem with that earlier generic was it was severely less potent as as anyone that was on them can tell you. It as well made some more nauseated and sick, Purdue the creator of the brand name sued the generic company and brought it back to being a sole monopoly for them. But this new OP is being put out as the new brand name to be from now on. Like I said some are finding it to be just like the generic that other company put out others are finding it to be ok. I would like to hear how each of our fellow members on this forum are dealing with this new OP. I agree I like the reason for the OP as its been engineered that ignorant abusers of the med can no longer snort or shoot the med up. The problem is whether its less potent and we get ripped off like last time. I'm hoping it words as well as the last one without problems. So if anyone is on the new Oxycontin OPs yet please respond with how your doing. I'm interested to see how others are dealing with it. The sick part is they are still charging just as much for this new one and I for one if I find its not working like the originals am going to switch to another medicine cause I'm not going to spend money for a weaker pill. So anyone on these and wanna chime in?

Lordwood, My oxy is still OC so i cant chime in on that aspect, but i am curious about the OP. I realize right now there is a big problem with oxy abuse by drug addicts but I wonder if it will just cause them to use more oxycontin to get the old high. Just as we will be forced to take a higher dose to get the old OC relief.
I am definitely for the company making changes to help stop the abuse problem but why should we pay a higher cost for less of a drug? You would think insurance companies would have a major problem with this. momof4

If I were you save as many as you can of the originals on days that are more bearable for you cause everything I'm hearing about these new OP ones is nothing but us (the actual users that use them to help us go on in life) are being screwed over. All of this because a womens son died from chewing up a 80mg and dying from it so she sued the company and somehow in our messed up courts won. These new OPs are just like you said weaker and will mean we will have to use more to make up for it. When the company is putting preventable abuse above those of us for which the pill was intended we know the company has nothing but money on its mind. Why must the ignorance of others cause us more pain and problems. Im sure before long they will change the pill again to make up for this "weaker" result but the problem is them toying with our pain till they make it right. Thank goodness I also have my Dilaudid. Its nice to meet you RNcrps2 or momof4 hope you have having better days.

Lordwood, Your right it doesnt seem fair. I am curious if we would have more side effects taking a higher dose of OP to get the same relief as OC. I have enough side effects that i would opt to change to methadone instead. (have tried all other narcotics and other combinations) Just taking narcotics is stressful to me. momof4

Im am very disgusted with the so called newly formulated Oxycontin OP's! First off I do not snort, crush, inject or anything other then swallow my med's. I know so people like to say well if you were'nt snorting them u'd be ok. So I was in a horrible motorcycle accident a few years back. I almost lost my leg and I had my knee and hip replaced. I suffer from chronic pain. I do not have medical insurance so my monthly pain med's cost around $1850. I take 4 80 mg OC and 4 10 mg percocet for break through. It worked perfectly for my pain. All the sudden they come out with these OP's which I got last week. I took one as I should in the morning around 7 am, by 8 am I was in really bad pain so I took another, well let me tell you NOTHING! By 9 am I needed to take anotherbut I was scared to get sick or god forbid OD! But I was in a lot of pain, so I took another and that took my pain away a little. So all this week I need to take 2 if not 3 to get my pain away and to feel like I did with the original OC's. This is frickin NUTS! I will run out of my meds early and really cant afford to buy more. Purdue says they are the same that its the same chemical make-up it's just that they added something in there so people cant alter them, well I say BS! There is NO WAY that thats true. I have been on these for 5 years and know what the differece is. I don't know what to do now. One more thing, you think the FDA had a problem before, huh, you watch now all the deaths and rehabs filling up because all the abusers now turning to Heroin or something strongerthat they are not used to. This is not good people not good at all. Mark my words when I tell you this is just a start of something that is going to turn out a million times worse if the FDA and Purdue don't figure something out. Thanks for your time and I know in other forum's I had read Im not the only one speaking my mind, theres a lot of unhappy people. God Bless...

Hi, I am new to this forum, and like you I am in pain and not pleased at all with the oxycontin OP. I had mine refilled four days ago. I take methadone for breakthrough. I do sometimes have flare-ups with pretty bad days of worse pain. I thought maybe I was having that at first, then it hit me that it was because of the change in the medication. I have had four back surgeries and have low back pain that goes into my hips and down my legs. I've placed a call to my doctor today. Maybe he'll change my medication.... I don't know. Think I'll call Perdue too. I appreciate the fact that it's to prevent people from crushing it. I don't do that. I just want some quality of life afforded to me by being without horrible pain.
Best thing to do is to call your doc and let him know. I'm sure he is getting a lot of calls on this problem. He could increase your dose or change your medication.

Welcome whitefawn nice to meet you. I think I'm simply going to have my doctor switch me to an even higher dose of Dilaudid to make up for this pathetic excuse of a pill now.

I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of Levo Dromoran and if anyone has been on it to know whether it helps or not. Looks like a new option I might take instead of staying with these pathetic excuse for pain pills.

**************************************************

Has your doctor considered that you aren't able to get much benefit from the Oyycontin because you are also taking Methadone which is blocking your opiod receptors ?

Some info - It's not a "new" generic, it's actually old, it's from the Purdue lawsuit over their patent a few years back, they have a contract to allow certain manufacturers to sell generic OC, but it's a quanitity amount only - so once it runs out its over. And they are only allowed to sell it to certain pharmacies, Walgreens being one. Other pharamcies can't even order it.

It's actually brand name "old" version OC (old meaning before this OP stuff) Ethex buys it from Purdue then sells it under their name. So you are getting brand med for generic price.

But again, they were only allowed to sell a certain quantity, and once that runs out, there will be no more generic, and then only the new OP will be on the market. So don't get too attached . . . . It is not likely to be around for much longer, expecially with the new OP being so unpopular. It was estimated a few months ago that the supply would run out in January 2010, but with the new mess, I would guess it will go much faster.

Here is the press release about Ethex and Purdue's settlement:

"ST. LOUIS, MO – June 9, 2009 - KV Pharmaceutical Company (NYSE: KVa/KVb) of St. Louis, MO., today announced it has entered into a settlement agreement with Purdue Pharma L.P. of Stamford, Conn., in regard to the patent infringement lawsuit between the two companies. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, KV Pharmaceutical Company acknowledges that Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin® patents are valid and enforceable and infringed. In exchange, Purdue will grant KV Pharmaceutical Company certain limited non-exclusive, royalty-bearing, non-transferable rights to sell in the United States generic versions of the drug OxyContin® (oxycodone HCl controlled-release) for a limited period of time. The Companies have agreed to continue to discuss the final location for the manufacturing of this product.

KV Pharmaceutical Company is a fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures, markets, and acquires technology-distinguished branded and generic/non-branded prescription pharmaceutical products. The Company markets its technology distinguished products through ETHEX Corporation, a subsidiary that competes with branded products, and Ther-Rx Corporation, the company's branded drug subsidiary."