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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by kerria on January 12, 2006, at 16:22:41
Hi Ed,
You probably remember that i have really bad pain because of severe pudendal nerve entrapment and have to take pain meds. i've been taking oc for about a year, 60 mg er 3 x a day and 5mg breakthrough every four hrs as needed.
Yeasterday i picked up my meds at the pharmacy- and began taking the new tablets last night.
This new prescription looks different- it's oval, not round- and is so different. i woke up this morning in TERRIBLE pain- i always wake up in bad pain but not this severe. i could barely manage to get up and walk to make a hot drink. i don't know how i managed to sleep when it was getting so bad.It worked but it took 35 min of hurting so badly waiting. Then the morning dose started wearing off after four hours- i took all my breakthough meds already because i Needed to- i never needed to in this short time before. i always get generic but could this new generic not be releasing correctly or be old, etc?
What should i do-? i can't take more breakthrough meds than the dr gives. i didn't get all my medicine yet, they didn't have it- it's coming in later. i hope that they can give me another brand.
It's so hard to be in pain not controlled. i was managing before and this medicine doesn't work well. It's so hard to talk to the pharmacy. i have to though. i can't manage if all these pills are like this.
How could some extended release medicine be so different and not work as well?
i need to tell the pharmacy- this is so hard:(
Thanks so much, Ed, and anyone else who may have any input.
Thank you,kerria
Posted by Phillipa on January 12, 2006, at 21:48:39
In reply to Pain with a new generic oc ER- question, please Ed, posted by kerria on January 12, 2006, at 16:22:41
Gee I'm sorry Kerria wish I were ED. Hugs! Fondly, Phillipa ps Babblemail him he will usually answer as he's not here much anymore.
Posted by kerria on January 12, 2006, at 23:55:02
In reply to Re: Pain with a new generic oc ER- question, please Ed » kerria, posted by Phillipa on January 12, 2006, at 21:48:39
Thank you, Phillipa.
i'm glad you're you:)i just thought that Ed might know.
Yesterday i did a lot of heavy lifting at work - that may also be the reason for the worse pain now.This time i can't wait for the nerve block- soon in about 2 weeks- and hopefully surgery that works. i'm so tired of the hurting and the mess with having to take pain meds for so long. Although i'm thankful because there would be no other way to function if i didn't have meds- it would be so so good to be free from the pain.
Thanks so much for writing, Phillipa,
kerria
Posted by ed_uk on January 13, 2006, at 13:46:10
In reply to Pain with a new generic oc ER- question, please Ed, posted by kerria on January 12, 2006, at 16:22:41
Hi K
I think you should return the medication to your doctor. Your doctor can then give you a new prescription for the OxyContin brand.
Different controlled-release formulations of the same drug are not interchangeable.
Kind regards
Ed
Posted by kerria on January 13, 2006, at 15:21:12
In reply to Re: Pain with a new generic oc ER- question, please Ed » kerria, posted by ed_uk on January 13, 2006, at 13:46:10
Hi Ed,
Thanks so much for answering. If the different forms of oc are not interchangeable, then why does the pharmacy give them to me? i go to the same pharmacy. i had no troble with the other generic one, only this one. Why didn't they know?
i didn't get 2/3 of the medicine yet- they didn't have it and it's to be delivered soon. i can call and ask not to get this form- i have to pay more for name brand- but i'm afraid they are trying to discourage me from getting it there. i'm afraid they will say this is all they can get.
i'll try to at least change the meds that are coming. i don't want to bother my dr . The medicine works but not as evenly and i was already having a hard time with waiting 7 hrs.
Thanks again, Ed.
kerria O
Posted by kerria on January 13, 2006, at 17:27:28
In reply to Re: Pain with a new generic oc ER- question, please Ed » ed_uk, posted by kerria on January 13, 2006, at 15:21:12
i called to cancel delivery and ask for the round form- they only gave me enough for a week of the oval tablets. It was so difficult- everything is always so difficult there, it was so hard to talk to someone and the woman i finally spoke with didn't understand that there was a difference - she didn't know/believe me that the generics had different shapes, kept saying it was the same and not understanding me:(
and asked them to order brand name and hope they will get it in- try not to ever go there again.
everything is so hard, the pain, getting the meds, the insurance, the surgery, the misunderstanding, the negativity ...
Posted by ed_uk on January 14, 2006, at 8:10:02
In reply to Re: Pain with a new generic oc ER- question, please Ed » ed_uk, posted by kerria on January 13, 2006, at 15:21:12
Hi K
>If the different forms of oc are not interchangeable, then why does the pharmacy give them to me?
If your doctor simply wrote 'oxycodone controlled release tablets' on your prescription, the pharmacy can dispense any brand. They probably gave you the cheapest brand available.
In general, for certain medications such as controlled release opioids, it's best to stick to the same brand. You need to ask your doctor to specify the brand to be dispensed on your prescription. He can do this by requesting a specific brand name eg. OxyContin. Your doctor can also specify that the pharmacy should not substitute a generic.
>i didn't get 2/3 of the medicine yet- they didn't have it and it's to be delivered soon
So you haven't paid for it yet? That's good.
>i was already having a hard time with waiting 7 hrs
You need to start taking the medication four times a day eg. every 6 hours. It's a fact that controlled release opioids often don't last as long as they're supposed to. You must discuss this with your doctor so he can change your prescription. Taking smaller doses more frequently can be helpful. You might not have to increase your total daily dose.
Ed
Posted by kerria on January 18, 2006, at 22:15:26
In reply to Re: Pain with a new generic oc ER- question, please Ed » kerria, posted by ed_uk on January 14, 2006, at 8:10:02
i wish that i could find a pharmacy where they cared about people having severe pain. It's so difficult, having a dissociative disorder doesn't help any. People don't understand and it's so hard for me to function.
It's been a week now and i'm almost out of medicine now- i have just one more dose for the night- due about 2am if i can't sleep a little bit through until 4am or so- of the oval-shaped tablets that release too quickly- too much medicine for two hrs then at the end of the eight hrs i'm in terrible pain.
whenever i'm overwhelmed i can't do anything. i wanted to go to the pharmacy and just get it anyways because there's nothing else i can do now- it's too late to get another prescription, i may as well try to manage with this bad medicine, pick up the rest of it. It makes managing life, sleep so much harder when i take this medicine.
i didn't go though. It's too scary going at night and the pharmacist upset me so much on the phone, saying she would get round tabs in and then not getting it. i couldn't face the situation. She talks as if i can just stop taking it- like my pain isn't real - and wait another day again. She didn't even promise it tomorrow. i will be out at 2 am, how can i wait?
tears. i was crying on the phone, the people there don't care about me at all.
It's so complicated- so many rules with pain meds- the pharmacy people put me in an impossibly bad place and i can't do anything about it. They made me pay in advance and now are not correcting the medicine and i can't go anywhere else, no one can help me, make them give medicine on time.
It's so unfair, so unethical and uncaring of them. i'm so upset, i struggle to try to work, now i'll have to be there at the pharmacy instead, in pain, first thing in the morning. i can't handle it at all. i don't even know if the will have the bad medicine. why don't they know that i can't miss a dose?Is there any agency to even complain to? Why is it lawful for them to mess up my medicine like this, talking to me as if i'm the one giving them a problem? Is there anyone that can help?
Thanks anyone for any ideas, any help.
kerria
Posted by ed_uk on January 19, 2006, at 14:40:35
In reply to Re: Pain with a new generic oc ER- question, please Ed, posted by kerria on January 18, 2006, at 22:15:26
Hi K
You need to call your doctor and get a new prescription for name brand OxyContin. It might be more expensive but it sounds like it's worth it. You can return the generic OC to your doc - he might not give you a new prescription unless you return the unwanted medicine to him.
In the mean time, you'll need to find a way of making the generic OC more effective. Instead of taking 60mg every 8 hours, taking 40mg every six hours might be better.
Ed xx
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