Getting a New Pain Med. Tomorrow

[WonderDerek]

My pain patches haven't been working like they used to and it's really causing me to be more of a loner by sleeping more and just laying in my bed. This is, obviously, because of the horrible pain that I'm getting. I ran out of patches two days ago and have been going through minor withdrawls from the Fentanyl(50mcg) patches. I was going to ask my pain doctor to put me on Morphine Sulphate ER, as I've seen so many people talk about it in good ways. I would be getting it tomorrow and was wondering if it will stop the withdrawls? Also, I know there are different strengths of this med and was wondering which strength would work the same as a 50mcg Fentanyl patch, if not a bit better. My back pain has gone up a bit due to me working out again.

I know that these are once a day pills but how long do they work and how long after you take it does it start to work? Last question, has anyone here been switched from Fentanyl to the Morphine Sulfate ER and how did the switch work out for you and what strength were you on(patch) and what strength did you get put on for the MSer? I know someone will recommed some kind of non-opiate drug to help ease my pain but opiates are the only things that work. I've tried all kinds of other pain meds. and Fentanyl was the first one to ease my pain after 6 months of searching. Thanks, guys!

[sjean423]

No help here, but I will be interested in the results. I am still on the Fentynal 50s myself, and still need percocet for breakthrough pain. Not sure how I would handle things if I ran out of patches. For heavens sake, be more careful!

[WonderDerek]

No help here, but I will be interested in the results. I am still on the Fentynal 50s myself, and still need percocet for breakthrough pain. Not sure how I would handle things if I ran out of patches. For heavens sake, be more careful!I'm on percocets for breakthrough pain as well and they don't do a damn thing :) . I hate them. They just constipated me more than I already was which sucked. The pain S U C K S without the patches. The withdrawls sucks even more..... I ran out of patches because two of them fell off a day early and I had to take one off a day early because it stopped working after a day and a half :( . The past two months those patches really didn't do much for me. They helped a little bit but nothing like they used to. Do you become so used to the patches that the strength that you've been using stops working as much? I'd think so but I don't know that much about Fentanyl. I've also been on the patches for 6 months. I don't know if that factors into to anything.

[metronycguy]

i too am interested in the morphine sulfate er, it it once a day or like Oxycontin 3x a day?
your doctor will be able to figure out the correct dosage compared to the fentanyl, they have chart that gives the comparable doses.

[WonderDerek]

Bleh... He kept me on the Fentanyl because he said that the Morphine Sulfate ER constipates you a lot more than Fentanyl and I've been having problems with my bowels lately so it's okay. He just gave me 5 more patches than normal and told me to change the patch every two days, instead of three, because they've stopped working for a full 3 days. He said this is very common and I'm even getting the better brand, according to him, of the patches which is the box made by Mylan. I have to go get a X-ray on my back so he can examine how the rods are placed. In my upper back, the pain is coming from the muscle and in the lower back it's coming from my spine. He said he would prescribe me some muscle relaxers for my upper back but he wants to see my x-ray first. Oh well. Sorry, guys! I was kind of wanting a switch in medicines.

[crppled007]

I'm on methadone right now and the constipation sucks! I'm trying to get my dr to switch to ms or the patch. the dr said just take a senokot everyday, but i don't want to do that. any ideas guys?

[metronycguy]

i have been taking magnesium also during the day to combat constipation. milk of mag is 500mg per cap, i had a bottle of 300 magnesium tabs from a health food store ( cheap ), they are 250 mg . i try and take 1 or 2 with each dose of oxycontin, and also take 4 (1000 mg) at night. i still take about 600mg of colace a day. the mag draws water into the intestines, i notice it seems to keep things from binding up.
i had those 2 impaction days myself , so i know how bad it is. flax seed is also a good natural help, start out slow, maybe 1/2 tbs the evening before your bowel program.
i believe you need to always take preventive action when on narcotics, no way is eating the correct amount of fruit and vegetables /oatmeal going to counter act the narcotics.

[rfbdorf]

I'm on methadone right now and the constipation sucks! I'm trying to get my dr to switch to ms or the patch. the dr said just take a senokot everyday, but i don't want to do that. any ideas guys?We noticed no significant difference between the 100 ug fentanyl patch and 120 mg methadone/day.
- Richard

P.S. - I mean no significant difference with respect to constipation. Methadone was much better for the pain; also we now don't have the skin problems we had from the patch.

[jccarolina]

I've been on Morphine Sulphate ER for about 6 mo now. Up to about 60 mg 3x a day now.
I find the brand name works much better (Avinza) but having Medicare part D I hit my gap too soon and cant afford the co-pay for the brandname and end up going back to the generic.
If you have a private Rx stick with Avinza, it works much better.

[jccarolina]

oops wrong thread,, I'm doin real good aint I

[jccarolina]

oops, wrog place lolo,