New meds
 

Well after 2 years of haing to take hydrocodone, darvocet, flexeril and some others I finally got with my doc and we sat down and came up with the start of a long term pain management plan.

We had 2 simple goals to start with and they were to 1- get me off all meds with acetaminophen and 2- provide a level of pain management that would allow me to resume some activities.

We ditched the old pain meds and started 20mg of oxycontin as needed up to 2X a day. This was a med that I looked at seriously as well as the duragesic patches but a call to my insurance helped me decide this one. The patches are expensive!!! The oxycontin is time released so I no longer have to pop pain meds every 4 hours or so.

We switched the muscle relaxers from flexeril and then skelaxin over to robaxin and then we switched from a SSRI (lexapro) to a tricyclic (elavil) antidepressant to aid in the pain management. And we added naprosyn for the NSAID.

I see the doc in two weeks to see how things are going and to make any needed changes in dosage or brands.

Thanks to all the gret advice I recieved from many of you. Without it I would not have known were or what to look for. I gathered information and even printed out some to bring with me as I expected some issues over the request for long term oxycontin use. Some studies suggest that the addiction factor for oxy is minimal when used in a pain management role, even when it is long term.

Again, thanks for the info and I will keep you all posted as to progress.

In the meantime I do keep a blog if you want to follow my daily ramblings.

http://ihavearachnoiditis.info
http://ihavespondylolisthesis.info
http://opforsoldier.blogspot.com

The blogspot address is the host and the 1st 2 are just re-directs to the site. I am hoping to get my software soon and then I will be hosting it on my own domain.

Hope this works out for you. My wife uses the Duragesic (sp) fentanyl patches and yes, they are expensive. She did get some coupons from her doc that gave her 3 months of patches for free. I understand that those companies will do that occasionally for long term pain treatment PTs.

Brew:

I had no idea! Wow.

Anyway, you may want to take a look at the links currently on your blog. :)

SOunds like a good plan Brew
 

Keep your wits about you while switching your meds. DUI doesn't only apply to alcohol.
Oxycontin is tremendous stuff and packs a great anesthetic punch. Long term pan management is a dance that requires patience, skill, and smarts. I pray that you are your PCM have all three.

All my best brother-

Eagle

Why did you want to remove acetaminophen? Elevated liver ensymes?

To avoid liver and kidney problems. I spent 5 years as a professional brewer, I am sure my kidney was not in the best shape to begin with. I am also going to be on pain meds for the rest of my life unless they develop a method to deal with the arachnoiditis. If I can avoid the extended use of acetaminophen then I am happier as I was on it for almost 2 years. Prior to the arachnoiditis I had spondylolisthesis and did 6 months pain management before having surgery and then another several months of pain management following. There was a few months break in there where I had some pain but tylenol was enough to cut through it, then the arachnoiditis developed.

Right now the oxy is working like a charm and I have done more in the last 2 days then I probably did in the last 2 weeks. I feel almost like the old me sans a few activities like driving a car. I spent most of the last 2 months in a recliner with a bottle of lortab and skelaxin popping pills every 4 hours or so. Now I am up and about and even re-arranged my office today and then did all the laundry. :lifter

I did have a bout of breakthrough pain last night so I spoke to the nurse practitioner today and she wants me to keep track until I see her again on the 15th. If it is something that is frequent and predictable then she will prescribe something for that as well (probably a low dose of oxycodone) but I am guessing if we time the meds right I should be asleep when it happens and to tired to care. The pain was not as severe as it was without the meds, about a 4 (I was a good 8 without the meds) and was towards the end of the dose.

If I understand what I have read about the oxycontin is that the time release comes about twice in the 12 hours. Right away and then again at about 6-7 hours. Maybe one of you docs can shed some light on this for me.