Medicines for Degenerative Disk Disease

[Guest guest]

I've got a Question or two for those who have, unfortunately,

experience with DDD and pain medicines for it.

My problem is " Severe " (per the Radiologist's report) Degenerative

Disk Disease with severe spinal Stenosis at L3-L4, L4-L5, L5-S1.

Pain in the lower back with radiant pain in both legs, but worse in

the right leg. This explains why I have been complaining of really

bad lower back pain for a couple of years. I had been using Lortab

7.5/500 for several years with only moderate help. Now I have a LOT

of " Pins & Needle " or what I call " Broken Glass " pain in my feet,

sometimes a feeling of " Lightning " shooting out my big toe [WEIRD

and painful]. This is the kind of pain that can stop you in your

tracks.

My main pain med since February has been oxycodone 30mg four times a

day, and on my last visit I asked about Lyrica. My Doc said that he

gets equal result from Neurontin (gabapentin) and it is a lot

cheaper. He said he woud give me a script for either, but he

recommended I try the gabapentin for a month or so first. 300mg

three times a day. He also said I could increase the dosage up to

five a day if I got some help at three a day, but " incomplete " help.

The oxycodone doesn't last six hours, it lasts more like four hours,

and I still have breakthrough pain any old time it wants to flare

up. I use Lortab 10, maybe two a day for breakhrough, but it helps

little or none. The gabapentin helps some, but it isn't as big of a

help as we had hoped. {That's at 3 a day.]

He mentioned Time-Release oxycodone, that is OxyCONTIN I presume, a

couple of months ago. He says it is a lot more expensive,

especially since the generic got pulled. I think he will switch me

to it to try, but I wonder if it is worth the extra cost. My

oxycodone 30mg costs $75 a month (120 pills, generic of course) and

my insurance pays $60 (80%) of that when I file the paperwork.

Should I ask for Oxycontin 40mg three times a day - or something

more? Would some immediate release oxy, maybe 15mg, for breakthru,

be reasonable to ask for at the same time?

And what's the opinion of our group on Neurontin and Lyrica? Is one

better than the other, or are both of little help?

Thanks to EVERYONE, and be as Pain-Free as you can.

PooBear

[Guest guest]

poobear_lee wrote:

> He mentioned Time-Release oxycodone, that is OxyCONTIN I presume, a

> couple of months ago. He says it is a lot more expensive,

> especially since the generic got pulled. I think he will switch me

> to it to try, but I wonder if it is worth the extra cost. My

> oxycodone 30mg costs $75 a month (120 pills, generic of course) and

> my insurance pays $60 (80%) of that when I file the paperwork.

> Should I ask for Oxycontin 40mg three times a day - or something

> more? Would some immediate release oxy, maybe 15mg, for breakthru,

> be reasonable to ask for at the same time?

>

Poo Bear,

I use timed release Morphine, Avinza but it comes in generic which is

cheaper, (Morphine Sulfate ER ).

Lyrica had too many side effects for me ! Thirty pound weight gain,

fogginess, blurred vision, swelling

in my hands and feet (BAD) I took Neurotin when I needed it, it did

well, some fogginess.

I take Oxyocodone 5-15mg for break thru pain. Oxyocodone for my

primary does not do well and

I am not having good luck with it. Hydrocodone makes me sleepy.

I take Tiazidine 2mg for muscle spasms that I get. I did take a anti

-depressant that alleviates some

of the pain, but have been off for a while.

You will have to start out with a plan and have you medications

titered. I use a pain diary and my

doctor uses that to manipulate my medications along with a functional

assessment.

I went on timed opiates five years ago and am now down to my Morphine

and only break thru

now and then, so it has done well. I do adjust often.

The Survivor Guide for Intractable Pain Patients by Dr. Forest Tenent

is a good guide to read

that explains starting a pain program and how to adjust it over the

years. It has all the

forms to document progress, medications, and pain diary. You can down

load it by typing

in the title and author, or by going to paintopics.org.

I hope that answers your questions. Most chronic pain patients have

a similar type of

regime. Oh yes, don't forget your nutrition, Vitamin D effects you

pain levels, hormones,

also the combination of other medications you take.

The guide I mentioned, addresses this, Good Luck and let us know how

you do.

[Guest guest]

The time released OxyCONTIN did not help me at all for some reason. So I

finely talked him into putting me back on oxycodone which seems to work a lot

better for me. I dont mind timing the pills.Also the time released version of

tramadol doesn’t help me at all. but the regular tramadol works very good.

ron patterson ronpat0471@...

> > He mentioned Time-Release oxycodone, that is OxyCONTIN

> I presume, a

> > couple of months ago.