Re: Additives to Opiates - Makes no sense to me

[Guest guest]

So many people out there, that are not educated about pain medications, have no

idea they are even taking such a high amount of Tylenol. I have this same

conversation with my friends all the time, who are clueless about it. Yes,

sometimes pain medication might work better with the additives but only for

short term usage.

I know when I try to take anything regularly that has Tylenol in it I get very

nauseated and sick feeling. ibuprofen already tore my stomach up and gave me a

bleeding ulcer, so no thank you!!!

Caitlin

I'm not exactly clear on why many opiates have tylenol or ibuprofen as an

additional ingredient.  Since I am allergic to both (tylenol and ibuprofen), I

have to have the opiate-only version, and that works just fine.

[Guest guest]

Aloha All!

I've been taking narcotic pain meds for over 13 years (started in March 1997)

and started out on Darvocet (I still can't believe I was able to take only that

and work back then considering the shape and all that's happened since then).

Over the course of those 13+ years have had 3 failed spine surgeries and have

climbed that infamous " ladder " of meds and have been taking 200 mgs of Kadian

daily for 6 years.

I've been taking the same dosage of 'main' pain meds for that long, before that

I took about the same equivalent in Oxycontin ER. However, you all may remember

all the bad press OxyContin (not oxycodone, which is the immediate release I do

use for breakthrough)

Believe it or not, my insurance company decided, due to the bad press, NOT to

cover any amount prescribed above and beyond the " on-label " amount. At that time

(and may still be) it was ONE tablet every 12 hours and the highest mg tablet of

OxyContin made just for a brief time was 200mg. That was WAY too low for me so,

thankfully, Kadian had just come out and is the exact same medication with a

different delivery system and comes in a capsule.

I had a wonderful pain management doctor then and we worked for years, very

closely, to get to what we called " the magic bullet " amount. As it turned out,

it was MORE than what it is now at 260 mgs daily and I am the one that got

nervous about the amount I was taking and asked to try 100mgs less per dose and

see if I could tolerate that and still function as normally as I could back

then. Surprisingly, I was still able to work and did until 2005...but that's

another long story for another time and/or thread. Whew!

You can't imagine how each surgeon after each of the 3 surgeries prescribed pain

meds! After my 2nd surgery (full anterior(!) fusion with the titanium cage and

all that goes with it!)is when I ran into the trouble with the acetaminophen.

I had been doing well and was down to Darvocet again and had a prescription with

3 refills. I went to my usual pharmacy to get the last of the 3 refilled and

discovered that the usual pharmacist was on vacation so there was a temporary

replacement there.

After the usual long wait, she called me up to the pickup window and I quote,

" I'm not going to refill this for you. " That was it and I waited for about 10

seconds and all there was from the pharmacist was a blank stare. No explanation

or anything! Of course this just had to be on a late Friday before a 3 day

holiday weekend and I'd run out before the weekend was over.

I sort of got a bit angry (and a lot panicked as one could imagine!) and said,

" Why not?!!? She said because the surgeon was prescribing me too much

acetaminophen with the Darvocet. I didn't even know there WAS acetaminophen in

Darvocet at that time! LOL!

I then explained to here my situation and me living on a neighbor island in

Hawaii and had to fly to Oahu for every spine surgery (NOT very fun!) she said

she'd call the doctor over there and see what he said.

At that point, being so late on a Friday before a 3 day weekend (I believe it

was after 5PM also), I figured I'd be out of luck and have one miserable holiday

weekend. After what seemed like hours but was probably only ONE hour, she called

me back up to the counter and said the doctor was surprised he was prescribing

so much Darvocet and had actually FORGOT about the acetaminophen in them!!!! So

what he did was simply lower the dosage by one tablet (I forget what milligrams

they were at the time)and the pharmacist filled my prescription and the weekend

wasn't so bad after all.

I tell everyone this just because even neurosurgeons even forget about what meds

have what in them. Especially with the ones that can be refilled over the phone

or fax. They are VERY, at least here in Hawaii, aware of the Sch.2 meds that are

my extended release and all the other ones that may be out there.

But I've been disabled now, officially on SSDI since 2005 and taking the same

amount of pain meds for at least 6 years now. The ones that have changed are the

antidepressants, cholesterol and such.

I think for some folks, the added acetaminophen actually makes the opiate in the

medication work better for them...for some folks. I personally think it is a

major cause for concern because the pharmacist back then with my Darvocet told

me that should my liver shut down, it could happen immediately and not

gradually. Especially those that have taken large doses for a long time. She

actually scared me when she told me that!!!

I laugh about it now, and found out since then that most people whose livers do

shut down immediately have been those with prior problems with their livers and

as long as lab work is being done for a liver function check now and then, all

should be fine. WHEW!!

Sorry so long, but I felt I should tell my story about my acetaminophen/liver

story.

You all take as good of care of yourselves as possible. I check in often but

don't post much as I do benefit from those mostly.

Aloha Just For Now,

Wayne in Hawaii

[Guest guest]

Aloha,

And I hope this was not at Tripler, your pharmacist could have called your

doctor and asked if she could give you the Davon 65mg only without tylenol.

I would have insisted that she call my doctor or give me an amount to get me

through the weekend. she needs to be reported as she does not know of your

interactions and it seems that you were doing well.

I would be making a complaint on her and telling my doctor. That is why I keep

a pain diary.

Get a blood test, this lady stepped over line not knowing your enzymes. My Mom

took darvocet until she was 84.

Bennie Hang Loose

>Wayne wrote:

> I sort of got a bit angry (and a lot panicked as one could imagine!) and said,

" Why not?!!? She said because the surgeon was prescribing me too much

acetaminophen with the Darvocet. I didn't even know there WAS acetaminophen in

Darvocet at that time! LOL!