Re: patches, pumps

[Guest guest]

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>I was on the Duragesic Patches for a long time but found them to be ineffective

for my pain relief. The side effects were more than I bargained for, too. It

made me extremely restless and made sleep impossible the first

day of the patch. remember, because it was ineffective for me, many people have

had tremendous success with using the Duragesic Patch. When it works, it's a

godsend since it relieves you of having to swallow pills and is supposed to even

out the dosage of pain meds you receive (no upswings and downswings based on

when the last time you had a pain pill).

Andre`, thanks for your words of encouragement. So far, I have increased the

patch dosage once; I'm taking 50mcg. This is not touching the pain, but I have

no side effects; not restless or over-sedated. My doc is on vacation, but I'll

call his partner & see about increasing the dose.

>While I personally find the MS Contin I now take to be more effective for my

pain relief

Andre`, I'm afraid of sedation with the MS contin. I am still able to work

part-time; I wouldn't be able to keep working if sedated or not able to think

clearly. Of course, severe pain certainly gets in the way of clear thinking

also. Thanks again for your input. I'll let you know how things turn out.

jang

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Before you buy.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/10/00 4:34:31 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

jang2@... writes:

<<

Andre`, I'm afraid of sedation with the MS Contin. I am still able to work

part-time; I wouldn't be able to keep working if sedated or not able to think

clearly. Of course, severe pain certainly gets in the way of clear thinking

also. Thanks again for your input. I'll let you know how things turn out. >>

Jang,

It's so good to hear from you again. It's always nice to converse with a

fellow " veteran " of the wars, so to speak :-)

It's funny about the MS Contin. I never had any feelings of being sedated

when I began taking them and they started me on low dosages of this

medication initially. I am still working full-time (barely, though) and the

MS Contin has never gotten in the way of my being able to fully function

mentally. My previous job even required that I travel (drive mostly)

throughout the South. While this might have been a bit dangerous on my part,

still I never had problems with my concentration (perhaps you need to be able

to concentrate before you realize that you've lost some of your capacity to

do so) :-)

While I agree with you that you should try to stay away from anything that

may affect your ability to continue working. I just believe that my pain is

so intense, that the MS Contin does it's job (mostly) without the usual

side-effects.

Jang, I hope those pesky patches are effective for you and you don't have to

deal with any of the side-effects I mentioned previously. Let me know how

things progress.

Andre'