Question for group

October 23, 2002

I've just had my first " bad " experience with my PCP & his office in

trying to get a refill for percocet--and I don't like how they made me feel.

I'm very conscientious regarding how much & how often I take it. I called

asking for a refill and perhaps a stronger dose to take just at night as

that is when I usually experience the most discomfort (it's always been that

way & I don't know why). The doctor's office called back saying that I

would have to be seen before any increase in dosage would be given & that

included a refill. The earliest appt. was for this Friday. When I asked if

I was just supposed to suffer until then, the dr. agreed to give me enough

to get through until then. The gal on the phone said that I had gone

through a month's supply in 3 weeks. I was surprised because I thought I

had stretched it out. Now, here's the really weird part. When I looked at

the bottle, it said " 1 every 8 hours " (they're 650). I could have sworn

that the other prescription labels read " 1 every 4 hours " . I went routing

through all my bottles & sure enough, I was right. In fact, one label read

" 2 every 8 hours " . I called Osco & spoke with the pharmacist & he pulled

the prescription written by the dr. Sure enough, that's what had been

written. When I picked up the prescription, I tried to explain this to the

nurse. She just rolled her eyes, made a cursory glance over my records &

said, " Well, that's not what we have & this all you can have until Friday. "

When I went to Osco, they gave me copies of the 'scripts so that I could

take them with me to may appt. However, when my prescription was ready, a

different pharmacist called me over & started to lecture me about using too

much--that I did, indeed, use a month's worth in 3 weeks. So, I went

through the whole story with her. She nodded her head & said that she

recalled the others discussing it. She said that it is very confusing &

that I really need to discuss this with my dr. Duh! you think! She also

strongly recommended keeping a diary--which I've started.

Anyway, my question to those of you who are using Percocet (or generic),

what dosage are you taking & how often? If you have any other suggestions

or recommendations, please feel free to offer them. Thanks in advance.

Cheryl in Illinois

October 23, 2002

> what dosage are you taking & how often? If you have any other

suggestions

> or recommendations, please feel free to offer them. Thanks in

advance.

>

> Cheryl in Illinois

Cheryl,

It seems like you got hassled at both ends, both by your doctor's

nurse and the pharmacist. I've been in the exact same position

several times with my GI's nurse. She often acts as though

she's the one in charge and the one who hassles me every time

I need a refill. I started with Percocet 5's, now I'm taking Percocet

10's, with only 325 mcg. of acetaminophen. I got from the 5's to

7.5's to the 10's mainly because my night pain is stronger than

the lower dosage can handle. Like you, the pain at night is

worse than during the day, and the lower dosage just wasn't

cutting it.

The only way I could get my GI to go for the higher dosage was to

go to a pain management doctor and have the pain

management doctor recommend the higher dosage. My doc

admitted that he was only familiar with Dilaudid and the lower

dosage of Percocet for pain relief and he wanted

recommendations from a specialist. My concern was about the

higher quantities of acetaminaphen (tylenol), and I was pleased

to find out that the 10's were available with the lesser amount of

tylenol, but the script has to be written specifically for that

(10/325), or you will get 10/650's. My GI didn't even know that this

was available. You may just be able to ask your doctor for the

increased dosage. My dosage now is Percocet 10/325's, one

every four hours.

As far as the hassle with dosage and hours goes, that too was a

problem with my GI's nurse. She tried to change the space in

hours from once every 4 hours to once every 6, and then once

from once every 4 hours to twice a day! The way I solved this

was to go in to my GI on my appointment and discuss with him

the problems I was having, both with dosage and with the nurse

giving me problems. He asked me how long I was able to get

through before I needed another dosage. I also took in all my

earlier prescribed empty bottles to show him the dates, amounts

and spacing for backup.

Your doctor may not even be aware of the mixup with your

dosage spacing, or the problems with his nurse. Mine wasn't,

and since we discussed it I haven't had any more problems.

You need to talk this all over with your doctor and see if he can

help you out.

With hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

hhessgriffeth@...

South Carolina

Southeastern Representative

Pancreatitis Association, Intl.

October 24, 2002

Cheryl,

I have been taken Generic Percocet for years now for my breakthrough pain. My

strength was 3.25 with Tylenol in it too. But when I had my surgery , Mr. pain

doc at Ohio State gave Hydrocodone 5.0mg with no Tylenol in it. It did work

wonders and I can take 1 0r 2 every 4 hours. So I usually don' need more than 5

a day, then same as the old pills I was taking. There are allot of days I don't

need the whole 5 pills. I like you, my pain seems worse when I go to bed. SO I

usually take 2 at bed time and am down to 1 bolis from my pain pump, which is a

bedtime too. I was getting 3 boils a day with my old pump the 3.23 mg generic

Percocet. I hoping my PCP will give my the same medicine, when I go to get it

filled at the end of next week. My pain doc was going to write him a letter

saying that it has been changed. It should be interested in see what my PCP

does. Good luck at the doctors tomorrow. I think you are wise to take a copy

of you old RX with you, so he can see what you were getting before.

Take Care.

Louie in WV