question about pain patches

[Guest guest]

Heidi and all others on this type of medication. I was wondering if

the Pain patches are more potent than Meperidine. Reason I am

asking about this is because I thought I would discuss this with my

doctor when I see him next month. Has anyone been on Meperidine and

then switched to the pain patch? Did it take care of your pain

better? I currently take meperidine for my pain and I do well on

it, plus it has an anti-nausea med mixed in it. I'm afraid if I

switch to something else then I will need to take an anti-nauseau

med too. I have been worried about the side effects of the

meperidine (causing seizures). I personally have never had one but

I also take Donnatal and that has an anti-seizure med in it. So I

think the donnatal would counteract any kind of seizure. But I may

have to stop taking the donnatal because it may have gluten in it

and I have to be gluten-free due to the celiac disease. So if I

have to stop the donnatal then I am nervous about the possibility of

having a seizure. I know that I'm jumping ahead of myself, but I

thought I would get some feedback from all of you out there before

my doc appt.

Thanks !!

Kris in TN

ps. I remember someone posting a web site that you can type in two

different meds and see what dose would equal each other??

[Guest guest]

Kris,

Having never taken Meperdine, I don't have any personal knowledge of

the strength of that medication as opposed to the duragesic patch.

You also have to consider doseages of each. I do believe that the

Duragesic patch itself is a stronger analgesic than Meperdine, and the

lowest dosage it's available in is 25 mgs., so that may not be

convertable in dosage quanitity to what you are using now. If the

Meperdine is working so effectively for you, yet you're worried about

seizures if the Donnatol is taken away, perhaps your doctor would

consider another medication like Neurontin, other than introducing the

duragesic patch AND another anti-seuzure medication.

In conjunction with the duragesic patch, I also take 18,000 mgs of

Neurontin each day. Neurontin is actually an anti-seizure medication

originally used for epilespy, but through research and trials,

physician's have found that it has many other beneficial purposes.

Many physician's use it for pain relief, and I have to say that since

I started taking it a year ago, it has made a tremendous difference in

controling my pain. I started a year ago on 300 mgs. and have slowly

increased my dosage during the past year. As I have increased my

Neurontin dosage, I've been able to reduce my narcotic usage

considerably. Although it's substituting one medication for another,

the benefit for me is that Neurontin is NOT a narcotic. My goal is to

get off the patches entirely. Last year I was on a 75 mg. patch,

having to change it every 48 hours. Right now I've effectively

reduced to a 50 mg. patch, changed every 72 hours. As soon as my foot

surgery is over, I plan to drop down to a 25 mg. patch, worn for 72

hours, if my luck holds out. With lotsa luck, I'll get off the

patches entirely by summer.

My oxycodone BT med usage has decreased also. When I started, I was

using 125 5 mg. pills per month. Now I'm down to about 50 per month.

Your ideas about switching medications are really something you should

discuss with your doctor, Kris. We can all tell you what works, and

doesn't work, for us, but even so, each of us has individual

situations, needs and tolerances. Your doctor would be the best one

to judge whether such a conversion was feasible, and he should also

know what medications would be suitable for your seizure problems. My

GI carries around all that conversion information and drug information

in his palm pilot, and I imagine your doctor has the information

accessible, also. Anything that I mention is purely for information

purposes only, and nothing more.

I mentioned the Neurontin mainly because of my own success with it,

and the fact that it is an anti-seizure medication to start with. I

don't have any seizure problems, it's worked as a pain reliever for

me. A search will show that there has been a small incidence of

pancreatitis while taking this medication (Neurontin). I was fully

apprised of this by my Pain Management doctor when I started it, but I

chose to give it a try anyway, and am very thankful I did. I haven't

had any increase in panreatitis activity since I started it a year ago.

Good luck with your discussion with your doctor. I hope that the two

of you can come up with some suitable medication arrangements, that

meet all your requirements.

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

Bluffton, SC

South Carolina State Rep.

South Eastern Regional Rep., PAI

http://www.pancassociation.org/anthology#Heidi.html

Note: All comments or advice are from personal experiences or opinion

only, and should not be a substitute for consultation with a medical

professional.

[Guest guest]

Heidi,

Thanks for your very informative reply to my post. I DO plan on

talking with my doctor (Dr. Lehman) first before changing any meds.

I also had some good news today, the Donnatal that I take is gluten-

free. So (for now) I do NOT need to change any medications

(yipee!). The Meperidine and Donnatal are working very well for me

and I really do NOT want to switch to any new meds. You know the

saying " if it ain't broke, don't fix it " . I guess I was worrying

for nothing, and I am glad for that. Thanks again.

Take care

Kris in TN