Opana Anyone?

[tjat3]

Hi all,
just got a new med, Opana.
Anyone have experience?
Thanks
Tj

[Boopers]

Hi TJat3,

No, I have never heard of Opana. What is it for? Is it a pain med for a specific part of the body or general?
Take Care,
Linda:)

[jaded2nite]

http://www.opana.com/

[Violet]

Sounds promising. What type of pain do you have? Please let us know how it works for you.

[exitwound]

Opana just came on the market in the past couple of weeks, and is actually a narcotic painkiller (an opiate) which was taken off the market in the 70's due to abuse potential but has been re-approved.

It is related to Dilaudid (Hydromorphone) and is similarly very powerful. Generally it is thought of as more powerful than morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine et cetera. -- similar in potency to Dilaudid and obviously less potent than Fentanyl.

It is Oxymorphone, and is prescribed for moderate to severe pain. There are three forms:

*Intravenous, usually used for emergency severe pain relief or for post-operative pain in Hospital.

*Instant-release (Opana) in 5 and 10mg dosages. For post-op/acute pain, or for break-through pain when used in concert with a long-acting painkiller.

*Extended-release (Opana ER) available in 10, 20 & 40mg dosages for long-term severe chronic pain applications.

I am considering asking my doctor to switch me to Opana 5 or 10mg for breakthrough pain (I currently take OxyIR 5mg). This might work well, even though he doesn't like prescribing Dilaudid, because it's a good low-dose replacement for higher doses of OxyIR & I need better relief; since high doses of Opana are known for causing more nausea than other opiates, I figured low doses of the instant-release form to go along with my high doses of Oxycontin would work well.

I plan to switch to the Duragesic fentanyl patches fairly soon, and one of the other benefits of Opana is that it works well with both Oxycodone and Fentanyl; whereas Oxycodone may not be an effective breakthrough medication for Duragesic users because Fentanyl blocks Oxycodone from binding to opiate receptors as efficiently as Oxy does on its own.....

[brians2000]

I am currently on Avinza 90mg. Just wondering how it compares. I was on Duragesic Patch 25 before doctor switched me to Avinza. I like Avinza much better but I was just wondering what else is available. Brian

[ASkicker]

FYI, my ex-wife has been taking Opana for about six weeks now, and in her experience, it is NOT as powerful as Oxycontin. When taking the same dose of Opana as she used to take with Oxy, she has not had nearly the relief with the Opana that she used to get from the Oxy. The only reason she made the switch is because she moved to a new state and had to get a new doctor there. That doctor has been excellent so far, but she said right up front that she only prescribes Opana, and NOT Oxy because she feels it has far less chance of causing addiction issues than the Oxy does while providing strong pain relief. Since it hasn't been out very long, not sure how that philosophy is holding up in the real world, since Opana is a long-acting extended release drug, just like Oxy SR is.

[exitwound]

FYI, my ex-wife has been taking Opana for about six weeks now, and in her experience, it is NOT as powerful as Oxycontin. When taking the same dose of Opana as she used to take with Oxy, she has not had nearly the relief with the Opana that she used to get from the Oxy. The only reason she made the switch is because she moved to a new state and had to get a new doctor there. That doctor has been excellent so far, but she said right up front that she only prescribes Opana, and NOT Oxy because she feels it has far less chance of causing addiction issues than the Oxy does while providing strong pain relief. Since it hasn't been out very long, not sure how that philosophy is holding up in the real world, since Opana is a long-acting extended release drug, just like Oxy SR is.

That's odd! Maybe she wasn't given the correct equivalent dosage though. Generally, it should be a 2:1 Oxycodone:Oxymorphone ratio.

Thank you for posting your ex-wife's experience, either way.....it's interesting.

So far I haven't heard much about Opana ER and I had been thinking about staying with Oxycontin for a while and switching to Opana instant-release as my breakthrough medication instead of OxyIR 15/30mg. I've heard good things about the 10mg instant release version working better than 30mg of Oxycodone for some sufferers.

[krashleen]

Curious too, as I have 5mg oxycodoneIR for b/t pain, but it isn't quite cutting it..and the 15mg, well I get two a day when I have that one. I usually bit them in two for more coverage.

Other thoughts on opana? Cost?



That's odd! Maybe she wasn't given the correct equivalent dosage though. Generally, it should be a 2:1 Oxycodone:Oxymorphone ratio.

Thank you for posting your ex-wife's experience, either way.....it's interesting.

So far I haven't heard much about Opana ER and I had been thinking about staying with Oxycontin for a while and switching to Opana instant-release as my breakthrough medication instead of OxyIR 15/30mg. I've heard good things about the 10mg instant release version working better than 30mg of Oxycodone for some sufferers.

[sandomania]

I am also interested in the cost of Opana ER and the IR anyone know?
Thanks Sandi

[illusion129]

I tried to find the cost on Walgreen's website for Opana/ER and they don't yet have it listed in their drug information/cost list.

Brian- If you're looking into other long-acting narcotics for pain, there are the three other morphines (Kadian, MS Contin, and Oramorph SR), Oxycontin, Duragesic, Methadone, and the newest being Opana ER (which I'm sure is pretty expensive since it's new). Palladone (hydromorphone ER) used to be on the market but it was pulled due to some deaths involving the drug being mixed with alcohol. Did I leave any out?

Just a tip to the others...

If you're looking for a fast-acting drug that has a little more kick than Percocet or MSIR I would recommend looking into Dilaudid or Levorphanol. Both are stronger than Percocet AND come in generic form. I'm sure that would save you quite a bit of money over Opana, especially since it's a new drug on top of not yet having a generic form :rolleyes:.

There's also MSIR, which comes in higher strengths than Percocet (oxycodone) so you may want to look into that as a fast-acting painer. I'm not sure which of you tolerate what best, but if you step back and look at each of us we have our own individual "taste" for certain medication.

As far as the extended release form of Opana, I don't know of anything that would compare to it. Well, there would be Palladone, but since patients decided to mix it with alcohol and then died due to it, it was pulled from the market back in the day.

I do believe I read the only way Endo was able to release Opana was by including the "black box" warning to not mix with alcohol. Very smart move in my opinion.

[Rozia]

Hi just took first pill last night and boy what a pill. It is very expensive . $40 copay and it is nonfomulary drug , no generic. I have a terrible headache now .

[debhun]

Hey all. I am on Opana ER 10 MG. every 12 hours. It has helped me a lot. I was in so much pain I couldn't even get out of bed. Now I can clean my house. I do it with breaks but it get done. I take Perc for B/T pain. I have had no s/e. I have be on it for 4 months now. Boy time flys by.
As for the price. Well I have no ins right now and it cost me $210.00 for 60 pills. that is for a month.
I get mine from Walgreen's
Deb

[terrapin_station]

Opana just came on the market in the past couple of weeks, and is actually a narcotic painkiller (an opiate) which was taken off the market in the 70's due to abuse potential but has been re-approved.



Actually Opana which is also known as Oxymorphone has been available since 1970s. It's known by the name Numorphan and is a parental or injectable medication. Although it was not removed from the marketplace it's use has decreased over the years.

[debhun]

Opana has been on the market July 06 Yes it is know as Oxymorphone and available as suppositories and as an injection only. But they just approved it in pill form in 06.

http://www.opana.com/consumer/

[terrapin_station]

Oxymorphone has been available since the 70s as a medication called Numorphan.

I never said Opana was available then

[ErinENj]

Like Deb, I'm on Opana ER. I was put on it last December. I really like it. It works really well for me. The only pain about it is the schedule. It has some really tight dosing instructions. You have to take it on an empty stomach: either take it one hour before eating or two hours after. But, I've found that it'll kick in a bit quicker and stronger than usual, which has become a necessity for work. I take it right about the time I get there, but by that time, my pain is worse than it is usually because of taking my dog out. Plus, I think my body got used to me taking it when I got up, and it's almost like it expects it, like it's on my internal clock instead of the external one. It also gets tricky at night. I have to eat with my two sleeping meds or they really upset my stomach, but since I take my Opana and my other meds between 10 and 10:30 am and pm, I have to wait until 11 or 11:30 to be sure I don't interfere with the instructions (I try to keep the eating schedule intact with my nighttime dose).

One of the issues I've heard about most is the conversions from other meds. When I switched, I had a really horrible period of about two weeks of withdrawals, and of course, within those two weeks happened to be Christmas and New Years. (One tip: never switch meds over Christmas if your doc is like mine - he takes off a few days before christmas and then comes back two or three days after New Years. So for that entire time, I was on my own as far as my meds were concerned, and I didn't have enough of my old meds to make it through. Not good! I'll never make that mistake again!!). I watched and even helped my doc figure out the conversion from Kadian. It turned out to be between strengths, so he rounded up. But it wasn't enough. It was at something like 80 mg when I was initially put on it. I went all the way up to 120mg to make it work well for me, and recently, I went up to 130mg. At that level, it works fantastically. It keeps me throughout the day and works fantastically with my breakthrough med, Dilaudid.

The price is a pretty big issue. For a month's worth of the 40mg pills, of which I take three a dose or six a day, it costs $1,894 and for the 10mg, of which I take two doses of only one pills each dose, it costs $179.19. Thankfully, I have insurance that covers it with a $40 copay.

I'm sure there's more information I could give you, but it's currently 12:30am, and I'm really pretty exhausted so my brain isn't functioning at it's best or anywhere near it. But if you have any questions, don't hesitate to let me know and I'll be happy to do whatever I can to answer them. I think Opana is a great med. It works really well for me and I continue to be pleased with it and the way it works for me.

Hope some of this helps!!

[BrokenBladder]

I would like to get more info on this med as well. It sounds like it has good potential for a b/t med that would go well with Oxy.
Thanks for starting the thread.

[ErinENj]

Illusion - I'm actually a big fan of dilaudid myself. One, it's cheap. No matter what status my insurance is at at that moment (the montly payment goes missing some times...as in my mom misses it....I can't wait to start paying for it myself through my job, provided I don't get fired...but that's for another thread...) that's the one thing I can ALWAYS afford.
Also, I've been on it for the entire period I've suffered from chronic pain. Five years next month. I was initially put on morphine when I was first put in the hospital, but it quickly stopped working, and the fantastic woman who had a fusion the day I got there recommended it and I've been on it ever since. The only problem with it for me is my current dosage - 24mgs. When I tell any doctor who doesn't know me well, their eyes bug straight out of their heads and I get the 'and you're still alive, conscious, and able to walk and talk???'. But it still works great, and I'll stay on it until it's beyond reasonable to do so. My doc tried to switch me to actiq at the same time as I switched to Opana, but I refused, because it is the only thing that has continued to work.

Sandi - the prices I listed in my earlier post (I'm coming back now to do the specific responses that I was to exhausted to do it last night.) are for the med in northern central NJ. It really could vary elsewhere. I'd ask your favorite pharmacist what it costs where you are. It could be different. I'd be completely and utterly shocked if it was substantially less than that. Anywhere from $1,000 to $1,500, but it really depends on your dosage. The price I quoted was for 168 40mg pills and for 56 of the 10mg ERs. But I'd check in your area, just to be sure.

ASKicker - I would most definately tell your ex to go back to her doctor. The usual conversions really didn't work for me personally, so it's entirely possible it isn't working for her either. I went from 200mg of Kadian twice a day to 80mg of Opana ER twice a day and then spent two weeks in withdrawals because it wasn't enough for my system. Tell her not to give up on it yet! For me, it's been fantastic. Between that and the lyrica, it has really given me a better shot at having a future that isn't 100% completely controlled by pain. So, have your ex-wife call the doc who is prescribing it. Tell them it isn't working at the current dose, and see if they'll up it or even tell her to tell the doc, "look, I want to give this a shot of working, but at its current dose, it isn't working, but I think it can work if it is upped a little.' Maybe give the doc a percentage. 'It's working at about 50 percent, or dealing with about half of my pain.' That might give them an idea of how much he/she needs to boost it to be able to your ex the relief she needs. But give them the opportunity to give it a little boost to be sure they have attempted everything with that med before giving up on it. It could work wonders, but at the right levels.

Brian - I was on Avinza for awhile, but I got to a point where it just wasn't working anymore and was switched to Kadian, which worked fantastically for me for awhile. I think I was on Kadian for the second longest time of all of the meds I've been on. But, like everything else, it stopped working. Oh, my doc had tried the patch between the two. That was the shortest med I'd ever been on. After a week of straight up withdrawls with only my dilaudid to help lessen it and the pain, I gave up on it. I started on one patch on Monday, on Thursday, it was upped to 2, then on Monday, it was up to 3. My entire arm was covered in it and it just didn't work for me. But I really like it. I think it took over really well from the Kadian, which I believe is very similar to avinza. So it's definately think it may be something to add to your potential arsenal.

I really love Opana. But not just because it really has done an amazingly fantastic job for my pain. It was my last option. Over the five years of my CP, I've tried almost every long-acting med out there. I was switched off a few because we thought it might be causing my obscene sweating (none of them were..it's the pain..just because I'm medicated and don't feel it as much as I would without the meds, that doesn't mean it doesn't reach my brain, so I believe my body reacts to it as it would if it was at 100% strength without the meds. That's why I love winter and am SO happy that the weather here in NJ went from 90 degrees this time last week to a high of about 60-65 degrees for the past two days. It got down to the 40s last night and tonight too I think. I'm actually going to be able to take my window a/c unit my parents bought me to augment the central a/c in our house! I'm so excited!!!)

Anyway....but this was really the last thing I'd never tried. My pm has told me that if new meds weren't going to come out, we'd have a really big problem because I'd be out of options. So, I'm really thankful it worked and so relieved that it's not as some obscene dosage where I don't have anywhere to go from where I am now.

If anyone has any more questions about it, I'd be happy to try and answer them. It's been a great 11 months with it and I'm really satisfied with it. Yep, there are some issues, especially with the conversions, but it can work really fantastically well if correctly dosed. Don't be afraid to tell your doc it isn't working. The difficulty, as we all know with switching meds, is the time between you start on it and when you get the dosage right. So any decent doc understands that not a single dose works for everyone and it's guaranteed that the starting dose will need some fiddling. But they have to know to know to fiddle. Be your own best advocate and make sure the med works for you and that the dose is what YOU need, not what your doc 'believes' you need.

[always hope]

Erin? not sure of the name. I want to thank u for being on here. the dr. switched me from kadian to opana real close dosage to yours i went from 280 kadian to 120 of opana. He didnt give me break thru med and I saw your article that weekend while withdrawing from from kadian and i signed up to this site. your story is so close to mine I knew I was going to be ok. taking percocet for break thru now. I have great doc he simply thouught he gave me enough opana that i wouldnt need breakthru meds. I now after a week or little longer like opana better than any other meds they've tried.. thank u for posting about opana and kadian I will never again go back to kadian. It never worked for me. I'm in North Ca. just got appt to ucsf to spine clinic. I have hope but no expectations of what they can do. extensive sclerosis , stenosis ddd scoliosis arthropathy anyway about the same as everyone else I've seen on here. have a wonderful day. Renee

[always hope]

Opana is extremely expensive.Something like 1500.00 for 180 tabs of 20 mg ER and I'm taking 6 a day thank God for ins. on this one 40.00 co pay or close to that. so far it's worth it. Renee

[Lil E]

I just talked to my PM about Opana. What I don't get is why would a person have to take so many of what is supposed to be a long acting drug? I'm taking dilaudid four to six times a day, why switch to something that doesn't decrease my med intake? Is it that it doesn't come in high enough doses so you have to take two at a time?

I've used most of the long acting drugs so I thought I'd try Opana but now I'm not so sure.

[Kira]

Lil E,

There is Opana (short-acting) and Opana ER (long-acting).

[Kandra]

I just talked to my PM about Opana. What I don't get is why would a person have to take so many of what is supposed to be a long acting drug? I'm taking dilaudid four to six times a day, why switch to something that doesn't decrease my med intake? Is it that it doesn't come in high enough doses so you have to take two at a time?

I've used most of the long acting drugs so I thought I'd try Opana but now I'm not so sure.

Lil E,

As Kira said, Opana comes in both short and long-acting. The advantage to the long acting is taking one pill twice/day (in most cases) and hopefully only the occasional breakthrough once the extended release is titrated to your needs.

[chrisvicki]

just started 15mg 2/daily ,cost was $500.00 for 60 pills .that was what w/c insurance paid.seems to be working ok so far.