PM Visit and Opana Questions

[Nana4&cntn]

Hi all, I saw my PM today and he made some major med changes, he added Opana and I was wondering if anyone has any experience with it and what to expect. I don't want to feel loopy or out of it. And does it work as a 2x daily med? He prescribed a low dose on top of the other meds I take.

I am just a bit afraid of how it will make me feel.

Thanks in advance:)

Kathy

[debhun]

I was on opana for 7 months and I had no trouble. I had to stop it cause it cost $210. a month for 60 pills. Just remmerber you can't eat a hour before or 2 hours after you take this med. It help with my pain when I took it. When We get Ins back in 90 days I will go back on it. Good luck. They put me on methadon after Opana.

deb

[A.K.]

I never had any negative side effects from Opana or Opana ER and coming from me that's really good. It helped my pain a little but not enough and I had to make a change. I have heard lots of good pain relief stories about it though. I think Erin has had really good success with it in the past if I am remembering correctly. I sure hope it helps you. A.K.

[ErinENj]

Yep, A.K. you're right - I've had great experiences with Opana ER. I've been on it for about a year and a half I think and it's been one of the best long-acting meds I've been on in the past 6 years since I started with CP. I take 130mg every 12 hours now, but started at 120. One of the best things is that I haven't had to up my meds much at all over that time. The only increase was about three or four months ago, and it was a small one.

The only tricky part of this medication is its dosing instructions. It says that you have to take it either one hour before or two hours after eating. But once you're on a schedule, like I am now, it's no biggie.

I haven't had any side effects I can remember from it. I take Dialudid, which is of a similar make-up as the Opana, and I have only felt a little loopy when I take the Dilaudid too close to my Opana dose, but that's rare in itself.

Like I said, the Opana has been one of the best since I started CP, and according to my doc, I've been on pretty much every other med out there at one point or another.

Here's the really tricky part - It's EXPENSIVE! It's insane how much it costs. My monthly bill for the 40 mg pills (168 of them) is nearly $2,000 each month, which, after a lot of fighting, may actually be covered by my insurance. So this medication is not one to try if you don't have insurance. It'll have been out 2 years, and there is no generic yet.

I hope this information helps! If you have any specific questions, feel free to let me know and I'll try to get back to you asap!!

[Nana4&cntn]

Thank you all for your input! I am on a very low dose and have not received any pain relief as of yet! I am calling my PM today to see what can be done as I only take 5mg and am still in incredible pain!

Thank you again,
Kathy

[Diandra]

Hi Kathy,
I was just scripted Opana ER 2X daily at 10mg. When I went to fill the script for 60 for the month, the cost, with a coupon my doc gave me, was $75. Per the good advice of Shotspine, I called my doc and asked him to script me just a few in the event it did work well for me and then I would not have to waste the $. He wrote a script for 10 and said a few would not work as it took a 2-3 days to feel the effects. Maybe that is why you have not felt anything yet.

Kath, I will be taking it in addition to Norco, Lyrica(25mg - 3x daily) and Soma(1-2 daily). It was added becase my pain got worse and I was getting headaches. Doc thought since he had upped me to 1 1/2 Norco every 4 hrs the last visit a month ago, I was getting rebound type headaches which I did not understand at all to be honest with you. He said I had been forcing his hand and insisting on staying on a short acting med(Norco) but using it like a long acting, when in fact I really needed a long acting. So, I gave in and filled the Opana and will be starting it today. Will let you know how it goes. I wish you the best. Let me know how you do. Please feel free to PM me.
All my best,
Diandra

[Nana4&cntn]

Diandra, I also take many different meds for both pain and spasms. I called my PM today and he increase the opana to 10mg am and 30mg pm. I guess he was wanting to see if I had a reaction. I am sure hoping it helps! I haven't had much sleep the past week and desperately need a good nights sleep!

Thank you!
Kathy

[suede]

HI Kathy,
I hope that you are soon able to get relief, I really hate to hear that you are in so much pain.
I have never taken Opana, though for the last year or so I have been on the generic of Ms Contin which is Morphine and of the same family and it works really well for me, I was on methadone before that and the side effects were just to zombie like for me even at low doses, right now I'm rx'ed 60 mg of morphine in the morning and 30 at noon and 60 at night some days I can skip the 30 and it works really well for me.
Good luck and please let us know how your doing, even though I don't post much I try to read.
Hugs,
Linda

[ErinENj]

Kathy,

My doc started me on a rediculously low dose also, and it didn't work to say the least. That's when I learned 'helpful CP Lesson' number 101 - never, ever change meds when your doc's office will be closed for the entire week between Christmas and New Year's. Oops. I spent about a week and a half with withdrawals, which most certainly put a damper on my usual festive spirit.

Anyways, I've noticed that docs are being really conservative with their dosing of Opana. And, the fact that the conversion chart they distributed to docs (at least they did that with mine..not sure if that was something they sent to all docs or just those who met with the right drug company rep) is completely wrong doesn't make it any better. Your doc should be willing to increase the dosage even further to see if that'll help it work better for you and your response to the increase will tell you both if it has a shot of working for you. I'm not sure where I started, but I think it was 40mg. By the time we hit a level that worked for me, it was 3 times the amount he started with, so it's possible you may need to go up more to see it's full potential. And Diandra's right - this is another one that takes time to build up a level in your system before it'll reach its full effectiveness. Once we got the dosage right, it took a couple of days to get into my system and start working as it should.

I'm also on Lyrica (375 mg spread throughout the day), which has worked miracles for my neuropathic pain, and Dilaudid for the breakthrough pain, which works perfectly in concert with the Opana. I think they are in the same class of meds or are derived from the same morphine formulation. It really makes the dilaudid even more effective.

I was recently put on a new medication for my muscle spasms/knots - Amrix. It's basically a heavy duty muscle relaxer that I have to take at night with my sleep meds because it is so strong. So if you're looking at that also, it might be an option for you.

Diandra - Good move on getting less pills at a time before you know if it will work!! The one HUGE downside to this medication is its cost. My Opana each month cots about $3,000, with my 40mg pills (I get 168 at a time, which costs $2,400 on its own. The 10s are the cheap ones). The price really limits the number of people who could use this medication. Even if a person has health insurance, a lot of companies are finding ways not to cover it. I had so many issues with my insurance, Horizon, and ended up having to jump through so many hoops to to get it. It's been almost a year since I started with this insurnance company, and I'm still having issues trying to get it. I ended up having to lay out $900 at the start of this month just to get enough to get me through until it was straightened out, for now.

Sorry for the novel everyone!! I just have so much to add about this! I hope at least some of this helps, even a little!! Time to get to bed, as it's nearly 4 a.m.!

Keep me posted on how the increased dose works!!