What pain med should I switch to

[brians2000]

I am going to my doctor tomorrow in hopes to change my pain medicine Avinza 90mg to something else. I recently read where 5 to 10 percent of patients on Avinza happen to have edema in the legs. Edema is retaining water. The doctor has checked my heart, kidneys but does not know what is causing the edema. I would like to switch the Avinza for another pain med to see if that is the cause of Edema. Please give me names of other pain meds. In the past I have been on the duragesic patch 25 and also on OxyContin 20mg but neither of those were as good as the Avinza. Should I just put up with the edema or try to find out if it is caused by medicine. Thanks, Brian

[Pharmacist.steve]

Originally Posted by brians2000

I am going to my doctor tomorrow in hopes to change my pain medicine Avinza 90mg to something else. I recently read where 5 to 10 percent of patients on Avinza happen to have edema in the legs. Edema is retaining water. The doctor has checked my heart, kidneys but does not know what is causing the edema. I would like to switch the Avinza for another pain med to see if that is the cause of Edema. Please give me names of other pain meds. In the past I have been on the duragesic patch 25 and also on OxyContin 20mg but neither of those were as good as the Avinza. Should I just put up with the edema or try to find out if it is caused by medicine. Thanks, Brian

As memory serves me... morphine affects the hypothalmus.. which controls the water content in the body via the output of a couple of hormones that effects the kidneys' function. IMO, if you can control the edema with diuretics and the avinza is the best way to manage your pain... that is where I would stay...

Pharmacist Steve
www.chronicpainresourcecenter.com

[RustyD]

The Morphine based drugs did nothing for me.. I am on a combination of Fentanyl and Methadone.. SO Methadone is another drug you might enquire about..

Sometimes it takes a little fiddling about and combinations to get the right mix..

[brians2000]

He said because I was on 90 mg of Morphine I should use the 50mcg patch. He also said he likes the patch better than others. He wants me to give it at least one month to see if my edema has settled down. Brian

[ErinENj]

I was on Avinza awhile ago and had a really easy time switching from it to Kadian, which is what I am on now. But if the morphine is out, I definately think that the patch is a good way to try. I've heard a lot of good things about it. Methadone is also a really good option. I was on that awhile ago too, and it worked great for me. The only reason I switched was because I was having some serious sweating issues and we thought it was linked to that (after 3 different meds didn't change it, I decided it was something else). If it wasn't for the sweating, I would probably still be on it. Just a little tip if you do go on methadone and get the wafer shaped pills, don't try to split it up with anything. They pop apart really well on their own. I made the mistake of trying to use a knife and a pill splitter, but they just ended up falling to tiny pieces. It probably would have been smart of me to try it by hand first, but that would be way too easy!

Best of luck and I hope you find something that works for you and doesn't give you any additional problems!

[razzle51]

I have heard good things about Kadian .I am on Keppra and Tramadol