[petermwilson]

Hi,

This is my first post here. I've done a search combining "generic Oxycontin and Canada" without results.

In Ontario ENDO Pharma seems to be the generic manufacturer of choice for Percs which are identified on the bottle as Oxycodone 5mg Acetominphine 325mg. I'm not sure if they also make the straight 20mg Oxycodone tablets that I have switched to due to my fear of kidney/liver issues caused by the Tylenol portion. For those of you taking large #'s of Percs I've read somewhere that Milk Thistle,(I use the Jameson brand)may provide some protection.

Apparantly Endo won a court battle against Purdu allowing them (since the original patent had expired)to make generic Oxycontin. Purdu appealed saying that they had a "new and improoved formula". The courts (US) apparantly didn't think the improovment was significant enough and upheld their original decision.

If any of you have an update or any info on the generic status of the subject products it would be appreciated.

I am presently prescribed the following every two weeks for the increasing pain of Osteo Arthritis.

Oxycontin 40mg X 200
Oxycodone (no tylenol) 20mg X 200
Ritalin (combats the drowsiness) 20mg X 60
Bromazapam 6mg X 30

Over the past 1 1/2yrs I had saved up 100 oxycontin. My family MD of 20yrs sent me to a new Spine clinic where I have been undergoing physio to help strenghthen my back muscles. Unfortuneately this has increased the pain and is causing me to use some of the 100 extra Oxys.

Thinking that perhaps a change might help, two weeks ago he prescribed 14 100mcg Fentanyl patches which supposedly converts to about 800 to 1000mg of OXY or the equivalent of 1 day's meds. Since I had never used the patch before and the instructions said it took 12 to 24 hrs to get into the blood stream.

I used 2 patches every 2 days. Aside from red welting around the area they were place, a slight decrease in the use of the breakthough 20mg oxys was the only change.

On my last visit I took my standard meds, announced that Fentanyl was probably not for me and took 7 patches to wean myself off them.

Maybee I was supposed to put all 14 patches on at the same time??

All comments welcome,
Peter M.

[lulu12]

WOW

speak kindly! Karma my friend!

[mambojazz]

[quote]Originally posted by deskev

WOW

Hello my friend. I'm suffering from chronic pain due to degenerative discs and facet arthritis. I'm taking oxycodone, 5mg, 20mg per dose, 5 doses/day. I've been through all the pain clinics and PT programs, and despite success according to "their standards" (flexibility, endurance, etc.) it's not touched my pain. I was also given Duragesic (Fentanyl) patches to try, but they did nothing for my pain. Nada. It doesn't work for everyone. So I'm stuck with my oxycodone, but it's getting more difficult to find a prescribing physician. My PCP has decided to discontinue prescribing, and it's left me in a horrible place of suffering.

Anyone have info on medical marijuana? I'm getting desperate. No - I'm there already. And what's the deal with drugs in Canada anyway. Don't you still need a prescription? How do I get the medical m?? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Any BTW, for some others on the forum who've asked about getting "off" their addictive substance: Over a 4 week period of time, I totally tapered myself off oxycodone, but what was the point? Because I did it slowly, and used Clonapin to help and didn't suffer any withdrawal, it left me with the unbearable pain from my spine. Anyway - that was my experience getting off oxycodone, at a fairly high dose. Not a problem.

[petermwilson]

Hi,

The difficulties in finding a physician willing to prescribe appropriate pain meds is something I haven't had to deal with.

However, I have had heated arguments with my MD. of 20yrs regarding the escalation of medication needed to controle the pain.

His fear was not only for my health it was for his practice!! I had told him of different things I was trying like Tens and magnets, massage and accupuncture but he became frightened because HE PERSONALLY did not show in my dosier any other course of treatment than Opiates, and he told me almost every time he wrote my prescription (every 14 days) that I was a drug addict and that it was his fault that this opiate use had escallated to this point and no other doctor would prescribe as easilly as he had.

He finally sent me to a Neurologist. The Neurologist showed me what he had written regarding the reason I was referred. "Opiate Dependancy". Fortuneately for me the specialist sent me for both X-rays and a catscan which showed a stenosis of the lower spine (which by itself is no big deal) and Arthritis in several spots from the middle to bottom of my spine.

If my MD. only looked at the Stenosis and didn't keep reading it would be easy for him to think that my pain didn't warrant such agressive opiate treatment.

In any case I was sent to a New Spine Clinic connected to a hospital in my area. This clinic is a mutifacited approach including physio, phsycological,and occupational.

Now my MD. does not feel as troubled when prescribing the Opiates because my chart now shows that he has other physicians that concur regarding medical reasons for my pain and I'm not just a Drug Addict.

I think there's a lesson to be learned here regarding helping our family doctors protect themselves, or at least spread the resonsibility.

About a year ago I presented my dr. with about 350 percocets that I haden't taken because I was worried that (at the rate that I was using them, 12-14 a day) the tylenol portion was going to fry my kidneys and liver. I asked to be given pure Oxycodone as a breakthrough med to go along with the Oxycontin (slow release). If I had been exibiting the "drug seeking behavior" associated with pure addiction, I would never have given him back these pills.

Again, this action may have demonstrated to him that I was not behaving as an addict but my chart still didn't show that he personally had tried anything else.

Anyway, we each have our individual pain travails but hopefully the medical community will start to consider us innocent until proven guilty, and initially give us the benefit of the doubt.

Peter M.

Dyslexia,"For a cure found."