I am on oxycontin for pain relief for my cancer and and the back pain I have as a result of my repeated radiotherapy treatments...Im in Australia and I dont think we have percoset here but I find oxycontin to be a reasonably good form of pain relief if taken properly...I find that every six hours for sustained relief and every 3-4 hours for the instant release capsules.I think that any change to our medication,especially when we have found something that we KNOW helps us,can be a little scary,but oxy is pretty good as far as pain relief goes...I wish you the best of luck and dont be afraid to ask your doctor to up the dose if it isnt giving you the same amount of cover!!!We should never have to be left in pain :)))

The truth is pain meds work differently for everybody. I've taken meds that did absolutely nothing for me, but for someone I knew they worked amazingly well. When you get up to the stronger meds as "jopurple" you and myself have done they will tend to at least help a little no matter who you are, but I have taken Percoset and Oxicodone (I am still currently on Oxicodone) and to me the two aren't really even close in how well they treat high amount of pain. For what it's worth, I've found that Oxicodone works much better. LIke I said though, everyone has different reactions to these meds. The main drawback that I've found with Oxi is that it's not as good if taken as your regular pain med. It works better as a break through pain med. Taking any pain med every day will cause your body to get use to it and the med not be as affective but I've found this especially true with Oxicodone for some reason. You just can't take it for extended periods of time and expect it to keep working. Even as a break through pain med for me, I have to switch between it and Duladid so that my body doesn't get too use to either one. Anyway, hope that helps somewhat, and good luck! :)

The dr. has me on 15mg every 4 hours. It is not helping. I am in so much pain. I almost went to ER last night but had no one to take me.
What mg do you all take?

I'm on 15mg as well but like I said it's only a secondary pain med. If I was only on that I would be in the hospital as well!

Hi...I'm new here and just wanted to share my own experience with percocet and oxycontin....I am down to one 20mg of the oxycontin and can take up to three 10-325mg percocet per day, 6 hrs. apart.
Gabapentin was added to the mix, currently trying 200mg. 3x a day..it is helping reduce the need for the percocets but I'm having persistent headaches and worsening depression now. I was originally on 300mg of gaba 3 x a day so am trying the lower dose to see if side effects ease or even better clear up.
Both meds have kept me out of the ER more times than I can say..
ER here is not very good with folks who have chronic pain conditions that require opiates:(:(

Oxycodone - a potent narcotic pain med
Percocet - Oxycodone and tylenol in one pill
Oxycontin - Oxycodone in a time release pill

As you can see all three are the same med. Percocet, because of the tylenol, cannot be taken as often as plain oxycodone. Tylenol needs time to process through the liver, too much will cause liver damage.
Oxycodone dose is typically 5 to 15 mg and can be taken every 2 hours. Percocet has 5mg of Oxycodone per pill. (So if you were taking 2 Percocet every 4 hours and now you are taking 2 Oxycodone every 4 hours you are taking the same amount.)
I don't know that this helps you, but info is always good. (I have professional knowlege of this med and I am currently taking it for back surgery I had 7 weeks ago.)
Best of luck to you.

I was warned to be diligent of the tylenol (acetaminophen) because the percocet also has that in it....I opt to use aspirin(in moderation) for headaches/fever and other minor things.
Acetaminophen is in ever so many OTC things, a person really has to read lables if they are on this med.

Thank you nurse39 for sharing this valuable information....I hope your recovery is going as comfortably as possible.

Hi, I use it. 5mg (half a tablet) at first, and add by quarter tablets until pain sharpness lets up. I don't want to become addicted, so I skip it on days that are not demanding. This is very low dose, and I hope to avoid building up tolerance. I like it. Constipation side-effect can be avoided with high fiber food. It brightens my mood.