I take 60 mg Oramorph (12-hr morphine pill) 2-3 x per day + 4 x 10 mg Norco + 100 mg Norflex in the AM and valium or ambien in the PM.

My pain level is usually 3-5 with meds and would be 6-8 without. So, pills take away about 50% of the pain for me.

I am stiffest in the morning and in the most pain in the morning.

If your evening pain is keeping you up, think about adding a sleep aid. A hot shower in the evening relaxes my muscles and helps me get a better night's sleep. I don't think you will find American people getting liquid morphine for take home use.

My meds take my pain down to a three. There is no such thing as pain free. That much medication would be harmful to us.

thought you all had a secret! :) NORCO is hydrocodone/vicodin. I googled it excitedly..mmmm oh well.
I only get 5 mg 3xday oxycodone. Neurontin but scared to take more because of cancer side effect even though it's INFREQUENT. Hurts to move...8-9 when moving. 3-4 when not moving/laying a certain way. Muscle and nerve pain. That's with meds. Without meds...8-10 depending. oxycodone is better by double than vicodin and docs hate it as much almost as oxy. I've searched nerve pain meds and all meds..googled til I can't perch on my elbow anylonger. I've got the best med/least side effects. I just need more of it. Oh there is a oxycodone that has something in it that keeps constipation away. Read:
Targinact is a combination of oxycodone SR plus naloxone SR (morphine antagonist) which helps to reduce constipation associated with strong opioids. Naloxone has greater affinity for morphine (mu) receptors than oxycodone, and blocks the mu receptors in the bowel wall before oxycodone gets there, thereby preventing constipation. Oxycodone is then absorbed in the normal way. Excessive amounts of naloxone are prevented from getting into the systemic circulation by first pass metabolism in the liver. This reduces the risk of "cold turkey" opioid withdrawal reactions. Caution advised in short bowel syndromes and liver impairment, where excessive amounts of naloxone could reach the systemic circulation. Available as:-
o Oxycodone 5 mg SR + naloxone 2.5 mg SR
o Oxycodone 10 mg SR + naloxone 5 mg SR
o Oxycodone 20 mg SR + naloxone 10 mg SR
o Oxycodone 40 mg SR + naloxone 20 mg SR
o Oxycodone eMC Medicine Guide

Hi ~ I've had a lot of luck with the Fentanyl patch with Methadone. This has FINALLY calmed the sciatic pain after 25 years!!! I can't tell you how good it feels - I'm NOT pain free by any means, but this is the first time i've gotten ANY relief.

Perhaps it would help you too. Best of luck & God bless. Hugs, Lee

I take 120 Mg's Of Methadone and 4 Mg's of Dilaudid for break through pain and my pain is usually about a 5, there is nothing as pain free, my PM Doctor told me that a long time ago..... I also have a spinal cord stimulator and that stopped me from taking Neurontin. I also use the Lidoderm patches for when I feel a little bit annoyed by my back, and that is almost ALL of the time!

Lynneat,
When I was on Neurontin I was on 1000 Mg's a day, and I took it for two years, why is your dose so low? If you are afraid of taking it because of the cancer incidense (very, very low), and you have nerve pain, why don't you try a spinal cord stimulator? My PM Doc did a 5 day trial for me and that is what made me decide that it was the "bomb" and I went for the permanent one right after that..... If you are afraid of side effects from the meds, a device like that can help you, just a thought.....

hi,

what are norco, and norflex? maybe i should ask my dr to try those! right now i take 1 hydromorph contin in the am (its supposed to release long term) i also take 2 oxycocet then as well. my hydromorph is only 6 mg. i have to take 2 oxycocet every 4 hours to keep my pain down to about a 4 or 5. or else i would be a 7 or 8. and if i do any activity like housework etc ...the pain levels go higher, like to a 9. but my oxycocet is low too, only 5mg, i think. anyway, it worked ok in the beginning, a year ago...but now i am finding that this mg of pain pills to not be enough anymore. our bodies can become tolerant of them after a while. so when i see my pain dr on the 14, i need to ask him for a higher dose, as i am barely surviving the days lately. and i'm scared to ask him! at night, i don not get any sleep at all, so i must take a sleeping pill, sometimes 2, they are called zopiclone. i also sometimes take ativan, the dr said it would help to relax me, and help with the pain. I am interested in maybe trying the norco or norflex. take care! :)

forgot to add: i see that there are much higher doses of oxy out there....so maybe i shouldn't be so afraid to ask my pain dr for an increase.....BUT you know how even dr's can sometimes make us feel like we're "users" or "abusers"? lol, i need courage to ask him!!! and, it's mostly my gp (general practitioner) who makes me feel like an abuser. the dr at the pain clinic will hopefully treat me better!

lee71,
I know that the name of the meds in Canada are different, so here it is; Norco is Hydrocodone Bitartrate and Acetaminophen combined, and Norflex is Orphenadrine, so you might want to check what the name of those are over there. Hope this helps.

I dont expect to be pain free, but according to Robs pain scale, in the eve im sometimes at a 5 or 6.
Sorry about the norco confusion, yes, its just vicodin.
My pain doc doesnt do diladuad, she has given out liquid morphine(to a pain pal that she hooked me up with to chat). Im not going to ask for a specific med, but Iam going to tell her that what we're doing now isnt helping so much?

hmm...I get 1080 Oxycodone a month, plus I wear 4 100MCG/HR Fentanyl patches, and use injectible Morphine for break through. I still manage to function for the most part, but, the last couple of days I find myself falling asleep everytime I am motionless!...lol

Jo

Even though everyone is on different pain meds with different pain conditions/diseases, there is NO such thing as 100% pain relief from any type of pain medication or other meds that help with pain.
When I was on a medication that worked for me, on my good days my pain was at a 4 to 5 and on my worst days, my pain was a 7 to 8.
Right now without anywhere near the level of proper pain meds, my pain has been at a 10 since Friday night after taking my last generic Oxycontin Thursday morning and being put on Oxy IR 30mg because I'm so allergic to most pain meds that I understand my doctor's fear right now to try a stronger opiate on me as it's to the point there is NO long acting pain med that I wouldn't be allergic to.
I wasn't able to work with my previous pain meds and have been in chronic pain from RSD aka Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy for 11 1/2yrs and to mentally learn how to deal with chronic pain is just as important as any medication.
As of now I can't drive my car due to going on a pain med that isn't working for me and by next Wednesday I may be in a wheelchair as I'm not able to barely get around the house on my cane without holding onto everything I can find.
All I ask for is SOME quality of life; not total freedom from the pain as I had that with a medication that once worked so great but was changed into something that made many others as sick as it did me when it was changed.
To me it's about getting some quality of life back and that can allow you to mentally deal with the chronic pain that is left. We are all so very different.

For me my goal is a 4, I just switched to MScontin from oxycodone and I'm still trying to get the dose right. I know I'll never be pain free but if I can get back to a 4 that would make things bearable again.

yes i'm on 8 different pain medications and it doesnt take all the pain away.
i use fast acting pain killers when the pain is high it helps but not much.

I agree with Kansass, as long as I am on a 4 to 5, I am a happy camper!

I like the Opana 30 er for long term with Opana 5mg breakthrough, I can take 2 or 3 pills of opana 5mg making a total of 15mg when I feel needed, also soma 350 muscle relaxers are a must for me. I cant sleep so the ambien cr is assume. we need sleep to let our bodies heal.. I also take celebrex 2 x day for inflammation. If I run out of this one and I cant move my hands. This plan works good for me. These drugs are for pain management, this does not cover what I take for Rheumatoid arthritis