I have been on oxycontin for around 3yrs now and, like most CP'ers, was excited to hear they were coming out with this. I've acually had to buy and bolt to my floor a safe because my house was being broken into and my meds stolen!!!!! The pharmacy i used was broken into and a list of oxycontin users were take w/addresses. I have now been taking the OP formula for about a week.I'm getting quite a few bad stomach issues along with having the worst migraine i've had in a long time :( I have talked extensively to my dr. about it. She said there have been quite a few complaints about ineffectiveness and an adjustment period to the new ones.I will hold out for my months worth and see if the side effects go away. there is a lot of stuff on the purdue website ....even an # to call if you have complaints or comments. I would suggest if you're having trouble with them to make the call. As happy as i am to have a med that i wont have to bolt to my floor(hehe) i want one that works....and we shouldn't have to suffer because some people abuse it....

Well, I knew the new formula was coming due to this post in fact :). When I refilled last week it was difficult, my normal pharmacy didn't have enough in to complete the order, so had to go to another pharmacy I don't normal do business with. The pharmacist there took the time to explain I had some of the old and some of the new, which they seperated in the bottle with cotton. He showed me the new and we talked about it, but he admitted I was the first to get the new formula from his pharmacy and he didn't know what changes, if any, I would experience.

I had hoped I would experience none, and I started right in with the new ones, so the old ones would be there in case of problems.

I've had problems all right, nausea, diarehea fluctuating to severe constipation where even normally used laxatives don't do anything for me but upset my stomach more and make abdomine hurt more, to dizziness (severe), headaches (also severe) and slow increase in pain until by the 3rd and 8th day I had to take the old formula praying for some relief, which I got both times. The 8th day being today.

I was afraid to go to the urgent care at the hospital figuring they would just label me as a junkie unable to get my high on the new oxy! I'd rather die than deal with that kind of shit, I deal with enough just to make it through the day, don't need them making things worse. Besides what would they do? probably nothing.

So finally, I have a call into the doctor to discuss it. I am really hoping it is just an adjustment period needed as I've had lots of problems with other long acting pain relief that was very nasty, don't feel like playing russian roulette again while trying to find something else that will work for the pain!

Hope more people don't have the reaction like I am and some others, it's not a reasuring feeling when the medicine that had been a blessing starts to become part of the pain problem...just wanted to let others know how I'm reacting incase it helps them to speak up as well.

Sure would have been nice if nothing but pain relief had happened, but I seem to be all out of that kind of "LUCK".

My symptoms are very close to what Mountainmom expressed. The dizziness alone is horrible and the stomach problems which are now lessening are still not acceptable as I never got sick on the old kind.
Like truthspeaker it was over one week when I started to feel bad and I believe that is not only due to the absorption of the new OP but also that we still had some of the old running through our systems.
In the past 4 days now I have had headaches too which I very rarely ever get. I didn't know it was the new OP causing it but after reading other people's experiences/side effects I do believe it is the cause.
This medication was ruined thanks to the abusers. Now we the ones who have true chronic pain are suffering because of this.
I read a story on another site where a person who took it rarely and not prescribed took one of the new ones and became sick and never woke up the next day dying from it.
I have a feeling if this new OP kind starts killing more people and putting true chronic pain patients in the hospital, they will be forced to change it back as I honestly believe it is now much more dangerous than the old OC version.
The abusers have already figured out new ways to abuse it that are more dangerous than the old ways they did as I've read that online also which enrages me.
The only way we are going to get the medication we desperately need back unfortunately is going to come from the deaths of abusers and real chronic pain patients who do use it correctly.
That is sad as why should we have to pay for what drug junkies are doing? Many of us are paying a very high cost to our health and nobody knows the long term effects of this new OP.
Purdue should've tested it enough to know that it could be more dangerous to abuse and to take correctly.
I read on a comment that Purdue told someone that they only tested it on 133 patients and only on the 20mg dose.
If that is true, they sure didn't do their job correctly.
I hope we all start feeling better soon. I pray none of us die from this or are hospitalized.

Well, just an update on what my pain doctor had to say. First she didn't have a clue that oxy had changed or that generic was no longer available. Conversation kinda went down hill from that, but she finally agreed if after trying the new oxy for the rest of the month if things didn't get any better she would try another long acting like Opana? to see if I get relief. She also thought it sounded like a filler reaction and not withdrawls per se.

Hello, I too am on oxycontin how ever a lower dose than most of you I do not cut snort or shoot. Since I have gotten my new prescription I too called my pharmacy to ask them if they had given me the wrong pills again(which has happened)... My dose is 20 mg 2 times in the am and 20 mg 2 times at bed time. I take one 20 mg when i wake up to get out of bed and usually (well the old ones) 20 mg around 3pm. and 40 mg @bed time so I can sleep as pain free as I can. I am a mother of 2 and have tried to maintain as normal life for me and my family as I can without my disabilities interfering with their childhood. Since I have gotten the new formula I have been having the same horrible headaches everyone else has been having and I too told my husband on about the third day I felt as though I was w/d ing from the drug and that night felt as though i had od ed on them. I was so confused called my pharmacist and he informed me that many people were calling too but he believes what purdue had told them that if people are complaining they should be noted as an addict!!!!! I WAS SO UPSET... Called not only my doctor but my lawyer and they said he was wrong to say that but then did find it on a search that it was in a statement from Purdue!!! I have been on the new OP's since October 7th and still had a few of my old ones to and tried it both ways the new ones do make me sick, headaches, constipation, nausea, unmotivated, and flu like symptoms, I keep telling my husband I feel like i am going crazy everytime i do a search i only find drug addicts! which is very disturbing for me. I dont even want to tell anyone because of what the pharmacist had told me but once i seen your post I feel as though it has confirmed what i am experiencing is from the drug too. Thank you for posting I am not calling my doctor and Prudue Pharma. I dont need more problems with my health from a drug that did not do through testing on.
Also, I do not take anything for break through pain because addiction was always one of my concerns and the new op's only seem to last 4 hrs but bring on so much more :(

oppps that should say
Thank you for posting I am NOW calling my doctor and Prudue Pharma. I dont need more problems with my health from a drug that did not do through testing on.

my doc just started my on oxycotin and I asked him about the new oxycotin and he assured me that all the ones that were causing people to get sick have been pulled from the market but I wasn't sure how accurate that statment was. I am on the tradional one and it's doing fine for me I wouldn't want to be forced onto the new op until it's been out for awhile

My pharmacy did the same thing. My husband picked up my pills and I thought he picked up the wrong one!!! They did not mention it to me either. Either did my PM doctor. I am sure they wereinformed about it. Yes my co-pay went from $5.00 to $30.00 !!!~ That is a big jump.

I just wanted to say that Oxycontin is the ONLY medication that ever worked for me and... bonus!... no side effects.
However, I have been yelled at, lectured and driven to tears by three doctors since I took it, simply because I honestly answered the question "What has worked for you in the past?"
One just plain went apoplectic on me! My current pain doc has two different printouts in the waiting room and in case you missed it, copies on the wall behind the exam table and right next to the magazines about Oxycontin abuse. He lectured at first and the second time he asked, yelled at me for a bit. Finally he told me flatly that he does not and will never prescribe it. Instead, he went with one I begged him not to because I had gained 40 pounds in one month on it. He insisted it wasn't the morphine. Couldn't be. Never mind that getting off of it resolved the issue. So, of course, it happened again and nobody seems to want to so much as take blood to see if there's really something else going on or talk about it for that matter. My PCP told me "Now you know what it's like for the rest of us." If they aren't crushable anymore, do you think I have a chance at getting them again? It would be nice to do zany things like sleep more than every other night. Maybe I'll get really crazy and cook something for myself! Sorry, that sounded whiny. Just that it actually did work enough to give me that elusive functionality and the occasional visit with a friend while not having to lay down as I talk to them. I'm not asking to do carpentry here! LOL! My little take on oxycontin. Is that attitude - of the doctors - just a city thing or does it happen in smaller communities as well?

My experience with the new OxyContin "OP" was nearly identical to MountainMom; the nausea and vomiting kicked in within 16 hours and it was downhill from there very quickly. I started on Sunday night and wanted to die by Tuesday afternoon, more from the nausea and vomiting and hot/cold flashes and sweating, headache, and severe stomach pain than anything else. Those were worse than the pain, which was a steady 9 (I live at a steady 5-6, but a 9 is unbearable). Thankfully I have a ample supply of breakthrough pain meds, but even those were nowhere near as effective, possibly due to whatever was causing the severe stomach pain (and I never get nausea from opiates). On Tuesday night I simply stopped taking the new OxyContin "OP"; why expose myself to something that is making me sick while providing no benefits (and there is something in that gel cap that was making me sick; I am only on 20 mg and have missed a daytime dose intermittently with no withdrawal symptoms at all, just an increase in pain, so a reduced or even lack of one dose of medication can't account for all the early vomiting and nausea...and I took every OxyContin OP on schedule).

I talked to my doctor on Wednesday morning who talked with the pharmacist (my pharmacy JUST got the new medication; mine was actually the first prescription so they have no experience with any adverse effects). But they did scour their stock and found 16 tablets of the old medication in stock so my doctor wrote a script for the 16 tablets and I've been taking those at night and just dealing with the pain using BT meds during the day and have 11 days left of pain relief before I have to resort to chasing the pain with BT meds only (unless I can get in to see pain management before then).

I do not know what is in these new gel caps, but I want my old medication back! I also want to know what ingredient is in the gel cap that I reacted so violently to (especially as I continued to react violently even after starting to take my breakthough medication on schedule and actually getting more oxycodone in my system over time than I would using the sustained release). I want to know, so I can avoid future exposure; this is not an experience I want to repeat.

For us pain patients, especially those of us who are either allergic to or get no relief from other pain medication (I'm in the latter category; an anestheiologist's nightmare as even the heavy duty sedatives don't have an effect on me), what is left? All of my pain doctors are overwhelmed with wounded soldiers and marines; being retired military I'm not at the top of their list for pain treatment right now (although they find me a fascinating case). And my doctor isn't an expert on pain medication; he had already put in a pain management consult before I took the first of those horrendous gel tabs.

BTW, Did anyone read the article by one of the doctors here on DS about the "new OxyContin". She mentions that the Purdue certified that the medication is bioequivalent, meaning there is the same amount of active ingredient in each gel tab as the previous version. HOWEVER, there was no testing on the delivery method; the FDA just gave Purdue a green flag to put an untested product out on the market and we, the consumer, are the human test subject for Purdue Pharma. I don't know about you, but I know I didn't sign up to be in a clinical trial for a new delivery method for an existing pain medication! Did anyone else? No? Didn't think so.

Obviously we are the guinea pigs in an after market "report it your own damned self" system. Could that be because the FDA has decided that the American pain patient isn't important enough to warrant any protection? It seems they only believe that those who abuse the medications we need to treat out pain should be afforded any protection, in the form of protection from themselves. I'm confident the FDA is thrilled with the new medication; it meets all of their REMS and other "keep an addict off Oxy today" requirements. Never mind the reality that it will push the die-hard addicts from a known controlled substance straight to heroin instead and chances are the death rate will increase; those who can't defeat the coating aren't going to just quit cold turkey and give up the lifestyle or all clamor to get into Betty Ford for treatment instead!

To those for whom the new formulation is working, I am truly happy for you and I wish you continued success and hope there is nothing in the gel tab that is harmful in the long run. Alas, for me, it was a complete and utter failure and the search is on for a new long-acting medication. Yes, Tipper, methadone is about the only option left. I truly hope it works.

No the junkies aren't forgetting it. Out of nosiness I googled and found SEVERAL recipies for microwaving/cooking the new oxycotin to snort. Check it out! And it's not your FAULT that you got the new meds without notice..but do check from now on. One time I got a totally different med than the label said. Luckily I recognized that it wasn't the same pill....
btw I found the HR4596 stop oxy abuse act of 2010. I wrote to the CA senate lady who introduced it. I intended to write to all senators who agreed with it. I did write my own reps/senators. Long story/what I said and all. In pain...gonna go take a pill and lay on my stomach and try to watch tv for distraction. Dumb pain. Anyway I wanted to say I share your concern over the new oxy. If enough people post here of negative side effects I may ask doc to give me zofran and morphine..or God forbid methodone. Oxy was so helpful...no side effects OF COURSE we are nervous that it's being taken from us. It's our bodies! Don't feel bad about that! We are entitled to our opinions about what goes inside us. It's ok to have feelings. Don't feel like a druggie...don't let anyone make you feel that way. CORRECT them. Add 'I hope you never have to endure severe never ending pain'. Either they will or will know someone who will. And they will remember your words and be kinder next time. My best to you...to all of you.
More more experiences with the new oxy?

I am a 50 year old male and I had a spinal fusion (L-4 to S-1) in January of this year due to a work-related injury in April '08. I have had complications resulting in multiple SI joint injections and am in constant pain in both hips as well as the center of my back where the hardware is. After progressing from 20 mg. hydrocodone 4x day to 20 mg. oxycodone 3x day, my doctor put me on 40 mg oxycontin 2x day in June. I finally had consistent pain relief and improved quality of life...until the new OP's. I now feel like I only get about half (or less) as much relief as I did with the old ones. This is very frustrating. I haven't worked in over a year and am on total temp disability. I am scheduled to now have a bi-lateral SI joint ablation. What makes it worse is I am a recovering drug addict but have to take the pain med to have any quality of life at all. I had 7 1/2 years clean until my dad passed away last month and I "decided" it would be ok to take a couple of extra pills each day to get through everything. I should have called my doctor, my sponsor( I'm a member of narcotic's anonymous ) or someone to increase my meds properly and openly. My secrecy is what caused my relapse. I ended up in the ER when my med ran out a week early and I couldn't get it filled again. The back pain and withdrawal were excruciating and my blood pressure was through the roof! This medication WAS a god-send until they changed it. I am back on my prescribed dosage but am also back to suffering all the time. I feel like I am in a no-win situation but am determined to not give in to my disease...yes, addiction IS a disease, and do something stupid like seek out other drugs and return to cocaine, alcohol, etc. to numb my pain. I am also experiencing more constipation with the new formulation. Please return the original oxycontin to the market and leave it to the Dr's discretion which one to prescribe.

Well I have called and made a report through purdue pharma... and since my last post went to my doctor I have a rash on my back and chest the doctor not only seen the pics but confirmed by seeing it on my back.... i told him they were not working as well as before.. he said he is unaware of a change in formula that possibly they gave me the generics and I tried to inform him that I talked to purdue and they might be calling him he didnt want to hear that he told me to go back on them and go on a steriod for the rash and itching for the next week see if it goes away and we can go from there started them yesterday again and omg i am itching like i have been laying in instalation!!!!! when i talked to purdue they said to go on an IR of oxycondone or another type of pain med... my doc is not ready to do this. I dont know how long i can stand this itching Good luck to everyone with this medicine... and Call Purdue it really wasnt as bad as I thought it would be the Pharmacist I spoke with was very nice and understanding I didnt feel as though he was judging me for being on this med ... I will let you know what happens in a week. And as my psy. doctor said the squeaky wheel gets the oil so call and talk to the doctors and purdue!!

@mommad,

The itching could also indicate that you are allergic to some additive in the new Oxy. This should maybe something you discuss with your doc. Also my over the counter allergy meds may help with the itching, but talk to your pharmacist about any interaction this may cause with your meds, Kim.

My friends hubby is dying of pancreatic cancer and just switched to this med by purdue, he's more weak and naseaus,I told her abou this "op" med, she will check it out.