You know what JenniferRose? I seem to remember my pharmacist telling me "yea, they no longer make a generic oxycontin." They said it came in 15mg. Huh! What is the difference between oxycodone SR and oxycontin? I was told that it was basically the same. Does one have Tylenol in it ( oxycodone SR ) and the other not? ( oxycontin ) Yea, I'm totally confused now. But I know for sure that I will be calling tomorrow and asking questions.

honor435, please let us know if the MScontin works for you, because if that's the case about the oxycontin not coming out with a generic version until 2013, then I need to go to plan B

Stay Gold!

SSWarning-

Oxycodone SR is the generic name for OxyContin. At least that's what it used to say on my prescription bottle. I got it in 20mg and 40mg. My husband also once had a bottle of generic 80mgs. I also took Oxy IR (instant release) for breakthrough pain, which I believe comes in a 15mg formulation, which may be what you're thinking of... I know the IR (also known as Roxicodone) comes in 5mg, 15 mg, and 30mg. I think it is also made in generic form as 10mg and 20mg instant release. However, I believe that Perdue Pharma now also makes a 15mg OxyContin, but I don't remember there being a 15mg when I was taking it...

And no, none of those have tylenol in them (not oxycontin or its generic, oxycodone SR or oxy IR), they're all just oxycodone and fillers.

So yeah, i'm still confused about all of this. I KNOW I took a generic.

Hi. Just want to let you know there are coupns out there from the drug companies to help with the costs of the Oxycontin. we have gotten them at my office for our patients who could not afford their medicines.
I do not have the info handy but if you look into it online I bet you can find it!
Just wanted to let you know!

ok, oxycodone and oxycontin are not the same, oxycontin is time released, oxycodone is not. They do not have a generic oxycontin-right now, there was some problem with it or the pharm company, so they DID have a generic- hope that helps, so you all dont think you are losing your mind!
I hope ms contin helps me too, so sck roller coaster ride.

ok mscontin this weekend, didnt do well, made me So tired, couldnt stay awake, oxy never did that, i could function, theres no way I could work or drive on this, and I cant take off work. Now what???

To all, I use Fentanyl pathes 12mcgs with up to 2 vicodin 7.5 per day for breakthrough pain. No pain is not a realistic expectation for me. Soaking in a hot top is helpful and soothing. Swimming is good exercise with minimal wear and tear on joints. Prolotherapy helped greatly with the ligament pain. It is a difficult treatment. The trick with all of this is to have adequate pain control so that pain does not become the center of your life. Continue with an outside life, Have friends over on a consistent basis. Let others know what you are dealing and then don't focus on your pain with them. Find anything positive, interesting, and distractive. Use groups if available and psychotherapy as needed. Reach out and help another person with anything. Resist the impulse to compare your pain with others. Meditate daily in a quiet place. Us all modalities availabe. Massage,hydrotherapy. Maintain if available a healthy sex life. Watch your weight, each added pound if multiples many fold on weight bearing joints. Writing about issues not related to pain helped me.

Hi Honor-

I'm sorry it didn't go as well as you had hoped. I understand that you had side effects, but I am curious to know how well the MSContin did its intended job- relieved your pain. Did it help with your pain but make you tired? Or did it just make you feel terrible and give you no relief? If it helped with your pain, I would say that you need to give it more time. All meds have side effects... I spent a few weeks recently with some pretty icky side effects from a new med I was taking for acid reflux- but it completely stopped the burning pain in my stomach and chest, so I stuck with it... and my body has gotten used to it. So, if something like that can cause problems, of course a strong narcotic like morphine is going to have side effects... so my advice would be to stick it out for a while to see if the side effects diminish as your body gets used to the stronger narcotic. I think it's hard to expect no side effects like what you described from a narcotic. I've been taking the same dose of methadone for SEVEN YEARS with no change (which means my body is totally used to it- to the point that it gives me NO pain relief), but it still makes me tired even after all this time! However, nowhere NEAR as tired as OxyContin did- I literally slept away a year and a half of my life when I was on that. So I couldn't live with that, so I chose something that gave me less severe side effects... so now I just take a short nap in the afternoon, when I get the most tired. It's not ideal, but I've had to make more than a few adjustments to my life because of my pain (that's an understatement). So that's my advice- I would give it at LEAST a week for your body to adjust- you're throwing some pretty strong medication at it.

However, I also understand that some side effects can be deal-breakers with certain meds. So if you really feel that you can't work with the current side effects, maybe you should contact your doctor and see if he can start you on a lower dose of MSContin... I forget, did you tell us what dosage you are taking now? You could also try to shift the times you take your meds to try to work around your work schedule- to make it so that the time you're least tired (like for me, I feel the least tired for the first four hours after taking my meds) is the time when you're working.

It sucks, I know.... there is just no damn miracle cure for pain- and then the things that HELP just come with their own problems (like not being able to go to the bathroom for three or four days at a time- fun!) so it's like a choice between the lesser of two evils sometimes- the meds that help your pain (complete with side effects) or just trying to go it alone with your pain (and massive amounts of Advil, for me!). It's so damn frustrating because there's no easy answer. I know some people who had to stop working and go on disability/SSI because of that very thing- they had too much pain to work, but the meds that RELIEVED their pain made it impossible to work. So either choice (taking the meds or taking the pain) was going to change their lives drastically. It makes me very angry when I think about it, about the things we go through dealing with chronic pain, losing our entire lives sometimes. Pain is such a basic thing, something every human body experiences from time to time and always has- it's not some new 21st century discovery. You'd think that in the thousands and thousands of years, SOMEONE would have discovered a way to STOP pain without having to cloud our minds with drugs. Opiates don't actually do anything for the source of the pain- they just change your PERCEPTION of the pain. Where's the meds that actually stop the pain itself? It's crazy that there isn't anything yet.

Anyway, back to your problem. I also think you definitely need to call your doctor and tell him or her your concerns and see what he/she recommends. Your doc might have a plan b in mind (or i guess I should say a plan c, since this was plan b) that will work better. Our bodies are all different... morphine may not be right for yours. Or it may be if you give it more time. There's no way to know. One thing I can suggest though, when it comes to a long-acting pain med, is to maybe discuss the fentanyl patch with your doc. Have your ever used them before? I have seen ssooooooo many people say they get great relief from those patches with pretty minimal side effects. I used them for a little while and had no side effects. Another suggestion I can make from my own experience with pain meds is Dilaudid. I don't know if you are deteremined to stay with a long-acting pain med, but if you decide to go back to a short-acting, maybe try Dilaudid if you have a problem with drowsiness. Dilaudid tends to cause less side effects than most opiates, especially when it comes to sleepiness. In my experience, it was amazing for pain relief and lacked most of the side effects of other meds. There was a long-acting version of Dilaudid (hydromorphone) out there for a bit, I think it was called Palladone, but it seems to have disappeared and i don't know if it has been replaced yet with a newer long-acting one. Anyway, there are a lot of other options if the morphine doesn't work out- but I think you need to give it more time than just a weekend. And you definitely need to call your doc to at least share your concerns about the side effects and try to follow his/her recommendations. Let us know what the doc says!

Best of luck with all of this... you WILL find the right med or combination of meds for YOUR body. It just can be a long, frustrating process sometimes. Hang in there. :)

Hey! Oxycontin is very expensive w/o insurance. If it is the med that works for you though, do not give up! Many insurance cos (including mine) have it is a "prior authorization drug". you should be able to go to your ins company's website and search their list of prior authorization drugs. the site should also have a list of their "prior authorization forms". you will need to get this form to your doctor and have him or her fill it out. my ins company initially would not pay for mine either, until I got the prior auth approved.

the reason many won't pay for it right off the bat is BECAUSE it is expensive...they want to make sure you have exhausted all other (read: cheaper) options before they will cover. it sounds like you have. mine had a list of drugs that i HAD to try before they would pay; i had tried almost all of them. one of them was, however, the patch. my doc doesnt like prescribing it at all; but b/c my ins required i try it, he had to write me an rx for it just so we could say that it didn't work. go figure. anyway, the total cost of my rx w/o insurance is about $1,500 a month. no way i'd be able to afford that!!!! good luck.

thanks for all that! the mscontin DID help pain, but I was out of it and really couldnt do much, hubbby wasnt happy at all( he hates pain meds) and with oxy he didnt know I was on it at all. I def cant continue taking it while working, I'd have to take time off, which I cant do.
Ive had 2 migraines since starting and stopping the ms, im back to short acting- for now.
Oh, my ins said they would cover 40mg oxycontin, not the 20mg that I need!
I looked for med cost help online- nothing.
Thanks everyone I will keep you posted.

That is weird they would cover the 40 mg but not the 20 mg. If you dont mind me asking, who is your insurance company? they are REQUIRED to let you have access to their prescription formulary. I work in the insurance industry (NOT pesonal lines and certainly not health insurance...that would be too much for me, morally, given all the problems I've had w/ my health insurance company) but I have a good working knowledge of health insurance b/c, like I said, I've had SO many problems w/ my rx benefits; and b/c I am familiar w/ the insurance industry terms, etc I have an easier time navigating my way through all the "red tape".
i can try and help you if you want to PM me. I also was on the ms contin for awhile and it made me really out of it. my current rx really helps control my pain and I am able to work; and NOBODY knows i am on it (unless they are one of the 3 people I trust, doctor included). i just feel for anyone that isn't able to get the meds they know work for them b/c of insurance issues.
good luck!!

my ins is patient choice in mn.

I tried Suboxone and it was $487.00 for a one month supply! My insurance wouldn't cover it either. I tried Oxycontin and it worked great! I was pain free for almost 11 hours. Then for whatever reason the PM I was seeing at the time decided to take me off of it. When I asked why I was being taken off this med when I agreed it was working, the response I got was "well we don't want to have to up the dose later on" I was like whatever.. I recent;y started seeing a new PM who put me on Opana ER 10 mg 2 times per day and oxycodone for BT pain. My insurance doesn't cover the Opana but it's a hell of alot cheaper then the suboxone. My new PM said in a pamphlet they have new patients read and sign that they do not prescribe Oxycontin anymore. They do prescribe the short acting oxycodone. Well I hope you and your dr came come up with an even beter alternative med for you to try that is covered by your ins. ((hugs))

why did you try subox., were you wanting to get off pain meds? I hope opana works for you.