honor, are you still taking the other stuff? will they not let you turn it in for something else in the meantime. there's 2 weeks left which i'm sure you know.
scream. how can they just disregard that they people in serious pain.
good luck, call that dr and tell him. very sorry you're havign to go through this!!

yes, im takig the crappy stuff, should I ask pharmacy? I told my pain doc, she didnt really say much.

I recently had to go two weeks without anything. I feel so sorry for you. I hope that something can somehow get worked out sooner. I know I called my doctor every day trying to get in sooner to get pain meds, but they were just full of appointments. Maybe try calling the pharmacy and check on things, see if they can't rush it somehow.

I would definitely bring it back to pharmacy and request a replacement with your old brand. I had gotten bad pain patches which they replaced.

im not without meds, just the generic that doesnt work well, thank God, I dont think now that Ive taken some the pharmacy will exchange them, they dont have the good ones they have to order them for me for next month. I'll be ok, I think. I love April, hate to think I will spend it in major pain. Why doesnt 30mg of mscontin for at night work? Its like all it does is make me sleepy, then in fours hrs I wake up in so bad of pain I can hardly get out of bed or walk.

I think the suggestion of taking the generics back to the pharmacy to see if they will exchange them sooner would be worth a shot. IF they don't have it in stock, and would change them out, they could get them in 24 hrs. unless it's a small "mom & pop" pharmacy or your local state laws prohibit that. Your ins. might not go along with it and you'd have to pay the difference in cost though.

If the mscontin isn't an extended or slow release formulation, more than likely that could be the why of only 4 hrs. If you're not sure about that, you can always ask your pharmacist. The other side of that coin could also be that you need a higher dose than this one. That of course would be between you and your dr. though.
I'm wondering also if that 4 hrs. gets you into the REM stage of sleep even...if not, it could be the strength of the med isn't enough to dampen the pain to where you would get "restful" sleep. If that makes any sense.

Your pain dr. doesn't sound like the brightest bulb on the tree:(:(:(

I'm ever so sorry you don't get more relief but do hope you'll consider talking to the pharmacy.

Sorry I can't be more helpful to you...

((((((((gentle hugs)))))))))

marcie

Just out of curiousity (I've had the same issue) are they extended release or breakthrough and if they are extended are they the new ones that are covered in that horrible thick plastic coating? They dont work worth a crap but they made them because people were abusing the other ones (chewing etc.) and these supposedly have this center of medication that if someone tried to bite into it, it negatesd the pain med altogether. I dont know if this is true cause I never chewed any, but I do know there is a marked difference in pain relief.

It sounds nice but there is no way a pharmacy will exchange that class of controlled substance. Walgreens is actually being investigated because of the amount of oxy they distribute. Damn drug seekers...causing more problems for the pain community.

No exchange on any drugs once they are filled.

Plastic coating can't be good for the digestion.

I had a similar experience with a generic drug - also a controlled substance. I called the doctor who had prescribed it, described my experience with the generic, and asked him to write a new script for the name-brand. He did.

At the pharmacy, they told me that the insurance company would not allow me to have the name brand stuff because I supposedly still had a month's worth of the generic stuff. I had already thought of that, and had the generic stuff with me.

I told the pharmacist "I know that you technically can't accept medications back once they have been taken out of the store, but if I 'surrender' these remaining pills to you, you can verify to the insurance company that they are no longer in my possession, so there is no potential for me to abuse the stuff."

The pharmacist said he didn't know if that would fly with the insurance company, but he thought it was a great idea. He called the insurance company while I was there, and he assured them that the generic pills were no longer in my possession, and he talked them into agreeing to pay for a refill of the name-brand.

Of course, there was always the possibility that somebody in the pharmacy could do something illicit with the pills I had given back, but I couldn't do anything about that. I wanted them to be able to verify to the insurance company that I no longer had the generic stuff, and it worked.

yes the mscontin is long lasting, its supposed to help me not have so much pain ay night, like I said it only works for 4 hrs. I had heard about the plastic coating crap and my tummy has been upset with this one, never was before.