Got new pain med today at Doc.. Went from OC to Opana ER

Basically my medicaid is makin me jump through hoops to get the oxycontin, i gotta try 2 different drugs for 1 week at a time. My doc put me on Opana ER 40MG three times a day, I just took my 1st dose like 10 min ago. Ive never heard of oxymorphone. Does any1 have any usefull information on that? I go back for another visit next week, and either ill stay on this or ill be trying another drug for a week, then I can get the oxycontins. I dont know how well this is going to work for my pain. Hopefully well. Ill  update yall on my pain level in a hour or two. Keeps ur fingers crossed.... =)

When the "recall" on Ocycodone first happened my Doc gave me a script for Opana...I didn't have insurance and it was $700... Didn't get that... Did your insurance cover it? Oxymorphone is supposed to be very strong... let us know how it works for you in a little while..If you can, that is...

Me.

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^{We are all in the same boat...unfortunatley it seems like it's sinking...}

Post Lamenectomy Syndrome

Hemi Lamenectomy/Spinal Fusion(Lumbar)

60 mg. MS Contin 2Xdaily/15 mg. Oxycodone as needed

High Blood Pressure: Lisinopril HCTZ 10 mg. daily

Type 2Diabetes: (March 16, 2009)

Metformin 850 mg. twice daily (so far)

ME. (Rhonda)                                                                    

 

Yea my insurance covered it, but doc had to call it in. I got medicaid. I think the med works ok.. I would have to say its more like a speed to me than a painkiller. So, after a week trial i can get something else, if it doesnt get any better, ( the pain and the speed ) feel real talkitive, at least thats what my family is saying.

Derrek

Hi Derrek, I am astounded that medicaid wouldnt pay for oxy but paid for the Opana? Just blows me away! As the oxy has to be more cost effective then Opana being as new as it is and the patent still on it meaning NO generic.

I will never understand medicaids reasoning behind anything they do. It seems if you find something that works that isnt good enough for them they want you to try something else.

Opana has basically been around a good many years but the names have been changed as well as they route in which we can get it. For a great many years and somewhere around 50 of these it came only to the hospital as injectable solutions then suppository form and most recently in pill form that was shortly after release pulled off the market for a time due to what else? Those folks ever searching for the ultimate high and was taking it back to its origional format of injecting it. They altered it a bit so it couldnt be injected from broken down pill form and back it came since those who had been on it in its short slef life did well on it.

It has been compared to methadone in its actions but I have no knowledge of how that is.

I do know that it is a narcotic antagonist and can cause withdrawls in somone accomadated to say other opiates such as methadone and again I would have to do more research for this why and how.

I know from experience it was a great pain relieving med in its injectable form and was fast working and long acting.

It does however have some very heavy interaction with other meds so please familiarize yourself to what those are by visiting one of the interaction sites such as Drugdigest.com and there are several and a google would get you there. I also know it cant be mixed with alot of other CNS meds such as Benzo's(valium,zanax,etc.) some anti-D meds and such.

Maybe I can better aquaint you with this med by saying it is closely related to the dilaudid families? Most folks have heard of these.

I am more then a little upset that medicaid can and does require someone to attempt to fix something that isnt broken just so they can say they did. Requiring anyone to try 2 meds in one week or any amount of time before eventually allowing to go back to what you were on to begin with is absurd in my book. Especially when the ones they want you to try are more expensive then the one you were on? What's that? From your post It looks as if your Doc still had to do a pre-auth to get it for you and paid for by medicaid so what difference did it make which one they were pre-authing?

Most likely hs more to do with the ever watching Drug war folks and trying to cut down on how much Oxy is actually circulating out there and again those who need the meds cant get it without jumping thru hoops and those who dont need it have plenty of it out there to obtain. Big BIg article in our local Sunday paper on how much meds come out of Florida since they implemented a tracking system and then put it on hold and folks from all over the US drip into Florida and see Docs and come out with thousands of dollars worth of meds a month. I was recently talking to my daughter whom lives in Miami and she told me that in the college newspaper that they put out on campus once a week there is a large 2-page ad listing all the clinics specializing in pain treatment with opiates and methadone and sub-x clinics and addresses and toll free numbers and even to the extent of the cost of getting in. I was stunned and maybe I am just naive? But this probably says more about why you have to do what you have to do then money.

Anyway I wish you the best of luck here and hopefully if it doesnt work out they will allow you to go back to something that does.

thnx for your support. Your post was a helpful one indeed. That is very crazy medicaid cover 3x a day opana vs. the 2x a day oxycontin. I know it cost a whole lot more, I already looked into it. Like 600$ for a 90 script. The oxycontin 2x a day only cost the pharmacy around 400-450$.. Its absurd!! I finally find a med that works and they want to try other stuff to make sure nothing else works as good... =( This med makes me feel like Ive drank energy drinks and taken stackers together.. speedy.. Instead of the oxycontins which made me feel normal with no pain. This week its oxymorphon. Next week could be the ER morphine or methadone,(there a list medicaid covers).Then after that I can get the OC..
Derrek


3x a day Opana ER 20 MG....This week
2x a day Oxycontin ER 40 MG.. last week
3x a day percocet 10/325 MG ... before that

In my very humble Opinion, ANY long acting med provides longer, stronger, smoother and altogether better QUALITY Pain Relief than ANY SHORT-TERM medication, regardless of the neat little buzz the ST's may offer!!!

Opana ER

contains oxymorphone, which is a morphine-like opioid agonist and a Schedule II controlled substance, with an abuse liability similar to other opioid analgesics.

 

Actually it's nothing like Methadone...and all opiates make me hyper as well...but in a good way.  Since I started taking MS Contin yesterday I don't have that "hyper" feeling anymore...

 

Me.

 

I'm going to ask about the Opana again since I have my TennCare again...I think it's Medicaid too...

 

Me.

---

 

^{We are all in the same boat...unfortunatley it seems like it's sinking...}

Post Lamenectomy Syndrome

Hemi Lamenectomy/Spinal Fusion(Lumbar)

60 mg. MS Contin 2Xdaily/15 mg. Oxycodone as needed

High Blood Pressure: Lisinopril HCTZ 10 mg. daily

Type 2Diabetes: (March 16, 2009)

Metformin 850 mg. twice daily (so far)

ME. (Rhonda)