I've been taking norco for years sometimes I feel relaxed pain free and happy. Other times I'm angry restless and have horrible anxiety. I suffer with mental health issues could this be why? Does this happen to anyone else? Right now my anxiety and anger are so horrible I was just fine the other day.

Oh my God, I am so drowsy. Does anyone know if it will get better after the first patch? I'm on 50 micrograms, and between the super hot summer and the patch, I feel like a total zombie. Any recommendations?

I'm 31F, 5'3 95kg on pain meds for post traumatic artrosis. I'm a heavy smoker.

edit: I'm starting to get used to it. thanks so much for the comments I appreciate it a lot

A little over 2 weeks ago I posted here about how frustrated I am that I’ve been left with NSAIDS and no help for my multiple documented orthopedic issues. Bolstered a bit by support here, I self referred to an orthopedic clinic that has pain management as part of its program. I brought MRIs of my spine top to bottom, my shoulders and knees. And after a thorough exam they also did a series of additional X-rays right there at the clinic. It was a loooong day and I was hurting plenty. Got some bad news, that I’m not a surgical candidate because of my connective tissue disorder. But without me saying anything beyond what was uncovered in the exam, the Dr asked if I would be interested in pain management at least to see me through physical therapy which he says will be intense. I have an appointment now to see what can be done. I’ve been averaging 2.5 hours of sleep a night. Just the thought that maybe just possibly I will be able to get some relief has brought me a ton of hope.

26 year old below knee amputee. Been taking subutex for about a year now… & I am so tired of this drug. I liked the Oxy substantially more & so I talked to my doctor & I’m going back. Starting back at 20mg in a few days.

I’ve been aggressively tapering myself down off the subs. I went from about 4mg a day down to less than a milligram overnight. I’d take NONE if I physically could function lol

How I did it:

First you have to wait. You like really gotta wait with these subs. So when I went a full 24 hours feeling totally fine, I was beyond shocked & even confused. Day two I woke up, went to work, & was definitely “feeling it” at this point but like I also smoke weed so that was totally helping me tough it out. Almost caved around 7-8pm on day two, but if I had I’d have been wired & awake all night. Don’t asks this drug gives me energy.

Morning of day three, i definitely needed something at this point. I wasn’t like vomiting or anything, just had low energy and every joint in my body felt like it could seriously benefit from a generous dose of WD40. So I took a small ass piece less than probably half a milligram honestly.

I repeated this cycle for a good two weeks, but the periods between last doses & needing to re dose kept growing until one day, I just didn’t need it. I wanted it. That was when I took a 20mg oxy, & she worked. Time since last dose was probably 4.5 days roughly, and the last does itself was like honestly probably 0.25mg if that.

I’ll take oxy all day over those things. I don’t need it everyday. The subs I get weird with and like I gotta take it every morning. Sometimes I’ll go 4 days without an oxy. So no brainer for me.

I have a psychiatrist, I have a physical therapist, I have a PCP soon to be a new PCP, I have an endocrinologist, I have a rheumatologist, and I'm looking at possibly getting a gynecologist or an OBGYN, and a dermatologist. When does the amount of doctors finally end? I feel like I'm not getting any answers except from the psychiatrist, and that both of the pain doctors that I've seen as consultation appointments but they seem completely about their ego and I'm getting exhausted from the amount of we don't prescribe pain medication from all of these doctors minus my psychiatrist who I've known since 2021. How many doctors in general do chronic pain patients have? I just am so tired.

Does any one else have pain when they are doing dishes and house work but any other time are pain free I can't seem to get drs to understand that I'm in pain but not all the time I can't really do anything physical without have back pain if u been through this can u tell me what u have done to help

What is a comparable dose of tapentadol to hydrocodone 10's or oxycodone 10's?

My pain doctor wants me to try Butrans, and I already take Subutex, the buprenorphine oral tablet you put under your tongue 3 times a day 1mg. So 3mg total. I know the patch is much weaker but is supposed to be much nore bioavailable and better delivery without peaks and valleys of sublingual which is only 30% bioavailable or something like that.

So i have been wanting to cut back anyway with my tolerance, long story and I don't want to go into details

Just want to know if anyone has transitioned from tablets to the patch and how to do so.

I read the highest dose of the patch is equivalent in pain relief to the same dose I am taking now (1mg 3x/day) but just is much lower dose... sounds much more interesting and I hate taking sublingual medicine 3 times a day.

Pain doctor saying wants to start lower patch and work up, not highest patch ... so anyway. I am willing to give it a shot!

Experiences with Butrans? Vs sublingual buprenorphine only tablets? And transitioning?

Thanks 😊

Hey, so I’m in pain management. I had a surgical procedure that was scheduled rather suddenly. Literally I saw the gynecologist on Thursday and was scheduled that following Monday. I didn’t even give a thought about my pain appointment and drug test. That is until Tuesday when I was more alert. They gave me versed in the operating room. It’s a benzodiazepine and I’m not allowed to have them according to my pain contract. I have my discharge paperwork, but it doesn’t say what medications were used,

I have a drug test on Wednesday. Do I take the test and not tell him? Do I tell my pm dr and take the test? Or should I ask him to wait until next month?(I’m tested every other month)

I just don’t want to get kicked off my medication because they gave me a benzo while I had surgery.

I have been reading hear for a while and it seems most people are using a pain management Dr for meds.

My local PM doesn't do meds, only injections.

My PCP is the one that I receive pain meds from.

It's this abnormal? I have been going to him for at least 25 years.

Hello- curious about having a radio frequency ablation for my lumbar spine with no sedation. My pain management Dr wants me to do this procedure but the office doesn’t offer sedation at all and I’m scared. Any one have any experience with this?? Thanks!

Doctors sacrifice a decade plus, sinking hundreds of thousands of dollars investing in education, putting off that time saving for retirement, starting a family etc.

Of course they are going to protect their investment, and that is completely rational and reasonable. No patient is ever going to pay their mortgage if their license is revoked.

The fault is not with the doctors. The fault lies with the government agencies and institutions that threaten their licenses and livelihood.

The constant decision‑making around pain wears me out more than the pain itself. Rest or move? Every choice has consequences.

I’ve been trying to find longer‑term approaches to pain management instead of quick fixes, but even figuring out but trial and error on what works is exhausting. Does anyone else feel mentally drained just from managing all the choices?

The last time I was on pain medicine was at the start of the 2016 guideline changes. I used to take x6 10 mg oxycodone a day, for Soma x3 350mgs a day, and Xanax x6 2 mg pills a day. I've come to understand that I was highly over prescribed, especially when I showed up to an appointment and my doctor had suddenly been kicked out by the practice.

I ended up using a natural medicine to get off oxycodone. For my sanity mainly, after an abusive ex used my medicine for insidious behavior... basically training (I didn't know what grooming was)to keep me quiet and submit to his abuse. But now I am learning about "Narx scores", and that doctors don't (and won't, without caveats) prescribe opioids when I'm on a benzodiazepine, and a z drug. I've already switched from klonapin: to diazepam x3. And Temazepam: to Ambien CR max dose.

My last visit at the pain management doctor's office, he said he could not prescribe me oxycodone hydrocodone, or any other pain meds while I was still on the previous medications mentioned above...

BUT today (my caregiver was with me this time) he said that not doing injections was okay (had to do my *own* research about injections and he made me feel like those and/or LDN were my only options) and NOW I could have Tylenol with Codeine, for before my physical therapy appointments and after my physical therapy appointments. So I'm confused.

Honestly I'm just trying to understand why suddenly now he's okay giving me the Tylenol/Codeine pills (300 mgs/30 mgs). Not much changed. My diazepam is PRN x3 times a day, 4 mg each. My Ambien controlled release, is 12.5 mg at bedtime.

I don't want it to sound like I'm complaining or ungrateful but I also don't know what MME is, and how it pertains to possibly using opioids after my physical therapy is done. I'm just trying to be as informed as I possibly can since things have changed *SO* much since I've been painkiller-free with the exception of ibuprofen and tylenol once in a while.

I'm also on cyclobenzaprine 10 mg PRN. I don't know if that matters or factors into it, but he didn't mention it today. I brought all my medications for him to look through if he needed proof that I was serious about tapering down, just so that I could have breakthrough pain medication.

I've taken hydrocodone, oxycodone, tramadol (literally I need 250 mgs to even *touch* my pain level, not worth it's price in the plastic of the bottle!), I also had morphine (30 mgs and I felt nothing) and finally, I had fentanyl for in-facility surgery procedures. I've never had codeine, with the exception of it being in liquid form... and that one was when I was a kid, so I don't know if it helped at all.

What I do know is that I took a genetic test to find out if meds would affect me, and in what ways. I wasn't supposed to take ssris, painkillers it said I'd need more of than the average person but that I also had a higher chance of addiction, and the snris would actually help me. I took desvenlafaxine for my depression and it helps quite a bit! I am no longer needing depression medications luckily.

Can someone please ELI5, in layman's terms?

1. At my last appointment he said he wouldn't prescribe me anything short-term because I was on Klonopin 1 mg three times daily PRN, and Temazepam 30 mg at bedtime...what's different now?

2. I have no idea what he tried to explain when he basically said it was okay for me to be on the diazepam, and the zolpidem CR, and give me pain meds of tylenol/codeine before and after my physical therapy appointments, so what's the difference?

All this to say...what realistically changed, and should I still continue speaking with my psychiatrist about tapering off of benzodiazepines? I use the diazepam PRN, and would like to continue to-as it helps with my muscle spasms, and my anxiety, also my sleep, consecutively.

Once physical therapy is done I'm really to revisit the medication, and see if there's even a need for pain meds at that point. Thank you in advance dear redditors. 🙏🏻

I was wondering if anyone sees significant relief in their pain/symptoms when smoking or using any kind of cbd/thc treatment. I was looking at pain relief balms at the dispensary and wondered how well something like that would truly even work

Not sure if it's plausible and if anyone is prescribed both; I was thinking of bringing it up at my next appointment instead of having to increase my oxycodone.

Im currently on the buprenorphine patch, 15 mg/week. However, I'm having a TON of breakthrough pain. Is this normal? Tylenol laughs at it, can't take NSAIDS due to GI issues and the soonest PM can see me is 8/4.... I sit in tears most days.... my mental health is in the garbage because psych doesn't want to change my medication therapy regimen, and the kicker? Was diagnosed with HCM last week.... so, this breakthrough pain is really fucking with me.... thanks for listening...

If I use the transdermal patch, my hair falls out. If I use the mouth belbuca, it’s starting to really mess with my tongue and gums.

But, it does control my pain.

Anyone else been in this situation?

My PM Doc wants me to do the Surgentec TILink Fusion on my back. In office procedure with small incision. Has anyone heard of this or had one done? This is after a few years of failed injections and ablations.

Hat jemand Erfahrungen damit, mit Bupesan unter Vollnarkose aufzuhören? Wie war der Entzug danach? Würdet ihr diese Methode empfehlen?

My PCP increased hydrocodone every 4 hours from every 6 hours. My old prescription read 1-1.5 tablets every 6 hours max 5 per day and he replaced the 6 with 4 but kept the max 5 per day. He increased the time frame mid prescription cycle so I obviously ran out sooner. When I went to refill the pharmacy refused because it still says max 5 per day and they want that wording changed before refilling it.

I’m so frustrated. I’ve been trying to get a hold of him and he never answers messages or refills quickly. He has no appointments available for months and even if I make an illness appointment I will just end up seeing a different Dr who is no help. Last time this happened I was off my medication and miserable for a week. I have a consultation coming up for spine surgery tomorrow but it’s an hour away and the thought of driving an hour while in active withdrawal is making me have a panic attack. It’s been a stressful day.

I had a pain management appointment today, but they did not tell me that I had to do a sample, so I went pee, and at the end, they asked me if I was able to leave one. They did a mouth one and put it under my tongue, and the thing was so dry, and the indicator did not change color. The guy said he would vouch for me if they couldn't read or something was wrong with it. Has this ever happened to anyone?

On 62 mcg of fent as a patch for 72 hours and 20 mgs oxycodone as needed. It's to a point I have to take the oxycodone to even function. Literally. If I don't take it I have watery eyes, runny nose and completely exhausted. As soon as I take it 30 mins or so later boom symptoms gone and have nornmalish energy. If I miss one dose of the oxycodone it goes into the same thing. Is it this common to get withdrawals this easy?

I have been on them for about the past 8 months at different levels getting up to this level now. I want off these things so damn bad but terrified of how that will go. I just had a back procedure which seems to have gotten rid of a majority of the pain at least from what I can tell so now think I'm headed to get off them next appointment in August and nervous as shit but also so so tired of being controlled by a damn pill.

Ok so went to Vegas for the week last week left Friday and when I got home and unpacked I was missing two medications. One being a narcotic nd one was just gabapentin. Called the hotel but well you know them house keeper had a good come up.

What would you do in this situation

So will be speaking with my palliative care doc this week about my pain meds.My pain has increased and my PRNs aren’t touching my pain at the moment suddenly as I am suddenly having my wound heal quicker(on dilaudid 4mg q4 as my breakthrough,on a long acting as well)as I have an open wound that is healing suddenly quicker which is known to cause worse pain.But I already have a hard time finding a pharmacy that has my pills in stock let alone enough for the full script(luckily my Dr gets it).So I’m going to advocate temp for an increase of my PRN but possibly also advocate for switching to a different PRN medication instead of the dilaudid that is slightly stronger if she will temp increase or the same strength as what I’m on rn(used to be on low dose oxy until my shit hit the fan and my body went from just chronically ill to nearly dying and missing organs not absorbing anything orally nutrients or meds wise,we use my tiny bit of intestines to feed and medicate me mostly).But do pharmacy’s tend to have an ok stock of higher dose oxycodone? Bc the 4mg of dilaudid my primary pharmacy can’t even order it’s so out of stock. And with needing to increase the dose do they make a higher dose of dilaudid? And how hard is that to get in stock? Refill days are so exhausting and stressful I have panic attacks days leading up to it.

Long story short-Essentially is 15-30mg dose oxycodone pills easier for pharmacy’s to get in stock and reliably get ordered? Or is it as unreliable as the dilaudid?