Hi Nicki,
I started out using Vicodin but very quickly transitioned to a 25mg Duragesic patch and morphine tablets for breakthrough pain. I eventually got up to 75mg of the Duragesic. The maximum dose is 300mg by the way. The patch has an advantage also that you can't puke it up and it's a 72 hour time release. If it isn't strong enough you can slap on another patch. Caution: only increase your pain dosage by physician approval. Duragesic is only increased in 25mg increments.

The pain was pretty intense (especially in the post Tx), I can't imagine trying to tough it out without pain meds. Plus I didn't have a PEG tube so I had to eat and drink orally.

Pain managment is a basic patient right and an essential part of the healing process.

Addiction shouldn't be a concern. Most people who become addicted are those who don't need the drugs. I am a recovering addict/alcoholic and had no addiction issues whatsoever. I don't remember even getting a buzz off of it. It is very rare for persons who need the drugs for pain management to become addicted. There is a lot of hype and misinformation about this subject - some of it started by our own FDA and overzealous warning labels..

Some have mentioned strange reactions to morphine and they usually had a better response to Oxycontin. I personally had no problems with morphine and it is very fast acting.

Like the others I had a mild withdrawal for a few days but no craving to continue using the drugs. My doctor and I worked out a phase out to minimize these effects.

All narcotics cause constipation issues so be aware that it is an issue to be managed. It is especially so when using long term opioids like Durgesic (Fentanyl). I doubt Tom would have noticed that effect as much with the limited, short term narcotics he took for the biopsy pain.

Other than severe constipation I didn't have any side effects.

There are pain management guidelines on the NCCN site: http://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/PDF/pain.pdf