I had PDT (photodynamic therapy) done last week and I'm in HORRIBLE pain. Worse than my 4 surgeries. I'm taking Vicodin (2 every 4 hours) and Neurontin (9 pills a day)I'm still in a significant amount of pain and cannot eat at all. I'm drinking Ensure and that's about it. I just started the 2 vicodin so maybe that will help. Any suggestions of other pain meds to ask for?

Thanks:)

Sorry to hear you're in so much pain, Suzanne. I took Percocet, and it worked really well. Had to be careful not to become dependent on it, but it was great for the pain.

Good luck -- hope you find something that works SOON.

-Chris

Vicodin is just hydrocodone and tylenol. Ask for a bump to oxycodone or oxycodone hci (time released) and then use an NSAID in the dosage you need. My issues w vicodin and percs is that they have tylenol in them so when you maxxed out on the amount of tylenol you can take a day and are still in pain you r stuck.

Your Dr should have no issue bumping you up as pain is the enemy.

Eric

Eric, is oxycodone Percocet? I think I have that too from a previous surgery and it didn't help this time around. Maybe I'll try it again and see.

Thank you both.

Suzanne, Im very sorry you are still in so much pain!

Ive taken hydrocodone and found that oxycodone works much better for me. It seems to last a little longer and I take less to get the same effect as hydrocodone. If your mouth hurts that much ask for liquid pain meds, it might be easier to get down.

Hope you feel better very soon!

Percocet is a combo of oxycodone and tylenol . On the opiate ladder it is stronger then hydrocodone. There are different strengths of percocets, normally they start you at 5mg tabs and go up from there. I would ask your Dr about 10mg oxy tabs and then add tylenol from there

Thank you both...I'll talk to my doc tomorrow. I know you both know the liquid diet..it's not fun!!! I do have magic mouthwash and I swish with that and then have some yogurt for dinner. Otherwise, it's Ensure all the way.

Lol, I really enjoyed the liquid oxycodone...maybe a bit too much so I switched to tablets as soon as I could swallow again.

The combination of Fentnyl and 5 to 5 oxycodone liquid has been working for me. That has no Tylenol so you won't be maxed at the liver damage threshold.

And....BTW. By FAR the best (and most expensive) magic mouthwash is the one made by Curtis Pharma. I've found it to be at least 2X as good as anything else.

Magic Mouthwash is a combo of several ingedients. Mine was benedryl, malox and lidocaine. There are several different variations of MM. My pharmacist would mix mine according to the prescription. I wasnt aware it came pre-bottled by any individual manufacturer.

Suzanne, although Will made mention of Fentanyl you didn't bring it up. I found that in the late stages of my RT even the Oxy I was taking didn't do the trick, so my doc prescribed a Fentanyl patch concurrently. You may have explored this but if not I recommend it. Hang in there! Things are going to get better.

Thank you all....my pain is finally gone. It took a while. Eric...you had me cracking up that you liked the liquid too much!! LOL....we have to have something to enjoy right?!

Hey Suzanne, Steve had the fetanyl patch and liquid oxycodone for his pain. The oxycodone worked well for him. I actually tipped an unopened bottle of it and magic mouthwash down the sink today. Both out of date so no good for anyone (although maybe it would have worked better lol). A strange moment in my day, to be getting rid of all of his pain killers. You'd wonder how tipping drugs out could be on one hand, very emotional and on the other hand, liberating. Haven't used them for nearly 2 years now yet still we have them. This move we are making will be closing alot of doors hopefully Glad to read you are not in pain now. Give that beautiful little man a cuddle for me xx

P.S. If you need something to make you smile just think of my 2 monster dogs. They are flying to far north queensland next week. I hate to think what bedlum they will cause and am living in dread that they will escape and there will be reports of 2 german shepherds running down the runway of brisbane airport I'm not sedating them but think I might have to sedate myself so I can get through the day lol.

I remember when I crushed all of my pain meds...that was when I went a little over a year with no surgery. It is such a great feeling!!!! I'm happy for you and Steve:)

lol...you crack me up. I'm sure you will all be fine. Is the house you are moving from the house where Steve went through his treatment? If that's the case, that will be nice. Either way....being in a new environment does wonders though. I'm so happy for both of you...I wish you and your dogs luck!!

Suzanne
xoxo

that liquid oxcodone is sooo damn hard to find for Ron. CVS pharm bout half an hour from where we live are the only ones that have it when we have one of them pharm 5 mins up the street from us north and the other 7 mins south but nooo they don't have it. AND try to call the pharm and see if they have it in stock. they can't tell you. WHAT? OK so we drive all over BFE to look for it? I think she was the one I talked to the other day who told me they had it. Ron has no energy to drive all around looking for it nor can he call so I had to, put the pharmacist on the phone and I explained OUR circumstances and he was very pleasant and told me yes they had it and how much it would be if insurance didn't cover and if they didn't and he had to pay out of pocket he may have a discount for him. He remembers Ron from the one he filled when he got out of the hospital. What do they think we are drug dealers going to break in? I was reading right off the prescription and he was a customer already and had it filled once before. I hate attitudes. OK thanks for letting me get that off my chest. lol So he was without this script since the weekend cuz he couldn't refill til Monday. Boy has he been a SOB to me all weekend, it was the pain he has been in, but still...he was crushing his old percs he had but it wasn't strong enough but don't take it out on me.

Magic Mouthwash is nasty stuff, but it works. It's strange that no Rx instructions (other than dosage) comes with it. My pharmacist also has to mix it up. He calls it "Mystery Mouthwash."