Pain Management Community

When I switched over to Medicare as my health insurance, I was terrified of hitting the donut hole because then I really could not afford to buy food and meds, lol.

I did the research myself and asked my doctor to change me over to methadone (about $20-30 a month) as my long acting pain med, with plain generic oxycodone for breakthrough pain. I avoid name brand meds at all costs anyway, as they are much more expensive than generic meds. I have used many kinds of generics and have never noticed any difference at all. They all work fine for me. All of my meds are generic now.

I only take two or three other RX meds regularly so it has worked out for me so far. I have never hit the donut hole so far, knock on wood.

Talk to your doctor, take your insurance company formulary with you, and ask him to pick the cheapest drugs that he thinks will work for your type of pain. Start there and work your way slowly up expense wise.

Plan ahead!!! Try out the special $4 per month drugs if possible at WalMart. Call the companies that make your drugs, some of them have special programs where you can get your drugs free or at lower cost. Costco has cheap RX drugs and you do NOT have to be a member to use their pharmacy. Call around to different pharmacies if possible and shop around, you would be shocked at the different prices for the same drugs.

Take care, Annette

Thanks for the info. Currently, all of my meds are generic except my long-acting pain med...and that's the one I am worried about. I checked into methadone too, but I didn't think it had the same efficacy for pain relief, so I am leery of trying it. I heard that Opana is going generic soon. have you heard that?
Thanks, Fran

There is generic Opana ER out on the market currently. It is oxymorphone ER in 7.5 mg and 15 mg strengths. It is manufactured by Actavis. I have tried them and they to seem to not have worked as well as the brand Opana ER but they do work.

I was also taking 30 mg Opana ER twice a day and I wanted to cut costs too (I was paying $255 per month for 60 tablets). I substituted and took two 15 mg generic oxymorphone ER tabs twice a day.

They have recently reformulated Opana ER and many across the web have deemed it at least 1/2 as effective and it takes twice as long to work. Additionally, many patients have been getting sick from the new abuse deterrant formulation.

Because of the severe constipation issues I was having from ER pills and to dodge the side effects from the reformulated Opana ER, I talked with my doctor and he switch me to the Fentanyl patch. I don't have to use Miralax at all anymore and I used to have to drink it every day and most times it didn't work and I tried all the laxative products on the market and they didn't work either. The only thing that was working were saline enemas. I was constantly uncomfortable with severe bloating, shortness of breath, increased pulse and blood pressure. Now on the Fentanyl patch all I take is Colace (a stool softner) every other day give or take and I can go on my own. No more feeling like I was having a heart attack!

The Fentanyl patch is one of the few ER meds left that haven't been screwed up to prevent abuse. Junkies are going to abuse whatever they can get their greedy little paws on anyway! They have been ruining great medications that have given us chronic pain patients quality of life back when the junkies are just going to find something else to use to get high...makes me SICK!!

Anyways, ask about generic oxymorphone ER. It probably works better than the reformulated Opana ER. You would need to take 2 15 mg tablets twice a day to equal your current dose on the Opana ER.

I have used methadone for 2-3 years now, and it works fine for me. It was developed for pain in Germany during WWII, it is an old drug.

There are no head to head, double blind studies that I am aware of that show any one opioid or opiate is better than another for treating pain or causing side effects.

I do not trust drug companies at all, they are in it for the money. Look into independent research.

Take care, Annette

My Med costs hit the hole in July every year but i have catastrophic coverage that kicks in then and for the rest of the year i am copay free.

I take Fentanyl , Oxcycodone & Banflex for pain along with a bucket load of other med's for everything from my Allergies to my Prostate .

I'm in my Early forties and my body subscribes to the saying "Better Living through Chemistry" I just wished it had of asked me if i wanted to participate with this concept.

Smart of you to pick this health coverage. Is it very expensive?

Take care, Annette