Can I take more Oxycodone

[JoeR]

I was put on oxycodone to help me come off pramipexole which I have now at last done. I take 20mg of Oxycodone hydrochloride twice a day but taking the tablets twice a day means I have withdrawal symptoms twice a day because the tablets do not work for 12 hours. Should I ask to have 4 x 10mg a day so I can take them every 6 hours to avoid withdrawal OR should I carry on with the 2 x 20mg a day plus an extra 10mg tablet a day to take when the withdrawal symptoms start? My doctor is phoning me tomorrow and I am still unsure what to ask for because I think most doctors are pretty useless when it comes to RLS and I never seem to get the same doctor twice so it's all a bit of a hit-and-miss situation. I wish I could have a doctor who has RLS then they would understand what hell people with RLS live in. Thanks

[ziggypiggy]

Everything depends on the doctor as you know. I would try 15mg every eight hours and see if that still works. Doesn't add alot to the total dosage. Or you could ask for a longer acting opiod like buprenorphine or methadone.

[Knittingasweater in reply to ziggypiggy]

I am on 2 mg of buprenorphine daily and I have zero RLS anymore after suffering for 15 years.However if I miss my dose the withdrawl is awful.But its been worth it for me.

[Joolsg]

Yes. Ask for 4 x10mg.Our evidence is anecdotal so doctors will not accept it. But so many of us found it just doesn't cover our RLS 24/7 & we end up with severe RLS several times a day.

But the Dopesick drama made it clear Oxycontin does NOT last 12 hours. The sackler family lied to the FDA. This is what drove the addiction crisis in the USA.

For some extraordinary reason, UK doctors are completely ignoring the fact Oxycontin does NOT last 12 hours.

latimes.com/projects/oxycon...

I wasted 5 years on 25mg Oxycontin. I had severe RLS every evening for 2 hours and was woken 3 or 4 times every night.

So I pushed for a long half life opioid. Eventually I succeeded in getting Buprenorphine. Miraculous!

[SueJohnson]

I agree with Joolsg

[707twitcher]

definitely ask for buprenorphine. Joolsg posted this blog from Dr Berkowski recently:

relacshealth.com/blog/treat...

Here’s another:

neurologyadvisor.com/report...

[Claire_lc]

I also agree with Jools. I had the same reaction to Oxycodone. It was awful. But Buprenorphine is completely different. A few days of nausea (easily controlled with medical cannabis) then complete relief. Zero withdrawals, no side effects to speak of.

Let us know if you come up against a brick wall (very likely) and we can point you in the direction of specialists who can help.

[Laineypl]

What dose are all you guys on? Hubby on week 2 of 5mcg patch, I know it's the starter dose, but he's getting no relief at all. It's bl***y awful watching him suffer like this.

Waiting for call back appointment from GP practice, n aware it won't be the GP he's been lucky to get who initially prescribed it. So hoping above hope that this one will increase the dose. Unfortunately he'd be unable to switch to tablet form as he has oral issues.

I know we are all different, but would really appreciate any info on what dose you all got relief at and how long it took to get there?

[LotteM in reply to Laineypl]

I am on a 5 mcg/h patch of buprenorphine. Transferred from 0.2mg sublingual before that. And I had been through the gamut of medicines before. Most of which gave a fair relief at low doses, however temporarily or with difficult to tolerate side effects. Most people need higher doses than I to get relief. Often 10 or 15 mcg/h.

What did your husband take before he got switched to the patch? If he was on a dopamine agonist (pramipexole, ropinirole or rotigitine) and reduced and/or stopped recently, he may still have increased symptoms from stopping. And did he and his doctor check the other first-do thing for RLS? A fasting full iron panel including ferritin (should be above 100 for RLS) and any other medicines that may worsen the RLS?

I hoe the gp you contact will listen and - if only temporarily to find out whether it helps - up the dose of the patch. If agreed, you can start by adding a second 5 mcg/h patch. Be aware that a patch takes some 12h to start working and even longer to reach full effect. Also, some (brands of) patches do not work the full 7d, but only about 4d. Once you find an effective dose, getting the best brand is a matter of trial and error. Talk to your pharmacist about that.

[Laineypl in reply to LotteM]

Thanks for that Info. Will take it all on board. Currently taking iron to increase his levels further, also previously on rotigotine for approx 3 months but reduced it slowly n completely off it for 4 weeks now. Augmentation n D.A's sucks. I suppose we'll have to be more patient with this but it's soo frustrating and soul destroying building up hope with each new medication then crashing down every time.

[Laineypl]

See previous post, i am referring to Buprenorphine patch.

[restlessstoz]

Hi, I'm on a 20mcg patch so you can see that the range of strengths needed by different people is very varied. The only way is to titrate up until your husband finds the strength that suits him. As Lotte says, he will most likely still be experiencing withdrawals from the rotigotine so it could take a while for that to ease.

[Laineypl in reply to restlessstoz]

Thanks for that. After his GP appt. yesterday the doc prescribed 10mcg, hallelujah, so he's now on that. We'll see how he gets on with that and increase if necessary 🤞

[restlessstoz in reply to Laineypl]

That's great news. I hope it goes better.

[SueJohnson in reply to Laineypl]

Great!