They said they wanted to do a full MRI on my back to see what those discs are doing also see if anything is pushing on my scatica nerve, plus I might need my shoulder operated on again, it has been 2 yrs in June. They said that from 25 patches they would put me on Lortab that way it was easier on me, I have no idea if it will be or not, and we were also told that I might have to be on medicine the rest of my life because if there is an issue that is not really fixable then they have to make sure that I am not in alot of pain. I have started exercising, some days it does not go real good, I can not always keep the same pace. I was on lexapro - my husband just fussed because I got medicine, said that I did not need it. I was taking that while on this pain medicine, effexor made my blood pressure shoot up. One of these days my husband is going to need medicine and his beer is not going to help him. I can not stand the smell of that stuff. His beer causes me and him issues, I wish he would never drink again. Talk about stress. OK, back to the subject, when I see the dr on the 14th I am going to sit down and ask him exactly what his plan is and write everything down. That way I will know exactly everything that is going on. Thank you for the great words, it nice to talk to someone that understands what you are going through.

Hi bubbles....Just wanted to jump in here and say hello....I've been in PM for 10+ years and have experience with both the patch and Lortab. I can help if needed.

I would talk to the Doc @ your next appt and see how it goes. Tapering down in the patches would be the best route. However, the reason I decided to jump in here is this.....I would be careful on what PM route you take from there if you in fact need PM going forward. The reason being is that fentanyl is the strongest med out there and your tolerance probably has shot through the roof....Lortab is baby aspirin compared to the patch. Therefore, I'm not sure you'll get any real pain relief.

If your pain is responding to the patch, and you in fact need pain control, I would look seriously into going a different route. I recently switched from the patch (due to nationwide availability issues) to Avinza, which is LA morphine. I was apprehensive @ first because the word "morphine" sounded so big and powerful. In reality, it's weaker than fentanyl. It took a little adjusting to get the dose right in terms of converting, but I've been very pleased with it. Morphine oral has low bioavailability and has virtually no high....It doesn't cause excited pathways like morphine IV does. I take the Avinza once a day, and I'm good to go from there. I do need some BT meds, but not as much as I used to. My pain is also very bad compared to most.

I really don't think Lortab or anything similar will address your pain, unless you've made some serious recovery strides. Additionally, even if you have, your tolerance is so high, that the pain may not respond to Hydrocodone. This would be something to ask your Doc about.

Just wanted to throw this out there for you to think about.

Take care,

Ex