› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Anyone else experience low grade fever with OxyContin?
- This topic has 12 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 8 months ago by
FormerCaregiver.
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- May 21, 2011 at 6:30 pm
Part of my husband Don's new pain regimen is OxyContin for long term pain control and Oxycodone for breakthrough pain. It seems, however, that with every new dose of the OxyContin, he develops a low grade fever (99-100) that has to be controlled with Tylenol.
Has anyone else experienced this side effect, and if so, did it go away as you adjusted to the medicine?
Part of my husband Don's new pain regimen is OxyContin for long term pain control and Oxycodone for breakthrough pain. It seems, however, that with every new dose of the OxyContin, he develops a low grade fever (99-100) that has to be controlled with Tylenol.
Has anyone else experienced this side effect, and if so, did it go away as you adjusted to the medicine?
He is currently only being treated for pain; we are waiting for BRAF test result. (I did call doctor on call and they weren't worried about it as a one time occurence because the fever is low and he's not on any treatment that would affect his white blood counts yet, but this seems to be a pattern.)
Thanks!
Michelle, wife to Don, Stage IV
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- May 21, 2011 at 7:01 pm
Call the pharmacy and see if this is a known side effect. It's amazing what Doctors do not know about medicines side effects.
I'm allergic to both meds you mentioned but I get hives and get hyper and cannot sleep.
Linda
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- May 21, 2011 at 9:18 pm
I checked that online and it is listed as a rarer known side effect (fever and/or chills 1-5% reported). I was just hoping, as it does seem to be managing his pain pretty well, that the fevers would subside…
I think I will put a call in to the pharmacist and ask…thanks for the excellent suggestion, Linda. You'd think as the daughter of a retired pharmacist, I might have thought of it! : )
Michelle
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- May 21, 2011 at 9:18 pm
I checked that online and it is listed as a rarer known side effect (fever and/or chills 1-5% reported). I was just hoping, as it does seem to be managing his pain pretty well, that the fevers would subside…
I think I will put a call in to the pharmacist and ask…thanks for the excellent suggestion, Linda. You'd think as the daughter of a retired pharmacist, I might have thought of it! : )
Michelle
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- May 22, 2011 at 1:36 pm
My late wife was on long-term OxyContin and a variant called Endone for breakthrough pain.
Her doses gradually increased over time. However, she never had a problem with low grade
fevers. In fact, her temps tended to be on the low side of normal.I feel that low grade fevers are usually caused by infections. So, perhaps the low grade
fever could be due to other causes such as the common cold?Best wishes
Frank from Australia
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- May 22, 2011 at 6:02 pm
does he have a drop in blood pressure or hives when taking the drug? he could be allergic…another alternative ( i have this) is liver enzyme defiency…he can be tested for these defiencies…most likely at CYP6 or CYP19…if he does have these enzyme defects they need to adjust meds…another alternative is to change out meds to something that works differently.. like gabapentin (sp) or topamax…you might have to go to a pain specialist…maybe even a neurologist because pain is from nerves not bone…and they know ways of mitigating pain that isn't opiate…whatever you do, don't let pain cascade…i did this( tough it out) and it is hard to get under control again…may i also suggest cam therapies for don..? have you looked into diet/exercise/meditation/bodywork therapies?none is proven to increase survivability, but has been proven to help with side effects of chemo/pain/anxiety…
boots
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- May 23, 2011 at 2:01 am
Boots, you have mentioned some very good points here. I was wondering about allergies as
well, but they would be fairly rare. Anyway, I found this info about the drug:
http://www.drugs.com/sfx/oxycontin-side-effects.htmlIt would be interesting to see how Don's liver is doing, so liver function tests would be
good to have. I am also concerned about opiate pain meds, because I have read that they do
tend to accelerate the growth of melanoma in some cases. However, I remember discussing
this with an oncologist and he was more concerned about the side effects of non-opiate
pain meds.I feel that meditation can be especially useful in managing anxiety, but from experience
that has its limitations if one doesn't have the right attitude.Frank from Australia
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- May 23, 2011 at 2:01 am
Boots, you have mentioned some very good points here. I was wondering about allergies as
well, but they would be fairly rare. Anyway, I found this info about the drug:
http://www.drugs.com/sfx/oxycontin-side-effects.htmlIt would be interesting to see how Don's liver is doing, so liver function tests would be
good to have. I am also concerned about opiate pain meds, because I have read that they do
tend to accelerate the growth of melanoma in some cases. However, I remember discussing
this with an oncologist and he was more concerned about the side effects of non-opiate
pain meds.I feel that meditation can be especially useful in managing anxiety, but from experience
that has its limitations if one doesn't have the right attitude.Frank from Australia
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- May 22, 2011 at 6:02 pm
does he have a drop in blood pressure or hives when taking the drug? he could be allergic…another alternative ( i have this) is liver enzyme defiency…he can be tested for these defiencies…most likely at CYP6 or CYP19…if he does have these enzyme defects they need to adjust meds…another alternative is to change out meds to something that works differently.. like gabapentin (sp) or topamax…you might have to go to a pain specialist…maybe even a neurologist because pain is from nerves not bone…and they know ways of mitigating pain that isn't opiate…whatever you do, don't let pain cascade…i did this( tough it out) and it is hard to get under control again…may i also suggest cam therapies for don..? have you looked into diet/exercise/meditation/bodywork therapies?none is proven to increase survivability, but has been proven to help with side effects of chemo/pain/anxiety…
boots
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- May 22, 2011 at 1:36 pm
My late wife was on long-term OxyContin and a variant called Endone for breakthrough pain.
Her doses gradually increased over time. However, she never had a problem with low grade
fevers. In fact, her temps tended to be on the low side of normal.I feel that low grade fevers are usually caused by infections. So, perhaps the low grade
fever could be due to other causes such as the common cold?Best wishes
Frank from Australia
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