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Methadone used as a cancer pain medicine? Too fat for fentanyl? HELP!!

Forums Cutaneous Melanoma Community Methadone used as a cancer pain medicine? Too fat for fentanyl? HELP!!

  • Post
    djpayn
    Participant

      I have been on many different medicines for pain relief.

      I am now faced with my insurance refusing to pay for long-acting OxyContin medicine that my Dr. has prescribed.

      Today, I got a call asking me which of the following medcations I would prefer to try: Methadone or Fentanyl.

      After a few brief questions, I was told (in the nicest way possible) that Fentnyl patch hasbeen shown to be ineffective in overweight people.

      Which leaves Methadone.

      I have never heard of anyone using this drug to treat cancer pain and am skeptical.

       

      I have been on many different medicines for pain relief.

      I am now faced with my insurance refusing to pay for long-acting OxyContin medicine that my Dr. has prescribed.

      Today, I got a call asking me which of the following medcations I would prefer to try: Methadone or Fentanyl.

      After a few brief questions, I was told (in the nicest way possible) that Fentnyl patch hasbeen shown to be ineffective in overweight people.

      Which leaves Methadone.

      I have never heard of anyone using this drug to treat cancer pain and am skeptical.

       

      Any advice, opinions, or facts would really be welcomed and helpful.

       

      I already take dilaudid for breakthrough pain and was taken off  MSContin due to how long I had been on it.

       

      Thank you!

    Viewing 7 reply threads
    • Replies
        babybluiz
        Participant

          Yes Methadone is used for cancer pain it is also used to help heroine addicts kick the habit. My husband was on it but not until the last few months of his life. He was in such pain. Prior to his hospital visit/last surgery he was on Oxycontin for his long acting and oxycodone for his short. After his surgery the amount of pain that he was in nothing was coming close to relieving it. They put him on Methadone because the amount of oxycodone he would have had to taken was unrealistic. We were told that they introduce methadone to patients who are in need of high doses of pain med. With methadone you get a higher dose with taking very little. You have to be very careful because Methadone has a long acting life. It can easily be overdosed on. Your doctors are probably already doing this if you started but you have to be built up to your dose, you just cannot start at your dose on day 1. Methadone also worked for my husband because it targets not only the pain receptor but the nerve as well. Which the mel was effecting his nerves quite a bit. When my husband left the hospital he was on 300 mg/day of methadone. My advise depending on your dose. If they give you liquid form mix it with a little water. We were never told that until 2 weeks before he passed by a addict clinic. The liquid form burned his taste buds and from there on out nothing tasted good and in result he didn't want to eat and continued to lose weight. If they give you pill form it only comes in 5 & 10mg. We tried pill form with my husband  to see if he could start eating again. It did help a little bit switching to pill form vs liquid but the damage was already done. Not to mention my husband had a tumor in  his jugular lymph node which was making it hard to swallow. Taking 10 pills 3x/day was hard and that didn't even include all the other medicine he had to be on as well when taking pill form he had to 75 pills total a day vs liquid he was taking 45.   I tried looking into a higher mg pill form of methadone such as 100 mg so this way he only had to take 3 pills of methadone a day instead of 30. The 100mg pill form is made but only for addicts and as a cancer patient he could not get that unless he joined their program. We could have gotten it from the hospice side of the company that was doing his palliative care but it was just too expensive. I don't remember exactly how much it would have been but I think it was around $400 for a 30day supply. We just couldn't afford that we just lost our house to foreclosure the month prior and had a 12 month old at the time to also take care of. Hoped this helped best of luck let me know if you have anyother questions regarding mathadone I'll try answer them to the best of my knowledge.

          Laura  We had just lost our housewwe

            babybluiz
            Participant

              sorry about that last part by my name i don't know where that came from.

              babybluiz
              Participant

                sorry about that last part by my name i don't know where that came from.

              babybluiz
              Participant

                Yes Methadone is used for cancer pain it is also used to help heroine addicts kick the habit. My husband was on it but not until the last few months of his life. He was in such pain. Prior to his hospital visit/last surgery he was on Oxycontin for his long acting and oxycodone for his short. After his surgery the amount of pain that he was in nothing was coming close to relieving it. They put him on Methadone because the amount of oxycodone he would have had to taken was unrealistic. We were told that they introduce methadone to patients who are in need of high doses of pain med. With methadone you get a higher dose with taking very little. You have to be very careful because Methadone has a long acting life. It can easily be overdosed on. Your doctors are probably already doing this if you started but you have to be built up to your dose, you just cannot start at your dose on day 1. Methadone also worked for my husband because it targets not only the pain receptor but the nerve as well. Which the mel was effecting his nerves quite a bit. When my husband left the hospital he was on 300 mg/day of methadone. My advise depending on your dose. If they give you liquid form mix it with a little water. We were never told that until 2 weeks before he passed by a addict clinic. The liquid form burned his taste buds and from there on out nothing tasted good and in result he didn't want to eat and continued to lose weight. If they give you pill form it only comes in 5 & 10mg. We tried pill form with my husband  to see if he could start eating again. It did help a little bit switching to pill form vs liquid but the damage was already done. Not to mention my husband had a tumor in  his jugular lymph node which was making it hard to swallow. Taking 10 pills 3x/day was hard and that didn't even include all the other medicine he had to be on as well when taking pill form he had to 75 pills total a day vs liquid he was taking 45.   I tried looking into a higher mg pill form of methadone such as 100 mg so this way he only had to take 3 pills of methadone a day instead of 30. The 100mg pill form is made but only for addicts and as a cancer patient he could not get that unless he joined their program. We could have gotten it from the hospice side of the company that was doing his palliative care but it was just too expensive. I don't remember exactly how much it would have been but I think it was around $400 for a 30day supply. We just couldn't afford that we just lost our house to foreclosure the month prior and had a 12 month old at the time to also take care of. Hoped this helped best of luck let me know if you have anyother questions regarding mathadone I'll try answer them to the best of my knowledge.

                Laura  We had just lost our housewwe

                Donna
                Participant

                  My daughter was given methadone after the Fentnyl patches did not work (and she was skinny!). Keeping on top of the pain is tough … so try whatever they offer. Sometimes we found that a combination of pain meds worked better. Have you considered consulting a pain management specialist?

                  Donna
                  Participant

                    My daughter was given methadone after the Fentnyl patches did not work (and she was skinny!). Keeping on top of the pain is tough … so try whatever they offer. Sometimes we found that a combination of pain meds worked better. Have you considered consulting a pain management specialist?

                    makedoandmend
                    Participant

                       It takes a long time to start working and it clings on to your receptors for a long time.  Its also hard to come off of (withdrawal symptoms last longer than short acting opiates like hydrocodone)  but its pain relieving qualities are good.

                      makedoandmend
                      Participant

                         It takes a long time to start working and it clings on to your receptors for a long time.  Its also hard to come off of (withdrawal symptoms last longer than short acting opiates like hydrocodone)  but its pain relieving qualities are good.

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