Asking My Dr For Something Without APAP

I've been on and off lortabs since 2004. Right now I'm on 7.5 mg lortabs and soma. In order to get any pain relief I have to take 4-5 lortabs.

I know this is horrible on my body, especially since I have to take excedrin quite often for migraines I get. I used to be on an RX for my migraines but they quit making it.

I am thinking of calling my PM doctor on Tuesday when I call to get my refill on my soma and leaving a message for the nurse to ask if I can get on something other than lortabs that doesn't have the APAP in it.

Do you think they will know that the reason I want this is because I take more than one at a time, or will they believe it's because I have to take excedrin too?

 

There aren't any Schedule III drugs that don't have APAP, so unless you want to 'move up the ladder' to things like Oxycodone IR (Roxycodone), you will likely have to stick to the Lortabs.

My suggestion is to ask for Norcos. Every dose (5, 7.5, 10mg) has only 325 (or 375 I forget) mg of APAP in it opposed to the 500mg in Lortab. That is probably the most realistic route.

 

Alright, I'll tell them that. I wouldn't mind moving up the latter, as with the pain I'm in it would be helpful.. but I don't think that's something they're going to allow me to do since I'm going through such emotional trauma right now.

 

My pain doctor gave me the option to have my pharmacist to specially compound Hydrocodones without the APAP in them,would have just been straight goodies,but at $5.00 a pill and my insurance wouldn't cover it I had to pass on them.So if you can find a pharm that does some of their own compounding it might be possible to get it that way. Don't know if it's typical, but it was a mom-n-pop old-school pharmacy that did the special compounding,don't know if the mainstream big pharms will do it. I opted for the Oxy's instead

 

OxyIR capsule have 5 mg of oxycodone and no apap ,aspirin or ibuprofen.also the Norco idea is a good one, or moving to a stonger dose,7.5mg of hydrocodone is actually low for pain sufferers, and a Norco 10/325 is better anyway, although the best meds for chronic pain IMO,is methadone,which is long lasting and has less of a "high" sadly..lol..at least at lower doses..OC's are now OP oxy's which are shit, and Roxicodone 15mg or 30 mg pills would be ideal for your pain needs, although you doctor will have to give you a paper script for those as the are schedule II drugs, but Norco 10/325 is still a Schedule III,so refills and so on are allowed...

 

I talked to them yesterday and when I get my refill I'm getting Norcos. Thanks guys!

 

I'm glad i could be of some help to someone out there in the world haha.

 

Was it Midrin you were taking? I used to get them too, and they can be compounded if you need them. I would suggest (as I consider myself a migraine expert) to stop the Excedrin as OTC drugs will induce a rebound migraine and make the pain worse.

Something to ask the doctor for the migraines (if you haven't already tried them) is Fiorcet, Cafergot, 25-50mg Thorazine or ask about compounding the Midrin or Epidrin, there are many names for it.

I am glad you got the 10/325's, that is what I take but I end up having to take around 6-8 to get relief. Once you get that tolerance level up, you'll want to watch the apap and maybe start trying a cold water extraction just to be safe.

Good luck and good vibes for your migraines, I know how bad they can be!

 

Try Max Alt, they are $10/pill without insurance but they WILL get rid of your migraine in like 15 mins, they've never failed me before. With insurance they are only like $2/pill

 

I'm going to see my Neurologist on Wednesday at IU Med Center in Indy and he's the one who prescribed the Midrin.. I don't think we can afford to have it compounded. Hopefully she'll come up with something else that will help. Right now if I get one I've been taking the excedrin and a soma and that normally takes care of them. I'll remember what you said about the excedrin.. I didn't realize they could make the pain worse.
Thanks guys, as always, I appreciate the advice.
I called about 10 minutes ago to get my pain pills refilled and they said they'd switch me to norcos! I should be able to pick them up tomorrow or Saturday. I'm not due for my refill until Sunday, but I'm hoping they let me get them anyway.

 

I think OP wanting less APAP, and having headaches WHILE on lots of opiates, is a pretty dead giveaway as to the nature of her "pain".

 

Thanks for your opinion Roo, but I have had migraines since 2006 when I was in a car accident where I shattered my ankle and hit my head on the airbag. I also have seizures from brain damage sustained in that accident.. So, that would be the "nature" of my pain.

 

What is cold water extraction?

 

its where you seperate the specific narcotic from the added less desirable shit like the APAP.

Like if you had percocet 10/325s you would do a CWE "cold water extraction" to separate the oxy from the apap, so you can dose higher on the oxy without the APAP harming your kidneys...... Use the search to find out how to do it, if your interested!!!

 

Oh, pain that you have a hard time suppressing, because of opiate abuse, such that you're taking more than your doctor would like at once, and presumably going without to save up for this.

So yeah, like I said.... Opiate abuse related pain, one way or another. Pain that you have no legitimate reason to have, or else you wouldn't have to worry about your doctor suspecting things, you'd just say hey, it hurts, doc, gimmie something.

Just sayin'. And it's not offensive, it's just paraphrasing what you said, yourself.

 

Paraphrasing what I said? I never said I had no legitimate reason to have the pain I'm in. On top of what I mentioned, I also have lupus. I did ask my doctor for something stronger awhile ago, but I made the dumbass mistake of ODing on them. I was in an insane amount of pain and put half of a patch in my mouth and didn't wake up till the middle of the night in the hospital. I was extremely lucky I didn't have any health issues from that incident.

Although my pain is worse than it used to be, considering my stress level is up because I just lost my Daddy a few weeks ago I haven't really had much a of a choice than to take a few more pills than I'm supposed to. Otherwise I would be in bed unable to move.

The reason I haven't asked my doctor for anything stronger is mainly because my Mom is worried that I'll get on something like the patches again and have another incident. Which of course I learned my lesson there..

I don't expect you to understand what I'm going through, as it's really a situation that no one can understand unless they are in my shoes, just as I don't fully understand what anyone else is going through because people handle things differently.

And also, I wouldn't say I "abuse" opiates. I may take three at a time, but that's all I take in one day. There used to be days where I'd take up to 9 but I've learned to manage my pain with the lortabs and the soma.

Anyway, thanks for your opinion.

 

In the search box, I searched cold water extraction and it came up nothing. I'd like to know how this is done cause I have hepc and all pain meds have acecepheon( can't spell -tylenol) in them.

 

It sounds to me, as I said, like opiate abuse if you take three at a time, but none for the rest of the day.

If you need three at a time to do what needs to be done, tell your doctor this, so you don't go without for the rest of the day.

 

FYI - hydrcodone is available as vicoprophen
which is hydro & ibuprophen

 

Ask for Butalbital, I had just tried it and the effects were close to Midrin. Don't worry about all the CWE stuff just yet, just worry about your pain management.