Oxycodone--Serious Fatigue a Side Effect?

[arkitekton]

Hi All,

To deal with bladder and back pain I'm taking 90mg of Oxycodone per day; that's 15mg tablets six times per day.

I'm routinely exhausted. The only time I'm not exhausted is if I get ten or eleven hours of sleep in a given night, and even then I'm sometimes very tired. I get as much exercise as my condition and being this tired allows, and eat pretty well. Even drinking a lot of coffee barely helps.

Is chronic, severe fatigue a routine side effect of taking this much Oxycodone? I'm very concerned as it's taking most of the joy out of life.
The only other drugs I regularly take are Elmiron and Doxazosin.

Thanks,
ark

[earthlady]

I get fatigue from any prescription pain medication even if I only take a few for a few days. Unfortunately they all do that to me.

[meResque]

That's much more pain medicine than I've ever been prescribed, and I do get tired after a few doses. If I do a dose or two a day, I don't feel it, but it I take the maximum amount, I definitely do. I hope you're drinking low-acid coffee at least!

[dlenore]

Hi All,

To deal with bladder and back pain I'm taking 90mg of Oxycodone per day; that's 15mg tablets six times per day.

I'm routinely exhausted. The only time I'm not exhausted is if I get ten or eleven hours of sleep in a given night, and even then I'm sometimes very tired. I get as much exercise as my condition and being this tired allows, and eat pretty well. Even drinking a lot of coffee barely helps.

Is chronic, severe fatigue a routine side effect of taking this much Oxycodone? I'm very concerned as it's taking most of the joy out of life.
The only other drugs I regularly take are Elmiron and Doxazosin.

Thanks,
ark

90mg?????? that is A LOT! Did you work up to that dose, or start with it? If you did work up to it, what dose did you start with and how long did it take you to work up to that dose?

Even my most sever pain was relieved by 5mg-10mg of oxycodone per day max. Now, I'm not a doctor so I can't tell if 90mg per day is appropriate for you, but I can tell you that oxy is a narcotic and fatigue would not be a surprising side effect. For the love of jebus don't drink any alcohol -_- Call your doctor and report this side effect. If you don't want to tell your doctor, you can see a different doctor and get a second opinion.

[arkitekton]

90mg?????? that is A LOT! Did you work up to that dose, or start with it? If you did work up to it, what dose did you start with and how long did it take you to work up to that dose?

Even my most sever pain was relieved by 5mg-10mg of oxycodone per day max. Now, I'm not a doctor so I can't tell if 90mg per day is appropriate for you, but I can tell you that oxy is a narcotic and fatigue would not be a surprising side effect. For the love of jebus don't drink any alcohol -_- Call your doctor and report this side effect. If you don't want to tell your doctor, you can see a different doctor and get a second opinion.

Thanks for the feedback, all.

dlenore, I did start at 5mg a day back in 2006, but the usual thing happened. The dose became ineffective, so I stepped it up. I've tried to reduce or at least maintain dosages by taking drugs like Cymbalta and Lyrica, but those drugs make me feel like my IQ's dropped 20 points. I can't get out much any more, so not being able to think clearly makes life feel very much not worth living.

It does feel like fatigue and depression are at least as much a problem as pain is. The next problem is, how do I cut the dosage and keep the pain manageable?

Do you know anyone who has tried Methadone for pain relief? A couple of people have mentioned it to me as a possibility.

I don't drink, but thanks for the reminder!

meResque--interestingly, after the first year of taking Elmiron, coffee rarely bothers my bladder. The big problem for me is the chronic urgency that turns to pain after half and hour to an hour, and becomes excruciating soon after that. I have difficulty urinating, so I rarely can go out for very long.

earthlady--that's a shame. What do you do for pain. then?

[earthlady]

I didn't need pain meds on a daily basis so I could tolerate the fatigue for a day or two. As of now I don't need them at all but I don't know what I would do if I did need them daily.

[vanilla]

arkitekon,

I know what you mean about losing IQ points on Lyrica. While I was on Neurontin I forgot to put my car's emergency break on, and lo and behold I found it smashed into a tree at the bottom of my driveway. I never did anything so stupid while on oxycodone.

[Mothergoose]

arkitekon

Have you tired Dexadrine, there is a thread on this site about this.

For some people it helps reduce IC pain so you can take less pain meds, and it does increase your energy a bit.

Look it up and see what you think about it.

Lots of IC people have a hard time finding Dr's willing to rx it, as it has not been tested and proven to work for IC very much, so some Dr. are reluctant to rx it, but it does really help some people.

MG

[arkitekton]

Have you tired Dexadrine, there is a thread on this site about this.

For some people it helps reduce IC pain so you can take less pain meds, and it does increase your energy a bit.

Look it up and see what you think about it.

Lots of IC people have a hard time finding Dr's willing to rx it, as it has not been tested and proven to work for IC very much, so some Dr. are reluctant to rx it, but it does really help some people.

MG

Thanks for the rec, Mg. I will definitely take a look at it. A fair amount of my pain is back pain so I have to take that into account as well.

***

vanilla, have you tried any of the other drugs in neurontin's class since, then, or was that enough of a trial?

[Mothergoose]

I have back problems too.

IC bladder symptoms make my back feel worse.

MG

[arkitekton]

I have back problems too.

IC bladder symptoms make my back feel worse.

MG

I know that feeling. My pelvis tightens up and that affects my back as well. Have you tried Paradoxical Relaxation?

[Mothergoose]

No I haven't I will have to look up what that is.

MG

[vanilla]

No, I haven't tried any drug other than Neurontin. Right now I'm trying to increase my Elavil. Although it does cause fatigue early in the day, I can still concentrate and feel somewhat lucid by the afternoon.

[snowgirl]

taking that much of pain meds you listed above is a lot . You need to be on long acting pain med which would be safer for you and pain better controlled. You wont need 6 day you are taking short acting pain pills ..... you are also taking a lot of tylenol there.
If you went to pain MD he would first thing take you right off all that oxycodone and put you on long acting.
wow I cant even get my pain MD to give me two vicodin a day and no way he would ever give me oxycodone.

I suggest pain consult with pain MD. It must be your family MD giving you your pain meds and with new DEA changes coming I would consult pain MD for better and safer pain managment. good luck

[ICNDonna]

I couldn't help noticing that you are "drinking a lot of coffee" --- coffee is almost always a bladder irritant for an IC patient.

I hope you are able to get your medications adjusted so you will feel better.

Sending gentle hugs,
Donna