I need everyone's input, please

I'm not real sure what to do, do you have anyone with you 24/7 in case of emergency? I definitely understand hesitation about notifying Dr. may sound crazy to some, but like you said for those of us who finally find something that works and its just a temporary side effect,you just screwed yourself by telling the Dr. On the other hand we all know breathing is pretty important(just trying to get a smile) it's something you and someone else should monitor very closely. I wouldn't wait too long if it keeps up, and you never know the Dr. might just want to examine you, and if nothing too serious keep you on it. But like I said dont wait till it's too late. We all like hearing from you!! Keep us posted.

Honestly I think you should tell your doctor. its a difficult situation for sure.  If its oxycontin you're taking, though, it can cause respiratory 'depression' or respiratory arrest - which can cause death. Opioids depress the activity of different parts of the central nervous system - one of the which is the respiratory functioning. For most people this is not a problem unless they combine the drug with another central nervous system depressant like alcohol but for others it is. Respiratory depression is the common serious side effect of the drug. You're being very smart not to take it before bed time

It's possible that you just need to take a lower dose at first. This site on oxycontin (http://pharma-help.com/oxycontin) states that its very important if you've never taken this drug before to start off in very low doses. It states,  for example, that you should never start off the drug using its 80 mg. tablet.  I think you should check with your doctor and hope for the best. 

I use opiates for chronic and acute pain. The opiates slow my breathing down, and sometimes i have to take an emergency breath and get a fright. Sleeping semi upright helps me, and i never sleep flat-it really makes me worse.  hope this helps x gemma

the only answer is TELL your doctor he is the ONLY one that will help you.!!!!!!!!

If you pain is real he will not stop giving you meds.. But I can bet you dollars to dounuts he would like honestly from you then alot of BS stories.. Doctors are not dum they know and have heard all the stories in this subject..

Good luck

 Breathing problems are common with some meds.  I Have COPD and chronic pain.  I always tell my Dr. if I experience any problems.  Your Dr. doesn't want you to be in pain anymore than you do.  Also, check with the pharmisist to see if it might be a adverse reaction.  My dr coordinates my medication, yours should too.  You don't want to stop breathing, do you?

If you are haveing any type of side effect you need to do something right away....Go to ER with meds in hand or get back to your Dr. Do not let them blow you off, side effects is the way your body is telling you that this med is not right for your body or problem...don't wait, you or your family maybe sorry..........

YES! I have had this problem also. Come to find out after having a sleep study done I was found to have OBS= Obstructive sleep apnea AND Central sleep apnea= where your brain doesnt send the signal for you to breathe. (I had a car accident years ago with severe head trauma) But, even in the day time before I was started on pain management I had noticed that I wasn't breathing right and would find myself gasping to breathe with my entire body all clenched. I too was scared to tell my doctor because honestly i was afraid of what they might find.After my sleep study and being fitted for a Bi-pap machine with oxygen fed into the bipap (sleeping machine) I found out I was sleeping better and rarely have those episodes of not breathing in the day time. If I get extremely stressed it does seem worse. Please tell your doctor. He can refer you to a sleep clinic. Most doctors that are kind enough and BRAVE enough to help people that try to exist in a world filled with pain then he or she shouldnt stop your pain meds but help you look for the reason of your breathing difficulties. There are many pain meds that can lower respirations. You just have to build up slowly.Good luck.

I most surely would tell the doctor. He will give you something else that won't take your breath away. By all means make sure the doctor knows how you act after taking the medication, there are loads of different drugs out there that will stop the pain, yet not make you have a heart attack.

Goog Luck.

Sue 041

What medicine are you on including # of mg. and how often you take it? Medicines affect everyone differently. You MUST inform the Dr. immediately no matter what you think he will do or your pain may be the least of your worries!!! DON'T PROCRASTINATE! Good Luck,DR.J.

You can't take any risks you must inform your doctor or pharmacist as this is a serious side effect to the drug and needs monitoring, the manufacturers will need to be informed and if not for yourself but for other patients who may be prescribed it.

I must say that I believe that one of the reasons that you have so much pain and that you have problems breathing is that you are NOT moving around.  Yes, I know it hurts like bloody torture, I've gone through times like that, but if you don't move around at least a bit each day you are at risk for some VERY unpleasant side effects -- some possibly very damaging or even, heaven forbid, fatal. 

You MUST get up and try to move around, and see a doctor to find out why there is just SO MUCH PAIN.  If you, like me, have fibromyalgia, light exercise will benefit  you after awhile (although it's horrid at first), and it will aid that feeling of utter helplessness that makes you feel so rotten.  I'm not saying it will be nice and sunshiny, but it will keep you from the bad stuff.  I'm not a doctor, and you must follow what your doctor advises -- but another opinion is a good thing if your pocketbook and insurance allows it.  Physical therapy is good too, again if you can afford that. 

I hope that you do better and get another opinion pronto.  You need to hear someone who knows what they're doing tell you what gives here.  You have to stop suffering and start healing; pain is NOT good day after day, week after week.  It dissolves your very self.  I wish you all the best.

Evelyn Wolke

Carolina,

Please, please call your doctor and talk to him/her. Tell them you don't want to stop taking this med because it works so well but you are worried about this side effect and you should be. There may be things he can do to reduce this side effect. do you think it could be a drug interaction with another one of your meds? Talk to your pharmacist, they are an underutilized source of medical advice.

I noticed you said the med keeps your pain down if your don't move. Have you considered this inactivity could be contributing to your pain? I am told to continue to move because if I don't, pretty soon I won't be able to move. Talk to your doctor about your inactivity and ask if that could be contributing factor to your pain.

Reta

Hi Carolinajewel03,

I also suffer from severe pain 24/7 and yes u really need to talk to your doctor. He will find a med that will work for you. maybe morphin. I took that for a while. but now i'am on all kinds a pain meds that seem to help about 70%. I hope all works out for you. God will take care of you. TALK TOU YOUR DOCTOR< thats what he is there for.

God bless you. keep us posted.

Eunice

You may need to lower your dose until you can build up a slight tolerance to it.  Oxycontin is just a time-released form of Oxycodone.  Oxycodone is the main ingredient in Percocet....so it's not like it's some completely different hardcore drug.  But yeah, these pills effect your respiratory system...and can slow breathing.  If it is slowing down THAT much, I would speak to your doctor about lowering your dose.

Do you have sleep apnea?  Have you ever taken other painkillers in the past?  If so, which ones, and which dose?  If you can answer these questions, I can help you out a bit more.

But yeah...a lot of people seem to think Oxycontin is some new strong painkiller that everybody is OD'ing on because it's some super drug...when they don't even release that it's the same drug that is in Percocet...and Percocet is like child's play to people...yet they refuse to TOUCH Oxycontin.  Makes me laugh.

ok..that the problem..u are afraid to tell the Dr.i thinks dat u must tell him about dat as ur Dr need to know all about meds u had took..may be ur latest med cause harm for ur surfactant which cause it decrease to be secreted..then tell the Dr. about ur symptom..trust him!!ok.

There is a high chance that your dosage may be too high. When i first started taking Oxycontin my Pain Dr. started me out on a fairly high dose and it did me the same way. I reported this to my Dr. and she lowered the amount I was taking at one time, but was still getting the same amount over a longer period of time. Therfor, the same dosage, but spaced out.

Hi Carolina , i know what your talking about because i've felt that labored breathing right after takeing moraphine 5 times a day along with several outher meds. When i first began takeing moraphine i would get the labored breathing efect but i am allso takeing some outher pain killers.

I find things go better with some food in your stomach and like one of your outher answerer's said space them out and so far so good for me. I take 3 moraphine pills a day and 2 Moraphine timed released capsules.....i do know not to take a Morapine pill if i just took a capsule an hour or two ago because i will get that labored breathing fealing so try and make yourself a note pad and the time you took your meds in the event you are still haveing problems you will be able to show your note's to the Doctor.

Experament a little and allso keep in mind how long you have been on this particular pain pill because they all take some getting used to.

I find that takeing a PT course or moveing around alot makes things worse for me so i avoid it. My pain scale jumps around alot even stress plays a part in the way we feal

Good Luck and GOD Bless

Hi Carolina:

You are right to be cautious and should speak to your doctor.  Most pain medications do slow down your breathing because of the type of medication it is, unfortunately.  It may be too high a dose or you may be taking other medications that increase the problem or has the same effects of your pain meds.  Another word of advice is to be checked out by a Pulmonologist if you are able to.  You could have a problem with low oxygen or sleep apnea for instance which is made worse by the medications.  I would not take this lightly if I were you.  If you notice the difference your body is trying to tell you something, so listen to your body, it's the best defense.  If you investigate you may find that it may not be that your meds will be stopped, maybe just lowered or changed to something better for you and your health.  There are some meds that people swear by, but I can't take them because of my diabetes and med allergies, so I have to persist in finding the right med for me and so far so good.  But, I have to be honest, everyday is still 6-7 on the pain scale for me.  I'd hate to have to experience what it would be if I didn't have the pain meds, You know what I mean?  If I've missed a dose....I find out in a very unpleasant way.  Anyway, please for your own sake, check in with your doctor who's prescribing the meds and also check in with a Pulmonologist if there is an underlying problem in addition to this.

I hope you don't have sleep apnea, it's aweful...I'm always exhausted, and their treatment hasn't helped me, but, many people have gotten relief from treatment for it.  I'm a small percentage that doesn't.  So, I Live with it, grrrrr  Well, hope this has given some hope and encouragement to take matters into your hands or rather, your health into your hands.  Don't play with fire, you may find you'll feel a bit better after you've looked into it.

thanks, ladibugcrazi

You don't say what the pain med is, but i'm going to assume it is an opiod.  These include, but are not limited to: propoxyphene (Darvon, Darvocet and others), hydrocodone (Vicoden, Lortab, Lorcet and others), codeine (Tylenol 2, Tylenol 3 and others), morpheine, hydromorphone (Dilaudid), methadone (Dolophene), oxycodone (Percodan, Percocet, Endocet, Oxycontin and others), fentanyl (Duragesic, Fentora, Actiq and others).  The stronger ones, like (again not limited to) oxycodone, morpheine, methadone, and especially fentanyl (which is 80 times stronger than morpheine and 40 times stronger than heroin) should never be given to a patient who is opoid naive; that is one who has not already been taking pretty high doses of the less strong opoids for a pretty long time.  For instance, if you have been taking Vicoden 10/400 every 4 hours for some time and it was not bringing your pain to an acceptable level (BTW, I can't imagine that 6-7 is acceptable--usually 3-4 is acceptable) then you would be a candidate for Oxycontin or a fentanyl transdermal system.  This is necessary because all narcotics depress respiration.  This is not the same as difficulty breathing.  I had an accident where I dislocated my shoulder and in the ER the doctor would not reduce it until my pain was under control.  Since it is difficult to get my pain under control multiple doses of morpheine were given. Eventually, I developed depressed respirations, but to me there was no perception that it was hard to breathe.  I was simply not doing it often enough and my blood oxygen level was way too low.  The problem was that the pain had not improved any.  At this point the doctor changed his mind and did the reduction anyway and that reduced the pain quite a bit.  I then had to go to ICU until my breathing became normal.  My point is, that narcotics don't make it hard to breathe.  What's dangerous is that they just make you breathe less.  This side effect actually usually goes away quickly and can be avoided by increasing the dose slowly until you reach an effective dose.  Telling your doctor shouldn't make him stop the mdication, though he might lower the dose and slowly titrate (that means adjust in doctorspeak) it up until you get adequate pain relief and your body adjusts to the side effects.

If you are not seeing a pain specialist who has you on two different meds or forms of the same med for your round-the-clock pain, please change to one.  If you have 24/7 pain you should be on a round-the-clock long-lasting med you take no matter what, titrated to keep you mostly at what you and he agree is an acceptable level, and I still don't feel that level is 6-7.  I stand by my assertion you should work towards 3-4.  This would be something like Oxycontin, which is a long lasting form of oxycodone you take every 12 hours, or a fentanyl transdermal sysyem, which is a patch you change every 3 days (rarely every 2 days).   Plus a medicine that is VERY strong and VERY short acting for short bursts of very severe pain that "break through" your 24/7 med.  These include short acting oxycodone, fentanyl in a lozenge you place between your cheek and gum or (fentanyl again) lollipop you swab over the mucus membranes in your mouth.  Fentanyl in patch and lozenge/lollipop form is a good choice for you because it is strong--80 times stronger than morpheine but not 80 times more side effects.  This may seem like it's a lot, but if you are in as much pain as you are describing you need to get it under control.  Once it is under control you will be amazed at how normal your life can be.  If you have to "not move" for your pain control to be effective you should not be on it as long-term pain medication should have the goal of making your life as normal as possible.  Find a doctor who will work with you to get your pain below 5 while you do the normal things people do--going out to movies and dinner, meeting friends and so on using both a round-the-clock med and a breakthrough med and PLEASE start living.

I, personally, have found fentanyl, in patch form especially, to have been a godsend.  I now have my pain, formerly continuously 8-9, down to a pretty consistent 2-3, have a job, and go out with friends and do all the things people who aren't sick do.  I do need breakthrough medication once or twice a day, but I take it the second the pain starts to rise and almost never need a second dose.  Most aquaintences don't even know about my cancer or my neuralgia, although people who need to know because I do take medication that could affect my job and certainly would make me fail a drug screening do know, it's my choice to tell or not tell most people.  Unless you get off on being sick, get a pain doc who can help you become as normal as you can be!  One way or the other, if you are having breathing difficulties you need to tell your doctor or you could die.  As I said, while narcotics depress respiration, that is not usually perceived as "difficulty breathing" and your difficulties may very well not have any relation to your pain medication at all.

I am concerned because anything that affects breathing must stop.  Put it this way, there will be no pain if you stop breathing.  You must tell your doctor as breathing is pretty important and there are always other choices in meds.  Did your reference say to call your doctor if you experience labored breathing?  How long have you been on these meds and what are they called?  I tried all the conventional medications and ended up on morphine that helps a bit.

you need to talk to your Dr. Kadian is a good med and has no euphoric effects as well as being a 24 hour med. don't risk your life you wouldn't know if you died as it would be in your sleep I assume. go to your Dr. good luck

Jason

they say percocet may slow down yr breathing  i take 10.325 percocet 5  or 6  times day and pain is under control.  also  ive taken  Dilaudid  4mg  oral and thid is great 4 pain

you may be more sensitive to the medication. this is very important because if you are taking oxycontin and you have never taken it before your doctor may have started you at to high of a dose. contact him/her immediately. i know how bad the pain can get, but better to be in pain than dead. in pain means you still have options.

good luck

redhen

I don't know what med. you pain dr. put you on, but there are lots of meds out there to try. If you are having trouble breathing you need to call your Dr. NOW!! This could lead to heart problems, and that means MORE PAIN!  Get to the pain Dr. and ask to try something equally as strong.  If you don't and he finds out, he may not trust you when it comes to pain meds and you don't want that. Good luck!

Hello I have had the same type of effect and It did bother me quite a bit. I went to the doctor and told them about it and I started getting dizzy when standing. As it turns out I think I was having panick attacks with this medicine. once I realized that my blood pressure and my heart was ok I thought about it being a panick attack. my symtems went away shortly after. but I would talk to your doctor..

I have also taken drugs that suppressed my ability to breathe. This is very dangerous if you are sleeping and there is no one there to watch or hear if you become depressed with your respirations. You should not sleep on your back as this can also contribute to the diaghram feeling the effects of the meds and gravity and therefore not wanting to lift. Go have a sleep study done. In the meantime, do not take too much of the medicine before bedtime, naptime,etc. You might not wake up.

Would you mind sharing your diagnosis? I have a disability called Adhesive Arachnoiditis. I took Oxycotin for years with  Soma, Roxicodone and Cymbalta.  Starting this year I began Methadone, Fentanyl, Norco, Soma and Cymbalta.  Trouble breathing, excessive sweating like I just came out of a pool, hard stools that would sometimes take anywhere between 1 to 3 hours to pass.  As of november 22nd I am prescription medication free. Although I live on the 7-8 pain scale everyday, I live in California where Medical Marijuana is legal.  I take 2-4 hits from a pipe every 2-4 hours and I live in a 5-7 pain scale, however, I am finally back to being me.  No prescription medicated fog, not having to deal with any side effects, and actually able to get between 2-4 hours of sleep per night which is twice as much as I ever got on all of the prescription medications.

If you are in one of the 13 states that are actually compassionate, I suggest exploring that route.