Expert: Dr Ian Jackson - please note UK based - 1/1/2005

Question
I was placed on Oxycontin for neuropathy pain.  The doseage progressively increased and after 2 years I was on 400-480mg per day.  Every day.  (I found out that was the equivalent to 80-96 Percocet a day)I remained at that dose from early 2000 until July 2004.  I am only 150 pounds.  What effects would you expect that medication to have on the overall function/behavior/mind at those levels? It really seems to have messed me up. Also, I've been told it will take up to 18 months for the residual to be completely gone.  Do you know if that's true?

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

Curt

Answer
Curt

To my simplistic mind Oxycontin is a fancy way of providing morphine for the management of pain. So yes it can have an effect on your overall function. However ones body does get used to the dose quite quickly - you metabolise it more quickly and your 'receptors' (ie where the drug works) tend to become less sensitive to it. So in time it can have less of an effect on your system and indeed to get pain relief you need to take more.
Also this means even though the drug goes from your system quite quickly (ie a couple of days) when you stop it - it takes far longer for the other changes to come back to normal.

So perhaps that explains some of what you have been told.

Best of luck.

Ian Jackson