Chronic Pain
"I was taking 80 mg. day of oxycodone (percocet 10 mg. + 325 acetaminophen per pill ) and finally found a pain doctor who is a psychiatrist and a neurologist as well as a pain mgmt. specialist and an addiction treatment specialist.  He asked how long the percocet worked for me.  I said 2 to 2 &frac12; hours.  He said based on the number of years I had taken it (4) and the increases of dosages over those years (beginning of 4 mg. 4 x day to 8 mg. 6 x day over 4 years) that I had become tolerant to oxycodone.  He put me on exalgo 32 mg. extended release once/day which is hydromorphone which is dilaudid and 4 mg. dilaudid/hydromorphone (the same drug but not timed release) for break through pain 4xday.  It was pretty amazing.  My pain just stopped."