Xtampza ER for Chronic Pain User Reviews (Page 2)

• Sleep...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 7, 2019

"In a word...awful. I've been on 2x18mg Xtampza ER for over a month now, after my sadistic insurance co refused to cover OxyContin, which I've been taking 2x20mg since 07 for severe pelvic floor pain. While Xtampza is designed to avert abuse, it most definitely is not designed for any credible chronic pain relief. First and foremost, it's doing very little for my pain. It takes FOREVER, like 2+ hours(!), to work, and lasts 3-4 hours, at best. I'm being generous saying it 'works', since it barely takes the edge off my pain. I still have to take breakthrough meds, even while this junk is supposed to be in full effect. I regularly experience strong side effects described by other reviews, including headaches, nausea, sleeplessness, and high anxiety. It's amusing to hear the claims of this med being 'exactly the same' as OxyContin - the one thing that actually worked."

• Anonymous
• February 7, 2020

"I was forced off Oxycontin by my insurance plan and placed on Xtampza and it definitely does not work for my pain as well as oxycontin. I was told they are supposed to be the same medication except for one is tablet and one is capsule, but they are not as far as I (my body) is concerned. Also because this drug is so expensive the pharmacy does not even carry it, I am supposed to call a week or so in advance to make sure they can try to get it shipped in so now I'm facing possible issues of not being able to get my meds when they are due to be filled. This is causing all types of issues and hoops for me to jump through just to get my prescriptions."

• Blondie
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• April 12, 2020

"I’ve been on Xtampza since January 2019. I have post laminectomy syndrome, spinal stenosis, Levoscoliosis, rheumatoid arthritis, facet joint arthrosis, DDD, and a few herniated discs in my C-spine and L-spine and I’m only 35. As with all medications, everyone’s body works different in regards to medicine. For me, Xtampza works great and I find that it covers my pain most of the time for a full 24 hours. Granted my pain does change with the weather. However, I have found that Xtampza works better than OxyContin for me."

• Pete
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 2, 2018

"Dangerous erratic medication. Package says to take with the same amount and same type of food every dose. How can you do that? I can tell you this for sure. Sometimes it works, sometimes you OD, sometimes it does nothing for the pain. You never know what you will get. This medication is going to OVERDOSE PEOPLE! You can tell the good reviews on here were written by the drug maker. The only truthful ones sound like this."

• Rocky
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• June 21, 2020

"I was started on Xstamza ER in Jan 2020. CMS removed Oxycontin ER from the formulary in 2020 and switchwd to Xstamza ER mfg by Collegium. My pain group started me on 18 mg Xstamza vs the 20 mg Oxycontin ER. After three months told PM it was not working. She upped it to 27 mg Xstamza. I hit the coverage gap in May. I refuse to pay over $100+ for a drug that does very little so when I had my tele-healrh appt on Friday told hsr it really was doing little to help me and I refused to have it filled. Its just shy of being a worthless pain medication. Have heard from several the same thing."

• Cher
• September 13, 2019

"I too was forced to use something other than MS Contin. Xtampza was chosen and I suffered through it for 3 weeks before calling my physician in tears to let him know that I had no relief whatsoever from the pain and as well I was experiencing headaches diarrhea and deeper depression. I was then given a prescription for Belbuca film. Would have liked to try it but insurance doesn't cover it and it costs $475 a month! What are we to do???"

• Seaho...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 4, 2019

"At my request, due to daily soaking sweats I went from 8 years of methadone for chronic spinal pain (add severe psoriatic AR + RA) to Xtampza 13.5 twice per day. The pharmaceutical company has played a joke on us with this one. They need to just trash the Xtampza & start all over. I never knew just how well the methadone was working (despite sweats) to lessen my pain until I switched to this garbage."

• Most...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 8, 2020

"So, my doctor thinks Xtampza ER is the safest choice? Even though plasma levels are hugely dependent on high fat food. I think this drug is dangerous. Give me plan old, cheap, generic, oxycodone any day. Every day since being switched to Xtampza has been agonizing."

• Brian
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 18, 2018

"Just took capsule 13.5 mg and sprinkled on yogurt, it hit me in 10 minutes extremely loopy but yes it really works, those people out there saying that it doesn’t work probably may have become tolerant of everything. Take your meds as prescribed people, do not overtake, this stuff works great, I feel 0% pain right now for the first time in 20 years"

• Skidbo
• July 13, 2018

"I have taken all the usual prescription opiates over the past 14 years almost daily. Xtampza is very inconsistent and dangerous and therefore ineffective. My experience is that it is not time released. The withdrawal is the worst yet I paid a lot of money for this fancy capsules which is just a marketing scheme. I would not recommend this so called pain med to anyone. Big pharma guinea pig!!"

• Painm...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 14, 2019

"I have 4 herniated disc in my neck, two failed right shoulder rotator cuff surgeries, back surgery on L5 and esophageal cancer that has not spread (thank God). I'm starting on Xtampza ER in a few days for this chronic pain and was very nervous however, it's time. I was taking four 15mg oxy IR. Down to four 10/325 Percocet and will now be trying two x 18 Xtampza plus one break through. After reading some of the real comments from people switching to Xtampza, that the drug actually works I feel more confident. I will report back once I'm taking to give full and honest report. I will give honest report back as I'm not looking to get high - I just want to manage the pain so I can live a sub par but somewhat normal life, what I have left. Good luck to all of you with your pain management issues"

• DerekFL
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 2, 2020

"I was on Fentanyl 50mcg/per hr changing the patch every 48hrs before asking to be switched to MS Contin 60mgs/TID and that stopped working after over 3 years of being on the same dosage, finally my doctor suggested I switch to Xtampza ER 36mg/BID. Once I switched to Xtampza ER my pain not only increased but my breakthrough medications had to be increased to Roxicodone 30mg every 4-6hrsPRN. Finally after 3 months on Xtampza my doctor put me back on Exalgo 16mg/24hr and left me on the Roxicodone 30mg every 4-6hrsPRN but I hardly have to use more than 3 of those per day and am no longer suffering any pain."

• SoB
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• June 12, 2023

"I’ve been on high level opioids for 23 years due to a debilitating and disabling accident. For 18 years: six 80mg OC with six 30mg Roxycodone for breakthrough pain. Then, it was six 60mg MS Contin ( morphine ) with the six 30s. Then, the opioid crisis. From 540mg daily down to 90 in a year!!! The docs and insurance companies are the criminals here. If 90mg is “appropriate” then why was I on 540mg/day? And 660mg of OxyContin and oxycodone before that?? So, now we have Extempa. Completely worthless. That’s all I can say. It does nothing for pain. All of the poor souls like myself who have always followed the rules with narcotics contracts and pee tests are the ones who got completely screwed! Now, try getting a pain doctor to titrate! I’ve been on the same dose for 3 years; completely tolerant to it. God bless you all whom continue to suffer."

• Sparky
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 13, 2019

"I was just switched to Xtampza ER, took my first dose this morning. My doctor did not mention food at all but I always read about the meds I take. In BOLD they say to take this Med with food. If you take it in the morning before eating you will get maybe half the dose. The oral bioavailability goes up by as much as 150% with a high fat/high calorie meal. I called the manufacturer but they were unable to tell me exactly what is a “high fat/high calorie meal”. I ate some walnuts, two slices of Ezekiel bread toasted with butter and about a cup of Promised Land chocolate milk. They also say that you should eat the same amount of food with each dose to maintain even blood serum levels. My guess is it is this lack of knowledge that is causing some patients to find this drug ineffective of erratic. I’ll probably settle on 1/4 cup walnuts, couple of eggs (boiled) and maybe a Boost Plus (or chocolate milk). In any case it seems to be working."

• Miami
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 8, 2018

"I was put on this medication for chronic back pain and primary progressive MS. I had been on OxyContin and oxycodone. The medication simply doesn’t work for me. My insurance company finally approved my old medications for me. I understand the abuse that goes along with the opiate medications. However I don’t abuse it. I never will either. I hate taking pain medications but I have no choice. Good luck with the pain for all of you."

• Retired...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 8, 2020

"Started this medicine three weeks ago and it doesn’t help much at all for pain. Don’t do well with capsules so open it up and put contents on yogurt to consume. For breakthrough pain, dropped from 30mg oxycodone to smaller quantity of 15mg and that hasn’t worked either. Now, constant pain level worse than ever. Worse, three of the capsules were empty."

• Living...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• May 3, 2018

"I have had a neck fusion and I am herniated from L2-S1, stenosis, 3 bone spurs , bursitis in my hips and arthritis. I live with chronic pain every second of everyday! My pain management dr had me on 30mg Oxycodone 6x a day ,and soma. He started me on extampza ER 18mg. It took a few days before I noticed I wasn’t taking as many Oxycodone because the extampza was helping me. I’m now on 15mg Oxycodone 4x a day and twice a day extampza and I feel great! I don’t want to look and feel high, I’m just looking for less pain. While taking extampza I’ll get a burst of the med which I like Extampza gives me exactly what I need! It’s my “got my life back med” there are some days I’ll only need 1 oxycodone! I don’t like taking meds all day every 4-6 hours this is just 2 a day! I’m feeling great!"

• Zykull
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• January 10, 2019

"I have been on Xtampza ER 18mg 2x a day, also on oxycodone 10/325 3x daily. This morning I thought I would try something different. Acetaminophen boosts oxycodone, so I said to myself that tylenol probably would boost an extended release for of oxycodone and guess what, 0% Pain. I take 1.5 oxycodone and 1 xtampaza ER and another tylenol capsule, extremely loopy but wow does it help. I take for Broken disc, herniated disc, torn ACL, torn Rotator Cuff and Vascular problems as well. Just take 1 or 1.5 Oxycodone and one 500mg tylenol with the xtampza."

• GemTex
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 19, 2020

"Had spinal fusion surgery that left me with more pain than I had presurgery. I was burning through 10/325 Percocet so my pain management switched me to Xtampza 18mg. 1st night had such a bad nightmare I refused to go back to sleep.This med caused insomnia on some days or sleep with horrific dreams. As for pain it did manage my pain but I hope I am not required to be on it for a long amount of time. I mixed it with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and it seems to work well that way. It is also on the pricey side even with insurance."

• Feel...
• April 25, 2019

"Since I was just switched to Xtampza ER on 4-19-19 and have been taking 9mg twice daily for a week. So I really can't say too much other than I have had a headaches daily starting one day after starting the medication & has not let up yet. I was told that this drug would last longer than my current medication which was OxyContin 10 mg twice daily. So far neither have lasted the 12 hours as it claims. I am lucky to get 5 to 6 hours of relief per dose. Neither gave me complete pain relief but some was better than none. My pharmacy said they have never had anyone prescribed this medication before me. I was lucky enough to get my script at my monthly doctor visit. Pharmacy had to special order medication but could not order it until they got a prior authorization from the doctor or my insurance would not process. At this point I do not feel that I am getting the relief I was getting previously as far as the length of time. I was down for 2 days with a bad headache out of the 7 days on this medication."

• CJano
• February 16, 2020

"Just started xtampza because of insurance demands. I’d been on OxyContin 20 years for chronic back pain and fractures. Xtampza is not doing the job. I’m having horrific nightmares and racing heart. The pain relief is minimal. I’m going back to OxyContin even if I have to pay total price without insurance."

• Pat-R
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• June 17, 2023

"I have been taking this medication for over a year hoping it would help but finally gave up. It just makes me tired and sometimes upsets my stomach. It’s so insulting the way we chronic pain patients are treated in the USA. I’m wondering if this is a political thing and if people are treated with more dignity and compassion elsewhere. It’s very isolating to have a progressive illness for which there is no cure and having to fight with varying success for proper relief just makes it worse. Believe me, I used to be super optimistic and never thought my life would come to this. I still have short-acting oxycodone which does help, but it’s not enough. There is nothing for extended relief and no recourse when an emergency situation arises that causes me to need more help than usual eg my husband was in the ICU with respiratory failure and I had to be there for him, causing more nerve damage, etc. But no extra medication so I ran out a few days early that month and oh well too bad."

• Marco
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 18, 2018

"Moved and had to change Doctor Was given Xampza twice daily I have found this medication horrible. It does not work on a consistent level, any relief that it gives it quickly fades. 12 hour relief is a joke, maybe 6-7 hours. B/P has gone up, needed to increase my Atenolol 25mg. Nausea soon becomes a constant companion with headaches to add to original chronic pain. This has been my experience, I also see many others have issues with this medication."

• Tntho...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 19, 2019

"After years of trial and failure to control the chronic pain this med has done what none other has. I been on 150mg lyrica 3/day, Morphine ER, fentanyl patch, and many other meds for over 15 years. All those other meds became ineffective and offered little relief. Now, 2 months into twice daily use of xtampza I finally have a new baseline. Though I still take other meds and a breakthrough pain killer occasionally I don’t feel as though there’s no help. It’s not cheap, and my various prescription coverage still didn’t cover all the costs. I still firmly believe I’m better off with this medication and if offered to others it may be what you’ve needed for a long time."

• Meds
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 17, 2023

"I was recently put on this medication Xtemptza ER and am not very happy. I have been on Percocet 10 mg 4 a day for about 10 years. It wasn’t helpful much anymore. My new primary care doctor decided to do a time release medication. I had read so many bad reviews about this medicine I wasn’t sure if I should try it. I had to get insurance to approve a pa to get it cause it cost 600.00 This medication doesn’t touch my pain. I hate it. It’s like taking baby aspirin."