Pain Relief Winner

One of the biggest problems I've been having with the worst days of the chemo side-effects is not being able to get comfortable enough to sleep. Soreness and joint pain seems almost amplified once that Docetaxel kicks in. The problem then snowballs because, if I don't get enough sleep, then I feel even worse the next day.

Alternating ibuprofen and acetaminophen seems to work pretty well when I'm not in the middle of the worst days, but the small amount of experience that I've had with all this so far tells me that even taking both together won't help me get comfortable enough to sleep. Back before the chemo started, I was prescribed some hydrocodone (5mg plus some acetaminophen) by my urologist. Unfortunately, it has never done much for the pain nor has it made me drowsy. I just gave up on it.

After losing significant sleep this round, we called our palliative care specialist to see if she knew of anything that would help. She prescribed some oxycodone (7mg plus about the same amount of acetaminophen) and I just started taking one before bed two nights ago. 

WHOOO BOY!! ... All codones are clearly not the same! This oxycodone kills the pain and puts me out like a tired little baby. I still have some minor sense of discomfort in some of the places that give me trouble, but the oxy masks it all very well. The last two nights, I've had the best sleep that I've had in weeks! Even when I have to get up to use the bathroom, I get back in bed and I'm out again like a light! Good stuff, I'm tellin' ya! 

I do know that this is also more addictive. I plan to be very careful of that. Honestly, though, I really only feel like I need this oxy (one pill a night) during the really bad days with chemo side effects when my joint and muscle pain/discomfort is at its worst. I think I can easily return to the over-the-counter solutions on my more "normal" days. 

I just had to post about this because I'm blown away at how different oxycodone is from hydrocodone. 

Is there a downside? The oxycodone gives me really bad cottonmouth during the day. I don't care for it, but it's a worthy trade for all the good it does me.