elmiron and narcotics

[msmag]

I was told by the nurse practitioner who is handling me now that narcotics interfere with Elmiron's action, and so it doesn't work as well as it should.
I've been on it almost a year, along with Percocet, and haven't really noticed any improvement. My major symptom is nerve pain, although I had an Interstim implant in March and that is working great for frequency and urgency.
Now, she says she is taking me off the Percocet, and I have to tell you guys, that i am scared to death.

i just wondered if any of you can been told this too.

Thanks
maggie

[vm]

I have never heard of that as an issue. You might call the manufacturer or a pharmacist to check out what she told you.

[shellby]

I have never heard of that. you might want to check into it. And ask your NPT what are you to do for your pain. I know how you feel. you feel like you just got abandoned. Good luck:angel:

[Dani72]

Maggie,
I have never heard that before. I take Narcotics and Elmiron too. I think your best bet would be to call your pharmacist, they know more about meds than docs and nurses do (not to put their knowledge and training down. Also if you have nerve pain (i do too) Neurontin is a good med for that. Have you tried it? If you want you can pm me or my e-mail is italianprncss72@aol.com.
Hugs,
Danielle

[rjyoon]

I just checked possible interactions between Elimiron & Percocet in the drug interactions tool my company makes for hospitals. No interactions turned up. Because current information from the PDR is used to flag possible interactions, I don't believe that the nurse practioner is correct.

I agree that it would be good to ask a pharmacist, as they're usually more current on these things.

[Babs RN]

I would talk to a pharmacist, but I have never heard of that interaction either.

Barb

[skershner3]

I have been taking Elmiron and narcotic pain meds for several years now. I did some research on Elmiron before I started taking it and I dont remember anything concerning narcotic pain meds having an effect on Elmiron. I cant understand how it would since the Elmiron makes the GAG lining of the bladder and the narcotics are for pain and inflammation so I dont understand. I have not seen a huge difference with Elmiron but some and anything that works even "some" is good with me. My advise would be as others have mentioned, check with your pharmacist and if you dont find anything there call the manufacturer of Elmiron. You should be able to find a toll free number by visiting the companys web sit, if not, call your doctors office and they can give you a toll free number which is found in the front of every Physicians Desk Reference. I can imagine going without my narcotic pain meds. That is what keeps me half way functional. Get your facts together and then visit your urologist concerning this. The most important thing you can do is educate yourself about your meds. Susan

[msmag]

Thanks everyone for your input. That is what I thought, because I had read up on Elmiron too, and couldn't find anything about an interaction between it and narcotics. I am going to call the pharmacist this morning to double check.

I am taking Neurotin, 600 mg three times a day, along with Detrol, Vistaril, Effexor and trazedone

After the Interstim was implanted, I was then put under the NP's care, because my urologist doesn't know anything about it, except how to implant it. Before this, I had had....uh oh, my two-year-old granddaughter who slept over last night just woke up so I will have to finish later.

Have a great day!

Maggie

[theclownster]

Hello all! When I called the pharmacist a few weeks back he told me that there are no drug interactions for Elmiron. He then proceded to tell me when you read further on it says there have been no clinical trials to test for interactions. So, in essence he said the reason none are listed is because they haven't tested for them. I was calling to see if I could take an over the counter med for my headache. He advised me to call my doctor. He said he didn't feel comfortable answering the question and that I really needed to consult my doctor immediately. I paged my doctor and he was quite helpful in answering my questions based on the different meds I was taking. He referred to my meds based on which organ digested them. He mentioned that one of my meds was digested through the liver so I wouldn't want to take tylenol because that is also hard on the liver - especially until I was on it long enough to see if it had any side effects.

The funny thing about this whole thing is minutes before I called the 2nd pharmasist, I called a different pharmasist. He basically blew me off and said you can take what ever you want for a headache while on you meds. He answered it too quickly which made me call another pharmacist and then ultimately my doctor. I'm not sharing this with you to scare you, but just to encourage you to investigate thoroughly - checking with a pharmasist and a doctor might be best.

Good Luck and let us know what you find out!

Jennifer

[Alexa]

I haven't heard about this potential drug interaction either. I would definitely thoroughly investiage this with a doctor and/or pharmacist.

Take care,
Alexa

[dawnfawn]

Elmiron has not been tested in any drug interactions. I have been posting for quite a while now and also inquiring if anyone has had strange interactions. I find that since taking elmiron I have indeed been better, but I have had other problems arise. Also my doctor told me not to ever take aspirin with elmiron as elmiron is a mild heparin like substance. Why haven't any drug interaction tests been run? A good question for the manufacturer. By the way think rationally if the gag layer is replaced by elmiron and if part of the way drugs leave the body is through the bladder isn't it possible that some drugs linger in the bladder due to elmiron's interference. Just a thought.