Has anyone used this medication? If so, what was your experience? It’s not widely discussed on the board. I developed stomach issues from methadone so this was recently prescribed to me because it’s a kappa opioid receptor and does not impact the GI system the same way.
I’m finding that it is very hard to sleep on this medication, nearly impossible. I’m wondering if this will go away with time or if there are other strategies I could implement to work around this. Methadone was nowhere near as stimulating . The half-life seems very short so taking it earlier may not be an option.
Pentazocine (Talwin)
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QyX
Re: Pentazocine (Talwin)
What you are experiencing is sadly not uncommon, especially not with opiods who target the kappa receptor. Oxycodone also targets the kappa receptor more than most other opioids and I remember this drug to be quite alerting and stimulating.
I don't know Pentazocine as well as other opioids but the pharmacodynamic profile of the drug alone makes it obvious that this drug is potentially way more stimulating / alerting than conventional opioids, especially when you consider that it also acts as an antagonist on the mu-receptor.
To answer your question: for me it took several years, I would say somewhere between 2 and 3 years, until the alerting side effects finally disappeared. Because of this I switched to Morphine who initially had minor hypnotic properties and after this was over was mostly neutral. Hydromorphone was mildly alerting initially and then neutral. Only Oxycodone had those long lasting alerting properties. The kappa opioid receptor stimulation is the reason.
There is also no way to tell when tolerance might occur in your case. Might take years, might never happen. Overall, doesn't sound like the best drug for RLS. If it were up to me, I would vote for Morphine in your case. Just need to keep in mind that the sedative / hypnotic properties of Morphine disappear fast when used daily.
I don't know Pentazocine as well as other opioids but the pharmacodynamic profile of the drug alone makes it obvious that this drug is potentially way more stimulating / alerting than conventional opioids, especially when you consider that it also acts as an antagonist on the mu-receptor.
To answer your question: for me it took several years, I would say somewhere between 2 and 3 years, until the alerting side effects finally disappeared. Because of this I switched to Morphine who initially had minor hypnotic properties and after this was over was mostly neutral. Hydromorphone was mildly alerting initially and then neutral. Only Oxycodone had those long lasting alerting properties. The kappa opioid receptor stimulation is the reason.
There is also no way to tell when tolerance might occur in your case. Might take years, might never happen. Overall, doesn't sound like the best drug for RLS. If it were up to me, I would vote for Morphine in your case. Just need to keep in mind that the sedative / hypnotic properties of Morphine disappear fast when used daily.