Quitting Fentanyl. Help?

[jennylynn1988]

Just a quick recap. I've been using every kind of opiate since 2008ish. Finally at the end, used Suboxone for almost 2 years. I quit that cold freaking turkey and it was the worst experience of my life. I told myself I'd never go through that process again. The w/d from that started August 28th and lasted till around Halloween or later. Awful. Well, I got my hands on 25mcg patches beginning of January and thought "eh, just once won't hurt". You can imagine where that went. I'm an addict after all. Anyhow, I HAD to stop with those 2 days ago... and if the w/ds are anything like Suboxone w/ds; I'm gonna flip. My question, since I've only been doing them for right around 4 months (with a week break back at the end of March)... will these withdrawals last long? Anyone have a similar expirience? The jumpy/restless legs are the worst for me. Everything else I can absolutely deal with. I have to work nights so I'm just wondering when the peak of this will be and when I can expect to actually get some sleep. It took forever with the subs so I'm just curious. Any info will help. Thanks in advance! :)

[jennylynn1988]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Coming up on the end of day 4... and it'd been rough. I had a clonidine patch and decided to chew on it a bit (yes I know, bad) but I wanted it to work fast. And man, did it make this whole RLS crap worse. >_< Made me super drowsy and I still couldn't sleep because of the leg spasms. I have a multivitamin, magnesium supplement, and that's about it. I'm done putting other meds in my system to try and help. Everything I take seems to only make it worse. So yeah. Thanks guys. I know I can do it, it's just hell. Lets see how I feel tomorrow. lol Does anyone know how long this clonidine will continue to affect me like this? I'm over it.

[marycarmel]

I tapered off Fentanyl, along with a bunch of other meds, and it is a tough drug to get off.  I was dependent versus addicted so I didn't have to deal with the mental aspect of it.  Keeping bery hydrated is very important.  Imodium  will help with tummy issues and will actually help with some of the withdrawal symptoms.  The Thomas recipe gives a list of supplements that will help with the symptoms.  Valerian Root is an all natural supplement that helps a lot with anxiety.  Ibuprofen will help with any aches and pains.  It's not a walk in the park but you can do it.  I know some people think it's a great drug for chronic pain but personally  I think it should only be used for end-of-life patients.  There are some brands of Fentanyl patches that are flat and can be cut.  The gel-filled ones should never be cut as it can release all the medication at once and cause an overdose.  On the upside, you are on a fairly low dose of the patch.

[hope6hope]

I was on fentanyl and couldn't even taper down without feeling like I was going to die. I had to go the suboxone route and then taper down. That was the only way I could get off the patch. I'm almost 3 weeks off the subs now. Since I tapered so low the w/d were nothing compared to the fentanyl. Hang in there. Good luck with whatever you decide to do :)

[jennylynn1988]

Thank you for the reply, I appreciate it. I had the generic patches that could be cut; and usually I just cut them into 3 pieces, one piece a day. So yeah. Not a whole lot of abuse there but there were many days where I did more. I'm hoping someone will answer me soon that knows about this stuff personally. At 2:30 tomorrow morning, it'll be the end of day 3 so lets hope this is over soon. If its anything like the sub w/ds... I don't know if I can handle that again. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

[ariley13]

I don't personally have experience with either drug but there are many on here who do so hang tight. I do know that the subs have a very long half life which in turn makes the withdrawls very long and drawn out. The withdrawls from the fentynal should be nothing com pared to those. And the severity of the withdrawls depends on length of use and how much you used. So four months of use should be fairly easy withdrawls. Hang in there cause you are doing great! Good luck to you!