help

[why777]

my friend has been on 200mcg patch a day for 2 years by eating them and now has no way to get them anymore. How bad is it going to be for him?

[texaslady68]

Sorry to hear about your friend, Eating those can be deadly.  Kind of weird because i just heard a news story the other night about a 17 year old kid that died after eating one of those.  His friend had stolen it from his grandmother for him.  Dad found him dead in bed.   Before that news story, I never even knew that people ate those patches.

I would definitely have him contact his doctor.  They deal with this situation all the time and with his true need they can figure something out.

[why777]

Thanks everyone. If anyone knows of someone or somewhere he can go please in the beaver county or pittsburgh area please let me know. I have to go shortly but I will check back soon

[snakejones]

You're a good person to write for him. I'm so sorry for the situation. Since he has a genuine problem, he needs pain control, but when the doc finds out about his behavior it's not going to be pretty. This is such a bad situation that he, you, or someone else needs to tell the doc what's going on. He's going to need big-time help. He can't take care of the situation at home, and going to the ER won't solve anything but the most immediate need. He will be withdrawing in another day or so, and 200 mics is quite a large dose. That, coupled with the fact that the surgical pain will be so much worse when he goes into full withdrawal, will put him in a circle of hell that not even the most imaginative minds can comprehend. His doctor must be told so steps can get underway to get him treatment.
I don't know if his situation warrants it, but there are implantable pain pumps for the worst chronic pain patients. He might check into that. The pump sends out a steady, controlled dose of morphine, fentanyl, etc. and can't be tampered with by the patient. Now, if he has access to street drugs this won't do much good. He is in danger right now and must get immediate, professional help before he starts to withdraw. You've got only one or two days at the most to get treatment options in place. Please make sure he gets help any way you can, and please let us know how he is. Again, he is lucky to have you on his side!

[bama88]

how does your friend feel about detox center? there's no shame. i went my husband went. we loved it there...they cater to your detox them give you so much info to help you the rest of your friends life. at least your friend is admitting the problem...the first step is the hardest.

[Addicted2long]

I used to eat the patches too..I was doing 2-3 100mcg patches a day and it was hell to come off. I found it to be best to switch to a regular short acting opoid like vikes or perks and then quit. But there is no problem with going cold turkey. It's a rough couple of days but it's more than doable. Your friend has to want to quit and not just be doing it because their out of patches. They must put everything they got into it there are good people on here that will help you. Wish you the best of luck. A2L

[LostNoMore]

I don't agree with the suggestion to go toa methadone clinic to get off of
duragesic (fentanyl) patches, even if he was eating them. Methadone is another monster to get clean from. I haven't done it, but I've hung around this forum long enough to know that methadone is baaaad news. Some people will be along who know. A medically supervised detox seems in order.
There are meds for blood pressure (clonidine) and also for seizures. The
W/Ds are nasty but at least with opiates they are over relatively quickly compared to methadone or benzos. Have your friend find a doc who knows about detoxing from opiates. He needs some medical help. That is an extremely high dose, but not unheard of here. Trying to detox solo is not a good idea from that much.

[why777]

but his patch script is gone 2 weeks before its suppose to be. I think he might have some vicoden.

[perco13]

with the amount he was taking he really should not do this cold turkey. Is he still taking any type of opiate? vicodin? percocet? oxycontin? if he is i would recommend him trying to taper it down, take less, and less and then contact his doctor to get him on suboxone. Suboxone will help ease the withdrawals and take the cravings away. He doesnt have to tell his doctor he was eating them. Also, his doctor should not take him off this medication without a taper regimen and a medication to help with the withdrawal. he should definitely contact his dr. about this.http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Addiction-Substance-Abuse/help/show/1688052#

[why777]

I'll ask but he can hardly think right now

[bama88]

wow...that's dangerous. im glad your friend can't get anymore..I've heard of people licking the patches..yikes ...umm get ready for a week of feeling like the flu. get the stuff for the Thomas recipe...is at bottom of page. i think?? its not gonna ne fun for your friend but this is do able...just get ready for a nasty flu...about five maybe six days. i would advise going to see a doctor to get help with the detox process. can your friend go to the doctor? they are used to helping people detox...i am worried about the amount your friend has been taking...cold turkey is not gonna be fun... and how long was your friend on the patches. how long licking the patches...it doesn't matter
..detox is detox. im curious....not judging. and you've came to the right place for support...is it possible for your friend to join us?

[why777]

Thank you. Sounds horrible. He just went thru his 9th surg. Had Rods replaced in his back with longer ones and is afraid to tell his Dr. what he did with his patches.

[perco13]

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. He put himself is in a really bad position. Unfortunately he was taking an extremely large amount. He will start going into withdrawal about 24hours after the last patch. he will have extreme flu like symptoms high pulse rate, extreme sweating hot and cold sweats, extreme restlessness, terrible muscle and joint aches, vomiting and severe diarrhea, muscle tremors, severe anxiety. These withdrawals will last about a week. I recommend he go see a substance abuse specialist or check himself into a methadone clinic. There are special medications such as suboxone and methadone that will help him taper off the drug with minimal withdrawal symptoms. Also, he's been doing this for 2 years which is a long time. These drugs are mind altering and even after the withdrawals he will crave the drug. He will have to go to an outpatient program to totally beat this addiction. He must tackle this problem in his life. There are specialists available to help your friend through this. however he must be committed to taking the steps to getting his life back together. i wish you all the best of luck.

[why777]

yes. It works quicker but dosen't last as long and its stronger

[sandra5353]

He's eating the patches? Im confused.