welcome newbies and I am med confused... HELP

[grace03]

WoW check out for a week and I come back to a whole new forum of peeps and of course my favorite oldies :)  Welcome everyone :)

So I am really really trying hard to fight the depression, it's getting bad.  Ask hubby to move out, he seemed to have no problem walking out on a 17 year marriage, which sorta left me with a feeling of easment that he isn't too devestated.  Hooked himself up with a pretty sweet living conditions, so I don't feel guily about being in the house.

Went to the Dr. today and I am more confused then ever.  Last month we started on the tapering off the oxy, I was told again that my changing the dosing from twice a day to once was too soon for me and hence my miserable, pathetic, depressed exsistance.  So now he wants me on the 1 oxy a day and NOT to move, but here is where I am lost.  So my oxy alternatives....
time released morphine, Durgaligic something (patch 25's or 12's) he says the patch is a good way to go because I will get the pain under control and once I get the urge to not take that pill it will be easier to get off of, another choice was methadone and sh!t there was another one in there another type of oxy or a contin something, it sounded like oxycontin but different.  I dunno I am so confused.  Oh and I am on Norco 10/325.  I want to be med free, is the patch thing the way to go?  He says it is a good choice for wd's and will ease me out of them and a good step from oxy.

[mrsdjmw]

Dear Fentanyljunkie,
    So sorry to hear what happened to you. I too have scoliosis, and was in a car accident too. My entire cervical is fused C2-T1. My lumbar is fused L1 to L5, my most recent surgery was April 20, 2013. and now I feel worse than ever. Have been on Fentanyl 150mcg. when right after surgery it stopped working and I was in a constant state of withdrawal. I am now on Morphine 60 mg 3 x a day and feel so much better than I felt on the Fentanyl patch! The withdrawal to switch to the morphine was NOT fun at all, it was done gradually, but as the dose lowered I became sicker. Now so glad I did it. Improved my constipation and bloating greatly! I switched from Roxycodone to Dilaudid (hydromorphone) for break thru pain, but I take it regularly every 6 hours. After 13 spinal surgeries I am still in pain, can barely walk, and have lost so much weight from pain and depression at 5'1 I weigh I only 95 lbs. Tomorrow will be steroid injections in my SI joint hoping for relief. Consider talking to your Dr about possibly trying a different med, you may be pleasantly surprised. Also, if you are like me, you have become depressed and anxious. I take Cymbalta which is both anti-depressant and helps with nerve pain as well. Prozac and Wellbutrin combined have finally made me feel normal. Awful being on disability since 2006, reach out to your friends and family for support and comfort. You may not want to, but they really help. I am best friends with my room mate from my last surgery, she had same thing done, now we support each other cuz we both have been through this. Wish you luck with medical history issues and pray you find relief very soon.
MRSDJMW

[fentanyljunkie]

(sorry i got cut off).  the dr wldnt taper me off.  I have bn on Fent. 75 mcg for over a yr for chronic debilitating pain.  My scoliosis is so bad my back is S-shaped.  I also have fibromyalgia.  My spinal problems r a nightmare.  I fell n did a bkwards flip n threw my c spine out 4 yrs ago n my life forever changed.  I had a patch come unsealed over the summer.  I went to an Aerosmith concert n was fine walking in.  On my way out I appeared drunk n cld barely walk.  Come to find out my patch had lifted n I went n2 seizures n convulsions so pls nvr cut one n half n always make sure they r stuck tight to ur skin.  I was quickly rushed to ER n removed the patch.  3 days meds dumped n2 my body just n hours.  Its bn 8 mo n I still dont feel 100% normal.  This drug is a nightmare.  My family doc just renewed my script n said not to get off.  i dont want my painful life back.  I just feel tired of having my life revolve around this patch.  

[fentanyljunkie]

Currently on 75 mcg n cant get a Dr to wean me off.  Afraid to c/t it.  Sounds awful.  I wish Id known when my Dr first put me on it how enslaved to it u become.  I can go 72 hrs and literally after an hr more Im going crazy....taste of metal n my mouth n anxiety untold.  So I asked to b taken off.  First my Dr said sure n acted like welll 2 wks on 50 mcg then another two on 25 mcg n Ill b good as new.  His way of thinkn is once the drug wears outta the system the wds should b gone as well.  He nvr offered to cut me bk using 12 mcgs inbetween for any slower tapering.  Anyhow i got scared n just had him fill the script again.  Then he went out of work n the ofc says he was n critical care n i cldnt get script filled by anyone n his office.  My last office visit w him he told me hed let his license to write scripts expire....so we think he may b relocating or retiring etc...  The dr taking his place offered to send me to the pain clinic n exchange for keeping me on the script.  I told her Id rather b taken OFF

[laura305]

Hi my name is hailey.
And i was recently switched from darvocet, to the fentanly patch.
Well actually i am still on the darvocet. But the goal is to go from the darvocet to the patch.
Other then the TYL, worries i am wondering y the dr;s r doing this...
I have never even heard of this before 2 months ago.
I started on the 12. And i was just upgraded to the 25. I am concerned at some of these things that i am reading about this patch.
I am new to writing about this or anything for that matter. But i would appreciate any and all information that i can get. And to talk with other people that are in this same boat on one way or the other.
Thanks for caring..! Feb 5th 2010.

[FLaddict]

this thread is from last year. None of the members are here anymore. If you need someone to talk to please repost in a new question so that you don't get over looked.

[corey411]

Duregesic is the patch from hell..Ils stronger than oxys. Are you seeing an addiction specialist? Sounds like your doc doesn't know about opiates. There are several you can physically wean from. My son physically wd from heroin on suboxine in just 10 days,,The physical part was OK but he began using as soon as the pills ran out bc he couldn't handle his mind cravings. I've read alot on here about more lengthy weaning. Fentanyl wd is worst than oxy. Good luck, Corey

[MIBunny55]

Hello, I'm a sortof newbie here.  Used to be involved with another health forum that I believe is on this site.   In re to opiod wd -- I am currently in progress of detox from suboxone, began with 3, 8 mg tabs daily on 12-26-07.  Now I am at half that dose and taking this slowly.  Unfortunately I just finished typing a much longer comment but had not updated my membership, thus all that writing is now lost.  Oh well, anyway, I will check this forum out as I am interested in how others have done with this medication.  I do have good things to say about suboxone in my personal efforts to get off the leash of opiate addiction/dependence.

[manonfire]

1st of all, you need to do some research on the FENTANYL PATCH aka DURAGESIC PATCH. It is most certainly NOT easier to kick the patch than oxy's. Ive been on both for cancer pain. The patch is 100 x's stronger than morphine, and is used to put you under for operations. I don't understand your doctor's advice that patch is a step down. Fentanyl is the active ingredient in the patch. The dosage is measured in MICRO grams, not MILLI grams. It is a very strong opiod that is recommended for cancer pain. I was gravely ill for well over a month the last time I went c/t off patch last time. I lost 45 pounds and it was a monumental struggle just to get out of bed to ****. I haven't ever been on methadone, but I deal with folks in my job that have been on it for years, as well as every other opiate they can get. I've heard a lot of horror stories that it is almost as hard to kick as Fentanyl. Fentanyl is stored in your fat tissues for weeks after your last dose. I've heard good things about subaxone for opiate w/d's. Never tried that either. But take it from me, the patch isn't to be entered into lightly. I'm sure u will hear from bowhunter, lady sundown, man of faith and others that have experience with patch. Please research fentanyl before you put one of those patches on. They can be abused, often with lethal results. For what it's worth.

[LadySundown]

Please---Beware of any opiate. I can only speak about the fentanly patches and my advice about them is to avoid them as if they were deadly snakes. I have been w/d'g from them for almost a year. After each taper there is w/d and the closer you get to being off of them completely, the worse it is. I went to the dr. today and now I'm on the 25mcg patch. I started on 100, then 75, then 50, then a 25mcg plus a 12. There will be some nasty w/d but it takes my body a few days before it starts screaming because it's not getting as much fentanyl as it's used to. Please just type   Fentanyl pain patch           in your browser and see what comes up.
I wish you luck and I hope everything turns out great for you. This info on the patch is only my opinion. Not every one's....Take Care....LS

[ScottQuit021907]

Hey, I really am sorry about how things are with your marriage. I really hope someone who is/was on the patch will give you their experience with it. Like I said before, what I've read is that tapering off the patch is no cakewalk, but again I don't know from personal experience.

[grace03]

First, I have a pinched sciatic nerve which causes a lot of displeasing leg pain, I have good days where I really don't need the meds (well I need them because I can't stand the wd's) and then there are days that the meds aren't doing enough.  More good than bad though.  I visit him once a month for a new script since none of the stuff can be called in.  Last month I went to him and told him I tried to stop the oxy but what I was feeling was MISERABLE.  He explained that they were wd's and a taper schedule would be best.  He wrote the new script for 60 oxy rather than the 120 I had been getting, and my norco script of 60.  Well I took it upon myself to drop down to 1 oxy a day instead of the 2 I was suppose to be taking for the taper schedule.  Oh god big mistake, talk about misery.  But I did it, I toughed it out, left a wrath of pain behind me with the hubby but not much I can do about that now.  It wasn't just the wd that made me want him out, I think it's the sane thinking I am doing now that I am not so doped up.  I want to participate in the marriage and he wants me to sit down, shut up and enjoy that he cares for me.  Yeah well I don't enjoy we live check to check because he blows it all on stupid sh!t like $1K last WEEK on meals out with his buddies.  But I am not allowed to know about that or talk about it, his money, his choice and I don't go with out so shut up.  Oh well... okay off topic...

So my goal is to be pill free or at least not dependant, I know that I will need something when the pain gets bad, and I am confident in myself that I could do that, Take a norco at night if it gets bad, Type of exsistance is what I am hoping for.  So he says today that the patch thingy will help stop with the urge to want to take a pill, drown the mental addiction away from wanting to put a pill in my mouth.  Then since the patch is not as strong as oxy I will also be dosing down.  Soon he can move me off the patch at lower doses and I won't have the mental want for a pill or the physical WD's. Dose off the patch and all is great.  In a perfect world that sounds great.

I got the feeling he is really pushing the methadone and then the time released morphine all being less the med that the oxy is.  

As for depression... excercise it off... Ummmm yeah easier said than done.

So do I put all my med option on a wheel and just spin?  

I left with my norco script and need to call back later and let him know what I want for the longer pain managment med, I needed to call my pharmacy and find the price of the patch thingies and then do I want 12 or 25?

[ScottQuit021907]

First off, why are you taking the meds (I can't remember)? Do you have chronic pain?

Second, not a single one of those options is likely to make withdrawal symptoms any easier and they are all opiates.

Morphine - this is what I quit and I promise you it's a powerful analgesic opiate with intense withdrawals.

Duragesic - I have heard that this is an absolute nightmare to withdraw from

Oxycontin - similar to morphine from what I've read

Methadone - long half-life and thus long period of acute withdrawals. I've seen it posted at this forum that this and the duragesic patch are the two most difficult narcotics to withdraw from.

Bottom line - in my non-medical opinion, each may help with pain relief, but none will make your withdrawals any easier.