i had to remove the patch...it was giving me horrible side effects the second day after applying it....i got VERY sick and had to call my doctor at 2 AM because I was so afraid......she told me to remove it....oh well....hoping my doctor can give me a long acting opiate like oxy for the pain......I have not tried that one ......i need something that is a long acting or time released.....
Thank you for your input. My plan is not to have to increase the dosage...Ive been on the 25 mcg patch for less than 24 hours and the pain control is pretty good. I have had a little breakthrough pain a couple times, but I am in physical therapy and I hope that as my therapy progresses my pain will decrease. I have a very bad pinched nerve in my neck right now.My chronic pain has never been so bad as with this pinched nerve.
I had a discussion with my physical therapist today. My plan is to taper myself off of the patch as soon as the numbness in my hand resolves..It has been numb for a month now.....the numbness resolving will be an indicator that the horrible pinch I have is healing and releasing..One really good thing about the pain control of this patch is that I can do some of the more "painful" therapies that I NEED to do to reach a better state of wellness... I have a very low pain tolerance and I have hard spasming muscles and knots in those muscles and chronic inflammation that NEED vigorous deep tissue massage to heal...but I can not handle the pain of the massages.....and maybe once I get past these knots I can step down to a long acting oral opiate and then eventually get off the drugs all together. Just kind of 'thinking out loud here.... I dont want to stay on this patch long....less than a month is my goal...I pray it works out this way!
I was on the 100mic Fentanly patch for 4 months and my advice is to PLEASE BE CAREFUL! This is extremely powerful stuff. I would not recommed taking the patch off for any reason as the adhesive will not reapply to the skin which would render the patch useless and they ARE EXPENSIVE!
Do not cut or damage the patch in any way. There is one particular patch where you can actually see the liquid....some people cut the patch open and suck out the medicine.
I did not do well with they drug. After 3 months my skin began to turn yellow and the whites of my eyes also turned yellow. I had no appetite and lost 20 lbs while on this stuff. I am not trying to scare you....I just know that doctors are sometimes reluctuant to give us all the info.
I am not saying your body will react in this way....I'm just giving you an example to look out for.
Since this is such a powerful pain killer your body will become "dependent" at some point. You are starting out at the smallest patch size...if your doctor wants to increase your doseage I would recommed doing so a very slow rate.
I hope this works for you but please be carefull.
Thank you for the reply....After reading the directions to this patch I was terrified that I was going to die in my sleep with it on. I know this sounds ridiculous ...and for me it kind of is because I do not normally have a problem with anxiety.....but the package insert and directions are written in such a way that I just didnt sleep last night at all....
I was on quite a few opiates including quick release liquid morphine taken orally ...but my pain was still breaking through...
Hot baths and the jacuzzi have been pain therapies I have used for so long for the muscle pain...Ive gotten used to them...so that is why I asked this question....the thought of not those anymore makes me nervous....Its all the psychological effects of pain.
I'm pretty sure my patch is the mylan type. It is generic..Im a little relieved that those may be a little safer with no risk of a leak or defect to cause an OD....I feel safer knowing that with mylan the fentanyl wont leak out.
I woke up at 8 AM after a pretty sleepless night....I dont sleep well due to pain, but this was anxiety based....I was so worried about the risks and side affects and possible addiction......'
But I finally fell asleep and I am still here...thank God lol.....So far I can only explain my experience as a bit bizarre..but this is because of a process going on in my head.....
This morning the sharp radiating pain seems to be gone...but I can still feel all of the tingling a little burning and the slight ache that accompanies the sharp unbearable pain I have been dealing with long term.....In fact, while I am quite happy about this result I cannot seem to relax because I keep expecting the pain to re-appear the way it always does when the oral meds wear off......Im "mentally" a bit of a mess....The fear of this pain has definitely done something to me psychologically.
Well I have PT this morning so I need to sign off....but thankyou for your reply. I wish you much luck with the patch as well...Pain like this is from hell....I dont wish it on anyone...ever.
xoxo
Kat
Hi Kat.I'm jgwire. new to the group. Based on my experience with the F-patches, I would NOT recommend taking it off to shower or put wet heat on the area or anything like that.
The main reason not to put any kind of heat near the patch zone is that it CAN cause the medicine to come out faster, and flood your system -- and you risk ODing -- Fentanyl is 100 times stronger than heroin, so you DON"T want too much of that, even if you are opiate tolerant. Also, I would not take them off only to put them back on later: Reason: They don't stick well, well, most of them dont, anyway. I had horrible problems keeping my patch on WITHTOUT taking a shower or taking it off. in fact, I had to buy extra "bogus" patches to secure the real patch better to my body,
As long as you use your patch properly, don't take too much, or too little, you should not suffer W/D. BTW, there is some controversy over just how long those patches are intended to last. I think some generic patches say 48-72 hours , but my doc doesn't think a single patch shud be expected to last that long. and it doesn't. When I was on them -- I was on the 100 mcg -- so I habve forgotten what painfree means as well, The doc had me put one on each day, and take one off every OTHER DAY. So I was always wearing two.
Not all -patches are created equal either. Mylan makes a patch that is not full of clear goo (that's the medicine) instead, the medicine is in the strands of the actual patch )that doesn't make much sense, but just trust me. There's no goo. Where as with Sandoz, and of course, the Brand name, there is goo. Some prefer the goo patches,, because they can see the medicine and see how much is left. You can't know with the mylan patch. Then again, with the mylan patch, unless you just put the thing in your mouth qand chew it, there is no way more medicine will be released, whereas with the goo patfhes, all you have to do is cut the patch open and the stuff will squirt out on your fingers, and addicts do all kinds of nasty stuff with that goo because it's pure Fentynl. I have great hopes that the patch will be your answer. I'm about to swtch from OxyContn to the patch. Some people love Oxy, but I don't know why. It does NOT kill my pain, and it makes me feel like I want to die -- just a big BLAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH.
Hope this helps. jg