Fentanyl

Hi folks! I been on patches for the last 4 weeks and need to get off them. I started with 25mcg but got up to 100mcg fairly quickly. Feeling weird weird on these and thinking it's just the start up feelings from the Fentanyl. I'm also on on Celexa and that apparently is not a good combo. So i asked the Doc to get off the Fentanyl and he said OK and gave me my normal dose of Vicoprofen. Of course i'm having big time whidrawls from not being on the Fentanyl. So my question is what do i need to overlap 75mcg off fentanyl?. do i need to go to Percocet or something else to not have the whidrawls coming back ?. The way this started was my Doc wanted me to get on something ER and i been on MS Contin but did not help much. The only thing that helped has been the Vicoprofen but i did not like the up and down feeling you got. So we deceided to give the patch a try. So i'm wondering what would help dose wise so i dont whitdraw from the Fentanyl. Any input on this would be great. Thanks, F1swede

[Mollyrae]

Hi.

I cannot believe that the Doctor would take you from 25mcg's to 100mcg's so quickly. No wondering you're feeling "wierd". That is a huge jump in the Fentanyl and in my opinion should NEVER be prescribed to jump that quickly. Your body needs time to adjust to the Fentanyl. In my opinion, if your Doctor is prescribing in this manner, you need to find a better Doctor.

You need to ween yourself off of the Fentanyl....Do NOT just stop. Call your Doctor and talk about him taking you down slowly. Fentanyl is a dangerous opiate and should be addressed seriously.

Take care,
Molly

[Tuckamore]

Hello,

It's good to hear from you again. I concur with Mollyrae. 25 to 100 is a huge jump in a month. It takes time to for your system to adjust to to any medication let alone Fentanyl.

I always advise ppl to follow there physicians orders and I am doing just that but you need to consult with him about the abrupt discontinuation. In my opinion you should have tapered off the patch but I am not your physician and again you must always follow his instructions.

I know it is Saturday so first thing Monday morning you should contact him with the questions you have posted here. If there is any chance that someone is on call for you physician or the clinic is open to I would make that call today. I am not comfortable advising you what to do at this point except to suggest that you to contact your physician.

Please let us know how you are doing. We are here to chat if need be. Best of luck and as always take care of yourself.
Peace, Tuck

[f1swede]

Thanks for getting back to me. I thought the same thing about jumping that quickly to a higher dose in that short of time. I have some patches still left that i'm forced to use until i get in contact with my Doc. He basically said stop the Fentanyl.  75mcg at the last time hear the 100mcg got me sick so he dropped to 75mcg. So stop the Fentanyl and he gave me 90 Vicoprofen but that is not strong enough obviously to combat whitdrawl from 75mcg of Fentanyl. This was also done over the phone so it got complicated. I have a call in to him today Monday. My question was if he can give me something that is strong enough to have no whitdrawls or should this just be tapered down. My guess is that he thought the Vicoprofen would do the trick. I read in the little pamplet that comes with the Fentanyl and found the conversion table. Looks like i would need a lot of pills to combat whitdrawls. Anyway i will let you guys know what happens. Thanks, Kent

[Tuckamore]

Hi Kent,

Thanks for the update. I am not an expert on withdrawals. However if I understand yo correctly you were only on the Fentanyl for a month. In my opinion the w/d should not be severe nor last as long as those that have been on it for many months or years.

The Vicoprofen should ease some of the w/d symptoms and they shouldn't last all that long. But again I will qualify my opinion that I know little about this subject. I was hospitalized initially over 5 months following a MVA. During that time I received large  amounts of demerol (75mg every 4-5 hrs)and oxycodone (15mg every 4-5 hrs) with some morphine a once or twice  a day. Upon discharge I foolishly refused a RX for pain. I still don't know what I was thinking, I guess I wasn't. Anyway I suffered restlessness, pain of course and insomnia for two days until I contacted the surgeon and obtained a prescription for oxycodone 10mg. It stopped all my w/d symptoms and helped ease my pain. That's the basis of my opinion.

I think that you and your physician should discuss the best way to handle your pain and any withdrawals you may be experiencing. If you are going to try the fentanyl again I suggest a lower dose to begin with (maybe a 25 and 12) and than give it time to build up in your system to ascertain it's real effectiveness.

Others will post with their opinions. Please let us know how you are doing and what decision is made. I'll look forward to your next post. In the meantime take care, Tuck

[Babs1469]

Hey there F1, I seem to be a bit late but i just wanted to underscore what others have been saying, It is best to Ween yourself off slowly. I dont understand why your doctor would stop you so quickly like that, When I went off Fentany patches I went on to another ER drug and was fine but when I was considering stopping all pain meds because the fentanyl was making me so sick, the doctor said that they never want you to stop so quickly it is always best to gradually come down in doesage and strength. I hope everything works out for you, please post an update as to how you are feeling.

Best Wishes
Babs

[f1swede]

Part of this is probably my fault. Vicoprofen has been the best thing for my pain so far. He gave me the same amount i had pre Fentanyl. I assume he figured being narcotic tolerant this would not be a problem. Like i said before i was very surpised he bumped me on the doses that quickly. I never felt god on the Fentanyl but figured my body is adjusting to it. The whitdrawl were severe enough for me to go back on Fentanyl since i have some left. I was talking with the Phamacist what to do with the once i had left and he told me to double fold the adhesive parts together and throw them away. I'm glad i didn't do that. I will let you guys know what happens. Thanks, Kent

[f1swede]

Doc is going to see me next week.

[NoMoMeth4me]

Hello there, just read your post and was wondering where you are at now with your meds?
My PCP just put me on the 25mcg patch but I have been reluctant to take it. How did it make you feel on the first week of the 25mcg patch? what side effects did you experience. Wow, you had W/Ds after only one month? That's scary, I know many people on this forum swear by fentanyl but others despise it.
How did it help relieve your pain?
I was on Methadone and Percocet for breakthrough pain and recently stopped Methadone and I'm looking for a suitable ER med and my PCP suggested the patch.

[f1swede]

Well i have updates for you on the Fentanyl. My Doc must of had the DEA talked with him. Gave me ltimatum of either Vicoprofen or Fentanyl. Since i want to go off Fentanyl 75mcg i said just help me off the Fent. and pt me  on Vicoprofen. He is giving me 90 tabs. So here is the kicker from 75mcg he gave me 5 patches of 25mcg. He wants me to take 2 that should last 3days and after that 2 that should last 6 days and the last one another 6 days. This is such a joke. He didn't have any problems giving me the Fentanyl but weaning off it seems to be different. I called his nurse right after i relaised this and said if i get super sick on this and i loose my job over this he will be hearing from me. Even the pharmasist said that is a big jump. This did not turn out the way i thought. I can just imagine what my pain is going to be like. Thanks, F1 swede

[f1swede]

Is there ant dangers i should watch out for when going off this ?. It says on the box go off slowly. I'm having slight or early whitdrawls from the 75mcg on the 2nd day. This is going to be a battle i think. Thanks, F1

[tropicalsoul]

I was on the 100 mic Fentanyl patch for 6 months and to this day would run over the doctor for starting me out at that high a dose.  I remember running out and had to wait 4 days for a refill...I had no idea what was ahead of me.  I actually went to the ER because I did not know what was happening to me.  Of course the nurses and doctors knew.

Anyway...Fentanyl is as close to heroin as you can get and approx. 30 times stronger than morphine.  Once I decided to quit I went cold turkey and it was the worst 30 days of my life...I will never do that again.  I would not recommed cold turkey to anyone.  

If you are trying to quit pain meds totally you might ask your doctor about Suboxone.  I've never tried it and have heard mixed results about this.  It has saved some lives and made others terribly sick.

Lots of hots baths or showers seemed to help me and my doctor gave me some kind of prescription strength benadryl when just made me dizzy.  Good luck with this.  You may try the addiction forum for better advice.

[Mollyrae]

Sorry to hear that your Doctor is pulling at your heart strings. It doesn't sound like he really cares how you come off of the drug. That worries me. It takes some ppl months to come off of the fentanyl.

Thank goodness in your case, you have not been on the drug for a long period of time. It shouldn't be as hard to wean off of it.

The Patch will NOT last 6 days... that is like going cold turkey. The last 2 days will be pure h**. I suggest that you get on the phone with an addiction specialist...Not that you need one. But they can help with weaning off of the Fentanyl. They can give you direction so that you are not suffering big time.

In the worst case, you can always visit the ER and tell them your story. They can also medicate you or at least give you something to help.

After all is said and done, I would definitely find a new Doctor. From the sounds of it all, he doesn't really care about your well being. He is not taking into account how bad you are going to feel.

Please take care and thanks for the update.
Mollyrae

[f1swede]

Thanks for getting back to me. That is what i'm the most upset about that he is taking me off that quick. The 75mcg i been using dont last 3days so i think this is going to be interesting. I have 90 Vicoprofen to back me up but i think they are to weak for the Fentanyl to make the whitdrawls comfortable. My Doc. was very stressed when i saw him yesterday. I think the DEA had a talk with him because he never behaved this way before. That is just a guess on my part but something is up. Like i said before he gave me pretty much an ultimatum. Either you go with the Fentanyl or go back on Vicoprofen at a max. of 90 tabs. This is telling me he is no longer interested in my pain so we will see how this turns out. I will let you guys know how this taper turns out. Thanks, f1swede

[Babs1469]

Ahh sweetie, my heart goes out to you, It is lucky though that you at least have this fourm to come to, no physical comfort but at least there is so much emotional support and great GREAT advice from some really cool people who have all either been where you are or can empathize and sympathize from a peer perspective. I am sure this is of little comfort when you are facing such a daunting task but please know that you ARE NOT alone

XOXO
Babs

[f1swede]

Thanks for your kind words. F1swede

[Mollyrae]

Hey F1sewde:

I was wondering what kind of Patch you have. Is is filled with gel or are they stricktly the Adhesive form? If they are not gel filled then with Doctors consent, it is possible to cut the patch for better releif rather than making one Patch last 6 days. At least you will have some kind of benefit from it.

You cannot do this with the gel filled patches.

Just wondering.

[Babs1469]

great idea mollyrae, I hate to admit this but I might even have done this without dr's concent. I mean look at the alternative. I'm sorry I know it is wrong.

[NoMoMeth4me]

What are the differences between the two patches? Mine are 25mcg and look like a clear thin band aid.

Haven't opened the 50mcg yet, but the package is 3 times bigger.

Which is better? The gel ones or the other ones?

[f1swede]

They are from Mylan so it's not the gel kind. When would i start cutting ?. I cut the 100mcg in two what i would call 50 mcg. Not shure how i should do this. I just hope the Vicoprofen will help me out a little bit with W/D and pain. Talk to you guys later. F1swede

[jazzmin1986]

I had a doctor ask me one time if I have ever heard of the Duragesic Pain Patch and I think that is the same thing as Fentyl .... isnt it?  But I told him I heard some bad things about it and would not want to be put on it.  I have heard that Dr.'s are good at putting people on strong pain medication and then for some reason take them completely off of it.  Is this true?  Im afraid of alot of medicine cause I have heard alot about people getting addicted to it and other things.  I dont know to much about medicine...  but sometimes I wish I had something better than Lyrica... I still hurt alot... not to mention my headaches that I have about every day.  Im so thankful I have found this forum.  Almost forgot ... I have read on the internet that people having withdrawals are sometimes put on Methadone cause its a pain reliever but also a opiate blocker. Like I said I just read it.. so I dont know personally.  Take care and good luck!      
                                                                                      Jazzmin1986

[torial]

First & Foremost (I regret my bad judgement but what's done is done).  I am a mom of 2 very energetic boys and a husband who is the same.  Recently we went on vacation which required tons of walking and long hours every day.  I have both kinds of arthritis,fibromyalgia, hypothyroidism & etc.  While trying to forget about my conditions and just enjoy my time with  my family, I ran out of my regular meds.  I have a friend who has similar med. problems.  We discuss our conditions between each other so not to burden the families. Anyway she had 4 extra 100 Fentynal patches so I ate them in about a week and a half period. ( I know stupid!)  I am supposed to test this month and don't want this showing up.  Does anyone know how long it takes to leave the body system?  I understand there are prob. alot of variables but I am speakikng in general.  I can't believe I did this and now I am scared to death of this showing up on my urine screen..  Any ideas.  This is not something I would recommend to anyone.  I did this out of desperation.  I realize I cannot ultimately mask the obvious but I wanted so much to fit in and be like everyone else for once.  This only creates a bigger problem,  Any help would be so appreciated with the assurance this will not happen again. Thank you,   Torial

[mechanic100]

I have been on 200 mg of fentanyl patches every 48 hours for well over a year.
I tapered to about 25 over the last 1 months.
Last Tuesday  I quit all together.
I was fine for 36 hours or so but then all hell broke loose.
At this time and moment I have zero energy, and I mean zero.
I have not been able to eat for three days, and the runs are non stop
This is day 6 and nothing is getting better.
I was on 3 80 mg of oxycontin for a few years and I thought the withdrawals were bad from that, they are actually bad, but in an emotional way.
Fentanyl seems much more physical, I own my own business and can't work
From the lack of energy, reaching for the remote control is like climbing mount everest, it truly is that bad.
And restless legs, but I am especially very cold.
Who knows I may have something else, but from experience I think it's the patches.
I advise people not to ask there dr for this crap, do yourself a huge favor

GOOD LUCK

Mechanic

[Jaybay]

mechanic - jumping off the patch at 25 mics is HUGE and no reasonable, knowledgeable doctor would allow you to do that.  I had the same experience going from 75 to 50 mics.  Not too bad for the first couple of days and suddenly around noon on day 3 someone flipped the withdrawal switch.  I don't even like to remember that episode but I think it's seared into my memory for all time.  (shudder)

If you intend to stick with this plan, get some Immodium for the runs and concentrate on staying hydrated.  Soaking in a hot bath helps temporarily with the restless legs and anxiety.  Adding Epsom salts helps too.  

Your withdrawal symptoms can easily keep you out of work for two to three weeks.  After that, it may take a few more weeks before you feel completely normal again both physically and emotionally.  If losing that much time at work will economically ruin you, then you need to talk to your doctor about a slower taper or switching you to oral meds that are easier to taper.  By the time you get down to 25 mics, you feel each successive drop a little more than previous decreases.  If you don't want to switch to oral meds, a 12 mcg patch is available.  You'll still feel withdrawal symptoms for a while, but not as severe as what you're experiencing now.

[im4u]

I have been on the Fentanyl 100 for five years. I am disabled from the war and I was in a head on colision which killed the other driver and mamed my passenger and myself. I hope I spelled it right. I was given the patch so I did not have to take as many pills every day. The other driver only had $25000 in insurance so that with my insurance did not go far since the helicopter ride was $8000 and the emergency room and hospital bills came to over $70000 dollars . I apolligize for rambling but long story short the VA picked up my medicine. I have been on 100mcg/hr for five years and I want you to know you are not alone. Alot of people are going through what you are going through. I cried when I saw your post because I know what the withdrawalls are like. I am having a hard time writing this so please bear with me. I made the mistake of eating two grass brownies and tested positive for grass which made the VA drop me from pain meds. GOD BLESS AMERICA. That being said I was lucky to get methadone and I am now reducing my methadone form 30mg a day to 15mg a day . You can do it they know that pain will not kill you but some people will kill themselves. I was going through some unbelievable withdrawles. I put a shotgun in my mouth and God stopped me. You will make it. I am sorry for my rambling but I wanted to tell you that you are not alone in suffering.. One thing that has helped me is my grandmother was a Creek indian and had told my mother that when you get the restless leg syndrome and I know you have ,everyone who stops taking the patch gets it. Try taking a little vinegar mixed with water helps with the legs trying to move. Hang in there you can do it but you need help from friends and God. thanks for reading this post and I am  with you along with about 10,000 other people. The DEA is the problem not the cure.