quetion about derugisc

[painafterfusion]

Hi I was wondering if anyone know's if there is much of a difference from name brand and generic fentanly patch's

[nurseaudrea]

Don't give up hope. Don't start thinking the pain will never get better. Just keep a positive outlook and think hopefully the nerves are still swollen and reacting to what they went through from surgery. I had a fusion and came out with worse nerve pain than I had originally. I thought it was a disaster also. I had some nerves that had to be lysed due to adhesions. My nerves hurt so bad it was debillitating. It lasted a good couple of months. As the months went by, the pain became less intense until finally,it all but went away. I was on Neurontin at high doses to help with the pain. It may have helped some, really don't remember. I just could not believe you could be in so much more pain after surgery to fix the problem, and then it feels worse. My doc also told me it takes a month at a time for 1mm or cm for the nerve to regenerate and heal itself. So, if I had a previous compression of the nerve, it could take months up to a year for the nerve to fully heal itself. Well, it finally did. I feel so much better now. They don't hurt anything like they used to. I don't take Neurontin anymore, but from time to time I do still get little twinges of electricity type pain. But,it is not constant so I dont worry about it.

Hopefully you just need more time to heal. In the meantime, take the right meds and let your body heal. I pray that you have a speedy recovery.           Audrea

[painafterfusion]

HI. It has been about 2 mo. My Dr. said it did not look like there was any swelling but i don't know if there can be swelling on the in side. and as for the  trauma i dont know about that can that take a long time? I don't know any thing about any of this and ask tons of qeustion. I'm verry thankful for this web site and others like this one. I wish i would have done all the reading i have done now before the surgery.

thanks

rob

[Tuckamore]

Hi Again,

It is impossible to determine on this board if the surgeon made an error or if this is just a (sorry to say) rare, but possible side effect of the procedure. I don't think any surgeon expects anything more than the best from a surgical correction. So many patients do not read the fine print when they sign the surgical consent form. If you still have a copy of it I encourage you to read it. Unless your nerve injury is a result of gross misconduct by the surgeon that surgical consent protects him from undesirable outcomes.

Surgery in the cervical area of the spine is in my opinion more risky than other areas of the spine. According to what I have read and in my experience cervical surgeries have a higher incidence of spinal cord or spinal nerve damage complications. In the cervical area the structures are small and even a minor deviation during surgery can make a big difference in the results.

I am not a physican or an attorney and the above is only a personal opinion. Others will post with their opinions or suggestions. I hope your pain will be more controlled. And as I responded in your other post nerves can calm down after swelling decreases and trauma to the area subsides. Take Care, Tuck

[painafterfusion]

Hi every one i just seen th dr and found out that there is sever nerve damage and they think it is permanent. i have to go to work for a few weeks so i can git temporary disability why i try to find something that will help They moved me to100mcg patchs and told me not to do much with my right arm. If this is not going to git any better i dont know what to do. I'm a pipefitter and thats the only thing i know how to do that will pay all the bills. If i want to make the same money i would have to go to school
for 12 yrs and i cant afford to do that im not sure what im going to do.
Is it possible to tell is it was the surgeon's fault and if so how can i go about it

[nick30]

if your pain is nerve pain then it is true that the patches aren't the first line of treatment. however if they have helped you somewhat then i don't think it's too much too ask that you be on them until you have your nerve meds in your system.
the patch is normally only used in long term cases, not post-operatively so perhaps shorter acting meds would be even more appropriate. I think there are a few nurses/ex-nurses on this site who might be able to help you with further advice
good luck, sorry to hear things aren't so good.
nick

[Babs1469]

I prefer the patches without the reservoir and I was  able to speak to my pharmasist and he said that he would keep those kind in stock for me because the last time I got a refill I got the ones with the gel you can see in the patch. It is a personal preference and If you are in good standing with your pharmacey I think they will work with you. Best of luck.

[painafterfusion]

Hello every one.I thank the both of you .
I would like to tell you a few things that i have been experiencing.
maybe one of you have some addvice. i had a cervical desectomy and fusion and i have done nothing but regret it i the firs few day after th surgery {3-4 days} and i started to have bad pain and the next day i woke up and i was about in tears so i called my surgeon's office and about 5 or 6 hrs later a nures called me back so i told them about what was going on and they called me in some valuem's and said it was muscles
that was tighening up so i went a nother weekand it was giting worse i caled them agin
same thing did not call back for 6 hrs i told them that something was wrong. { like to think i fairly tough and it had me in bed doingnothing but crying on some day and i dont remember the last time i cryed} when they called back i told them i was in sever pain and they changed the mind and said it was the nerves healing and they found out they for got to put ne on any nerve med's{lyrica} at this time it had been 2 weeks after surgery the said that it took to a week to git in my system i was mad about that even if it did work it would have already been in my system 8 or 9 day later i could not stand it and called my DR around 8 that night and he told me to go in the morning and git a mri and at this time i was about to lose my mind so i asked him what can i do tonight about it he said i dont know what do  you want to do i told him he was the dr not me he said to go to theER thats when they put the first patch on me and for the 3 day i felt some what better there was still pain but it was tolerable so i got the mri done and went and seen him and tould him that the patch was helping and he told me that he did not give pain meds for nerve med that they would not git rid of the pain i tryed to tell him that it mite not take it a way but it will help and it was any way i went and see a  family dr and he asked witch mcg it was and my wife and us both said 75wellthe first day it was good and helped a lot around 24 hrs later i was sick and had a headach  so i took it off i didnt know it would not go back on so he gave me a srip for the 50 ande the same time i got sick but this time i got some nausea meds but the pain was still to muchso i went back to the 75s and they help a lot but the loratabs dont work for b/t pain and he wont give me any thing mor then what he alread is tell i git the test done and see what is wrong but i have read a ton of things about nothing showing up on the test and if there is nothing will dr still treat me  

sorry for such a big post got a lot on my mind
also i have done better on the  watts75s and out of the 2 diffren 50 did better with the duragesic

i would like to hear any thing you can tell me

Rob

[lyerhc]

The real name is Duregisic (Fentenyl) Patches everyone is different and most insurances will not pay for the brand name so you either have Mylan as some said which has no resiviour and is very thin those are the ones that stay on me the best and then there are sandoz which you can actually see the resiviour but I find them bulky and you can see them through your clothes and they never stay on me like I said everyone is different so one month get sandoz and one month get mylan and see which one you like better, all 3 give the same pain control, be patient though after you put it on for the first time it takes a good 8-10 hours to work so don't get frustrated and be patient.  Good Luck and let me know how it works

[painafterfusion]

thanks for youthe time and info.

Rob

[nick30]

on the thin patches the medicine is actually the sticky adhesive stuff.
whereas the resevoir types have a gel/liquid in a small plastic resevoir. both work well but different ppl are suited to the different types.
I really like the thin ones. for me they are great. the resevoir type ones are perhaps a bit more dangerous(due to manufacturing defects). i think the sandoz ones are the resevoir type.
I would highly reccommend the Janssen brand. there are other ppl on this site who use other brands, many have been on them a long time and could give you more advice than me on the resevoir type patches. the thin patches release the drug at the same rate as the resevoir type patches. good luck.

nick

[painafterfusion]

I want to thank you for the info.The patch has saved me from going crazy from the day after day pain the messvboards have been grate as well.
talking to people like you that know what its like.
It to a month after my surgery to git a dr to listen to what i was saying i finely got in to see my family dr and told him i was realy about to lose my mind and he could tell i was not joking.

do you know if the sandoz brand is this the reservoir  type?
when i first seen the mylan type i thought ther was no med. in it.

I  dont understand how the thin one's work how is there that much med on them?

[nick30]

i take the jannssen brand(who invented the patch i think). it is very good. it is one of the thin nicotine type patches(it doesn't have a resevoir on it). as you are new to the patch i will give you some advice on how to make it work the best.

put it on after a bath/shower - but not straight away, wait 30mins or so, until there is no moisture on your skin at all.
when you put it on, put it on an area of skin that doesn't bend or twist as you move around and make sure you hold it on firmly with the palm of your hand.
i hold mine on for a minute or so. the longer the better.
also i will say where i put mine (some ppl can't put it here due to sensitive skin). I put mine either on the left or right side of my midline just along my waist(so that my undies and pants hold it on). this part of your body stays at a very constant temperature and that is important for the patch to work well.

if you need any more help, just ask
good luck

nick

[painafterfusion]

thinks for the in put im new here and new to the patch and i'm readying everything i find
was verry nerves about it you hear all of the bad things on tv about them
what you dont here is how much and how many people it helps it has done wonders for me and im just giting it figured out on wgohat is going to work best for me i tried the
50's and the first one was put on me at the ER and then i seen my family DR
he gave me a prescription for 10 of the 50's and they are mylan brand and i do not think that they work near as good as the the watts and the 50left me in about as much pain as with out it so i was put on the 75's and they work wonders

nick what is the name brands

thinks a lot
Rob

[nick30]

i have only taken brand name patches so i can't tell you. there are definately ppl round who can tell you though.