Fentanyl patches

[hawaiiboy]

I've been on the patches for over 6 years and have gone down from 400 every 72 hrs. to 200 every 72 hrs., but I no longer know if I even need them anymore how do I get off of these things? I live in a very rural area and I don't think my doctor has much experience with this type of problem. Please any help would be appreciated.

[Shieldsman74]

I have a lot of experience with fentanyl patches but i must say you are on an incredibly high dose. Usually even in terminal cancer patients 300mcg/hr is the ceiling dose. 400mcg/hr is the equivalent of 960mg of oral morphine!!! (a 50mcg patch is equivalent to 120mg of morphine). That is truly an astronomical dose!!! Tapering from fentanyl patches is difficult as they cant easily but reduced in small increments. I woukd suggest trying to taper slowly to about 100mcg (they make a 12mcg patch for tapering purposes) then switch to an oral medication and taper from that. Methadone or suboxone can be used for this but only for short periods as they are terribly addictive and hard to get off if used long term. I was on 300mcg/hr durogesic fentanyl patch which is considered the ceiling dose and tapered down to 150mcg/hr then switched to methadone tabs which I am now tapering from. I have 17 years experience with this stuff so please pm me if I can be of any help.

[Mjberwick]

My wife has been on 400 mug for over 10 years and her doctor is weening her off at 25 mcg’s every two weeks, which is way to fast, what can she do about this

[clean_in_ks]

Your velcome.....pickin and grinnin :):)

[Sonrissa]

Thanks Clean! We can always depend on you to provide the links!

[clean_in_ks]

Welcome to the forum!  I don't know much about fent.patches, but wanted to give you a search page link that is full of different posts from others who also needed help with them.  Maybe thru reading all the posts and journals you can find via this link it will help until someone comes along with some experience.

http://www.medhelp.org/search?utf8=%26%23x2713%3B&query=fentanyl&camp=top_nav_search

[Sonrissa]

Hi there, and welcome, or should I say aloha? I don't have any personal experience with fentanyl patches, but I believe they are strong and you've been on them for a long time. I believe they should probably be tapered as it seems you have been doing. As far as whether you actually need them anymore, well that is a conversation you need to have with a doctor. If you think your doctor lacks experience, is it possible that you can speak to a different one? Hang tight and others with experience will weigh in with some advice. It can be a bit slow on the weekends, so don't get discouraged. In the meantime search some posts on fentanyl and you should find tons of info. I wish you all the best! Stick around here.