acute fentanyl withdrawals need advice

[gasman.0]

I am a healthcare professional in my 30's and i started injecting fentanyl about 8 weeks ago. I started with one day 1st week to try it, then as the weeks went on increaed my usage up to about 500-1000mcg/24hr(roughly equiv to a 50/hr patch for 24 hr). I finally realized what had happened about a week or 2 ago and now since i'm starting a 3 week vacation with my wife decided to take my life back. I have however not slept since my last dosing which was about 2 days now on saturday. the first 2 days have been total and complete hell with the chills/sweating non stop, i feel like i'm about to come out of my skin i can't sit down to even try to distract myself by watching TV b/c of the intense restlessness. This restlessness has also cause me to be fatigued at night even after nyquil and unisom for sleep i'm tired feel like death but can't sit still long enough t sleep. I've tried hot showers which are only effective for about 5 minutes after i get out then back to nervous nelly. I felt like 8 weeks of exposure wasn't too terribly long and didn't anticipate the withdrawals being this severe. When does it get better or does it just plateau and stay the same for a long time. Does anyone have some experience with this cold turkey withdrawal from roughly 50mcg/hr and when does it get better. I have considered cancelling my cruise with my wife b/c sat will be the 7th day clean but if i still feel like this i won't be able to stand being trapped on a boat. I need some sort of guidance on what to expect in the future. Please help. Thanks.

[strungup]

Did you ever get clean? im on 160mg/34mls of methadone and i started injecting a whole box of 100mcg/16.8mg durogesic fentanyl patches on top of the methadone in one hit..its been 7 days since i had my last fentanyl and this morning was worse than the last 6 days,i think the methadone is the only reason im still alive by the sounds of it. i get a few hours relief from my methadone during the day but was so sick this morning that if i hadve had access to a dr i would have deffinately given up.This is worse than the worse heroin detox i ever went through.being able to feel it over the top of 34mls of methadone shows how strong it is. i was going really well as there has been hardly any heroin in aus for years so it was just the methadone.i was stable,living a seemingly normal life until i became pregnant and started throwing up my methadone,as i had miscarried 2mths earlier i was petrified of losing the bub,after using my takeaways to replace my thrown up doses of methadone i went to see a dr as my clinic was closed and he said you can,t go without or you may miscarrioage again,he told me to put the patch on for the weekend until i could see my clinic on monday. this awakened the slleeping beast of my past addiction to heroin. how long am i going to feel like this? ive been caught dr shopping and am now have comm service on my back concerned about my kids even though im an addict that dosn't mean im a bad mum. back to the withdrawles,i have to produce clean urine tests and so can't take benzos,codiene,anything!!!!!!!

[scoenen]

opps-  I just looked at the date this was originally posted.  Its been over 4 years so I hope and pray he had already handled this problem.

[scoenen]

i came off Fentanyl in july.  I was up to 75mcg and was starting to chew for pain relief and to stem off withdrawals.  There is no way around it- it S$%^ hard.  I looked and felt like death for about 2 weeks before I even started to feel somewhat human.  Baths, vitamins, etc did not help.  Nothing but time did.  At your dose and method of intake I would seriously be considering getting help from a doc or use pills to come off.  Normally I would never suggest using any narcotics but coming off that high of dose and injecting can be very dangerous.  I was extremely dehydrated because of the stomach and digestive problems and I would assume yours are worse than what I went through.  Normally, coming off narcotics are not life threatening but fentanyl is a whole different animal.

  I will send you a email so check your inbox.

I am praying for you-
scoenen

[msswanny]

my husband is 70 years old.  Has been on Fentanyl patches75 and 1200 mics logenzes for 5 years.He takes 5 a day of the suckers.He has severe pain in his back(not cancer).  Was given this by pain management dr.  Has never really killed the pain,he says it helps,makes life a little better..Has been getting worse over the years.Also has an intertheacal pump with fentanyl in it.                  Walks bent over,really suffers.
Insurance will no longer pay for the drug,so in 11 days he will be out of the medicine.His pain management dr. doesn't seem too concerned.
we meet with him tomorrow.What advice can you give us to take with us on the dr. visit.i am very worried about withdrawal.  he is weak anyway,has high b.p. has been trying to cut down the fentynal and is having diarrhea.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  
***@****

[qiumingyan]

I'm new to this website and not sure how to go about asking SubDoc Jeff Junig a question.  I searched his name and it didn't bring anything up.  Is there a specific route to take to find him (maybe he'd be listed under members?).  Thanks.

[122 Tactical Fighter Group]

For those that have fentanyl questions........the SubDoc Jeff Junig answers questions on the expert addiction forum here .... He knows all sides of the fentanyl issues..... and he is willing to help and answer questions..

[qiumingyan]

My husband took one of his mother's Fentanyl patches and wore it, and his body immediately became addicted to it.  He hid this from me for 8 months all the while becoming more dependent on it. It got to where he was cutting it up in strips and wrapping it around a piece of hard candy and putting it in his mouth to suck on like dip and going through one, sometimes two per day.  He has been going through w/d 12 days now.  the first few days were like a nightmare and sleep was not an option.  But now, although he does get headaches off and on and has some creepy crawlies while trying to sleep at night, he's getting in about 5 hours of sleep per night and feeling much better.  I've read so many posts and am trying to prepare myself for what's to come.  Is this the worst of it?  I've heard 2 weeks, 1-2 months, and 4-6 months are realistic timeframes for withdrawal, so that seems so broad.  Does it all just depend on the body/amount, etc?  My husband has a very high tolerence to meds and can take a dangerously high amount of something without feeling any effects.  Do you think it's safe to say if he stays clean and pushes through, he will most likely be feeling pretty normal in the next 2 weeks to 6 months?  Any thoughts on this?  By the way, I'm looking for someone posting that what he did was dangerous or any other "helpful" advice that really doesn't do anything for us now.  What's done is done.  Just looking for some realistic hope and awareness for pressing on.  I've really appreciated reading others' posts.  Thanks.

[gasman.0]

you've all beena true blessing and the encouragement was exactly what i needed at some of the hardest times. The first 2 days we're rediculous, i hadn't slept since friday night so up all sat/sun/mon then finally my body shut down mon noght about mn and i slept 9 hours i thought THANK GOD! I felt so jittery and the restless leg syndrome was rdiculous. I felt as though i was going to come out of my skin. Your words really helped.

[bowhunter71064]

i only was on patch for a month started on 50 mcg then i started to work only 2 days so i got bumped up to 75mcg well i got wacked out for day and half so i went to doc and he said start over he says it will equal out and you wont feel bad so i started over but i withdrew the whole three days so on day three i ripped that patch off grabbed my whole month supply and threw every thing in the wood burner. w/d hard for 2 more days then by day 3 i was able to be normal.days4,5 were great. the bowhunter

[suprglyde]

Gas, Just a footnote from someone who has been there, done that, got a t-shirt.  Don't go c/t with Fentanyl.  It's just too powerful.  If you must, however, give yourself a full fourteen days to start.  Good luck - I'm pulling for ya.
-

[suprglyde]

Hi Gas,
I have been on the patch for over four years non-stop.  I didn't know it came in a liquid - or am I just being naive?  I did, however, run out of patches once about a year and a half ago.  It was four of the worst days of my life!!!  I was soo glad to get back on them, I cried.  My own fault though, I mismanaged how many I had.  I should have gone to my Dr. then, and asked to be put on something else, but I just hadn't done enough research on the drug at the time.  Live and learn!!

[manonfire]

I can't stay long, I hope my comments helped, yours helped me. Lets stay in touch. Contact me when you come back. I will be online again tomorro night if all goes according to my plan, but if I have to bang in sick again, I'll be home all day. Either way send me a note. ok?

[manonfire]

Also read my post a coupla ones down in which I tank LS, it tells more of my story. Please be careful! My friend was found alone in his house sitting naked on his chair with his dog by his side. His friends and wife had cleared out due to his behavior while he was using. He died naked in a filthy house next to his dog. That is not a way anyone should have to go out! There is a pretty good chance that I will be dying soon, and I want to live! I want to experience life, not block it all out with dope, and yet I can't seem to get it to where I want it fast enough! Time is not on my side. Go on your cruise for God's sake! Youa can be sick and miserable anywhere, but on a cruise, you just might find something beautiful to take your mind off of it. Enjoy your wife and enjoy your life. It is a precious gift, and I know it don't seem like it when you have the jimmies, swaets, sh*ts, and aches, but it is! Maybe if you have the strength to do it, then I can too!

[LadySundown]

I know you're feeling worse than awful, and yes that's possible. Fentanyl is 100 times as strong as morphine, but I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. My experience with fentanyl pain patches wasn't by my choosing, but it's sure hard to get off of it. A nurse practitioner put it on me in rehab where I was for PT after four surgeries to have the large bone in my upper arm removed due to a malignant tumor in the middle of the bone. I didn't have any pain after the first week and I'm VERY unhappy that I was put on it.
I have been on a long taper. Was on 100mcg/hr to start, went to 75mcg without much trouble, going down to 50 was bad. I had w/d symptoms for two weeks. Like the most severe case of the flu. Then after I stabilized for a while I went down to where I am now. I wear a 25mcg plus a 12mcg. It's time to take the 12 off and just wear the 25 but I have been putting it off. My family Dr. is working with me. Watch your potassium. Mine has bottomed out twice.

I wish there was something I could tell you to make you feel better. You have some decisions to make and I wouldn't want to be in your shoes. Is there a chance you could tell your wife and she would understand?? Sometimes we don't give people we love a chance to help us. What about going into detox?? Detox at home?? I'm just throwing some ideas at you. I sincerely feel bad for you. You're young and fentanyl is the meanest drug I know of. Have you had rls?? I have at night and it drives me crazy.

There is a big difference between wearing a 50mcg fentanyl patch and shooting it up. It takes the patch three days to empty into your body and shooting takes a minute. Your body is going through so much that I just don't think c/t is an option unless you can trust someone in the medical field enough to ask them for advice. Please keep posting. I'm worried about you.

Take care my friend....LS

[manonfire]

Even as I contemplate giving up, I read your post. I have been sucking on about9-10 actiq lozenges per day for about 1 month now. I have been on actiq since august of 06, but didn't start to really go over my script dose until the 1st part of this month. It has been insideous. 1st it was 3 a day. I convinced the doc that 4 per day would be perfect, then it was an oh-what-the-hell 5, then 6, then 7 than 8 then 9, then 10. Of course I am going to run out LONG before I can ask for a refill. So I am screwed. (they don't allow the f word on here or I'da used it)Tried to day to taper off from 9-10 a day down to 4, thought I'd be ok. WRONG. I've had 7 today now, and I feel ok again. But the day has been spent with stomach cramps, sweats, and pain, (Not the w/d pain, but my real pain issues. My tooth has been sending me electrical shocks for the whole afternoon. I can knuckle thru the ice-pick in my eye, but the tooth pain is exsqusite, and real hum-dinger, hard to get passed. I have sweat pouring down my face right now, even as I type this in my chilly basement. Hence my nickname. I think that you were sent to me by God, so that I can see that all things are possible. Thank you so much for sharing. You don't have any idea how much you have helped me. Sorry I can't help you more, I am not goiong C/T...yet! I will soon be out of Fentanyl however. God I pray that you make it! Please check in with me while you are able, I want to help as much as I can. To read my story scroll down to Fentanyl Help Needed. I know it will pass, but it sure doesn't seem like it right now, does it? With you all the way. Actually, one of my childhood friends just died injecting fentanyl. It will kill you if you continue, you know that if you keep on, the doses will keep getting higher. What sucks is that the high doesn't get higher. It just goes away leaving you a drug-addled mess, which is what I have become. Anything I can do to help you make it, let me know!

[gasman.0]

thank you so much iwas just so fearful. I;m in the stage where it feels as though it will never end. I right now am starting my 3rd 24 hour period so tomorrow i gues is day 3 but i sure hope it's better than today. Thank you any more information is always appreiated even if it's just someone saying the same thing i just want to hear it will get better soon. Thanks

[beachtowel]

Wow it is amazing how thinking about something can bring back suck clear vivid memories..........

[Whenwillitend]

You should definately feel better by the 7th day. You may not feel 100%, but you should be able to enjoy your vacation. Heck, the change of scenery may be all that it takes to make a giant change in how you feel.

The first 3 days are hell -- the first 5 can really stink as well. At the one week mark, most physical symptoms should be gone - except maybe diahrea (bring immodium) -- you may be slightly dysphoric, but I'm thinking a change of scenerey will do you wonders. You will possibly be achey - and have less than normal motivation - but on day 8 (and one of my worse WD's), I'd be willing to go somewhere else. :)

[beachtowel]

Welcome to the site.......

Your the first person since I have been here who has said to injected Fentanyl.
injecting Fentanyl and Dalaudid were my drug of choice.

You don't have to do these for a long time to feel some nasty W/D's

Everybodys body is different, if that is all the drugs you have done your probably looking at five days.....