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my grandmother

My grandmother is in her late 60's she has been on the fentanyl patch for almost 3 years she started @50 mil. now she's @ 100 I am a recovering perscription drug user and my grandmother said that she wants to get off the patch I wa strying to explain that even if she uses the patch correctly she will have withdrawls but she doe'nt believe me i don't want her 2 kill herself doing this but she will not listen to me and I need advice on how 2 get her 2 understand that I am telling her the truth anyone have any ideas???
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Avatar universal
This is just my opinion....she is in pain or the doctor wouldn't have given it to her.  He increased it b/c it's quite normal to build a tolerance even when not abusing these meds.  Yes, she will most certainly have some w/d symptoms.

But, I don't understand why she'd want to get off of it.  She is in her late 60's and is in pain.  I don't think she realizes how much this is adding to her quality of life....meaning how much worse the pain and how she feels would be w/o it.  Try to convince her to stay on it, unless of course she has a legitmate reason for wanting off.  

Again this is just my opinion, my mother is on 240mg of oxycontin for chronic pain due to 2 incurable diseases.  She knows that this medicine will shorten her life span, but she knows that if she didn't have this med to help her w/her pain....she would have no life....so my mom chooses quality of life over quantity of life.  Just my personal thoughts.  Good luck to your grandma!  I wish you both the best.
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Avatar universal
Hello and welcome to the forum.. the best thing to do is go with her to the Dr.s and speak with him.. he can explain the problems with this and if she is adamant he can implement a taper plan.. Yes wd will be there but with the help of her Dr. he can offer meds that will help. If she refuses to do this look up fentanyl wd here on mh and let her read what others have gone through to get off. What does she plan to do for the pain after she comes off ? she needs a plan if this is her desire and her Dr. really needs to be in on it.. I wish you both the best and Congrats on your recovery... lesa
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401095 tn?1351391770
She needs to include her dr in this so he can help her taper off
as a rule people go down in strength of the patch and then slowly get down to the 12.5 mcg patch....rls and wds are possibly inevitable to some degree as fentanyl is a strong drug.....often hydros or percs can be used to help thru as well as a benzo of some sort....elderly do need to be careful jumping off a strong drug like fentanyl,,,not as easy as tabs or oxies..not that any are easy
Can you go with her and talk with her physician about this?
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