Need correct info from a pharmacist please

[kerria]

Hi
, i posted in the pain management forum all about my situation but have not received any replies. i really need to ask a pharmacist - Are Duragesic patches that expired on 12/2005 and 09/2005 still ok to use?

Please reply if you know. The patches were prescribed for me before- i am in need of two-days medicine coverage. i take oxycontin 80mg 3 x a day.
Also would one 75mcg plus one 50 mcg be equivilent?
i desperately need correct info.

Thanks so much,
kerria

[flower12345]

Welcome to the forum. I am so sorry for your loss.

You have gotten great advice.

Please do not put those Fentanyl Patches on your skin. It is not worth risking death, or other life-threatening illnesses.

You could DIE if you put that patch on. The consequence is not worth the risk.

Please--before you do that...call your doctor. Call your pharmacist. I even think that you would be better off in the long run if you broke your contract and went to the ER. Because breaking your contract would be better than dying. That's how bad of an idea I think it would be to put that patch on. You don't want to die from something that you can prevent! It's not worth it. I'm not an alarmist, but this is very serious.

Also, it sounds like you need a new doctor. I know that is easier said than done, but you NEED a doctor that will work with you in regards to your gastro/nausea issues.

I recently read an article about taking expired medications. There are SO MANY things that can go wrong. 1. Too much of the medication could be released and you could die.
2. The medication could have changed and you could now have an allergic reaction to it (and die). 3. You could get very sick! 4. It could be ineffective.

I understand feeling hopeless and helpless because of pain, but you WILL get through this.



Finally, DON'T DO IT! PLEASE!

Hugs,

Flower

[geminigirl1963]

I just read your previous post and understand now what the situation is with why you've run out.  I'm sorry I didn't do that prior to answering this post.

Unfortunately, my reading and understanding what the situation is doesn't change my opinion that it would be a BAD idea to use the expired patches.  It truly could not only be dangerous, but could possibly even be a lethal decision.

I also must stress again that if you are under a pain contract (even if you're not, but especially if you are) - taking a med of any kind that is not prescribed by your pain doc is not only dangerous (because of possible interactions, overdosing, etc), but it would violate your contract with your doctor and could very possibly cause you to be dismissed from their practice.  If that happened, you could be in a lot worse situation than needing a couple of days' worth of pain coverage.

In regards to your vomiting, are you taking anything for that?  If you're not, you may want to ask your doctor about having something on hand for the vomiting - it could help avoid this type of situation - vomiting up your pain meds.

I'm sorry to hear of your loss and best of luck.  Please let us know what you find out and what you decide to do.

[geminigirl1963]

I also agree that it is definitely NOT a good idea to use these expired patches - for a number of reasons:

1) As Namnam mentioned above, the medication could have changed over the years and could either be ineffective OR could possibly even be dangerous (some meds become very dangerous after their expiration date.)

2) The patch material itself could have broken down over those years possibly causing a potentially lethal release of medication when applied.

3) Even though these had been prescribed to you in the past, I'm presuming since you say you now take oxycontin that your doctor no longer wants you to use the patches and that, in itself, is a reason not to - especially if you are under a narcotic contract.  Even though a medication may be prescribed for us at one time and is perfectly safe and correct at that time, it does NOT mean that that same medication is appropriate or safe to use at another time - even if our symptoms are similar.  In other words, even if your doctor prescribed, say, penicillin, for a sore throat one time and it worked well and you made out perfectly fine with it - it does NOT mean that if you get a sore throat another time that you should take any leftover penicillin that you may have (not that you should have any leftover anyway since you should hae finished it with the first illness, but you get my drift).

My question to you is why are you needing a couple of days' worth of pain med coverage?  Did you happen to run out of your oxycontin early?  Or are you just not able to get your prescription in time so therefore you would be running out before you can?

If you are running out of your meds early, for whatever reason, you need to contact your doctor and let him/her know.  That way they can advise you of the best way to handle this situation, whether it be they give you an early script for your meds, or advise you on anything else you may be able to take until you are eligible for your new script.  If you are running out early because the oxycontin is not controlling your pain adequately on your current dose, you also need to discuss this with your doctor and see what they say about a possible change in meds or increase in dose.

Best of luck, but PLEASE DO NOT USE THOSE PATCHES!

[SLadylani]

No, any expired medication is expired for a reason, especially if it has been over 5 years. With the 75mcg and 50mcg, I assume you're talking about the duragestic patches? 75+50=125mcg or 1.25mg, if that answers your question about that, but am a little unsure what you mean. I hope this helps. Good luck and best wishes.

Sara RN

[namnam46]

Hi kerria,

I'm on the Fentanyl Patches also,  I would NEVER use patches that are more than 5 years old!!  PLEASE don't do that.  The medication could have changed in it ovr that period of time OR it could simply not be effective at all.

As far as I know there are NO Pharmacists on this forum.  You need to call YOUR Pharmacist OR ANY pharmacist and se what they tell you.

Fentanyl is MUCH stronger than Oxycontin.  I'm going to say again, PLEASE DO NOT USE THE OLD PATCHES.

I'm VERY concernd for you.................Sherry  :)