dangers with fentanyl patch?

[hd5145]

I started fentanyl patch few weeks ago at 25mcg then 12mcg patch was added last week. I am STILL having bad pain and "new" pain. I have read some horrible stuff on this medication and am worried about use, I read about liver damage? can you tell me about this?
Also have new pain as of 2 days ago, in neck on left side from base of skull that goes down (feels like) around scapula.It hurts in neck very bad when I take a deep breath in, this could be new disk problem which I will have mri done next week. Is it your thinking it is a disk or something else with this new pain?                                                 I have degenerative disk disease, have had neck fusion, mid back T11-12 fusion and am looking at a low back fusion. Fibromyaliga, and just chronic pain. I could go on...
I am new here so I dont know if I am even posting in right place or how this all works, help?

[concerned621]

I think we are all so different and please don't feel bad if something is working for you. I just was not motivated to do anything when I was using the patch for my pain management.  I slept a lot. I had little or not appetite.  What scared me more than anything was I decided it was too much medication and I just took it off one evening.  I went through such a detox, hallucinations, vomitting, chills, sweats. I didn't even realize what was going on.  So it like other narcotics cannot just be stopped.  And if it's managing your pain then you decide what is best.  I would not put heat directly on the patch itself.  You can put heat on other parts of your body.  Another thing that I started realizing for me personally was the rice bags, heating pads were making me achy.  I started using ice more often. I use heat when my upper back tightens or on my feet once in awhile. But never on my low back, I just seem to get worse.  I do sit in the sauna the gym, it's very dry heat and that does work for me.

There are other medications that can work for you and that is my opinion again I am not medically trained just a lot of personal experience.  I went from the patch to oxycontin. I    didn't do well initially with oxycontin, I had to start at a very low does. I take 40mg a day.  Now with me my goal and my doctor says this to me all the time, even if I am not 100% pain free as long as I am able to function in my daily life that is most important to me. I don't work anymore but I don't want to be so sedated or in bed all day.
And from my experience it is so rare to have a day where I feel 100% pain free.  

There is also methadone.  I tried it, it made me sleep and a bit down.  But it helped a lot with pain.  It is quite in-expensive as pain meds go and works well for a lot of people.  So there are other options for you.  
I do stress please don't ever feel guilt over what you are taking.  Just be sure it works for you and always be aware of side effects. If you are prescribed something like oxycontin I believe they will ween you off the patch slowly but you will have little side effects because you will be going from one narcotic to another.  But as always discuss with your doctor.  I personally would not want to use the patch again but respect and support anyone who feels they need to.  I hope that helps and if you have any other questions please email me.

[hd5145]

Thank You so much, I feel a little better after reading your post. But will follow up with doc. Thanx!!!

[Tuckamore]

Your are a member and I apologize for the confusing post. The word was "active" that I was trying to empathize. I should have been more clear, sharing your experience and responding to other posts is really what I meant.

Concerned is one of the very few that has obtained 100% pain releif. This is not a realistic goal for most chronic pain patients. All or most of us still have pain even with our pain medications. It is just controlled.

Regarding heat and the Fentanyl Patch. You should be able to bath. Brief sits in a jacuzzi should be allowed if your body temperature does not raise to 104 and your patch is not heated. Talk to your pharmacist to clarify the specifics of how you can use heat on your body, away from the patch location. A heating pad on another part of you body away from patch placement should not effect the disbursement of the medication. Never put a heating pad or any form of heat on the patch. I applied the patch to my upper shoulder and placed a heating pad on my hip. I also used a heated rice bag on my lower back. There were no ramifications. Again discuss this with your pharmacist.

The two most popular types of Fentanyl patches are the reservoir design, and the matrix design. There is no fentanyl gel in a matrix style patch.  Mylan pharmaceuticals makes a matrix patch.  A matrix fentanyl patch places the fentanyl in adhesive. There is therefore no gel to leak  The matrix design is considered safer because it cannot leak gel.  Again a good subject for your pharmacist. he/she can tell you which type you have. You should be able to view the difference and there is a lot of good information on the www.

I hope this has cleared up some questions for you. Your pharmacist is a great resource.

[hd5145]

Can I ask what your issue were with it? I am worried about the side effects, also due to the fact that a lot of my pain is muscle pain I LOVE HEAT! heating pad, rice bag heat, hot showers and I even got a hot tub! Now they say I can not use any of these things due t it will increase body temp and make medicine go into bady faster adn could cause bad bad effects. I am so stumped as to what to do! I have heard so many bad things about this patch but I can take 2 percocet and it does NOTHING! This has been on my mind since the other day, so yes I will talk to my pain doctor about it. There has to be some other medication that would work, right? ARg...

[concerned621]

I've had a cervical fusion as well as 2 other cervical surgeries and 4 lumbar surgeries and fibromyalgia.  I too was using the same patch.  I wasn't in any pain when using it.  I was on 25mg, then up to 50mg, then 100mg.  Although I was out of pain I was completely out of it. I was sleepy or asleep all the time.  I had no appetite, felt depressed and yes it has many serious side effects.  But all pain medication does.  Hopefully what your doctor is doing is ramping you up slowly which is what you want with this pain patch.   It is too strong to do it all at once.  So keep in daily contact with the doctor who prescribed it.  Let them know you are still in a lot of pain. I personally don't like the patch and won't use.  
If you are not taking something to help you sleep talk to your doctor about that.  A lot of fibromyalgia people have sleep issues. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and I finally caved and use a cpap machine.  It's amazing how it changed my life.  I sleep so much better and it actually decreases the pain because you are breathing normally at night when you sleep and you get some normal sleep so look in to that.  But talk to your doc right away and let them know you are still in a lot of pain.  That patch should alleviate all of your pain, at least it did with me. At the time I was using it I had FM and had 5 surgeries at that point. I was in ALOT of pain.  I was on 50-100mg sounds like you should be closer to that amount but it takes time.  Good luck I hope you get relief soon.

[hd5145]

(your post) >>>I do hope that you will consider becoming an active member of our community.
I "thought" I had done the member thing? Maybe it just had not gone through?

(your post)>>> The patches without the reservoir on fentanyl seem to be much safer as far as leaking.
How do I know what kind I have?  They are  Mylan brand and is transdermal system with Fentanyl but I do not recall reading anything about a "reservoir"
I am very frustrated today (last night) as I was/am in so much pain and thought with the patch I would get more relief/better pain coverage than I was from percocet. I was told by doctor I can use the percocet along with the patch if patch was not covering pain. Can I ask medication questions here or more specific, like mg I was/am on and added medications? It does not seem right if I am still taking as much percocet as b-4, OR it could be a bad flare up of fibro, stress, so on. And I have had a +10 of nerve pain last 2 days also. (Sorry if I seem confusing, no sleep)

[jsycz]

Actiq is fentanyl and it's more immediate release. It works well. Great alternative.

What about SCM muscles?

[Tuckamore]

Hi hd,

Welcome to the Pain Mangement forum. You are in the right place and I am glad that you found us but sorry to hear about your chronic pain.

You are aware that none of us are experts or physicians. We are all chronic pain patients with varying degrees of knowledge and experiences. We are here to share what we have learned rather by education, experience or both.

Fentanyl patches are not notorious for liver damage. Acetaminophen seems to be a much bigger culprit. We have members that have been on these patches for years and have had no major problems with them. I cannot tolerate the adhesive on the patch. I am highly allergic to it but they did provide some pain releif for me.

It is not rare to develop a disc problem below or above a fusion. Your pain may be related to a disc structural issue but only your physician can determine the actual cause.

I am sorry to hear that you have so many pain producing conditions. I encourage you to stick with the fentanyl patch until your physician is able to adjust the dosage to obtain the best pain releif. The patches without the reservoir on fentanyl seem to be much safer as far as leaking. They would be the only kind I would apply.

Our members may have other suggestions for you. I do hope that you will consider becoming an active member of our community. I wish you the very best and hope you will keep us updated.

Take Care,
Tuck    

[Glynsore]

I have been wearing a fentanyl patch (75) for about 2 1/2- 3yrs, now they want me to stop completely and use something that dissolves in my mouth. Do you have and comments about that? I ask point blank if I would have any side effects from it. They said NO. Could that really be true?????????