large doses of fentanyl

[jimirusty]

I have been on three (3) 100 mcg patches every 72 hours plus 3 norcos a day for years now for a back disability.  If fentanyl is supposed to be so strong then why do I feel normal yet still have pain and could use more pain medication.  Has anyone ever heard of anyone on this much fentanyl and if so how are they handling it? any other comments are welcome as well.

[TheMadMan]

FENTANYL IS A DANGEROUS DRUG!!! You mind has no idea of what changes are going on in your body with this drug. Please be aware of this.

[shinty]

If 300mcg. every three days is what it takes then so be it. Drugs effect or affect everyone differently. It's only dangerous to an opiod naive person imho. i functioned well on a 200 mcg. dose for a long time and ended up switching to different medications rather than increase my dosage. Like i said everyone is different.

[marycarmel]

I agree it's dangerous. I believe it's  meant for end of life.  It would take me one hour to tell you all the damage it did to me ... physically & mentally.  I never misused or abusef my meds.    I still have to take narcotics @ different times.  Fentsnyl is in a league of its own.    

[TheMadMan]

Do you have any idea of what this Fentanly is doing to your body? I had been on Fentanyl for 6 months, (50mcg every 4 days) and it created pancreatic problem that I never want to experience again. I lost so much weight, it scared the hell out of me. I was down to 108lbs. If the pain is still there, obviously the Fentanyl is not working and you need to address what is actually happening. Fentanyl CAN relieve pain, depending...
It also dopes up your mind and body. You have no way of knowing this until you can think clearly and the Fentanyl prevents that clear thinking.
Find out what is really going on and GET OFF THE FENTANYL, THIS STUFF IS DANGEROUS!

[TheMadMan]

Agreed.

[nursegirl6572]

Wow!  You take 300 mcg of Fentanyl every 3 days?  That's a seriously high dose.  Like mary said, you will develop a tolerance to opiates, which means you would keep requiring a higher and higher dose to reach the same level of effectiveness.

You posted in the addiction forum.  Do you abuse your meds?  If not, then I agree that this would be more suitable for the pain management forum.

Are you getting your meds through a pain management doctor?  A lot of times, high doses of opiates actually ends up making chronic pain worse.  It's called opioid-induced hyperalgesia.  With the high doses of Fentanyl you're on, I wouldn't be surprised if you were dealing with this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid-induced_hyperalgesia

I would strongly recommend discussing your pain control with your doc, and exploring some alternative ways to manage your pain.

Best of luck!

[marycarmel]

No matter how strong something is you will eventually develop tolerance.  I was on Fentanyl & came off it myself (not recommended.)  Personslly I think it should only be used for end of life pain.  It wreaked havoc on my body.  Lots of people find when they come off narcotics they are able to manage their pain with less  & often with OTC or non- narcotic methods.  You may find more help on the pain management forum.