Hi Michelle...

I was on the Duragesic patch for a few years a while back, and it never caused any really serious side-effects for me. There was the issue of feeling out of it all the time, and that never really got better for me. I think it's because the medicine keeps entering your blood even while you're asleep, so you wake up in the morning feeling groggy and disoriented.

Duragesic was a fairly effective pain reliever for me. From time to time is tended to cause me some slight stomach upset, but my PM prescribed Phernergan for that, which really helped. I was drowsy a lot, and didn't trust myself to drive. Fentanyll actually causes less problems with constipation than other narcotics do, because it doesn't enter your body through the digestive system. But I did read that with extended use, it causes real physical changes to occur to the muscles of the lower digestive tract, and can result in mild abdominal cramping.

All in all, it's not as bothersome as many of the other painkillers I've had experience with. You man have to experiment some to find your optimum dose on it. I hope it works well for you, Michele, and helps restore some of your freedom of movement. Good luck...