Hi Debbie,
I was on the fentyl patch for several years - 50 mgs. It made me sleep for up to 20hrs per day and didn't really make me pain free. It was absolutley horrific to withdraw from.

My doctor had put me down to 25 mgs and I was still sleeping all the time so an intern told me to just remove the patch. Well, 2 days later I ended up in full opiate withdrawral - low blood pressure(60/30), stomach pains and nausau. I went to the ER where they had a hard time getting my blood pressure back up and admitted me.

I spent the next 3 days suffering with the most incredible stomach pains. They kept telling me that I had to put the patch back on but I would not. It was a holiday weekend and my doctor was unreachable.

They would not put me on the detox floor and they told me that there was not a protocol for withdrawing from fentyl because it is mostly used on terminal cancer patients. I tried to convince them that I was addicted but they thought that since my doc perscribed the patch that I wasn't an addict. But I was - a physical addiction to opiates. It didn't matter where I got the opiate it was that my body needed it and I wouldn't give it what it needed.

Finally, my doctor showed up and convinced me to put a patch back on. I immediately felt the withdrawral symptoms disappear. It took another 4 months of weaning off to finally get off of narcotics. He used oxycodone pills starting with 8/day for a week, then 7/day the next week then 6/day the next week and so on until I was down to the smallest amount.

Back in 2004, there were many deaths from leaky patches and many from heating pads causing the patch to release too much med too fast. I am very lucky to be alive since I used a heating pad 24/7 with the patch.

That's what happend to me and my fentyl patch usage. I just want you to be aware of what it takes to get off of it once you go on. Something that I was not imformed about before I started.

Peace and hope,
Lisa