Question, please!
 

Hi Desi
I hope that your pain is going down a bit.
This is what I found on the internet about the Fetanyl patch.

Fentanyl is used to treat severe pain.
Nausea, vomiting or constipation may occur with this medicine. Your doctor may be able to prescribe medicines to take with fentanyl to help with these side effects.
Fentanyl can cause drowsiness. Make sure your reactions are normal before driving, operating machinery or doing any other jobs which could be dangerous if you were not fully alert.

How to use fentanyl
Always read the manufacturer's information leaflet, if possible, before beginning treatment.
Fentanyl lozenges - should not be swallowed or chewed. Move the applicator around the mouth to ensure contact with the tongue and the inside of cheeks. As the lozenge dissolves the fentanyl is absorbed through the lining of the mouth into the body. Initially, use one lozenge over a 15 minute period. If pain does not ease within 15 minutes, repeat with another lozenge. Do not use more than 4 lozenges in any 24 hour period. If there is still some lozenge left on the applicator this should be disposed of out of the reach of children. You can run it under a hot tap until the lozenge has all gone and then the applicator can be thrown away.
Fentanyl patches - should be placed on a dry, non-hairy area of your upper arm or torso as directed by your doctor, pharmacist or nurse. It may take up to 24 hours for the first fentanyl patch you use to reach it's full effect. Fentanyl patches should not be placed on irritated skin, including skin that has received radiotherapy.
Fentanyl patches should be removed after 72 hours and a new patch placed on a different area of skin. You should try to avoid placing a patch in the same area for at least seven days.
Do not apply external heat sources such as a hot water bottle or electric blanket to the patch as this can increase the absorption of fentanyl through the skin.
Speak to your doctor if you develop a high temperature as this can increase the absorption of fentanyl through the skin.
Fentanyl is for you. Never give it to others even if their condition appears to be the same as yours.

Getting the most from your treatment
Alcohol will increase any feelings of drowsiness. Avoid alcoholic drinks
Fentanyl can cause constipation. Constipation can often be eased by eating plenty of fibre, such as wholegrain cereals, fruit, green leafy vegetables and drinking 6-8 glasses of water each day.
Because fentanyl is a controlled drug, if you are planning a trip abroad, check with the government department HM Revenue and Customs to see if you need any documentation for your medicine. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a list of medicines that contain controlled drugs and can tell you the amount that you are allowed to take abroad. If you need to pack more of your medicine than you are allowed you will need to apply in writing for a licence from the Home Office before you travel.

Hope this helps
Love
Alison

Desi,
Many thanks for your sweet reply. I am glad that I can help you.
Love
Alison

Hi dear Desi,

It will probably take a couple of weeks before you notice a marked relief in pain. It is a really good thing that you already have some relief after only 2 days.
Lots of luck with them
Love Tayla:hug:

I would say maybe a good week Desi before you start showing relife however they didnt work very well for me... I hope your pain is going down!

Much love to you desi... Hugs and Kisses!!!:o

Fentanyl Patch
 

Hi Desi,
I thought I would pop in and give you my two cents of this patch since I have been wearing it for over two years now. I had tried all the other pain meds like morphine and Oxycontin which did not work all the time for me. I decided to try the Fentanyl because I needed round the clock pain relief. I started out with 50 mcg (micro grams) make sure you say mcg's verus mg (milligrams) because they are two different things. 50 mg is much stronger than 50 mcg so you need to be careful because if you told the wrong person that it could mean an overdose for you. Fentanyl is very strong even though you may not feel it working...it does take about 17 hours for each patch to start working full force. If you read the brochure enclosed with each box you will get some good information. I am now down to 25 mcg's for over a year now. I was taking all kinds of pain meds to see what would work and this is the one for me. Some advice I could give you which may save your life is do not put the patch on and take a bath or a shower right away. You must wait at least two hours before you can take a bath or shower. You have to watch the sun so it doesn't heat your body up and cause the medicine to release quicker. Also, if you have an electric blanket you may not want to use it with it. I always have to watch for anything that may increase my body temperature will increase the pain medicine release in the patch. Also, I believe the brochure says if you develop a fever you must immediately go into the ER.

I had a problem two years ago when I was in the hospital the neurologist insisted I needed 2 - 50 mcg's of Fentanyl patches and I kept telling him it was too much for me. He disagreed and slapped them on to me. Well, the hospital was giving me all kinds of pain meds, anti-depressants, morphine and with enhancers to make the morphine stronger and then sent me home. I don't remember about 4 days and almost died from an overdose because of the second patch. My 16 year old son knew something was wrong with me because I kept passing out. So, he and a friend drove me to the ER. All I remember is them yanking off both patches and they kept me in the Telemetry Unit for a few days. They overdosed me. The worst part was when my family got there and they told them what happened. My family thinks I tried to take my life when I didn't because the hospital never told them THEY overdosed me. They forgot to leave that part out!!! Amazing. I don't want to scare you but I want you to be aware of your body temperature at all times. Like in the summer, you do not want to sit outside especially in the sun because your body temperature will go out to quickly and you can have a heart attack. Also, I knew someone who took off a patch and then put a fresh one on the same spot. She almost died too from an overdose. So, when you take one patch off of one upper arm [where I put mine] then make sure you put the new patch on the other arm. Good luck and if you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Fentanyl works quite well for me and lowers the pain a bit for me.
Best of luck,
Kathy d.

help please
 

I have been on Opana for a chronic pain condition called RSD or CRPS. I was on Fentanyl patches for over a year before but could not keep my eyes open so my Dr switched me to Opana ER. I take 60mgs twice daily and I really want off of them. So I quit cold turkey and am having major withdrawals. Maybe I am just a wimp.....have never really taken meds for anything before all of this, but my seven yr old son died in my lap from cancer and he was on some major meds at the end. I just can't do this anymore I am miserable on it, and I want my life back....can't understand why anyone would do this to themselves on purpose I have felt awful since I started on any meds. I have been on the Opana since January and the withdrawals are killing me. Very fidgety, nauseated, severe severe headaches, very moody, upset stomache, want to sleep it off but can't sleep. Please help anyone i am soooo miserable and don't know what to do. I asked my Doc to take me off and he would not even hear of it, so I took matters upon myself. Mayn other side effects....does anyone know how long this crap lasts....I do have 10mg immediate relief but am trying desperately not to take them. I have been off the Opana for 57 hours and have taken 2 breakthroughs

Opana
 

Desi,
Thank you for replying....I am actually hurting very badly. I just know that 2 years ago my arm was killing me from the RSD. Now I feel like crap all of the time....the best way I can describe it is that I feel like I have the flu every day when I wake up. I am very achey, nauseated, headaches etc. etc. etc. blah blah blah...LOL. They also did about 5 Bier Blocks, 8 Stellate Ganglion Blocks and then put in a spinal cord stimulator, which makes my back and hips hurt too. I know I am whining big time ( my 7 yr old died from cancer, a brain tumor and he went through so much I have nothing to complain about....and that little boy never ever complained he was amazing) Anyway my point is just this....before my arm hurt really bad....now my arm hurts really bad and I have about 50 side effects to go with it from all of the treatments. I hate it.....and my doctor does not seem to care, he just writes the prescriptions like it is nothing. Be safe and thanks for listening.

Hugssssssss
Avery

Avery

Fentanyl patch
 

Desi,
I also wanted to let you know that the Fentanyl started working on me in about a week, but it only took the edge off and I slept so much that I had to have my parents watch my kiddos as I am a single parent (Fiance left while my son was dying because I stayed at hospital with my precious angel instead of going home to him). Anyway the Opana actually did the same thing for me but I am able to stay awake....It just makes me feel very weird, but everyone reacts dfifferently, maybe the patch won't do that to you....I will pray it works well for you.

Hugsssssssss Avery

Withdrawals
 

Desi,
That does worry me....I started on Avinza, then fentanyl, then Opana....so I know this would be the end....i have begged him to just wean me off...or change it to something else but he does not want to. I can't change docs I don't think because this is workers comp....but this guy is an idiot and he is wearing me out. I have been on Cymbalta, Lyrica, Amitriptilene, Ambien CR, as well as the Opana....He just keeps upping the dose of everything. He upped my Cymbalta from 30mgs in Sept to 160mgs starting in Novenmber and I was having real problems....gained 30 lbs in that short time, severe headaches...etc....and he just kept raising the dose. Then last week he says OHHHHH well I think you might have problems with the Cymbalta and he dropped it cold turkey....I am not sure he even knows what day it is LOL. But as they say even the guy that graduates at the bottom of his class is still called DR so who knows maybe that is the case. Good luck with your Stellate Ganglion, I really hope you get some relief!!!

Hugsssssssss... Love Avery

:(Sorry Desi,

It will improve daily probably but to reach a serum level that maintains you can take that long.
Hopefully for you it will be much quicker:D
Lotsa love
Tayla

:Wave-Hello:There again, Tayla!! Thank you again, your ALWAYS there.. right on the ball! Love ya, so much good buddy!! :D ~Love, Desi :hug:

Avery - what the HECK were you doing going cold turkey. :eek::eek::eek: Don't ever do that again. No matter what the doctor/nurse says. I guess you've figured that out by now. If you had coldturkeyed Fentanyl you would be dead by now. Please treat these drugs with respect... even if you hate them.
Desi - Fentanyl is a big gun... I've seen it work instantaneously in my RSD friend, literally within hours. unfortunately when she stopped it had an instantaneously horrid effect! (hence my lecture to Avery). I sure hope it doesn't take 2 weeks to build up!! Maybe you could give your doc a call after 5 days or so, if you don't feel any significant relief?

hugs Desi
 

http://www.fda.gov/Cder/drug/infopag...ragesicPPI.pdf

http://www.bchealthguide.org/kbase/t...342/detail.htm

http://www.medicinenet.com/fentanyl-...al/article.htm

http://www.springerlink.com/content/k87661525g307087/

http://search.healthcentral.com/quer...pain&x=10&y=11

Gosh I'm so sorry Desi!!! I' didn't mean to scare you out of your wits! :eek: By "big gun" i meant "really powerful". Fentanyl is usually only prescribed when all the other opioids have failed.

And by 'don't go cold turkey or it could kill you' - actually - i really did mean that part. My friend with RSD went through horrible withdrawal when an extremely dumb nurse told her it was ok to just stop, rather than taper, off the fentanyl. She had a huge psychotic episode and her blood pressure and heart rate went berserk, and could have caused heart failure. This is true about any powerful narcotic drug though especially one you have been on for a long time.

People with RSD need to be especially careful to taper so as not to put extra stress on their hearts. Because RSD creates inability to regulate body functions such as temperature and blood pressure, people with RSD more likely to have stroke and other cardiac events in the later stages.

I'm so sorry if I sounded panicky, but it's only because I feel so protective of all my friends with RSD!! please forgive me...
:hug:

Hi all!
First, Avery- no cold turkey! I know that at times you get impatient with the weaning off process, but you at least have to step down some before going off of a medication completely. It gives your body time to get used to not having as much opiates in your system. Or any med for that matter! And if you go off of a med too quickly, your pain will get worse! This is because your brain stops making as many endogenous, or natural, opiates. It figures, hey- I've got all of these drugs coming in already, why would I expend the energy to make my own? (The brain is lazy!) So if you stop too quickly, you not only cut off the drugs coming in, but your brain isn't making as many of the natural counterpart. So you're not only down the artificial meds, but you're down from your natural levels of neurotransmitters! So the result is increased pain (if we're talking about painkillers) or increased depression (if you cold turkey anti-depressants.)

Also, I'm on a really high dose of Cymbalta too. It's the only anti-depressant that has ever worked for me. I've been through them all! And yeah, the carb cravings make me eat too much. But instead of Lyrica, I'm on topamax. It's a GABA agonist like Lyrica, which means that it increases the levels of the neurotransmitter GABA. (I'm assuming that you have no background in neuro, so if you do and this sounds condescending, I'm sorry! :o ) But what I have found is that Topamax and Cymbalta are the perfect combo! Topamax suppresses your appetite and Cymbalta increases it. So somewhere in the middle it kind of levels out. Talk to your doctor about it. Neurontin and Zonegran are other GABA agonists, but I have found that they have many more side effects than Topamax. When I was just on Topamax and not Cymbalta, I had to remind myself to eat- I'd set a little alarm on my cell phone! I could literally forget to eat for a whole day.

I just wanted to say that I am so sorry for your loss of your little angel. When I was younger my best friend's little brother died of a brain tumor when he was 10. We also lost his other little brother from leukemia when he was 7. While I can never comprehend what it is like to lose your OWN child, I've got a little window into what it is like, and what it did to the people that I love. If you ever want to talk, just let me know. Also, my degree is in neuroscience and I'm a nursing student, so if you ever need help navigating the technical world of RSD just let me know!

Desi! Yeah fentanyl is a big gun! That's what they put you on during surgery for surgical pain. But all of the opiates are pretty big stuff. But if you use it properly you should be fine. It's just like anything else- the horror stories happen if you misuse it, but if you're responsible with it everything goes fine.
Linnie

Hello,

It's me again:)
Molly, Fentanyl is a very strong pain medication and for those who are not opiate tolerant they sure can kick like a mule:eek:
It seems that those who have been requiring heavy duty meds over a long period of time do not often experience the extreme "knock out affect" that Fentanyl can produce.
I just wish that more of our doctors would learn better how to titrate out drugs when starting on them and how to wean when coming off:(
Some just don't think:mad:
Love Tayla:hug:

Thank you Linnie and Molly, Wow I don't know what day I am in anymore....but now scared to try taking any breakthroughs or Opana Er's for the fact that I know that you need to be on Morphine or something like that before stepping up to Fentanyl, or Opana. I was on Avinza for quite some time, then on to Fentanyl....but could never keep my eyes open (would wake up every hour or so, which I also do now because of the RSD pain....but would constantly fall asleep.) I really don't mean to sound like I am just complaining, I just could not take the way the meds made me feel anymore. I was like a zombie, did not want to see anyone, talk to anyone, didn't care how I looked, or what anyone thought....didn't even care if my house was clean. I am still feeling very jittery, weird skin sensitivity almost like if you touch my skin i am bruised, nausea, headaches (which they are checking me for brain tumor....everyone keep me in your prayers on that one please), very very moody....I thinkin I really screwed up and don't know which way to go now. I do hurt severely from the RSD but with all these drugs I just feel like a zombie with the flu and my arm still hurts really bad. They don't seem to help me much anyway.

Linnie what is topamax??? My dr seems to like just a few drugs and that is what he uses. ie...Fentanyl which let me just say when he changed me from that to Opana ER I still had withdrawals for a little over a week and it was awful, but he said I would just have to deal with it, and it the long run I did make it through all of that. Which is why I got the bright Idea that I could do this all bymyself. He also seems to love Opana, Cymbalta, and Lyrica....does not really talk to me of much else even when I ask if I can go down to something that makes me actually feel like a human. He says"you have RSD you will feel like this for the rest of your life".....I just can't believe that is true. Yes I amy have pain but I refuse to give up on life. Thank you all sooooo much and love and hugs to all!!

Avery

Topomax is used mostly for epilepsy. It is now used for nerve pain also. Especially when Neurontin & others don't work.

The people I know who take it swear by it. I tried it but I had bad reactions to it so went back to Neurontin. It helps with the nerve pain, but I do fall asleep alot due to the amount of pain meds I do take. But since I don't work that is ok. My doctor also prescribes me Provigil to take when I want or need to stay awake. I could take them every day. They usually give this med to people who have narcolepsy. And Provigil does work really well. I only have to take half a pill twice a day & I can stay awake fine.

Good Luck,
DebbyV

Hi.

I'm a huge fan of the Duragesic patch. I started out at 25mg and then this was increased over the last few years as required. I now take 200 mg of Fentanyl. I continue to take other medications regularly and have a break-through pain reliever if I need it. I have not had any adverse reactions.

I hope that the patch helps with your pain and that you have as positive an experience as I had.

Cheers,

Avery, I saw your post mixed in with Desi's question and just wanted to send a quick reply. It sounds like you have been through a lot and my heart goes out to you. I think we all struggle with the issue of medication, and I know for myself it is a huge issue as I hate the meds.....and hate more that I need them. I don't often realize how much I need them untill I go off them and my body tells me rather quickly. I think like anything with RSD, the trick is to find a balance that works for you....in activity and in medication. This can really take some time, and can change. I know there are times when I have gone off meds and had the notion that I can get through it on sheer willpower alone, but then I realize that I am not being kind to myself. Keep plugging till you find something that you can live with, and have you own balance. Keep us poted and you will be in my thoughts.
Gentle huggs
Kimberly

patch ?
 

Desi,
I think like everything to do with RSD the time it takes for you to get relief, and whether or not you do will all depend on your body. If you didn't have significant relief from another med before starting on the patch it may take longer for your system to calm down and recognize the effects. I hope this post find you feeling more relief with each passing day, and that you have found something that will really work for you...Good luck and let us know. I wish I could give you an answer that is more helpful, but there it is anyways. Huggs from here in Ontario and hoping this post finds you having a relatively pain free day.
Kimberly

Desi,
Have Not Been On For A Long Time, But I Am Happy To See That You Are On A New Med And Getting Relief. I Hope That Continues For You. You Are A Sweet Person And An Awesome Member Of This Forum.
Joan

Thank You Desi. I Will Try To Make A Point Of Staying In Touch. Missed You Too! Joan