Just Switched to the Patch
 

Hello, everyone its been a while. Had a hard time finding the place since all of my links didnt work, and my user name and password didnt work too.

Just had a brief question. I switched 24 hours ago from Oxycontin 20-30 mg per day with no relief, to the 12 Duragesic patch. I have a pretty low tolorance for pain meds so I know these amounts are tiny compared to some. I waited till the weekend to switch so if I would experience any side effects I wouldnt be at school with the kids. It seems from reading a current post regarding Duragesic that I should notice pain control within the first 24 hours, which I would agree, this is the first morning in 2 years I have been able to get out of bed without crying! I am doing a happy dance:) , well half a happy dance, I still feel it but just not extreme. Can this be or is it just a coincidence and my mind is playing tricks on me because that is what I want to believe?

I was hesitant to start because of all of the side effect, but as of now I am just a little heavy/dizzy in the head. Is there a time period that most experience drastic side effects, I guess i should ask, am I pretty safe after 48hours? I would hate to leave for school tomorrow and get really sick 70 miles from home.

Thanks for the input,
Michelle

Hi Michelle ~

I don't know much about the patch ~ I was only on it for a short time when I had a really bad case of the stomach flu and couldn't keep any meds down.

I would think though, that after 48 hours you shouldn't have any new side affects though.

Hopefully someone else will be along soon that knows more about it than I do ~ I just wanted say to welcome to BT2 ~ and I hope you continue to get pain relief!

Love,
dadsgirl

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...:)

oxy
 

Haven't tried oxy, but have always wondered. But, I do have lots of experience with "no relief". Recently my doc doubled my dose of ultram, and I think it is helping...but, I feel like death warmed over...dragging. I would imagine that you will eventually get use to the dizziness, etc, and it will be better...don't you think?

sally

I periodically have vertigo like symptoms and am having an acute period for the past 2 weeks, so it is very hard to tell if my dizzy feeling is from that or the new duragesic. But it hasnt increased since I started so that should be a good sign. My chiropractor feels the sudden boughts of dizziness is from anxiety, I hit a deer last week and almost hit a bear on Monday, but the family doc feels differently. Now I have a patch for motion sickness on top of everything else.

It is so hard to tell what causes what when you have so many issues coming from all directions. Next week when I get back form vacation I am scheduled for a CT of the sinuses, an eye doc and an ENT to rule out a whole bunch of stuff related to the dizziness.

All in all I can say my pain levels have dropped since starting the patch, although I had to take it off today because it was irritating my skin horribly, so I wil put a new one on when my hubby picks them up from the pharmacy. I will take a constant pain level of 2-3 anyday instead of a 5-6.

Take care,
Michelle

Please watch the Ultram, It makes your Blood Pressure so High its not good. Ask your doctor to watch it very closely.

Harry

Maybe it is working better for you. It's very hard to compare doses between the patch and pills. The jumps in different patch sizes are so much bigger. So maybe you are slightly more.

I had some side effects with both although I didn't really notice it with Oxy, it was making me act out of it apparently and I did have some joint stiffness, that I did connect with the Oxy until I got off it. On the patch I felt really wired.

That's just my experience and ended up doing better on morphine. I think it's a crapshoot for everyone and you're lucky if you find what works for you and maybe this is the right drug for you.

If you're still getting irritation from the patch, make sure you are rotating the placement sites and see if your doc will give you a script for one of the nasal sprays, like Flonase. I apply a squirt of flonase and let it dry, and then put the patch on. The small amount of steriods in the flonase is just enough to keep my adhesive allergy from getting bad. Before I used to have burns/blisters from the patch...kinda made it hard to find a place with intact skin to put the next patch on.

Theresa

I have been finding differnet spots to place it and it seems to be working. Although trying to get is filled is becoming a problem. Any pharmacy I can find says they only keep 5 on hand so I would need to get another 2 prescriptions for 5, and pay the copay 3 times for one month. It sjust so frustrating.

My daughter just spent 5 days in the hospital so I am hurting from sleeping on a chair. She is non weight bearing on her one leg for the next 12 weeks, I am taking off but I have no clue as to how I am going to move her around unitl she gets good at the walker for steps and such. She was hit by a car and had a complete open fracture of the tibia and fibula. She has rods and pins. Hopefully we will get back to normal soon.

Take Care,
Michelle

Michelle,

Talk with the pharmacy manager. I got the same story from the pharmacist, but I was going to be coming in at the same time every month for the same amount (15), so there was no reason for them not to order them just before I came in. The old pharmacy manager (fired) gave me such a hard time about it that I called her boss (district manager) and he straightened it all out. The new guy is an absolute gem, even making sure to have the correct brand in for me, since there's now multiple generic forms of the patch.

If it's a "mom-and-pop" type place, they're usually alot better about making sure things are in stock, versus the big chain pharmacies. Just be assertive if you have to. But there really is no reason for them not to have the medication in stock, even their anti-theft policies don't apply, if there's a customer coming in within 72hrs for the medication (at least, that's the case for CVS).

Wishing your daughter a speedy recovery. My dad broke his leg a couple of years back the same way, pretty low on the leg (they acutally ended up fusing part of his ankle, as well as pins and plating on the tibia and fibula). After about 2 weeks, he was doing much better getting around with the walker and the pain was significantly reduced. Take care of yourself.

Theresa