Hello Everyone!

I'm glo from Mass. , and I have chronic pain issues with my neck, right shoulder blade, right shoulder, right arm & hand, and top right half of my back. I have a congenital fusion in my neck with only a remnant of a disc. The discs above and below this level are herniated. I have DDD, and 2 herniated discs in the T-spine. I also have some arthritis and other fun stuff going on in there. I have tried the injections and rhizotomy/denervation route for the last 4 years without consistent pain relief. I am very disappointed that I am not a surgical candidate.
I was wondering how many people in here are on the Fentanyl patch, and how have your experiences been? It would be very helpful if you were willing to share your experiences. I can tell you that I just started at the Pain mgt. center about 4 months ago. I am on the Fentanyl 25 patch. This has given me the best and most consistent pain relief that I have ever had. The only issue that I had in terms of break through pain was on the 3rd day- change patch day. I am very thankful that the dr. listened to me and changed me to a 48 hour schedule. I am not increasing the strength - just getting a fresh patch sooner. For some reason, the patch was quite ineffective on day 3 and I was going from a 2 for pain to a 9-10 pain level. It took me & my family a few weeks to notice the pattern.
I also wanted to know how long you have lasted without having to increase the strength. I am very worried about that. I honestly don't want to be on any pain meds, but I also don't want to be stuck in bed crying any more. I finally gave in and accepted that I needed to move more and that it has taken pain relief to do so.

Are you able to take baths with the patch? Is there a trick to that? Are you able to go in pools or the ocean at all? Can you remove the patch for a hot bath & reapply the same one? Did you have to sign a pain mgt. contact? How are you managing without driving anymore?

Thank you for the wonderful greetings to Neuro Talk!
Thank you for reading, and any input would be greatly appreciated!

glo

Hi glo,

Sorry to hear that you've been in a lot of pain - yikes! Hopefully, the doctor has answered your Q's, but just in case:

I'm a CNA, and some of the patients I've cared for did wear those patches. You can bathe, shower, swim with them on. Once you remove that patch, it's very difficult to get it to stick again and you might as well throw it away.

Best wishes!
Shez

Hi Glo. I don't use one, but my husband wears a pain relief patch. His is not Fentanyl though.

He showers with his patch uncovered, but every now and then one or more of the sides lifts up, but then if that happens I simply seal the patch all around on all four sides with tape. That's helped, so far!

Same thing for swimming whether it be in the ocean or pools.

Never remove your patch for any reason unless your doctor tells you to do so. All patches consist of slow release medications, which release the medication contained within over a long period of time, and if you take your patch off, you stop the medication from working! If the patch contains pain relief, then you won't have any pain relief at all.

Slow release medications are reliant on the fact that they stay on your skin for a certain number of hours. If you interrupt those hours by removing the patch.... you cannot be guaranteed that the medication contained in the patch will actually work again when you try to re-attach the patch.

My personal opinion is that patches are wonderful. The mere fact that you can have (say) 3 days pain relief without having to change the patch, has to be a big plus........but........if the analgesic effects of your patch are running out a little before the predicted 72 hours, why don't you mention it to the doctor who prescribed them for you? Maybe he/she might change the prescription to (say) 65 hours, instead of the 72 hours that you have at the moment.

Just a thought.

You cannot apply heat in any way to skin or your body while
using fentanyl. It will accelerate the drug's absorption, and for some it might be fatal. Fentanyl is very dangerous, and any misuse at all leads to potential trouble.

Swimming should be okay, but hot baths, hot tubs, sun bathing, or heating pads must be avoided at all costs.

MrsD
you are correct in your warning about heat. I had a education last fall about the structure, contents, manufactures and problems with the Duragesic brand patches.This was an issue......

I needed answeres to our loss and had to understand how could I have not understood what this method of pain mangement could do. What was being kept from all of us.

Although there is a system of matrix style to distribute the active product the reservoir type is still being used by the manufacture. There is a fault rate of 8000 patches leaking per batch. Although the process has been found faulty in recalls as far back as 2004, the same process is being used because of the profit to this company.

There are warnings about signs if a patch is causing an overdose, but in the information provided you read about respiratory issues, there is not one of Death.

Although I was an informed person, I never knew the manufacture had these issues or that there was enough of the active ingredient left to come out 80 times more powerful then morphine.

Our family monitored the use of patches to my family member. we locked and dispersed them. Unfortunately we lost our dear daughter/sister. She was so young with a life of pain issues, but I trusted the medication as I had no realistic idea of how dangerous this medication was.

Not even when I found my child deceased did I accept it was her pain control. However, after all the test were over, the cause of death was poly-pharmaceutical accidental overdose Fentenyl.

The amount of fentenyl in the system was consistent with a leaking patch. Also in the coroner report was noted the house was very warm.

Although the manufacture of this type of patch new its risk the production, and type was provided from them as safe to use.
There have been many legal suits filed against them and they have lost.

I will fight on my dd behalf so no other family to lose a loved one when there were alternatives to what system she was provided.
I will do whatever it is i need to do to prevent another family from going through this sheer he!!. Nothing can heal my heart or bring her back, but I will aggressively do what ever I have to do to warn others of the manufacture defective product.

It is a gamble with your life over their profits. 400 cases are currently being litigated in wrongful death actions over the negligence of knowing and not informing doctors, pharmacies, and patients.

How many doctors have said if the patch comes off to replace it on...or tape it back on, move them, or if you have a fever to remove it!

I can only say if one is using the patch research it, the manufacturer of it, the type of reservoir used, and litigation against the company for its failures.

If we have all the peanut butter recalled, and expanse of the products removed by the FDA and congress asking questions.....why are people still dying wearing the patch?

If you have questions and want more information, look up the web site for attorney Jim Orres, in Texas. Angel Reyes.
They have a lot of this information on their site and links,

I begged for years for a pain pump, or alternative methods.
Now all I can do is hope for a dream like last night were dd and I were at our favorite salon and mall shopping. It felt so good to spend time with her.....
I could not get out of bed the rest of the day. It all was preventable.
With a heavy heart,
Honey

PS: I am not on the forum to preach but to share, I am not repeating this post. but if people search and find it they will have more information and can google the law firm of Jim Orres in Texas. I am on on Sundays to read and offer prayers and ask for support as our lives are so devestated.

Hello:

I'm new to the NeuroTalk community and this is my first time posting in this forum.

I am on the Fentanyl Patch for chronic pain related to cervical radiculopathy and myelopathy. My patch is of the 100 mg dosage on a 72 hour schedule. For me it's been a lifesaver. Since being put on the patch it has taken enough of the pain away ( I also have osteo & rheumatoid arthritis that contributes to the pain issues ) that I am able to function and move around without fear of the pain becoming unbearable. I've not noticed any serious side-effects from the patch, aside from some itching if moisture gets trapped underneath it, either from showering or sweating. One thing I do when the occasional patch lifts, or if the itching gets too bad and I really need to change it's location is the use of Tegaderm to reapply the patch or seal it back off should it start to lift before the 72 hours is up. I was using regular first aid type tapes to reseal them but find the tegaderm works so much better and it really seals it back off so that showering doesn't cause moisture to get back underneath it.

My doctor would like to try some other form of pain management with me as he says the Fentanyl is not supposed to be for long term usage, but I had been on other forms of pain medications before the patch ... was very concerned about the possibility of becoming addicted to some of them. From what I understand of the patch, is that, while it is possible to become addicted to it, it's more unlikely to happen with the patch than it is with oral medications. I'd prefer to keep using the patch and that's what I'm advocating for with my doctor.

Take care all, hope everyone is safe and well: Kefrin

Sorry ... I thought that I should mention that I'm not on the Duragesic type of patch ... I had an experience with the Duragesic type of patch that was related to the gel leaking from it. The brand that I use now does not have a "gel" based aspect to it. It is dry, no chance of leakage or puncture to the gel pack that duragesic has had problems with. I'm in Canada so I don't know if there is a version of the brand of patch that I use in the U.S. ... but it's called ratio-Fentanyl ( that may be a generic brand, I'm not sure ) since changing over to this type things have been much better ... also this patch does not seem to lift as easily as the Duragesic ones did.

Take care: Kefrin

My husband was on Fentanyl patch for awhile and did well. He taped the patch on because if he started to sweat it would try to come off. He took 100mgs per patch and changed it out every two days rather than three. He eventually stopped taking it because of that and went on Methadone and that worked better for him.

i was given these to try but after 3 hours i had a severe allergic reaction....projectile vomiting and severe breathing problems...removed patch immediately and took 3/4 days to recover! just my experience very frightening but obviously doesn't happen to everyone

It sounds to me like we're in the same boat. Even the same length of time for surgery. I started the patch back in '06. I am already at the 75mcg. level. I hate it in some ways and in others it does give me pain relief round the clock. I want to tell u to relax and it is best if u have the ones that don't have the gel so u don't have to worry @ leakage. I do us a heating pad, but..but..I put a towel over mine so the heat is minimal and it raises my temp. just a little. I hurt so badly in my lower back that is the only reason that I do that. I don't advise it to u. I would just take it a day at a time. When I first got my patches I called my friend I bet 4 or 5 times and he told me to take a xanax and to just relax and it would be okay. I know it is scary. It is still scary to me. I do take hot baths, but that is when I take it off. I can immerse myself then. I don't have my patch on at all and get to enjoy the hot bath.Just make sure ur patch is off completely when u do this.
I hope I helped u in some way. I hope if we can maybe we can talk again. I think we are going thru similar things. Take care and always..GOD BLESS..Karen