[unknown24]

My fiance takes actiq (fentanyl) for serious pain from an injury. He has been on it for years and claims to be numb to it. Can someone tell me signs of addiction, withdrawal as well as what to expect if alcohol is mixed with it?

[mpvt]

You should never drink when taking strong narcotics like fentanyl!! A beer here and there probably wouldn't hurt but no more then one.
Anyone who takes an opiate chronically will become dependent on it.Meaning that if they suddenly stop taking the fentanyl they will have withdrawls.Usually a dependent patient handles the withdrawls much better then an addict.They tend to treat it as a bad case of the flu.
If he's addicted then he will be taking usually more then what is prescribed.If he runs out early (which he shouldn't if he's taking it properly) he will get very edgey abd crave the drug.Quite often a addict will have to resort to buying pills,patches ect from friends or drug dealers as they use up their prescription too quickly.

Actiq is used generally for break thru pain and not for daily pain control.Does he wear the fentanyl patch???You always see a chronic pain patient that's being treated with fentanyl using the patch for their chronic pain and the actiq is used only sparringly for break thru pain.Fentanyl is the strongest pain killer next to heroin so it's not a drug to screw around with.Good luck....Dave