[belindaf]

I've been using the fentanyl patch for about 3 months with amazing results. Now at 50 mcg. I DO have some breakthrough pain, and doc has prescribed Actiq 200 mcg. Problem is, even with insurance, my co-pay for 90 is nearly $400. (GENERIC!) Is it worth it??? If it takes me from 85% pain-free to close to 100%, then I'm all for it. I tried Fentora, 100 mcg bid. I thought it was absolutely useless. I can't bring myself to cough up another chunk of money for something that's not going to work.

The fentanyl patch is the first thing that's brought me relief from chronic pain in years. I never want to take pills again. I was taking 10 Norco a day before the patch.

I have a friend who takes roxycodone for breakthrough. Generic for that would be $10. I simply can't afford to keep plopping down $400 for the Actiq - unless I get tons of positive feedback from people who have used it.

I would love your thoughts. Thanks in advance,
Belinda in FL

[tabula_rasa125]

I was under the impression that you had to be a cancer patient (and a terminal cancer patient, at that) to be prescribed actiq. i could be wrong. i have heard that it works well, and the system seems that it would work with amazing results. Because it's absorbed through the mucosa in your mouth, it gives you the relief you need exactly when you need it. oftentimes i will have pain that is excruciating but i just can't sit around and wait for half an hour for pain meds to kick in. i really think they ought to look into making transmucosal pain medications at lower levels (since 200mcg of fentanyl is enough to take down a bull elephant- can't i have an IMMEDIATE release vicoprofen?) anyway, my advice would be to try it and if it doesn't work, don't think of it as a waste of money because at least you tried something that could have potentially made your life better. you did everything you could to help yourself and just because it doesn't work, you can't count that as a failure. just keep trying to find something that helps.