[ChronicPainVT]

Thanks for the replies! This site has proven to be invaluable. I thank everyone for taking your time of sharing your experiences.

macw06, and Jewels71: I have also found that the patches, while they worked, sort of, were extremely annoying. They would ALWAYS come off, especially when showering, and they were apparently WAAAYYY too strong, so I NEVER left them on while sleeping except once. That was not fun. First of all, I slept for 14 hours, and I didn't wake up rested well at all. Quite the contrary, I had felt like crap and disoriented, when I woke up! I wouldn't know if it was morning or night, or what day of the week it was. So that was it for the patches. I'm done with them.

My doctor quickly switched me to Oxygesic 40mg with the dosage indication of 1-2 tablets a day. I quickly found out by plugging that name Oxygesic into Google, that it is what we call OxyContin in the U.S. Ugh, I thought. 40mg's seemed a bit weak, so he switched me to 80mg, but that turned out to be too strong, so now I'm on 60mg (40mg+20mg tablets). And guess what, I feel great on them now. 60mg once or twice a day looks to be what I need. I'm tall and I weigh over 200lbs., so I bet if I was thinner, I could go down to 40, 30, etc. At least I have something that works for me NOW.

And another seemingly great thing about it is the fact that I no longer need *ANY* type of Xanax or Paxil, which I had taken before. It apparently also works for my depression. So I'm down to only ONE drug!!!

Even my doc said to me that he has observed my having lost weight (to the tune of 40lbs. in six months!), and that I appear, look, and seem much more energetic and he pretty much articulated as to how I felt.

So what do you think, everyone? Should I stick with this??

Thanks again!!

[jaime_a92]

Originally Posted by ChronicPainVT

Hi everyone. This is my first post. My doctor prescribed me 20 of the 100mcg Fentanyl patches for controlled release pain relief. He said it would be better than continuing to take Lortab 10mg.

Does anyone have any experience with these patches? Is Fentanyl stronger than Hydrocodone? Why does he think it will be better for me? The reason he gave me was somewhat vague, and he is always very quick with in and ou\t of the office because he has so many patients.

At any rate, will I get the same pain relief than from Lortab? Someone suggested it was more potent than Lortab. The tablets had started to no longer work as well. I am worried that I won't get the same kind of pain relief, although the Fentanyl patches supposedly work very well.

Any insight of any kind would be very appreciated. I have not filled what will be a quite expensive medication for me.

Thank you all.

Alex

okay first of all you should know that Fentanyl or Duragesic patches, tablets, injections what ever is the strongest thing in the market for pain relieve although it does have some drawbacks, for some people the patch only last 2 days, some people need a lot of breakthrough pain medication. I would have started you on the 50mcg/h patch every 3 days and Norco 10/325 every 2 hours no more than 6 per day for breakthrough pain.

If Lortab worked for you and then stopped it is tolerance to it, you see hydrocodone converts to hydromorphone in the liver and therefor relieving your pain, if tolerance happens and the medicine was tolerable and effective at first I would recommend Dilaudid 4mg 1-2 tabs q4-6h and some Vicodin HP.

[slbr091387]

Hi - I am wondering if any one can answer this for me. I have been on some form of pain control for over 1 year. It all started because of two very diffulcult abdominal surgeries. I have nerve damange and lots of adhesions from those surgeries so am still on pain meds. Just recently I was way down to just one 15mg of morphine. Then after a kidney infection doc added percocet 10mg 3 times a day. Just went to a new pain management doctor (the other was too far too drive) he had all the records from the previous one. He put me on a 25 fentanyl patch. Took me off the 1 morphine and I can still take the 3 percocet a day. That patch was way too much for me as I just felt so terribly sleepy all the time, itching, was just uncomfortable with it. I had it on for only 1 week. Called the Dr. this morning and he said to remove it. He said I should still take the percocet. My question is will I have any withdrawal effects even if I was on such a low dosage for so short of time? He said I can still take the 3 percocet a day and even add one morphine at night. I don't like the patch does anyone have any other suggestions. I eventually want off all of this! Is 3 or 4 percocet a day a lot and will I have terrible withdrawals when I come off that? But really just wondering about the fentanyl and withdrawals after being on for just one week. Thanks!

[Robert_325]

Originally Posted by slbr091387

Hi - I am wondering if any one can answer this for me. I have been on some form of pain control for over 1 year. It all started because of two very diffulcult abdominal surgeries. I have nerve damange and lots of adhesions from those surgeries so am still on pain meds. Just recently I was way down to just one 15mg of morphine. Then after a kidney infection doc added percocet 10mg 3 times a day. Just went to a new pain management doctor (the other was too far too drive) he had all the records from the previous one. He put me on a 25 fentanyl patch. Took me off the 1 morphine and I can still take the 3 percocet a day. That patch was way too much for me as I just felt so terribly sleepy all the time, itching, was just uncomfortable with it. I had it on for only 1 week. Called the Dr. this morning and he said to remove it. He said I should still take the percocet. My question is will I have any withdrawal effects even if I was on such a low dosage for so short of time? He said I can still take the 3 percocet a day and even add one morphine at night. I don't like the patch does anyone have any other suggestions. I eventually want off all of this! Is 3 or 4 percocet a day a lot and will I have terrible withdrawals when I come off that? But really just wondering about the fentanyl and withdrawals after being on for just one week. Thanks!

You shouldn't have any w/d symptoms from using fentanyl 25mg. The drug is very tough to detox from but it takes longer than you used it to become a real problem. I see so many people here have an awful time getting off fentanyl in higher doses. I hope you don't go there.

The dr was trying to get a longer acting drug in you to keep a semi-controlled level of medication in your system. There are many different similar medications that can be taken orally. I don't advise using any of them unless absolutely necessary. But if you MUST take RX opiates for the long term especially and in higher doses a time released medication is usually better for your system than all the fast acting RX pain meds (like percs) that are all loaded with acetaminophen.

You are not taking an abusive amount of percocet based on your post. If you use them at that dose for over a year however you will have built up a dependence to them and will feel the w/d when you stop. It's just the nature of that drug. It's one of the things that makes so many of us end up right here. We are here to help when you are ready to get off. God bless.

[slbr091387]

Robert- Thank you so very much for your reply. It really helped me alot. I have a Dr. appt tomarrow and I am sure he will want to put me on some kind of sustained release and I just don't think I should. He is kinda pushy and was not too happy when I called and told him I don't want to use the patch. But oh well! I have not gone over the 3 percocet a day and it seems to be working well enough. I am able t function through the day at work. I don't have complete pain relief but I also don't want to increase the meds. This all has me kinda scared. I don't like the feeling of needing them. Thankyou again!

[Robert_325]

Originally Posted by slbr091387

Robert- Thank you so very much for your reply. It really helped me alot. I have a Dr. appt tomarrow and I am sure he will want to put me on some kind of sustained release and I just don't think I should. He is kinda pushy and was not too happy when I called and told him I don't want to use the patch. But oh well! I have not gone over the 3 percocet a day and it seems to be working well enough. I am able t function through the day at work. I don't have complete pain relief but I also don't want to increase the meds. This all has me kinda scared. I don't like the feeling of needing them. Thankyou again!

I always suggest one thing that will help, not prevent, but help you keep from becoming too dependent on RX opiates. Don't expect the medication to control your pain. It's only supposed to take the edge off so you can tolerate it. So your attitude is perfect I think. If you try to rid yourself of all pain you will become addicted so fast it will spin your head. Just keep that focus in mind concerning these meds and the worst that will happen is a dependency. You will still have to deal with w/d symptoms when you are ready to stop but it won't be as bad as for the person who has really been abusing them. Also remember that you are the patient but you are still the customer. You do have some say in what medical treatment you receive. They can't pour RX meds down your throat. Don't do something if you really don't want to. I personally would commend you for that. God bless.

[lmadler]

The patches are morphine to the power of ten and work well with chronic pain.