Butrans and Rash: What Users Say

• Hap...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• March 8, 2014

For Pain "Had back surgery in 2000. 3 rods, 6 screws, and bone put in L4 L5 S1. Had severe pain for 12 years. No sleep (3 1/2 to 5 hours a night). No energy, seldom in a good mood because of the pain. Sometimes down for 3 weeks at a time. Began Butrans 10 mcg last year and man, what a difference. First week was getting 7 hours of sleep and pain level went from 10 to 1 or 2. It has been that way for the last 11 months. Now getting blisters and rash at the application site. Going to see the doctor this week. Hope he doesn't take me off. Really not looking forward to the return of a painful life."

• Anonymous
• September 22, 2011

For Pain "I have suffered from really sore muscles as the patch wears off. My neck feels like I have whiplash, and my upper back and shoulders feel stiff and hurt. I'm always well aware when it's time to change the patch. The problem is that the muscle pain starts to get really bad on the 5th day. Because of the 4 patch per month limit, I have to wait. Vicodin makes me feel loopy, and Tramadol makes me feel completely out of it. I will be speaking with my doctor to see what he recommends I do. I, too, have rashes at the patch site as mentioned by many others, and the itching can get quite embarrassing as I don't realize I'm standing at the meat counter at the grocery store scratching my belly until someone starts to stare."

• Fri...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 6, 2020

For Chronic Pain "I started the Butrans patch in place of oral tramadol, two 50 mg four times daily after many years. I followed the leaflet to the tee. Almost immediately I had become exhausted. After waking, my breathing became labored, and the patch site started itching uncontrollably. Worried and anxious, I hadn't slept all night. After 24 hours, I called my physician about my symptoms. Now, I have a rash and am dosing myself with Benadryl for the next several days. This drug was a nightmare without the slumber."

• Anonymous
• September 4, 2011

For Pain "I've been using the Butrans patches for the past 6 months. In the beginning, everything was wonderful, and breakthrough pain was nonexistent. I then began having more pain, and my doctor put me on Norco 10/325 3 times daily. It was then that I developed rashes, itchiness, and an intolerance to both medications, which my doctor said isn't that uncommon. Now I'm on 20 mcg/hr, and life is good again."

• not...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 23, 2015

For Pain "I've been using this patch for 2 and a half months. It helps my pain a little, but I feel that this stuff is a joke. I started at the 5 mcg dose and am now on the 15 mcg dose. My pain management doctor refuses to try something else. I stay nauseated and constipated. I get rash and blistering at the patch sites as well. It's all the bad side effects of pain medicine without the benefit of helping pain. The only good part is that it weakens considerably after 2-3 days, so I get to eat some. It's worthless as a pain reliever for me."

• Jus...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 14, 2016

For Pain "Been on this for 4 months now, and it has brought relief that I hadn't had in years. I have too many issues to name. My dose was upped this month to 7.5. I found that after about 5 days, the patch is wearing off. Last month, the doctor changed the rx to every 5 days instead of 7, but this presented a bit of a problem with insurance filling it. Since there's only 4 in a box, I had to go back on day 20 to fill again (with additional copy). Still, every 5 days was better, but I did still have breakthrough pain. The problem for me was that the doctor changed me from 4 times a day tramadol to 3 times a day, so I still had issues. This is my 2nd week on a higher dose and back to 4 times a day tram. The patch is good, but I have a rash/itch at the application site and constipation that I didn't have with Norco."

• Rar...
• June 11, 2011

For Pain "So far, I have been on the Butrans patch for about 2 weeks. I have a rare genetic disorder called Familial Mediterranean Fever. Basically, my body can't stop normal body inflammation, and hormones, physical exertion, and strong emotions can make the inflammation worse, and that is an attack. The pain is unbelievable. I've been on Vicodin for the chronic pain and for the pain when I have an attack for 3 years. After being on Norco for 8 months, they just weren't doing it for me anymore during my attacks. My doctor started me on the 10 mg Butrans patches along with my normal amount of Norco pills. Right now, I can only say that it helps along with the pills (3-4 a day). But they itch really bad, I get a rash at the site, and I have problems peeing."

• Bel...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 14, 2019

For Chronic Pain "Unfortunately, I had to give this medication a low rating because before I could wear the patch long enough to see if it would begin to help my pain, I broke out in a bad rash in the location where I had the patch. It took probably about a week after removing the patch for the rash to clear up, and my doctor ended up switching me to Belbuca instead."

• Tin...
• June 24, 2021

For Chronic Pain "After 32 years living with fibromyalgia and exhausting medications, I was sent to pain management. Placed on the lowest dose and had immediate relief the first time in 32 years. I no longer take any medicines. My cocktail usually was one drug to counteract the side effects of another. Until finally, the scenario got really out of hand. Due to a rash that I've had since 2007, I was taken off at my next visit and put on Buccal. That was a nightmare with extreme sweating to the point of dehydration. I stopped and was put on 10 mcg Butrans. It started causing sweating and mid-back pain. Not sure if it's the Butrans or that it's the higher dose. Removed, and after 2 days had to go back on. Bottom line, if you have fibromyalgia, I highly recommend giving it a try. I'm waiting on my next visit to lower the dose and hopefully get rid of this sweating. Being out of pain and able to sleep and enjoy life again is worth everything. Wish I had known about this somewhere in those 32 years."