Fentanyl Patches Killing People! (Page 4)
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I would like to know WHY the FDA has not taken the Fentanyl Patch off the market? This drug is being handed out like candy. Anyone who is not terminal or under Hospice care or in a hospital invironment should not be using this drug. Why would a person be prescribed a medication that is 80 times stronger than morphine for a backache. I do not believe patients know how powerful this medication is. The warning should be labled in RED. When are you FDA going to realize This medication is killing while relieving pain! I know because it killed my son.

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70

I know the pain of losing your child- My 18 year old died in 2008, not from Fentanyl but a combination of illness and opiate medication (West Nile Encephalitis diagnosed the previous day as a sinus infection; and Vicodin prescribed for his headache) so I understand your frustration and feel your pain. There are those that say the patches should only be used in the terminally I'll etc.. The people/person that is responsible for your son's death is whomever he got it from. I've just started using the patches again 2 weeks ago and if I didn't have them I would not be able to move... It makes me angry that ppl are given prescriptions and they sell or trade them.. Some get stolen as well but if that happens it should only be 1x. My medication is behind 2 cipher locks- 1 on my bedroom door and another with different code on my closet where my medications are locked 24/7. Again, I am sorry for your loss but the advocacy needs to be aimed at education of the public to the dangers of using these recreationally & Pain Dr.'s ensuring their patients are using all medications appropriately thru extensive drug level evaluations and random or even monthly medication counts.

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69

BIGMAC, Unfortunately, you are the only one displaying ignorance. Indeed, it is how people use this drug, you lack of empathy is to me sub human. Try understanding how the loss of ones child could alter someones opinion and perspective no need for you to demean anyone for their feelings!!!!!

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68

Well you just showed your ignorance. I am not terminal but I need them because they are the only thing that stops the pain of my 5 bad discs in my neck. If *****s can't read directions and don't use properly they will die. It's not the FDA's fault. HOW MANY LIFE'S HAVE CIGARETTES TAKEN?

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67

first and foremost my condolences regarding your son. However, this medication is needed by some people who use it correctly there is nothing worse than living with chronic pain that makes your life miserable to the point that some find it not worth living.
This medication is very strong but used correctly it does help people.

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66

you should not take more than every 3 days as prescribed, nor should you cut the patch. if your having problems you need to let your doctor know right away it may be to strong of a dose but your messing with your life if you cut or change the patch to soon. im on the patch and but i would not recommend changing it before 3 days is up. nor cutting. its states clearly on the side of the box do not cut or change it before its time. you could be over dosing yourself. before the 3 day time change. and cutting them will only give you less a dose but it will also cause other problems the patch medication might not be equally distributed on the patch. so..Please dont cut or change before your 3 day time frame and CONTACT YOUR DOCTOR FOR A LESSER DOSE.

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65

Did you ever think that the yawn and gasping for air meant you had too much in your system ????? Then you increase it by changing it every 2.5 days instead of 3??? If you can't notice those signs as too much in your system then maybe you shouldn't be on them!

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64

Hi Kerry. This is several years later. I'm sorry! I am in a similar pain state as you. I'd live in bed or on the couch if not for Fentanyl, and take Morphine for break through pain.

I have a condition that results in my discs deteriorating and herniating in multiple levels of my spine (cervical, thoracic, lumbar). This has resulted in my spinal cord being pinched by vertebrae and jabbed by spinal bone spurs. I have a lot of dizziness and nausea from TOLERATING severe pain, and trying to always go light on medication.

Forgive me if I laugh a little when folks complain about us using narcotics for a backache. You have no personal experience of this pain.

I have had 3 different Pain Management Doctors. Two of them are wonderful! They are Physiatrists
(Fizz-eye-uh-trist), which involves REHABILITATION as well as treatment of pain. I was never given the 3rd degree, or treated like a criminal. I have been referred to many helpful additional practitioners by these folks!

The 3rd Doctor was a Family Practitioner who decided he had empathy for the suffering, and transferred into Pain Management. He had no specialized training in the prescribing of narcotics OR rehab. Part of the time, he dispensed far too many narcotics too easily. Other times he would seem quite paranoid in his prescribing. He was very gestapo-esque in his conversation with patients.

My whole point is, get a properly trained specialist as a Pain Physician. That way you will receive safe, adequate, scientifically supported professional care!

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63

Can you refer your doctor information to me. I can't find a decent pain management doctor

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62

No, you must never cut a patch. Tell your dr, a lower dose may work fine, but, you may have to endure pain. When you cut, you change the chemical makeup of the drug, it can be deadly please , please don't.Good luvk

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61

Because it helps people live a normal life instead of being in constant pain. My husband has worn them for about 10 years now and we live a fairly normal life compared to before. Some pain cannot be taken care of with tylenol, nor can it be fixed surgically. What you apparently don't understand is dosing. The dose of a duragesic patch is so very tiny. 0.25 mcg is a common dose. I hope you never see the pain many live with if you can't understand why they would want to be able to be free of horrible chronic pain.

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60

I'm very sorry for your loss. Going from 25 mcg to 100 mcg in four months is absurd to me. I have chronic back pain and have been on 25 mcg for 3 years just to take the edge off so I could care for myself during the day while my husband is at work. It is also craziness to be prescribed 240 OxyContin per month for break through pain. It is doctors like this that we have all the regulations by the government. To others reading this, you must do what is best for you and do not take anything that your doctor prescribes without researching dosages and the drug's side effects prior to taking these drugs for pain. Take the bare minimum just so you can function. Pray each day to God to give you strength to face each day. I've been doing it this way for 8 years. God bless all of us who hurt every day.

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59

I've always used the Tegaderm dressing to cover mine. It's probably what you're referring to as "a clear, waterproof covering". You can use anything like a bandaid, as long as it's breathable.

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58

Dear child of mine,I'm so sorry for your loss. My situation is exact except I lost my daughter to one moment of being overwhelmed by stress and 120 days clean. I am suicidal by guilt,I have other children but it doesn't make it better. I constantly live in extreme guilt. I cannot believe we are in the same exact tragic situation. May God grant us forgiveness for what we've done.

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57

Have degenerative disk disease and sanosis, been in pain long time. I take 4 30mg roxys plus 2 10 mg hydrocodone per day. Doctor gave me .75 fintynal patch to try a couple weeks. They seem to really help with pain but are about impossible to stay stuck. I know not supposed to cover patch but for now I'm using a thin waterproof patch. Already wasted two patches so if I decide to get more I will order some coverings. My usual meds help ok but not perfectly, but after all I'm reading I'm not sure if I want to go down the patch road. Any insight would be helpful. Thx Chris

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56

hello, im lexy & im honest enough to say im worried about being so blunt, ive been a victim of domestic violence with nerve damage and fibromyalgia in neck and back, my md referred me back on 150 micrograms of the fentanyl patch because i was on a hefty dose of methadone for chronic pain and im opiate tolerant. she referred me with a letter to a pain mgmt dr saying she's gotten off methadone, please put her on fentanyl, he did id change every 4 days instead 72 hrs,now at one dr visit from la to beverley hills i took a cab and lost my cab fare i was facing jail, that happened to me yrs ago. So I panicked. I asked a well to do looking woman if she wanted to buy a thousand dollar cell phone for 120$ cause i lost my cab fare. She called security. My pain dr wrote me a letter about embarrassing their staff and has put me through hell. Next week my md will give me another preauthorization for a pain mgmt dr that accepts my health ins. in the meantime i cant take it and less is more since ive been without.. i know you all gotta feel my pain, id never hurt myself, heck no. im in hell, why would i ever hurt myself and go there for eternity? I'm soooo sorry to be so bold but one more week for a new pain dr and preauthorization isnt doing it, talk to me pls. im on benefits very disabled, suffering.

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55

It is disturbing and scary. However...no offense to anyone but we owe it to ourselves to educate our minds before we start any new medication. How many mommies read the label on over the counter meds before giving it to the children.? Hopefully lots. But my point is for you to show yourself the same self love. Read before you take. We clearly have a blind trust in our doctors thinking that they would not give us anything that would cause us harm. Do we not realize the kick backs the doctors get from the Pharmaceutical companies? It's huge. From simple office supplies, to private banquets, automobiles, cash, vacations and whatever else the pharmaceuticals come up with to push their products. There have been many successful legal suits against the fentanyl patch makers because of wrongful deaths and personal injuries. I just read today that they paid out over 13.2 million for a death resulting from a recalled patch. The recalls occurred in 1994 and 2008. If it happened then it could still happen now. I believe the machine making the patches did not properly seal them and extra gel was released and absorbed cause a senseless fatality. Please feel free to anyone who wishes to express your concerns to the Alza Corp. who manufactures the patch and to Janssen pharmaceutical. By the way..both companies are owned by Johnson & Johnson. An individual like yourself will never stop the company from producing its fentanyl patch. No matter how dangerous it is. But an individual like yourself can educate others about the dangers of using it. If one person refuses it because of what you wrote, then you are like a super hero who possibly saved another person's life. Thank you for your post. It brought up some important issues.

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54

Hi Sue, just to set your mind at ease, I want you to know that very few drug companies make the fentanyl patches with the "resevoir" (gel) anymore. Most have changed to putting the meds in a sort of sticky matrix that cannot cause the release of more of the medication. In time, I'm hoping that they will also add naloxone to prevent abuse of any sort (as I've heard horror stories of the lengths people go to abuse them, which I will NOT discuss here, as I refuse to give anyone bad ideas!) I'm hoping that Naloxone will go over the counter & until then, be given to every patient on narcotic medications &/or be given a prescription for those who have family or friends that are drug abusers. Naloxone should be in every home, just in case! It's already saved millions of lives, why not make it easier to save more? I guess that rant is for another time & place, but I wanted to set your mind at ease that the fentanyl patches are being made very hard to abuse or mistakenly release too much medication.

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53

Then ask to get off of them silly! There are plenty of other medications for you & your physician to choose from that are equal to or stronger than the medication in these. I find it odd that you have this sort of reaction, as the peak release of fentanyl is far sooner than 60 hours later. It may be a psychosomatic reaction, which is why your doctor sent you for counseling. Counseling, esp. if you have an illness &/or chronic pain, is beneficial & you should be glad of it. Good luck.

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52

First of all, I am so sorry about your son. Just tragic to lose a child no matter the age. But how much more devastating when it could've been prevented. I don't find that this medication is being handed out like candy. This medication is generally prescribed for patients who are tolerant to opiates. In other words, patients do not start out on this. If they do it's a very low dose. There are people that overdose on Fentanyl just like other opiates, both legal and illegal. People taking opiate medications as directed seldom die. Very seldom. While it is true that Fentanyl is extremely powerful, it is also true patch dosing is in micrograms and not milligrams for that reason. It is an excellent way to control chronic pain continuously at a consistent rate. I can tell you for me personally I was on a 12mcg patch to start because it was one of the few Medicare would cover. I have taken other pain meds in the past and do prefer the patch. All these meds are bad news when abused or combined with other drugs or alcohol, against doctors' orders. The truth is street drugs are an epidemic right now in this country, some laced with Fentanyl. So yes, addicts are dying even more. But Fentanyl is not close to the leading cause of opiate deaths. They all are potentially lethal when misused. Again I am so sorry for your loss. My son is a recovering opiate addict and losing him is my biggest fear.

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51

You have been able to live your life these past years without severe pain controlling every thought and movement you make. This sounds good. Without the fentanyl, The alternative life you would have lived these past years would not have been living. Chronic pain patients experience more of an existance, not a life. if fentanyl gave u the ability to live why do u wish u never went on it?

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