Fentanyl Withdrawal Symptoms (Page 17)

I'm trying to wean myself off the Fentanyl patch. I went from 75 micro-gms to 50 now I'm on 25. Having a problem and not sure it is related to the decrease in the med. It's been 20 days on the 25 micro-gm and I'm going crazy. I need to keep rocking, moving in any way b/c my body is very restless. Is this a symptom of withdrawal and what do I do? I cannot take it any more.

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Teri - I agree with 3day Rider - you DEFINITELY need to find a new doctor. The one you have obviously doesn't know jack about the withdrawl symptoms - or just doesn't care ... one of those who sees nothing but dollar signs when a patient walks in the door. When I found this site I did exactly as you did - sat and read for practically the whole day. It was like being in a whole different world where everyone could relate to what we're going through. Like one big family. I truly wish everyone here had a pain mgmt specialist like I've got - I absolutely love this guy. Teri, you hang in there and good luck. (Tessie, sorry about your brother and am glad he's doing better - you hang in there too.)

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thanks for your advice 3 day easy rider

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This is my 5th day, no Fentanyl. I can't function..still hot/cold sweats, aches all over, anxiety, sleep is screwed up, crazy heart palpitations, and mad as h%$#. I'm on oxycontin, ativan, and just given small dose of methadone...barely helps. WHAT THA!!!!!! I thought the patch was the answer to my chronic pain, never heard of it, given first day at pain management. Why don't they try us on other meds first. I've done lots of research, the patch is intended for hospice patients who cant take oral meds. I am so upset right now, to young for this crap. They have offered several options, including detox and suboxone. Suboxone is not meant for long term pain relief, detox?! I took meds as prescribed!! and Suboxone if taken on long term basis is rough to get off too! Lots and lots of research, and asking around has made me mad. I have been wheening off now since April, finally off of it. This has left my body, mind, and soul depleted. I will update as often as I can. Thank all of you for sharing your stories, we are not alone. God Bless (I agree with prior posts, need to make the Dr.s wear the patch before they prescribe it) Thanks for Listening...Smile

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FYI-if you have withdrawals after only 1 day of wearing the patch you may be one of the 5% who shouldn't be on them. I found out the hard way, that's why I had to get off them. My body was absorbing the med way too fast, it progressively got worse. I ended up in ER, thinking I had a defective patch only to find out I was in full blown withdrawal...so the next day I went back to DR. The office staff told me be several weeks before he could see me, I drove there..walked in and well, he saw me. If you have to be pushy to get help, be pushy!! This is your body and life at stake. Don't let them treat you like a problem, a problem they created!! Once I get my feet back on solid ground, I gotta get off all the other crap! This is a living nightmare. Anyone knows anything that will work for chronic pain thats not so destructive, let me know! I've tried PT, tens unit, pain blocks, surgery, every overcounter med and almost every prescribed...I'm cant live with the pain, but these meds are making me worse...there are no easy answers..I Know
Thats all...for now lol

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Smile, you were asking for ideas about what works for chronic pain. Not knowing what is causing your pain makes it hard to know what would help. I have had severe arthritis for about 20 years, including in my neck, back, one shoulder, fingers, etc. I also have a spinal curvature that gets worse (and more painful) as time passes. What works for me is a combination of Percocet, Tylenol and Celebrex (an anti-inflammatory drug). All three of these have side effects, which just about any drug does. But I seem to be doing okay with them. I know it would be difficult to wean off of Percocet because it creates dependency, but it is typically a lot easier to get off of an oral medication than the patch (Fentanyl). But why would I be wanting to discontinue Percocet anyway? I expect to keep taking it forever. So this is one person's answer but I'm sure there are many other options for controlling chronic pain, and lots of other reasons for the pain. In many cases it also helps to control your weight, exercise regularly, get physical therapy and so on. But each person is different. I hope this helps.

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THANKS 3day Rider

Will ask Dr. about it..I'll try anything at this point..:)

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Today is day 5 for me patch free. Only been on them for 3 months. Had no idea what I was getting into when my dr. prescribed fentanyl for general back pain, and now that I am in hell, dealing with severe withdrawals, I am wondering what this idiot was thinking to put me on such a powerful and evil drug that was so unnecessary? I started on 50 mcgm every 72 hrs. and by month 3, was up to 75 mcgm every 48 hrs. With the recent hot weather, I had been sweating alot and patches were falling off. I would tape them back on, but would still withdraw after a few hours. I didnt know what was happening to me, so I saw my dr. and explained my symptoms of cold sweats, chills, anxiety, depression, not grounded, and shaking. He said it was vertigo and shoo'd me out of his office with some motion sickness pills. Well after about another month of misery, I looked into withdrawal symptoms of fenatnyl. I quickly learned that this was what the problem was and immediately went back to my dr. and told him I wanted off, and asked if he would prescribe something to ease my symptoms. From what I've been reading, I got pretty much the same response as most others. Dr. was unsympathetic, and only offered a lower dose script of the patches. I pleaded with him and explained this is no solution, I never wanted to see another patch, but was sent out with just another script, which I tore up and threw in his parking lot. I never thought I would be in such a dark and lonely place as I am in now. I'm trying to be strong for my family and I keep telling myself things will get better, but it's hard to stay positive with no support and no one who understands what I'm going thru. Finding this site and reading all of your posts is the first and only encouragement I have found so far, and I want to thank all of you who have shared your stories. It does help to know there are others dealing with the same thing as me. And it is helping me get thru the most difficult challenge I have ever faced. I WILL get thru this, and I offer my encouragement to all those out there who wish to rid themselves of this evilness! We WERE happy at one time, and we WILL be again. God bless all of you!!!

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Justanothervictim, It may be the withdrawals, but I cried reading ur story. I'm on day 8, not going well today but atleast I do have meds to take a little of the edge off. But still cannot function much at all. Going to Dr. today, give him my uh yea right...progress. The dr. whom prescribed the patch to me..uh left? Hmmmm...o'well So now a new Dr. is trying to help me thru this hell, sounds like Im lucky, some of you not even getting help!! Benzo's help, get clonopine if you can..and pain meds for your chronic pain. All those won't take the withdrawals away, but help some. I hope we all get over this nightmare soon, spread the word that Fentanyl is horrific to get off of. Makes me so mad to see all of these people on here suffering, but I'm glad someone understands..to everyone...HANG IN THERE will be praying for all of you. :) Sorry I'm rambling, I'm in withdrawals as I'm writing this!! STUPID DR>S

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It is now day 7 for me and life is better. I took some good advice and made an appointment with my psychiatric doctor. I made the call yesterday morning and by some miracle was able to see the doc in the afternoon. After I had told him my story, he was sympathetic, understanding, and very supportive. He prescribed me suboxone and told me to see him again next week. I took the first tablet and started feeling better hours later. Today was the first day, in what has seemed like an eternity, that I was able to play with my son and truly enjoy it! I know I still have a ways to go until I can be off of the suboxone, but for now, it has given me my life back. And from what I've read, suboxone is much easier to get off of than what we have all been dealing with. I was very fortunate to find an understanding doctor, and I hope that this is an encouraging message for all of you out there! I know it is hard to function, but if you can get yourself to make some calls and get in to see the right doctor, there is no need to suffer any longer! I made the call, made the trip, and only hours later, finally there is relief. God bless you all and good luck on your journey! Its been one heck of a wild ride for me, one I'll never take again. Just fyi, if you take suboxone, you cannot take any benzo's. But you really don't need them anyway!

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Started a 25 patch yesterday morning. I was switched after 6 months on tramadol for chronic rib pain. I thought it was a blessing UNTIL I went to bed...kept waking up gasping for air! I've been awake researching since...read some of these stories and decided to rip it off! I'm still afraid to sleep : (

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I was on the fentanyl patch for 2 yrs at 50 mg and developed a chemical dependency. In order to keep from having severe withdrawal symptoms I needed to change my patch more and more often. I went to my pain doc and told him I want off, so he gave me some med that was supposed to help with the withdrawal. If it helped even a little I know I could have never done it on my own. I honestly think the med was useless cause I went thru about 3 wks of pure hell. Those that say oh it only last a day or 2 probably never dealt with it themselves, and remember everyones body is different. I have been off of the patch for over 1 1/2 yrs now, and still experience that horrible jittery, I want to climb out of my body feeling. Fentanyl, just like any addictive drug has long term effects and dont let people tell you otherwise. I never dealt with that sort of thing before the patch, and now its something I deal with every couple of months or so.
I went to physical therapy and learned biofeedback for the pain (I have RSD a chronic pain disorder) and I have learned to control the pain with much less medication, and I am working on dropping back on my current meds gradually. Oh and FYI there are chemical dependent problems with Neurontin too, withdrawal consist of nausea, seizures, anxiety attacks. I wish I could just get off of all the meds!

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this is my horror story as of now- i was in nyc on a methadone clinic and when i went to the hospital for hep C since i lived on the streets i didnt want to stay there and came home to ohio to stay with my father. unfortunately there is no meth clinic and no suboxone docs around and i had oxycodone for the pain, which was easily weaned off until they also diagnosed me with pancreatis, and gave me a 100 mcg patch every 72 hours. towards the end, i was already sweating sick chills everything.. and it was still on. i got so desparate i cut the patch and poured what was left on my skin because i thought i was dying, this still didnt work. my doc prescribed me oxycodone 10mg to get me through for a few days but it still doesnt work that well plus for some reason i actually hurt worse when i take it. the fentanyl patches are causing me almost as much hell as getting off 60mg of methadone cold turkey.. its to the point where i may have to have my dad drive an hour and back from columbus ohio just to get methadone at another clinic. i cant take this anymore... i dont want to be on methadone, and i cant live with these withdrawals. will docs prescribe methadone pills to get me weaned off of fentanyl? noone told me to be weaned off. the hospital gave me 3 wks worth and that was it. they are now all gone. so now im basically kicking methadone and fentanyl and i want to die. the oxycodone helps me to be awake but i still have fever and chills and pain and muscle aches and twitches althroughout my body even my fingers twitch. i hate everything.. my only option seems to be to go back to the streets and the methadone clinic and i dont want to do that... suboxone ive used five times when kicking heroin but it didnt help very much. im pretty sure it wont help this if i couldnt even kick dope with it... im at wits end and i dont want to live in a methadone clinic prison... fentanyl and methadone are the worst drugs ive ever had to deal with in my life and ive been addicted to pills since age 17 (im 30 now) and alcohol withdrawals (delirium tremens severely) and coke/crack addictions. even kicking heroin is easier. i cant stand living this way, i havent got out of bed for three days and i just took off the last patch officially yesterday.. i was already withdrawing with the stupid patch on in the last two days, presumably because i have a HUGE tolerance. ive been yelled at by my boyfriend who doesnt understand, he said there is no way i could be sick still from methadone, so the only thing i can think of is that its the fentanyl. im allergic to clonidine so i cant take that to help either.. if someone could please help me... there is no treatment center really around either. i live in the middle of nowhere and the hospitals here are full of idiots. i feel seriously like i am going to die. or be on methadone for life. i dont know what to do....

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I do the same thing.. rock, my foot is constantly moving... when I was very sick with delirium tremens from alcoholism it was much the same.. Im pretty sure this is a sign of withdrawal as well... i just know i cant sleep and I am constantly twitching my foot. :P

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hi, I am also on
fentanyl,it is a strong opiod i have exactly the same withdrawl problems 5 years of hell,my problem is ithe Doc has increased the patch to 2 days iI Leave it on because i was geting a tolerance to it .when the patch runs out i exeirance terrible withdrawl symptons ,loss oef r airh badly athrobing in all my muscles &bones and jumping all ouer the room .it is the most dangerous med i have ever used.Can anyone help me as howt oto rgtop these side effects please .why would the FDA APROVE IT IF IT HAS SO MANY HORIBLE WITHDRAWL SYMPONS.

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RossD, as far as I know you can't stop the side effects of Fentanyl unless you stop taking it. I don't know why you are taking it, so it's hard to say whether you could try to gradually wean yourself off of it and use other drugs and/or other methods to help with your pain. Getting off Fentanyl is a real horror show, but after about two months of no Fentanyl I am feeling much more like my normal self. In my case it was worth it to get off this drug, maybe you can do the same. Read what JustAnotherVictim posted on July 22 and what Momwire posted on Aug. 11. These two posts have a lot of good suggestions for coping. Mege246, you are really having a rough time and I don't know what to say. I would stay with your dad rather than go back to the city where there are so many temptations, and try to kick everything, including Fentanyl and methadone. It's a lot easier to say that than to do it, I know. But you seem like you have a lot of strength, and if you could find some kind of drug treatment program or facility that has some experience with your combination of issues, that would probably be very helpful. I wish you the best of luck and will be watching for your posts.

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I'm looking for any OTC anything to help with the withdrawal of Fentanyl 50mcg/hr. I have 2 spinal fusions and C6/C7 and L3/L4 plus a 2 cyst at my frontal temporal fosa that causes me extremely bad headaches. The biggest problem is the fentanyl causes severe sweeting that is affecting my job. I'm going to see how bad the headache are with OTC and just dealing with it but the withdrawal is getting bad. I lost my health insurance and had to cold turkey stop the fentanyl patch. I ache in my joints mostly knee's and feel completely exhausted daily. I have been off the fentanyl for a week now. I have been taking Excedrin, Ibuprofen, and Naproxen to try to get through this, and deal with the headaches, with very little change in the withdrawal symptoms. Anyone have any idea's on what OTC might help. Thanks...

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Labrat454, try Tylenol. I take two 1,000 gram tablets two times daily, but you can take more than that as long as you are not also taking something else that contains the same active ingredient that's in Tylenol, which is acetominaphen (look on the label of any product to see what's in it). I'm not sure what the maximum safe daily dosage of Tylenol is, but you can Google that and find out. Good luck, hope this helps.

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HEy do you want to sell ur patches
?? let me know .. $$

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In October of 2006 I was performing my duties as a Police Officer and following all the rules of the road to a T. It was pouring rain and all the bars were letting out. I had just got finished backing up another buddy on a vehicle investigation. As I was driving away, I came to a busy intersection off the highway with a gas station on one corner and a night club on the other. The light was red and I was stopped. A minivan pulled out of the gas station behind me with no lights on. Even though it was pouring, I got out of my car and ran back to her's to tell her. She was very grateful. The light for us had already turned green and had been about ten seconds. Running back to my cruiser, I could see that opposing traffic had already stopped at their red light. I got in my vehicle and started across the intersection. Next Thing I know I wake up in the hospital with my family, friends and some of my co-workers around me. A drunk driver was doing 80 through all the lights off the highway and T-Boned me. I almost died, my guardian angel was with me that night (something I thank God for everyday). Long story short; Every disc in my neck except one is bulging or herniated. Every disc in my Thoracic from my neck down to my waist (except two) either bulging or herniated. And from being crushed under the wheel and the computer going into my lower back I ruptured one disc in my lumbar and herniated two others. I received nerve damage to my pelvis and spine (As a man its so hard to not have working sexual parts anymore cause of nerve damage. She took away my life and eventually after so many years of not being able to please my spouse, she took my marriage too). After a long time of endless pain and therapy etc. I was able to return to my job and do what made me happy (helping others). Unfortunately that came with a price. I never had to take any drugs in my life except migraine medication. I was a perfect example of fitness and health. I lost 40 lbs and it took me four years to gain back 25 and keep it. I started on Percocet 5mg, Flexeril 10 mg and Lorazepam 1mg so i could sleep. Years later I went from trying never to take the Percs cause of my job to taking 12 - 15 of the 10 mg ones a day. In addition a bunch of other drugs as new problems would arise. Dosages and strengths went up as the years progressed. This past year, struggling with someone who tried to stab someone, I re-injured my back again and had to return to the hospital again. Now they tell me my spine has holes in it and is falling apart and its only gonna get worse unless I have some type of successful surgical intervention. The city who fights these doctors says surgery is unnecessary because my spine is a disease and I returned to work the first time before it was diagnosed. Even though all these doctors and medical lawyers showed my past and how this can happen from traumatic impact from a near fatal auto accident. Now i don't know if i will ever be able to return to the job I love and I am only 28!

Anyways They sent me to this horrible doctor who says to me that he is surprised i am even walking my spine is in such bad shape. He says I need to be on a long acting narcotic and NSAID. Even after telling him I can't take NSAIDS because I ruined my digestive tract with all that medication and Tylenol, he was still happy to perscribe naprosyn anyway. Telling him I took about 100 - 130 mg of Oxycodone a day he says I need to be on the patch and sends me away with a 25 mcg patches to change every three days and appointment for more epidurals. I wanted to SCREAM and he said have faith in my plan. At this point I had tried everything so i figured what the hell? PAIN unbelievable more than necessary pain. How about I paged him and left messages for on a Tuesday and he gets back to me on Friday and tells me that it didn't seem to be an emergency. He asked what the problem was. I told him I didn't sleep in days because of pain. He tells me to take Motrin and he'll see me for the injections the following Tuesday. Don't take Percocet because your under contract and that's his plan. I got the injections... more pain (i knew that already) Saw him for a follow up and walking on a cane and asked for BT Medication he said he only deals with Fetanyl and if I didn't like it I could go back to my own Physician (how understanding). Well I did. My own Doctor was furious. He was like is this guy an idiot? This s--t kills people in their sleep. I went through one of the worst weeks of my life. I wouldn't wish that kind of pain on anyone.

Withdrawing from that crap I didn't sleep for four days! Today was the first day I slept. Thank god that is over. I WOULD NEVER WISH THAT ON ANYONE. My pharmacist tells me that Doctor is another happy money maker. Getting people addicted to the strongest s--t there is so they keep coming back. No compassion or empathy what so ever. If you find a right combination of something that works for you do it. If they every try to give you the patch, DON'T DO IT!

I guess all I can do now is pray and hope my surgery comes through and I can be happy again.

Thanks for listening everyone. It feels great to get it out sometimes to other people who understand.

~Spyder

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Spyder - you're in my prayers buddy. May you harness the strength to make it through this difficult time so that you can emerge in good health!

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