Fentanyl Withdrawal Symptoms (Page 20)

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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What u need is a prescription for Ativan and that will take both away.

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Hey listen, weaning is the only way to detox alone.. Here's what to do and what you need... Get a script of Neurontin, (doctors shouldn't have a problem) get a script of Klonopin (doctors will give this for a good reason) get Imodium AD, lots of water, lots of juice. Wean down as far as you can and then take that last jump off. You'll be hot then cold then hot. You'll be out of it.. You'll "have a very bad flu." You'll throw up.. You'll have the runs.. But the horrible part will be the deep hole of dispare.. You can medicate for everything else..the black hole is the real issue. It takes a strong mind to throw this off. As the brain heals and the receptors get use to not receiving opiates..you will feel the improvement. It's like waking from a nightmare. You will get better and better. And when it over you will feel better than you have for a long time. You have to keep being aware that this hole will go away and that this misery is the brain healing. I did it by distracting myself as much as possible...funny movies work..funny friends. Try to find something humorous in the terror.. But keep an eye on things.. If the Klonopin and Neurontin doesn't keep the seizures away, you will have to have medical help. Seizures are the sign that you can't do it by yourself.

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I have been chewing up the 25mcg patches, one per day for a little over 3 weeks... yes i know how dangerous this is but what can i say, im a true druggie... anyways after the first 3 days of chewing these patches, i stopped doing it and within 48 hours W/D's had already set it... you might find this hard to believe, but i promise you just after 3 days of this strong of a dose, your body can become dependant... my skin was on fire, yet i was freezing and sweating... my legs could not get comfortable, i had to keep moving them & still never got the feeling to go away that my muscles needed to be stretched... absoultely no energy, yet no sleep either... ive never felt time go by so slow as it was creeping at this point... i honestly started contemplating the thought of suicide, which i have always been totallly against... i tried to watch tv/movies to help time go by, but i was so miserable that i couldnt even focus on it, just layed there and stared at how slow the clock was moving... i tried taking tylenol pm, along with 1mg xanax and a few hits of weed to ber able to sleep, didn't work...never slept a wink... the weed did help at times, but if i smoked too much it would cause my anxiety level to rise too high... i only made it 4 days until i gave in and bought another patch(off the street).. about 15-20 minutes after starting to chew on it, i felt 100% better!! then it hit me, i was gonna have to start all over once this patch was out of my system!! i would attempt each day to start the process over, but by the end of the day i would have paid for another patch only from fear of future W/D... anyways it ended up continuing for a little over 3 weeks, until i ran out of money and couldnt afford to buy anymore patches... so now i'm on day 3 of no more patches & hating every second of it... it takes me to such deep dark places, mentally that is... ive considered going to the ER, but have been told that without insurance and not having a script for any medication, they won't really do much for you... anyone have any advice towards taking CHARCOAL pills to get all the toxins out of my system faster?? i havent decided if i want to try it or not, im kinda afraid... if it completetly removes all the drug from my system, im afraid it will make the W/D's that much worse, but on the other hand, i'm wondering if it removes it from my system quicker, does that mean it also will cut down on the over all time the W/D's last?? another question, does anyone know if taking WELLBUTRIN will help ease the W/D's? i think i read somewhere that it might help, but i wanted to confirm it before i added something else to this whole equation... if i can make it 5 more days, an aquaintance of mine will be getting a script for suboxone filled and has already told me he will give me a few... ill have to pay $15 each, but im willing to do anything at this point... this aquaintance, has told me that the usual dosage for the average person starting on suboxone is approx. 16mg per day... yet due to my finances, ill only be able to afford to pay for 4mg per day for 18 days... i hope the suboxone will provide some relief, especially when it comes to getting some sleep... does anyone know if this might work, if 4mg for 18 days will be enough??

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You will be substituting one drug for another. You should have tappered down rather then stopping. Then when down to a 12.5 or lower by cutting them in half.{ I KNOW THIS IS A NO NO BUT THIS IS FOR GETTING OUT}. Then it would have been so much better for you and your withdrawal. It is possible to die from convulsions during withdrawal. I am not trying to scare anyone but this is true. Also I am taking 100 mcg fentanyl myself and have been since 2004. I have had the withdrawal feelings a few times when I had some patchs fall off and have run out before next doctors appointment. I am a person that will be on medication for life. I have had all the corrective surgery possible to help and there are still lots of pain issues left. I have only changed my doctor one time and that was in 2006 because i found my doctor right down the street from where I live. Made things much easier. I was in a fire as a child and sixty % of my body was serverly burned some places to the bone. So I do know pain I am now 57 I was burned at 9. I have arthritus in almost all joints. Have a knee replacement hip replacement and they will not cut through the burn scares so the rest are there to stay. I will be on medication for life. It is not fun your body never knows what to do sweat one minute freeze with the sweat the next. But unfortunately the pain rules and thats where meds. come in. The only answer to date. So going cold turkey is not wise. Go to your doctor and be frank with him. Tell him you are sick if he will not help go to the emergency room and tell them your issues and they will. Good luck to all. Keep on fighting.

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I have nerve damage also and took 600mg Neurontin for two years with no measurable relief. Fentanyl is the only thing that allows me to wear shoes at all. I hate being Dependant on anything, especially when losing my insurance would be immediately stopping the drug. I feel helpless with no real alternative. :(

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In my last post I told you all that I was trying to wean down sometime at the end of January. It is the end of February and YES! I have weened down. I know it says not to BUT: IF YOU GET THE MYLAN BRAND PATCH it is not filled with the "gel" and you can cut them in half. What I have done is I cut it into 3/4 and I took 3/4 of a patch for about 2 weeks, then I went down to 1/2. If I began to feel WD I would out on 1/4 and then take the 1/4 off after 24 hours. So I finally was on 1/2 for about 3 weeks and now I am down to 1/4 of a patch. It was an easy transition because I did it so slowly. I believe that I can be off of this with in another month. I have tried to take off the 1/4 of a patch but after about 24 hours I have WD and I don't want ANY of that. I was prescribed Neurontin and Topomax since my last post, but the Neurontin makes me so tired. IF I really need to I suppose I could sleep through my minor WD. The topomax is very new and I am "weaning ON that one". It hypes me up so that is a good thing. The only problem that I have found since lowering my dose of Fentanyl is this: I take more "break through" medication. So where I was taking only a couple or a few Norcos (hydrocodone) before, I am taking more. But I know my doc is an @ hole sometimes and he won't be giving me any other type of long acting meds anytime soon. I think that the docs and the pharmaceutical companies have some sort of "agreement" with one another....

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JoE, you should not use charcol to "clean out" your system, it will just make your WD worse. I am sure that because you have been on this for such a short period that you will be able to wean more quickly. This is what you need to do and this is what I would do. I know you know that you are a "druggie", as you said. If you can get a hold of another patch, you need to take it as your suppose to. Put it on!!! Wear it for 4 days and then take it off. You should be alright. I went rehab once and many people wore the patch there to get off of opiates. They would wear it for 3 days, then the doc in rehab would see how they were doing. If they were still WD the doc would lower the patch amount and the patient wore it for 3-4 days. Some patients only needed to be on the patch for WD from heroine for about 5-7 days. You will be ok if you do this. OR you can man up, or "woman" up and go tell a doctor the truth. It may save your life. People have OD'd from "chewing" the patch. I know, I am guilty, but I learned my lesson. I guess you will find out. Good luck and may God be with you. BTW Suboxone and Subutex can cause MAJOR ANXIETY! Any one I knew who took it, was buying xanax or valium off the streets. Just so you know.

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Okay, I'm off the patches but I still take some immediate release now. It's all immediate release from now on, hits me (funny how the illegal drug use lingo works here) in 5-10 minutes and lasts another 5-20 minutes. With the IR fentanyl (not a patch), I take higher doses and my tolerance builds up really high really fast, ... the very reason I went on the patches but at least there's no more constant supply of drug in my system, when I sleep for example. I mean I easily go 12-15 hours a day WITHOUT the drug. So that must be good right?

But I have stopped this once entirely with minimal WD. I did the taper as I've suggested previously, and just jumped off the last 12.5mcg/hr. But I had to go back to the IR due to the pain. I will be travelling a lot and I plan to stop entirely during my trips in the hope that the travelling will let me forget my physical dependency (mild now I think). It's the "black hole" that matters... your receptors don't come back in one day and until they do, you're at risk for some other habit creeping up.

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I would reccomend you buy a vaporizer and purchase some marijuanna. it has helped me through my detox and has also allowed me to manage my cpd without nned of any doctor's problems er i mean prescriptions. Let me make one thing clear i am not telling you to smoke like a hippie with a field i use on average 1 gram per day in total and this allows me to live my life and enjoy it as well. I hope this helps. As for me after 6 years on the 25 mcg patch i have self detoxed over the last 12 days and so far so good. the vaporizer helps to ease my restlessness and irratbilty as well i have found my appetite returning much to the pleasure of my family. Cheers To Fentanyl Free Living

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It's me again! Pleased to report that I have officially been OFF the patch for one week today!!! I FINALLY did it and I am only taking my short acting. Only one problem. The short acting really isn't cutting it for me. I am prescribed 1 (one) 7.5/325 Hydrocodone 4x a day for my short acting medication for pain. I have seriously thought about smoking Mary Jane for pain control and I have anxiety really bad, (I am on Xanax 1mg 4x daily) Been on Benzo's for over 10 years. I am 31 years old and a lot of doc's and counselors wanna take people off the benzo's all together. If I start the Mary Jane thing, then I won't have to worry about my PILLS PILLS PILLS!!!! So what's up with the vaporizing of the Mary Jane? Does it make you pass a urine test? I was wondering, cause I would really look into that if vaporizing it would help with the THC being in my system. THANKS and GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!!

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You are definitely having withdrawals. I just went through the same thing by accident. I am also trying to wean off of it and could not sit still. I had to bump up my dosage and come down slower. I had other symptoms too like night sweats. Good luck.

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I would like to say congratulations on getting off fentanyl. What you are going through is withdrawals, the rocking, twitching legs(restless leg), total insomnia, not to mention pain, depression, the list goes on and on. It has taken about 3 months for most of the symptoms to ease to a tolerable level. I still fill withdrawals daily but for the most part most of the bad stuff is gone EXCEPT the insomnia, I am still getting between 3 and 4 hours a night sleep which is better than 2 hours. Things will get better it is going to take a long time. When weird things happen most are symptoms of withdrawals. Going off fentanyl is said to be the hardest drug to get off. I started last August and the other day I ask my husband "do you think I will ever feel good again?". Please let me know how things are going, I do care.

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Mary Jane does help with fentanyl withdrawal. It did for me, after using the patch for 13 years at 225 mcg every 36 hours (for 5 years) and it has taken 7 months to start to feel human again (not NORMAL) and I know that in about 4 or 6 months I might be normal. Good luck.

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Hey, guys. I started taking my patch again. My sleep is off, my manic episodes went out the roof. I cut it in 4 pieces and wear one for 5 days. Maybe it is all in my head. I felt great at first but maybe I really do have to go through some withdraw. I thought I could do it with absolutely no withdraw, but, everyone else has had it or does have it, so what makes me any different. Good luck, just wanted to let you all know, I am not as "free" as I had hoped.

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I too, have nerve damage. I'm weaning myself off the fentyanl patches SLOOOWLY. It was on neurontin for months. I became deeply depressed to the point of planning my death. My sister who's a nurse recognized the symptoms and I told my doctor. He weaned me off of it and put me on fentanyl in 2006 after a surgery gone wrong!!! I have been having withdrwals and I'm weaning slow. I know the withdrawal would be much worse otherwise. I can't wait to be free of drugs.

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Yes, I have had those exact symptoms. I feel thing crawling on me, as long as I keep busy it's not so bad. I was on the 50 mcg,now I'm on 25 mcg. I did 48 hours then 72 on the smaller patch. hang in there.

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OH I wish I had some...love it.

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Hey, girl friend I hear ya. I have been weaning myself since Jan. I was on fentanyl 50 mcg every 48 hours. Then went to 72 hours over a month, then 25 mcg 48 hours for 3 weeks now just today went the 72 hours. I can't sleep, I have the restless syndrome BAD to the point of pain. mainly at night. I told my doctor she said it was unrelated to the withdrawal, but I knew better. yesterday and today I haven't feel good (headache...) I want to feel better and I'm trying. Doing a lot of praying as well. good luck.

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Doc's will say that it is not related, but we ALL know that your symptoms are related to withdraw. Keep up the good work. In the end, it' all about winning the fight. I get Mylan brand patches, cause you can technically cut them in half, quarters, etc. That is how I did it. I am once again OFF the patch thanks to that. Praise God for the kind that don't have the gel in them!

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You wish you had some...but if you did, you would wish you didn't. Don't you see the trouble it has cause for ALL of us??? PLEASE, I beg of you, DO NOT get hooked on this. Even if it is prescribed to you. You will eventually regret it. I gauruntee it. Just read ALL of these and you will see for yourself...or learn from your mistakes.

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