Fentanyl Withdrawal Symptoms (Page 20)
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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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SuzieQ: I read testimonials from sites other then the ones posted on Withdrawal Ease website and they don't sound as promising..

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Good luck Shelby and stay safe. I so admire your mental courage for trying the withdrawal and I am definitely getting the Withdrawal Ease product just because of the testimonials of people in our same boat who took it and seemed to get over wd's much much quicker and with less suffering.

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Unfortunately I had to put the patch back on. I got call to do an emergency run to Massachusetts which would take over 24 hours. There was no way I could have done it in the condition I was in. I found the colindine helped with the physical withdrawal but not the mental portion of it. I was getting extremely depressed and I had zero energy. Dropping the patch from 50mcg may be too much of a jump. Seeing this was the only 2 week window I had to do a hard and fast detox, I will have to take things more slowly. It was a learning experience that I will discuss with my doctor in hopes to coming up with a solution that will work with as little disruption to my life style as possible. I will look into withdrawal ease SuzieQ as I am sure ever little bit will help.
Happy New Year!

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Shelby, congrats on your ongoing success! If it gets too tough, i've heard of a product called Withdrawal Ease. Google it. I definitely will order this when I begin my withdraw after my hip surgery. It has MANY success stories and contains vitamins and herbs..NO drugs!

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Well it's been over 72 hours now and besides having zero energy and intense ear ringing... I'm coming out of this a lot better than I thought. I haven't even taken a clonidine today, It will still take several weeks before the Fentanyl is totally out of my system.. But,I know now that this drug can be beaten and Clonidine works very well.. It will take you out of commission for a week or so and it might not be for everyone's busy life style..

A friend of mine stopped by this afternoon and he had an addiction to Percocets. He has been going to rehab and getting his suboxone on a weekly basis since July. He was shocked how well I was doing as he felt he wasn't ready to give up on the suboxone yet. So I guess it all depends on the person, what method will work for you. I am so looking forward to getting my head out if this fog it;s been in for the last 4 years.

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Bless you Shelby, you are such a blessing and what you did for them will be returned to you 10 fold. We don't do enough for the elderly. The teen today seem not to be taught respect like our age group did. They just have their hands stuck out for a handout that was not worked for. (Not all but most) I could go on all day about the teens and youth as a whole. I am hopeful that all that will change one day but to watch my 19 yr.old with his baby, I am doubtful. He informed us that his child would NOT be told no,nor would his hand be spanked..hahahaha...I politely told him his child would not be special in that sense, not in my house. It is a policy in our house, as it was in our time and our mom's time, and so on, that babys should be trained to have respect for others and their things. I have a long road ahead of me...lol

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One of the reasons for me not to go the Suboxone route was that I will be starting a new job in the new year, one that pays better and better hours but no benefits.. So getting off all non-essential meds was a priority for me. I know for myself that it was really bad inflammation that was the cause of my pain and the indomethican really seems to help with that.
Anyways here in Southern Ontario we had a dusting of a couple of inches of snow. I usually snow blow 5 of my elderly neighbors driveways for them. Nothing bugs me more than seeing an 80-year-old with a shovel in their hand. So as 10 am approached I could see them one by one coming out with a shovel in their hands looking longingly at my house, probably wondering where the hell I was.. So I slopped on my winter gear and off I went. I think it was one of the best thing I could have done. It got me out and my mind off things for a while. Although I am extremly pooped right now. I'm feeling not too bad!

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Shelby, I am so sooo very proud of you. Hindsight is the best learning experience you will have to go on. I know what I went through, I never want to go through again. I don't want to blow anyones bubble, but I don't think I can or could make it without the Suboxone. I just go once a month to get mine and take just half of what the doctor gives me. Simply because I don't want to go through ANY kind of withdrawals again. The Suboxone helps me with the craving part of my mind that thought I could not live without some kind of pain med. It does help and it is not considered a strong narcotic. I take care of my mom (87yrs old) and my daughter that had a bad wreck (she was T-boned and flipped her car three times) 3 teens with the oldest teen has a 1 year old baby. So the alternitive was the Subs. My family said the ole Nutty was back and they love it also. So don't cut it too short. And it is not for everyone. Even the people that was telling me "it's just another drug" thinks different now after they have seen how it has turned my life around. Lots of mornings I forget to take it untill I start doing some strenous work. So you don't go through anything if you don't have it. But anyway, like I said it is not for everyone. It just works for me. Take care and if you need anything let me know. I am soo glad you are feeling better. Time seems to drag when we are going through something like this. Hope you have a restful day.

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Thanks Nutty for the words of encouragement... What gave me the straight to just rip off the patch was reading post like yours. I know a fellow who went to rehab and did the Suboxone route, it's been 3 years and he is still on them..WTF!! I couldn't see my self going to a rehab clinic and peeing in a cup every week for 3 years!

I'm coming up on 40 hrs. since I took off the patch and I tell you last night was the worst so far. I had the sweats and I could't lay still. I was getting up every 5 to 10 minutes and pacing. This lasted til 3 or 4 in the morning. I finally fell asleep on the couch. I am feeling surprisingly better this am. Besides feeling light headed and severe ear ringing the body ache is for the most part is gone, I know i have some more hurtles to cross but I can now see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel!

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SuzieQ and Shelby, thank you, it was very rough for me. I have been through a lot of self inflected pain that I so needlessly didn't have to put myself through. I applaud anyone that is coming off the patch. That was the worse drug any doctor could ever have put me on. I didn't really know just how powerful that patch was until I took it off and ask the doctor to reduce it. He really did me a favor by getting mad at me and not renewing my script, just because I ask to come down on the MCGs. I went through a sickness that I will never forget, nor do I won't to forget. It keeps me from ever put another one on. Now, if I can help anyone come off easly I think it is my duty. Take hot baths, heating pads help, the clonidine helps along with a nerve med if the doctor will give you some. But use the nerve meds sparingly so that they work better. And if you have some Lortab or Norco, or percocets, use at least when you are hurting the worst. This patch is 80 times the strength of Morphine so you will be miserable for a little while. I also used Aleive, and suprisingly it helped. I think my water bill doubled for a couple of months at the beginning of the withdrawal. I have always said, and will always say, these doctors that write these patches to people should be forced to wear a 100mcg patch for at least a year and then come off cold turkey just to let them see how we have suffered. Your pain level is intensified when you are on the pain meds to keep you needing the pain meds. That is why the drug companys make them like that so they can keep you hooked. You will see, and I promise, that when you are finally clean of that mess that you didn't hurt near as bad. Merry Christmas and feel blessed that you have come to your senses. Hope all of you have a blessed New Year. Oh yeah, if you can get your doctor to give you some muscle relaxers to take at night or when your muscles cramp up, helps also. Good luck to you and give yourself something nice each week that you make it through to show that you are a lot stronger than you think you are. Now I am fixing to try to stop smoking...lolol...wish me luck..

p.s. one thing my friend tried and said worked wonders for her was she would wear the patch for about two hours and take it off for six, then put it back on for two and then take it off for seven and so on and so on...that I didn't try but she said it helped her. I just felt it would prolong the withdrawals..

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Thanks Suzie.. It's been over 30 hours now and it just feels like a really bad flu. Everything aches and I have no energy. I took off my 75 mcg patch once for 24 hours just to see what it was like and it was unbearable! With the clonidine it surely does make it a lot more tolerable. I would never minimize anyone's pain and if you require it by all means. I found the side effects too much after a while, let a lone the monthly worry of getting your script on time. I truly hope I can get away from this patch, it got me through my days working in the factory now I would like my life back.. Hopefully!

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Shelby please keep us informed on how you are doing and good luck to you, Pain Pal!
Nutty, i've been following your epic, incredible and sometimes horrific journey to this point. You are one tough and mighty strong person! Thank you for sharing. Are you doing okay? It sure sounds like it..you sure have inspired me!

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Good luck to you Shelby and God bless you! I hurt so badly right now..I guess it could be worse if I did'nt have the patch. I do have an awesome pm Dr. She is very caring, cautious and courageous towards helping me through this.
I was reading the forums of events hitting first Florida and now Colorado concerning their drs and phamacies. What a mess for pain sufferers!;

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yes my Dr. gave me some Clonidine to help with the withdrawal from weaning down. It works surprisingly well for going cold turkey. I had a bit of a rough night, Managed to get some sleep.. Just feeling really lethargic/weak. No major withdrawal symptoms so far..A bit of restless leg/arm last night but otherwise not too bad..

Merry Christmas everyone!!

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Shelby, have you some clonidine?..it is a blood pressure med that will help. The hospital gave me some with some imodium to take a few times a day and it helped so much. Or if you have some nerve meds it helps. Good luck, I went through it two years ago and was the best move I could have ever went through. Merry Christmas everyone.

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It will be several months before you feel better. I hope your not doing it alone. I'm on 105 days and I'm still week but getting better. I was on the patch for a broken back for 1.5 years. Good luck to you and Merry Christmas.

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Well here goes nothing.. I have decided to go for broke. I want to be patch free for the new year and seeing that xmas vacation is the only time I can afford to do it I ripped my 50mcg patch off this afternoon. The slow weaning off is no fun as the 3rd day on can be miserable the more you wean down. From what I read on this board it will be a hell of a ride for the next 5 days or so.. I am bound and determined to pull this off! wish me luck and I will keep you all posted on my progress..

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Shelby, you are right about drs giving out opiods however now I think this is changing..what scares me is that we are getting slammed with the Fentanyl patch in it's place. From what I've read on this forum, this patch is much, much harder to get off of. How cruel!

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SuzieQ;
Getting off the patch for me is more a personnel challenge and a trial to see if I can do without it. Seeing I'm not doing the repetitive work and being on my feet all day. Since I got off the Percs I can't get over how much better I feel, body and mind. Yes being in chronic pain is no fun, but I also found out that most of the pain I was experiencing was really bad inflammation from all my broken bones (22 to be exact). I was taking Indomethician for bad gout and while I was withdrawing from the percs I had really bad back pain to the point where I had to sleep in my lazy-boy chair for a month. My chiropractor suggest trying an anti inflammatory for the pain. So I thought indomethician is a strong anti inflammatory so after taking 2 of them my back pain was gone. So to keep the back pain at bay I take one every other day and before long all the other aches that ailed me dissipated as well.

My point being that Dr.'s are too quick to prescribe opiates and should only be prescribed as a very last resort. The patch although helpful in pain relief can also be a source of great stress and aggravation as they fall off in the shower or from sweating and then if you go a way and you forget them at home or forgetting to call the pharmacy in time to get your script filled before you run out. It just becomes like a dog chasing his tail trying to avoid the dreaded withdrawals.

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ShelbyS, Bless your heart! To me it sounds like you NEED to stay on some kind of meds for your lingering pain from being so broken up. You know we are a different kind of people,we chronic pain sufferers. To be productive as well is sometimes just asking too much isn't it? To be all this and have to suffer withdrawals is like asking a zombie to run a 4 minute mile!
I forgot to change my patch the other day, going four days instead of three. I just felt jittery and had to reach for the "commodium"! It took me a few hours to feel better. I was starting withdrawals and I've only been on the patch a little over a month! I also have nothing for any breakthrough pain. I dread the day if I ever have to be without this patch. I feel that it does help overall but not when i am in motion..my hip bolts down with pain and I want to vomit.

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