Fentanyl Withdrawal Symptoms (Page 6)

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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Thanks, Happygirl! I just left a message w/ surgeon's ass't, asking about withdrawal. I'm on the Mylan patch, which according to what I've read, has an all-over coating, not a gel. However, I'll wait to hear from the P.A. before I whip out my scissors.

I'm forbidden to take any hot baths (not that I could get in/out of the tub anyway). The Benadryl helps with the itching, which was driving me crazy, and it made me drowsy too, so it was a win-win. I already take 5-HTP at night, which usually helps with restless legs, but not last night.

No, I won't die from lack of sleep. But I do like being able to fall asleep when I'm tired and think clearly when I wake up.

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Turns out I'm the 1st Rx for fentanyl patch the P.A. has written, b/c of surgeon's concerns. Told me to call pharmacist, who said she can't TELL me to cut Mylan patch, but she's HEARD of other patients who've done it w/ no ill effects. I'll give it a go tonight.

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Jenny, Is the instructional insert that came with the patch reachable? Maybe it will say yes or no to cutting. Just don't want to have you overdose.
Take care.

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Looked at Mylan Labs instructions online. Couldn't find anything about cutting (or not) the fentanyl patch. But now I know why the patch had been itching me when first applied: it contains silicone, which I'm allergic to.

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thanks happygirl etc for the kind thoughts, Day 7 now, the joint pain and the movement sensation is still terrible all nite. Day time is slightly easier,nausea has eased and can just face a piece of toast n cuppe tea. Still have a bad case of the trots!. Depression is still not good with no motivation but i think that will improve over the weekend i hope with my wife n children home. Never again will i touch these horrible patches ever in my life time. thanks all and take care . mat from aus.

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For all of you with withdrawal problems, don't believe want most people have to say,here is the easy way. I was 100mcg for 1 year and now off. Here is how it's done...
From 100mcg, drop to 75mcg for 6 patches. After the 75 go on 50 for 6 patches, then drop to fo for 6 patches, then drop to 25 for 6 patches, then drop to 12.5 (yes they make them) . After the 12.5 start cutting the 12.5's in half (Mylan brand only!) this will put you at around 6mcg wear the 6's for 4 patch changes. Then you're off. It is not that hard to taperI I waited a month because of all of the horrible stories read, I was dreading the withdrawal that people explain here. Sure if you go from 100 to 0 it will be hell! But tapering properly, I never felt any withdrawal syptoms.

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I feel bad for Mat43 & others who've had such terrible experiences w/ the fentanyl patch. It was a godsend for me, as I had bad reactions to all other oral pain meds: vicodin, percocet, darvocet, dilaudid, demerol, lyrica, topomax, neurontin (I've probably forgotten some), which were given to me 3 yrs ago after I was smashed up by a horse.

I wish I'd known about the fentanyl patch then (I'm still furious that NOT ONE doctor suggested it), because I was in agony for months. In fact, the first night after I stopped the fentanyl, I was awakened several times by pain in my right arm (3rd surgery, June '08), whereas my back (surgery Oct 8) felt OK.

I'll take a Benadryl before I go to bed in a few minutes. But if I get the unbearable itching/twitching I had last night, I'm going to put on 1/2 of a 25mg Mylan patch till morning.

Cheers & thanks to all.

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I agree with Ted about tapering. I still had withdrawal symptoms even after the 6mcg (folded 12mcg)patch. Depression and restlessness and sleeplessness were the worse part. Time is the only thing that has helped. I had to be patient and knew by the experiences I read about in this forum that I would feel good again. Hang in there Mat43. Jenny, how was last night?

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Happy Halloween,Everyone!
Withdrawal is a freak fest, isn't it?
I am 6 months free of all opiates and am sleeping pretty well. I got a lot of meditation in and listened to
music those nights
restless legs are over,too.
I did not take any other drugs or supplements. Love being free of big pharma!

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I posted a while ago (should have been 110) but it seems to have disappeared. I'm Happygirl now, thanks to 9 hrs of sleep last night--the most since surgery--after wonderful neuromuscular massage at Denver's MassageSpecialists.com & then a Benadryl at bedtime. I can feel the fentanyl fog clearing from my brain, which is really great as I'm in the writing biz.

That said, if I ever again need major pain meds, I'd go on fentanyl in a heartbeat. It gave me immediate relief with the fewest side effects of any other drug--and almost all of them were thrown at me.

Many thanks & good luck to you all. Over out.

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A comment on your post, my well rested Jenny!
Cronic pain, which is treated by opiates too often by our medical establishment, is different from the pain from an operation.
A physician would not use fentanyl as a first course, as it is one of the strongest opiates on the market.
if u ever do opiates again, using the patch could kill you! So please don't save any leftover patches for just in case ...
that being said, I aplaud your achievement!

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Well! slept for couple hrs. last nite after nearly going MAD with the restless aching joints,man how long are these gonna last Happy Girl or Jenny?. Feel alot better during the day with a bit of appetite returning and a smile ! every now and then.Depression still pretty bad and realise now the patches must have been masking this and maybe i was getting more than pain relief out of the patches :(. Doctor Monday at last for bit of a chat i hope. Thanks for caring girls n take care of yourselves. Mat G. Aus.

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Hey Mat,
Aloha from Maui! Read through the old posts and you'll see that most of us had depression as a withdrawal symptom! It isn't necessarily true that the opiates masked an underlying condition. It's more likely that the opiates bind to a neuroreceptor that wil now have to be filled by your own natural endorphins.. and that will come back with your effort to enjoy your life- adding in exercise, goodfood,sex, and a positive attitude. Beware of adding Anti depressants - unless you have time away and still aren't feeling ok-
I am not giving medical advise- but know that yr Doc is going to suggest it because that is what they have in their bag of tricks.
If there is a support group around, that isn't AA, if can be great. Learn to cope with the symptoms with some distraction techniques... The legs are crazy, aren't they?!! I must have run a half marathon every night for the first month! Massage helps. Breath deep, swim if you can. We all are cheering for you!
Maui Girl

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Hi everyone! It's Monday here in Oregon,Mat43. I think Maui Girl has some wisdom about the depression and antidepressant thing. I have never been depressed before the withdrawal from opiates. It took several weeks for the fog to clear and to feel well again. I was considering asking my doc for some antidepressants...but thought I should wait a while. I basically just sat around and read some really great books. It was summer here and I could sit on the terrace and listen to birds and hear the wind in the fir trees and smell the wonderful pacific northwest air while I read and read and read. I felt lazy at times, but that is just the way I was. It's amazing how normal does return if you wait for it. Jenny, you're and inspiration too. Do try not to use any other meds if at all possible. There is no other feeling like CLEAN. Take care, all. I'm praying for you.

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I posted 2 days ago & it disappeared again. That wonderful 9-hr sleep hasn't been repeated, alas. I'm back to feeling exhausted, then unable to sleep as soon as I turn out the light. Last night I had to rub my legs because they wanted to twitch. I was depressed before I used the fentanyl patch. Now that I took it off I'm still depressed, but with a sharper mind. And I have renewed pain in my much-operated right arm, which I didn't even know the fentanyl had been helping till I stopped using it. (The patch was for lumbar disc & sciatic pain.)

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117 I want to tell Matt I'm about 8 days out off a 25 mg patch. long story short I have rheumatoid arthritis and knee surgeries, then finally after trying to treat those problems with Ibuprofen, etc I was given the patch, its good at first til you loose yourself and your life. I worked at Dr Office for 10 years as a medical assistant, with chronic pain it wears on your brain and you loose the seratonin and dopamine and causes you depression, if your mental resolve isn't really strong while trying to get off this stuff its hard, theres a medication called Cymbalta, its for mild depression but whats absolutely wonderful about it is it also helps the leg jumps immensely!!! It blocks some of the nerve paths to help relieve chronic pain while supply a mild antidepressant to help keep up those levels that you and I are seeming to fight harder for. Its a prescription. I want to see if I'm doing this post right cuz I have some important other information. for us suffers and conquerer's out there....let me see if this one works first...

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118 Matt please hold on you can get your life back. I'm aching and hurting, I was six days with about 3 hrs sleep total in the little 20 to 30 min snatches you get til the twitches come. The Cymbalta also will cause mild drowsiness, just enough to help you sleep in hour stretches so far and thats where I'm at but theres light at the end of the tunnel whichever way you choose to do things. I'd like to keep posting with you I need the support too. Thanks to Hawaiian Born, Maui Girl and Happy Girl cuz I was ready to put a gun barrel in my mouth til I read your posts. I also read some of the previous ones on this thread Matt, go back and read this from the start CAREFULLY pick out pertinent information to you, there are other things chronic pain people can do to aleviate the symptoms of this, icy shot patches to aching muscles, I use heating pads constantly, hot showers or hot baths with the melatonin, also on another site a sufferer mentioned valerian root, it is herbal remedy that helps you relax and fall asleep, works like the valium and/or xanax which calm the bats in your tummy and helps you relax, also like all these helpful angels and fellow sufferers have stated if you have a religious preference it helped me immensely, magnesium if your wanting to stay natural helps the leg jerks out there for any of you who want to stay natural. Secondly to Tedds post, you are so lucky you were on the Mylan Patch, PEOPLE there are TWO kinds of fentanyl patches MYLAN and SANDOZ Mylan 25 is almost like a stretchy piece of medical tape and can be cut. Sandoz brand a generic patch which I believe all of you fellow sufferers like myself were probably on the 25 is about a 1 x 1 piece of patch with an actual visible gel like substance in the middle *BAD thing about this wicked awful patch is it has a small amount of alcohol with the fentanyl gel to help if disperse through your skin. I believe thats why this one is so wicked awful. Last September my younger brother age 38 with a wife and five children had tried to come off these horrible things two times, he was working a graveyard shift at a coal mine it just kicked his butt and he kept using them, he is one of the people who has now been killed by this horrible patch....thus the ads about the deaths from the fentanyl patch, his heart just couldn't take the work schedule and all the stuff he was taking with it and he died a year ago september. Don't give up!!!! It will get better and better. If any of you out there have any thoughts on any subjects I would be interested to learn if my theory is correct of which brand of patch you were on. Most insurances make you go Sandoz cuz its the generic brand, let me know what you think. thanks again to all those positives out there who kept me up during dark hellish hours. My prayers are with all of you!!!

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119 Matt forgot to tell you I have a surgery for a GI Bleed in June of this year, I had been on the patches for five years because I couldn't take the easy on your stomach stuff as well, it is 4:40 am so I hope this is making sense. Also It has been much better on this 8 day with cymbalta as my mental resolve is helping me want to stay strong although my body is aching from the athritis, knee surgeries, lupus and a laundry list of problems I will never again put one of these patches on my body. They were first made to be used by cancer patients who were dying....hang in. Thanks all.

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Tessie, I had a 25mcg Mylan patch. I'm a week off after 4 weeks on & am still a bit itchy, though less twitchy. Stayed up till 3am writing, then took 10mg Valium. I woke up after only 5 hours, but for a welcome change was fully asleep the entire time. I did a few ballet plies & standing on tiptoe before bedtime, which may have helped. As I mentioned previously, L5-HTP helps enormously with twitchy legs. I take 4 every night.

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121 Jenny Glad you got the better patch the other one is a nightmare. What is the H stuff? Herbal type stuff? Let me know I'll try definitely try it! THANKS for the support. The valium and/or xanax can help, I want to eventually use as little prescriptions meds as possible, they are good in moderate amounts for correct reasons only. When I had to go in for emergency stomach surgery due to stomach bleed I was on patch and other stuff, I had lost 70 pounds and was weak as heck, this was in June. Ensure PLUS at Walmart really helps, ITS NOT JUST FOR OLD PEOPLE lol...TO MATT: and anyone interested weakness, spaghetti legs, itching all this after stuff needs constant attention so we don't have to take anything else. Ensure plus has fiber will help control diarrhea, I didn't have it as bad as others have mentioned, you can feel physically stronger after a couple of bottles I'm really serious! Also Matt there is St. John's Wort Herbal Walmart has best price on it and ensure PLUS theres a difference between the two. Keep up your nutrition and it will help your mental state. Got a blessed 2 hours at 6:00 a.m. Hang in there Matt I'm praying for you!!

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