Fentanyl Withdrawal Symptoms (Page 64)

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 you are feeling is withdrawal! I quit cold turkey off of 75mcg fentanyl. I was on patch for about a year and on pain killers for about a 3.5 years. I found I was in more pain with the patch. I am on day 39 and feeling a lot better but still week and edgy. It was the worst experience of my life!! They say I need back surgery again but I will not do it for fear the pain would get worse. I will never take a pain pill other than Advil again! Doctors never discussed how bad your body and mind get addicted to the crap. I will never fully trust Doctors again!! As for how long it will take for your detox, everyone is different, at least a month. Hang in there and do yourself a favor and get off the patch as soon as possible.

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Get professional help ! Fentanyl killed my son !

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Hello, I have been off the patches for over a year or a year and a half. It took me 7 months to totally get over them. Granted, the first month to six weeks were very bad. I had the trots, sick at my stomach, chills, fever, shakes, seeing things, and no sleep. After the six weeks, I was better but still could not sleep over an hour to two hours. I was so upset with everyone, doctor and pharmacy. The doctor nor the pharmacist, told me what to expect with these patches. Only after I called the pharmacist and asked him what was wrong with me, did he let me know what was going on. That was the longest six weeks of my life. And it was hell. Now things are a lot better and I am a lot wiser. Never will I just take what the doctor gives me unless I ask a lot of questions and do some research. Please do what you can to get off these killers. You are just as strong as you want to be, and if you really want to quit these, just do it. You can take some aleve and some melatonin for sleep. It helps, just be careful that you don't take too much. Ask the pharmacist what dose would be good to take. Tell him, or her, what you are going through and they will help with a lot of over the counter things that will help. God Bless you for taking this step and be proud of yourself for doing something that will benefit you and your family. They and you, deserve to be happy and well. Take care.

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My husband (73) has been on this garbage for 15 yrs , and all he talks about, he allows it to dominate his life. I keep telling him to stop, but he doesn't. It's the source of all our arguments constantly. Any advice?

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Hi, I feel i could do with some support from those who have been through the experience of coming off of Fentanyl. I was prescribed the patches due to chronic back pain. I have cauda equina syndrome. I have chronic kidney disease due to the declofenac so i am unable to take declofenac any longer. *(just to let others know that declofenac can cause kidney disease and kidney failure so be very carefull. ) I have been on 125 mcg of fentanyl changing the patches every 48 hours . I saw a pain consultant in bristol frenchay , i was having so many side effects i was literally so ill i was unable to get out of bed, I was told to reduce the patches by firstly spreading out the 48 hours to 72 hrs , then reducing the patches by 12 1/2 every 4 weeks. I have got down to 100 mcg , I have been at this dosage for 3 weeks and i am struggling. i feel really depressed. I have spent the last week in bed , i havent even showered for 5 days. I just feel so sick and i have so little energy. I have had withdrawal on two occassions in the last week. the muscle spasms. wattery eyes. and not being quite with it. i hate that feeling. My gp is supposed to be supporting me with coming off of the patches i have contacted her on 3 occasions i have been given her email address I have not had a reply, I called the surgery and got no reply. i have since found out that my gp was on anual leave for two weeks then training for two weeks back for a week and now on two weeks training then she is going to be off for another week. I plan to make an appt to see any gp at my practice i need to get some support with this. i havent seen a gp since reduceing the patches.
I am scared i have got such a long way to go I have only reduced by 25 mcg and have another 100mcg to go. I feel that i am alone at the moment.
I wondered if anyone else has experienced feelings of depression when coming off of the patches. also can anyone offfer any advice on how to over come the withdrawal episodes It usually lasts around 5 hours. i take a diazapam which helps loads but it is pretty rough still. Can anyone offer any advice. i am feeling very anxious about coming off completely. I am also really worried about the pain geting bad again too. I have had two major spinal surgeries , i was paralised by a central disk prolapse due to delay in treating cauda equina syndrome. i can walk a short distance , standing in one place is very painfull even making a cup of coffee leaves me in a sweat due to how much pain i am in. I have been prescribed Pregabalin(lyrica) 150 am and pm i droped back to 100 in the morning as i was like a zombie i just slept all day and night . I am better on the lower dose in the morning at present.
I am worried about how my pain will be managed as i reduce the patches. my gp and pain specialist say that the patches were no longer working for my pain. I think they were working .
so what i am asking is has anyone else experienced depression or low mood when coming off of fentanyl patches.
Also what did others do to manage chronic pain. when coming off of fentanyl .
And can any one offer any advice on how to manage coming off and the withdrawal side effects.
Thanks in advance.

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I was on this stuff for almost 2 yrs. I used a 125 mcg patch every 72 hrs. for chronic back and neck pain due to 15 yrs of working on the docks in Seattle WA. I ended up needing surgery where they fused C5-C6-C7 together with plate and bone marrow, I have a compression fracture in middle of back, severe degenerative disk disease with severe arthritis and bone spurs. I'm having more surgery in Jan. I've been on opiate pain meds for over 20 yrs. Mostly Vicodin/Norco and pot. My doctor put me on Fentanyl patches because I was still having pain even after taking 8-10 of the Norco a day. The patch worked great and I was able to quit using the Vicodin and Norco all together. I ran out of insurance and could not afford the $200 mth for the patches anymore and had to get off them asap. In the beginning I had to go cold turkey for about 4 days (which was the absolute worst experience I had ever gone through). But I started taking the Norco and smoking pot again. Between the two I was able to stay off the patches with little withdrawal effects. And I will die from pain before I put one of those horrible things on my skin again!! I can now manage my pain effectively with about 4-6 Vicodin/Norco a day and smoking pot. It's absolutely insane that pot is not legal for medicinal purposes everywhere in this country. It's a plant that grows out of the ground for god sake!! The many many benefits this plant has for medicinal purposes as well as "goods/products" are incredible!! It truly is "God's Medicine" The fact that it is illegal to have is a crime against humanity! And the reason(s) it is not legal to have are indeed a crime within itself!!!

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First of all..your pain level is intensified when you are on pain meds. When you are off of them for a while, your pain level will get back to where you are not hurting as bad. That is why people get hooked on pain meds because it makes them hurt worse. So they need more and more. It is a gimmick from the makers to keep you taking the meds. You will have depression and if you were not depressed when you went on the pain meds, use this as a tool to keep yourself from getting depressed. Occupy your mind with positive things. That will help. God bless you for taking back your life. You deserve your life back.

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I am tyying to get off Fentynal and would like to chat with like minded folks.Getting lower back surgery in the spring of 2014 and have to loose wt and get off the Patch. I am on 50Mcg Q3days.I've been on it for only 6 months

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you hit it right on the head. Have expierence everthing you said. It's all about the money these doctors don't seem to care anymore. Let's see how many co-pays we can get today

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Hi fellow family-in- pain pals! I was started on the Fentanyl 25mcgs two months ago and a month ago my PM Dr upped it to the75 mcg. This was done after years of back and shoulder surgeries..the back surgeries were spinal fusions and alas I have sustained my pain issues with Hydrocodone and whimpers. i no longer am on the hydrocodone but do take Lyrica 150 2xday. My last back surgery was in March and to my horror, have now discovered that as my back has healed hip pain has now emerged. Mri's have revealed torn labrum and severe arthritic damage in both hips..yes I too have degenerative joint disease like my mother and her mother as well. Hearing the horrors of the patch should I ask to be off now my pain pal friends? What do I do? I tried life without pain suppliment and I can't properly function. I go back for a follow up with my PM dr in a few days..any suggestions would greatly be appreciated!

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Dear dear pain pals How well I know your fears and experiences. I could be looking at hip surgery and I am frightened now. Please help me..give me some input!

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I've been on the fentanyal patch now for 4 years. 75mg/3days. I was in a bad car accident in 1986 I was 22, I had multiple fractures in both legs and arms shattered elbow and broken pelvis. I recovered from my injuries rather well all things considering but as I approached the 18 year anniversary from the accident and working in a factory doing a lot of heavy repetitive work I found the pain was intolerable. After a partial hip replacement surgery and the pain meds I was on not only helped the pain form surgery but also all the other aches and pains I was experiencing. I started off with percocets and then Fentanyl patches and Percocets for break through.
To make a long story short, this past summer I ran out of my percocet script early a month and 1/2 early. I had a script for 120 for 3 months. Due to a recent break up and a new job driving truck I abused the percs. I just grind and bared what I thought was pain til my next visit to the Dr. One morning about a month later I started to feel better, better then I had in a very long time! It hit me that most of the pain I was experiencing was that of withdrawals from the percs. Since then I have been weaning myself off the patch I am on 50mg/3days for a month then down to 25mg and so on.

My question is how has everyone's anxiety been while weaning off. Mine has been through the roof ever since I got off the percs. I don't want to take any meds for it as god knows they can be addictive as well.

It would be great to chat with anyone going through this process of being opiates free

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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