Fentanyl Withdrawal Symptoms (Page 71) (Top voted first)

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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Hey everyone. Updating on my Fentanyltaper. I know LynneB said she is following my progress. After all the months of tapering, and expecting many more, I found myself being able to wear the same 25 mcg patch 7 days straight without much discomfort. This was miraculous as I struggled with horrific panic attacks and withdrawals starting as soon as 23 hours into each patch. When I hit the 72 hr mark with just the heavy leg feeling and leg pain I decided to leave that patch on until it fell off and never put another on. Well, it wouldn't fall off. On day 8 I noticed open ulcerations all along the perimeter and knew I had to remove it. I laid my hand on it, thanked God for deliverance, and took it off! My trusty phone calendar notification just messaged me I'm 36 hours patch free!!! Hallelujah! Today I am in the hydocodone pain realm. Those make me hurt worse and am down on them to two halves a day. I wean myself from these all the time and know after a few days of a few halves, that pain will be gone.
Sid...... praise God and congratulations to you. Well done, and IT IS an acheivment to glory in!
LynneB, you're right where I was up until a week ago, before this dramatic change hit me. Keep on keeping on. I'm so excited and thankful. I thought the taper would never end. But it has! And sooner than expected.
Now Im struggling with not beingable to do what I could with the pain meds. But in truth I was still in great pain and very limited. Ill not be robbed of the joy of being med free! Prayers for everyone in this struggle, and prayers appreciated.
Yvonne

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Thank you Eunie, I'm on my 2nd day of the 50. I am thinking of just not using them anymore...Do you think, since this is only my 3rd week, I would go through any type of withdrawals, other than just get used to my pain again?

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Good for you Yvonne! It is quite amazing the way you managed to avoid the WD nasties at the end. I wonder why, but then it doesn't matter in the end as long as it worked! I am very interested in how people are coping and was good to hear that Sid was Fentanyl free at last. I honestly can't imagine being in severe pain and being house bound for so many years as some of you have been. I feel so fortunate by comparison! I don't know what sort of pain is in store for me under this blanket of drug induced foggyness and that is scaring me somewhat. My problem is "only" a prolapsed L4/L5 disc which occurred nearly two years ago and was diagnosed by MRI after an acute admission to hospital at that time. Due to stomach problems and reflux no oral drugs of either pain relief or anti inflamatories could be tolerated and so began the on again off again Fentanyl journey. I went off them about every six weeks and controlled my pain with Panadol and Voltaren suppositories because I was so afraid of the dependence issue. But then while on them again last February I had a fall due to being so wobbly and unsteady, and fell backwards on the beach. Back to hospital and same disc of course! It's now been 6 months on F and here I am trying to get back to normal. Fingers crossed and all that! So I am doing the 25 and doing the little slivers off the backing of the 12.5 and in six more days I will be off the 12.5 and start reducing the 25mcg. I figure I'll do it in a month. Do you think that will be too quick Yvonne? I don't want to stuff it up again. By the way, that weight loss was extreme. It's really a terrible way to lose weight but if I may ask a personal Q .... Was some of it weight that was excess? And if so I guess that fact will now help you in your recovery as far as becoming more mobile and getting stronger and healthier? I lost about 7 pound only but nausea and vomiting was never a side effect for me, although lack of appetite and taste certainly is.
Do let me know how you are doing from time to time, and good luck to everyone else who posted about their battle with Fentanyl WD. Some stories are so terrible, I really feel for you all, not just the WD which is the subject of this blog, but the stories of pain and despair over many years. Peace be with you.

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I did not experience too horrible withdrawal symptoms until I started on the 25 patch. To be on the safe side I would still withdraw slowly. Everyone has different body chemistry but only the rare person escapes with few withdrawal symptoms. I am back on the 25 patch and have still restless agitation, very few nights of sleep and sweats and chills drive me bonkers. I honestly think I may as well start withdrawing slowly to 12.5 again as other than some pain relief, I feel miserable, still have diarrhea almost daily. Please be careful. And good luck!!

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LynneB, I'm so excited and feel so free. Granted the original issues I wore the patch for are not gone. And my fatigue is relentless. But you know what? It was even with the patch on. By 1:00-200 I may go somewhere. Yesterday I went to the park with my friend of 26 years and fed the ducks and watched all the schools of fish come to the top of the water and churn it up like piranhas for the bread. We walked around a resale shop. Only out a few hours then back to my heating pad. Tonight I went to church for the first time in years. Plan was for morning service, but.....that's before noon lol. Today is day three with the patch completely off. I'm so excited. Only took 1/2 a Vicodin today and that was at 9:00 tonight after a 3 hr church service. Im pentecostal ( no snakes O:-) ). We do some jumping and shouting and it felt great to join in again. Do hurt now, but I'm so so thankful. I do believe the slow wean is what just lowered my tolerance and a GOOD God!

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LynneB, yes, yes ALL of the 140 lbs I lost was excess! I'm 5'10", so carry weight well, but I went from very active and on-the-go to dead stop when the fibro kicked in. I was also a very stressed out single mom of four sons and over a period of about ten years became very overweight. I could still even stand to lose another 20 lbs, but hopefully not through panic attacks and every morsel going straight thru me.
I'm thrilled to have lost the weight, and ppl that know me don't recognize me at first, but the HARD way I lost it shows in my face. I'm now going to lose the rest in a healthy way. Hopefully. I have a very serious Dr Pepper addiction. It was my only source of energy when everything else went straight thru me. At times when I got off all sugar my pain was much less. I need to do that, but, one addiction at a time. Working onthe vikes now. Almost there. 1/2- two halves a day. But II'm being merciful to myself! I just finished 4 months of weaning off Fent! LynneB, I feel like if it hadn't taken SO LONG to get back up to changing every 72 hours, it wouldn't have taken so long. I suffered greatly getting there. But the second patch that I made it to 72 hours on is the one I kept on 7 days then completely removed. Almost 4 days ago. I think you'll feel it. Just keep tapering. I'm praying for you all. Its horrible, horrible. Beyond horrible!

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@Sid

Good post. What you pointed out about post surgical pain management for people on Fentanyl patches is absolutely correct and definitely worth mentioning, though it needs to be broadened to include the other typical immediate post-op pain meds such as Morphine and Dilaudid. Although those are considerably stronger than Norco or Vicodin, anybody who's been on a high Fentanyl dosage for a long time will need a much higher amount of post-op pain medication than the average person. I've had many Ortho surgeries since my accident while I've been on the patches, and every single time without fail I'm in absolutely excruciating pain when I regain consciousness, like a 15 on a scale of 1 to 10. I also mention this to the surgeon every single time PRIOR to the surgery, and I BEG them to please handle this properly and keep on top of it after the surgery, but they always ignore me and set up the standard instructions with the nurse, and then usually leave for the day shortly after surgery, so you can't reach them to get the pain med orders changed. The result is that I literally have PTSD from my multiple ortho surgeries, to the point that I don't want to have them now because I know I'm going to suffer so bad. For anybody reading this, be sure you let your surgeon/doctor(s) know that you're on Fentanyl, what dosage, and for how long, so that there's at least a chance that they might manager your post-op pain appropriately. This information is also necessary for the anaesthesiologist, who may or may not want you to remove your patches prior to surgery (usually they'll have you keep them on if you've been using them for a long time). Fentanyl depresses the respiratory system, like H or Morphine, so it has to be factored in when they administer the aneasthetic. Lastly, for anybody having surgery, make sure you bring patches with you, even if you expect to be out of the hospital the same day or within a day or to. You could have complications and have to remain there longer, and we all know how severe the withdrawals can be if the doctor cannot be reached to prescribe the patches that you need, or if they refuse to do so for whatever crazy reason.

Btw, for anybody new here and reading through old posts. I recommended to use medication for restless leg syndrome for anybody suffering Fent. withdrawals, and as I said, I was unsure of the name but I thought it might be called Levitra. As someone pointed out, the correct name for the medication is Lyrica. For full disclosure, I haven't taken either of them ;). As I've also said repeatedly, always consult with your doctor and only use this forum as a guideline. Everybody here has good intentions, but most of us are just average people that have first hand experience with this dreadful medication.

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Been through the experience of being in hospital and having no patch. I started sweating and getting the twitches and realized I had taken my patch off and didn't bring any with me. (It was an emergency). Luckily they immediately ordered one but that was scary. And your right, Morphine does NOT make Fent withdrawals go away.

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Yvonne, It was lovely to read your last few days experiences and it's so good that you have good friends and of course, your church. Sounds like fun and glad there are no snakes lol. I did some gardening, very light, yest morning and suffered with the sweats and utter lethargy all afternoon. It's irritating, but I bear up with the thought that it won't be forever. As well as these two symptoms, my main others are the fog my brain is in and, like Sid, the lack of desire to do anything or engage with anyone. I guess it's a type of depression. The constipation is horrendous and causes stomach troubles, bloating, reflux, the whole works. I take MORE medicine for that as well as H2O all day long. Can't wait for day zero! My back pain must be tolerated some other way and it may even be a lot improved. We shall see. Keep on keeping on Yvonne!
Sid good luck with your battle. Thanks for all the info you post. It's appreciated. That thing with the nervous legs etc, it's ghastly, it drove me back to the F. I got it in my legs and wrists of all places! I had to flap my wrists all the time, I looked totally DEMENTED like I was doing chicken imitations. Even in bed and what with the no sleeping the only thing was to race around my small house and stamp and flap like a mad woman. Sounds funny now, but was def NOT of course.
The meds you all write of I don't know them, I guess you are in USA but I can kind of guess the equivalents here. Our Panadol is the over the counter all purpose analgesia and has nil effect on the lining of the stomach. Lorazepam is anti anxiety and I will be probably on them at the final stages of the tapering.
Be assured that someone in New Zealand is thinking of you over there most days as we take the steps towards being narcotic free. :-)

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Today marked day 9 of being Fentanyl patch free! Still so excited about it. Discouraged about the original pain for which it was required. Have I considered putting on a patch? NO WAY! I've had sleepless nights, bad leg pain/heaviness, but I'm so thankful to be FREE! I have to learn how to deal with this some other way! For the most part I've gotten out and done things every day except one, and my legs just hurt too much that entire night before and all that day. Today I got out early even though I woke up feeling the worst. I went to hunt down some old friends. They weweren't home so I came home and have been down ever since, by there was a drastic weather change, which usually does it. Honestly though, I mostly had this much trouble even with the patch on so I don't miss it at all! Do miss having a normal life.

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I'm now a couple of months in but unfortunately, my disease has flared up and I have been in bed for over a week. I'm trying to use Advil and Tylenol but I may have to call in for something a bit stronger. But the patch, no way. Not unless they tell me I'm endstage. Good luck, and keep fighting through. It may take a few months to feel normal but it will be worth it.

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Hi Yvonne-- please tell me if you had horrible sweating. I am soaking wet all day and then chilled at night. My doctor thinks it might be my BP meds but I think it is fentanyl. He wants to leave me at 25 patch to help me cope with chronic pain which I still have. I don't want oxycodone or any other type of narcotic! I am allergic to morphine. My plan is water exercise and walking but some days hurt soooo much!
So happy for you! I would have been finished with fentanyl too if I could have occasional narcotic but he is so afraid of addiction to another opiate. I hate being likened to an addict. At emergency one crusty doctor thought I was just after narcotics when I was in such a state of withdrawal a few months ago. He was cruel.

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Hi Mary--hopefully by now you have found help. This site keeps reporting old messages! I have tried to respond b4 but never see them. Withdrawal is cruel....and my dr as well as others do not know what he'll it is. I was told to 'stop dwelling on withdrawal symptoms!" Wow---how can we when our bodies are going nuts! I am back to 25 mcg patches and I still have withdrawal diarrhea, hot flushes and back pain if I try to work at housework or walking/pool exercises. I need a break and that is why I am staying at 25 patch for awhile but when withdrawing again to 12.5 plan to tape off small portions on the med side of the patch and very very gradually increase the amount taped off until I reach zero. My dr also says withdrawal symptoms shouldn't last so long but they DO....at less for some of us. Take clonazepam for anxiety--it is non habit forming like Valium is addictive!!!! We were mid age when doctors started handing out opiates for pain. Now they now the dangers of addiction and young people stealing drugs. Doctors have done a complete reversal and now tell us we can't take these pain drugs anymore. Exercise, acupuncture, warm water pool exercises are to help us cope---WHENEVER we can get rid of the torture of withdrawal. I wish you health and peace!

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Are you sure that being on the patch and Hydro at the same time is safe? Fentanol represses your respiratory system and other powerful drug mixed with it can stop your breathing altogether, especially in your sleep. Even if your doctor says it's okay, please double check with your pharmacist. Many times they know more about the drug, symptoms, and interactions with other drugs. Doctors cannot keep up with all the new drugs and new side effects coming out every year. Your pharmacists job and only job IS drugs. Remember, always be your own advocate and go somewhere else if your body and mind are telling you something isn't right. I wouldn't count on a month being enough time to go off the patch, but only you really know what works for you. You have to remember, though, that it's not really all about will power, it's about your physical and mental health as well. Withdrawal too quickly or too soon can literally kill you. I'm a stay-at-home mom with MS and epilepsy. I'm not a health expert, but just have 15years experience with many different pain killers, ep. drugs, and anti-depressants. I've done a lot of my own research, got second and third opinions, and found a doctor I can really trust. I am also withdrawing from the patch. I was on 100mg for 2 years, went down to 75mg for 4 wks., then 50mg for 2 wks., and am now on 25mg. I hope 2 weeks will do it, but if I need a little more time, I won't hesitate to go to the doctor. I truly wish you all the best. God Bless You!!

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I have been trying to post on here for months and will try once more. Finally finally off the fentanyl and on lorazepam 1mg nightly so I can sleep. Sadly the pain is quite bad but I no longer have the sweats, the foggyness and the awful constipation which ended up causing me so many problems I have episodes of diverticulitis I never had before and had no clue I even had diverticulosis until a colonoscopy last month! My head feels clear for the first time and I can drive again. Hope everyone is doing good. Best to Yvonne and Sid, hope and pray you guys are coping x

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LynneB, I am still Fentanyl free, thank God. Still sometimes have to take half a pain pill. And my xanax .25, for anxiety. Sadly, I'm pretty much back to being unable to do anything most days. Its so discouraging.

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Hi Brad....I know this is 5 years old but in case anyone is still reading. I went off 50mcg phentanyl in 2003 cold turkey! I was the worst 2 months of my life! Restless arms & legs that you can't even explain! My dr tried methadone as a long acting pain med but all it did was made me vomit for 5 days! I have only tried phentanyl twice, a couple weeks each time, but the first time I was on Vicodin for break through so I didn't go through withdrawls. I had been on either Vicodin or oxycodone since 2001. Anyway! The second time trying phentanyl is when I went off CT! I don't suggest that method....I survived, of course, but was in hell for 2 months! The only long acting I can take is MS Contin and I prefer not to take it at this point. I was put back on Percocet a little over 2 weeks ago, made by Actavis which is a whole new talk show in & of itself! Anyway, I'm back on Norco (generic though) and although it's not the best for my pain I will not go back to Percs after what I went through and am still going through after being off them for almost a week! I feel for all of you that have endured withdrawls but it is even worse when you have to go through them due to FDA/DEA BS and the crappy generics they are making so it's not even your choice! There are non narc meds to help with WD's and a person should talk to their doc about them.

Now, to the person who said most addicts were at one time chronic pain patients.....that is absolutely false. Only 1% of chronic pain patients become true addicts. I'm not getting down on you & I hope, after all this time, you still check these threads, but just because a person goes through withdrawl does not mean they are narcotic addicted. I know YOU didn't say this but so many, even docs & nurses have said this and that is BS! A body being physically addicted ( dependent) on narcotics, benzo's or anything that can cause withdrawl WILL go through it if stopped suddenly & sometimes even when weaning. That is completely different than addiction as addiction is a physical AND mental process! Some nurses even claim there is very little to no difference between dependence and addiction. Well, I am a nurse and they are full of it! These nurses have never learned about chronic pain! These are the kinds of nurses that believe learning stops at graduation, if you know what I mean! WRONG! If there is always one thing consistent about medicine/the med field is that it is continually changing. People need to do their homework ( research) before stating things that are not true. I'm sure you've seen plenty of that around here and if you've been on other forums. I agree with what you said that not everyone can be opiate free! I am hoping I will be able to be but most days I have my doubts. It won't stop me from trying, though. But, I want to be free of them so I can get back to my nursing, which that might not ever be possible but I'm not ready to accept that yet. I'm only 46 years old! Narcotics don't mess with my brain anymore but you have to pass a drug panel to get a job most places. Even if I had to just take them at bedtime after working all day, I could handle that but I don't know if an employer could! Rock and a hard place, I tell you!

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Lol, Yvonne....I'm Pentacostal too.....no snakes!

Congrats on your opiate decrease/cessation. I am hoping one day I can get off hydrocodone but can't even try for a few months. There are some things that need done first. Surgery to fuse my left SI joint was, I say WAS what they wanted to do. I declined. I had my right side fused and, although it was a success from how bad I was before hand, it isn't good enough for me to want to do it again! ( on the other side, I mean). It was pure hell at first. Now I have flare ups but it is way better than before surgery. But, I still don't want to go through it again! There has got to be another way to go about living with my left side hurting. Just to say, if I had to do it over, I definitely would have the first surgery done because of how I was with the injury....I just don't feel that I'm at the point that surgery should be my only option just because it was for the right side. I'm still praying for healing but God also gives us doctors and such for a reason!

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Yvonne, so sorry you're discouraged and join the club! I am so torn, I am thinking what next. Able to function for about four hours every morning when I race around baking, walking round the block, bit of housework or gardening, then I'm done. Lying down for next six or so hours, come better about 7 and bed at 11. The pain is hard to cope with, I use Panadol 4hrly and Celebrex (in NZ it is not funded and costs $70nz a month) and not sure if it's even doing a dang thing anyway. Sometimes, just sometimes I look at my packets of Fentanyl and want to give in, but I won't! most of the time I had limited movement and not great quality even when on it and at least no sweating and brain fog now. I hope you get some good days again as I wish for all of us. Take care. (Hope this posts as the site hasn't worked for me for ages until yesterday. Just wouldn't accept my posts. )

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Thank you for advice but cannot take it due to high blood pressure meds. Apparently it is too dangerous. I have settled at 25 mcg Fentanyl now for the winter. When trying to reduce for second time a horrible flare up of FM occurred and kept me in bed. At this point it seems lesser of two evils.
Thanks again for trying to help.

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