Fentanyl Withdrawal Symptoms (Page 75)
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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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to If I would have known....I know exactly how you feel about putting a little tiny piece of a patch back on! I have been sooooo close to doing it, but I listened to Tessie! I think it will only prolong the agony. Do you have anything else at home? When I just couldn't STAND it, I broke down and took a tiny 1/2 Hydromorphone...only 2 mg...but its a fast acting fast disappearing opioid...it got me over a real rough spot! Just too afraid that even a sliver of a patch will last another 72 hours in your system....extending this misery by another 3 days again! The other day I took a couple Motrin...not an opium based thing, but it also seemed to take the edge off....along with the Benadryl, valium etc. My recommendation...follow Tessie's advice....do NOT touch even a smidgen of Fentanyl, and find anything else that is short acting short term that will carry you through....even if its a very occasional very small opioid of some sort like 1/2 a 5mg morphine if you can beg or borrow one from a friend.I only took 3 valium today..no opioids at all...it was hard..but I'm getting there. I really think I just MAY be at the 1/2 way point. You and I ditched our patches on the same day...but I think you were on it longer than I was...it may take your body longer to rid of it all. I will keep you in my prayers, and hope it gets better soon. I am actually looking forward to see what tomorrow brings me......hope I'm not disappointed....I'll let you know!

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tesse.its been since thursday ...and even though its not as bad the first time i went cold turkey ...there are times in the days when i feel like iam going crazy ...i take gravol benadrtl and colaszpam.sometimes i get urge to put on a little little piece....when will it start to get better .....please pray for me ..thank you for your support....

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Tyger and If I'd have known, If you have any other questions or need support I'll BE WATCHING FOR YOU!! Hang in there and I hope you both continue to get feeling better. Happy Holidays and God Bless with your trials and struggles.

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Pat, this is MY LAST POST ADDRESSED TO YOU...SAY WHAT YOU WILL ABOUT ME AFTER THAT. I feel good, I pray, I believe in God and I feel better off the opiates that I have in 25 years, I NEVER SAID I WAS TOTALLY DRUG FREE, I still take an occasional antianxiety medication and have been off and on different anti-depressants throughout my life. IF YOU DID LOOK THROUGH THE PREVIOUS POSTS YOU WILL SEE YOU ATTACKED AND FOUGHT WITH MANY PEOPLE....ALL OF WHOM WERE and are just trying to help OTHER people. THAT IS WHAT A FORUM IS. I never said others couldn't go to WEB MD or other sites and I am not ASS U MING that they are too stupid to know there is other information out there. ALSO ONLY IF I HAVE BEEN ASKED A DIRECT QUESTIONS by a person have I GIVEN WHAT YOU MIGHT CALL MEDICAL ADVICE. Some doctors are freaking idiots just like some people. I only want to support and HELP ANY WHO ASK ABOUT THE PATCH and MY EXPERIENCE WITH IT. Sorry you have such a hard time with your health and your life but I'm not going to bring OTHERS on this site down by arguing with you about stupid crap!! You are only right about one thing EVERYONE HAS OPINIONS, but everyone has ATTITUDES and AGENCIES and SMARTS and I PREFER to let OTHERS decide if they want my advice or not. If they address YOU then I WON'T BOTHER THEM.

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I have read through all of my posts, and NOWHERE have I said anything against anyone wanting to try and get off of opiates. Tessie, your posts were great up until a few days ago, You were telling people the same thing I was DON'T DO ANYTHING WITHOUT MEDICAL HELP. Now all of a sudden you have changed, and yes you did tell someone they would have to get off of the benzos also...Whatever beef you have with me, is nothing..I will continue to tell people to do nothing without their doctors advice, and I will never tell anyone to not quit..I have stated several times that if I could live w/o opiates I would be very happy, but I have given it my best and I can't..But that is me, and no one else. so before you accuse me of saying things I haven't said, go through all of my posts and see where you are wrong,, You should be working with me and not against me, I am here to tell peoplw about responsible use of prescription medication. you are here to let people know they can be prescription free from opiates if they wish,,..I will continue to try and help anyone I can. and I hope you will to, but I will call anyone not just certain people on the BS that WD's can't kill you, that is ALWAYS GETS BETTER, and that prayer works for everyone..Prayer doesn't work for me because God either never existed or he just does't give a crap anymore, and that is just me. Prayer works for a lot of people, but you can't say it works for everyone because that is impossible..Some people are atheists and some are Agnostics like me..You do give a lot of good advice, just be careful with the feel good crap it isn't realality for a lot of us,,No one size fits all, and arsehole are like opinions, everyone has them..

Pat

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If anyone here doesn't feel better in a Couple of nights Or I should say in a couple of months, then it may be a case of PAWS..That is why I have never lied and told people that I PROMISE IT WILL GET BETTER Chances are it will, but if you don't get better in a few months, feel depressed, feeling of doom, etc, you should get to your doctor ASAP because PAWS is a serious medical condition that for a small group of patients, it just stays on, for me it lasted YEARS. I tried suicide before I got the help I needed..That is why no one should attempt this on their own,,And it doesn't matter if you are a chronic pain patient or an addict or both. Opiates affect us wheather we like it or not. There happen to be forums on this site and other sites that deal with fentanayl and PAWS..My God Tessie you are willing to say anything that would make you look like your way is the only way,,I just hope that no one gets hurt by your one sided so called IT ALL GETS BETTER BS. For those of you that have been able to taper congratulations, just make sure to find a support group while you are going through everything..This board can help you want to taper, but it won't help you stay that way. When people here get over their WD's they just decide to leave (If you look back from just a few months a lot of the women have left because they are over their WD's..You need to talk to people AFTER YOUR WD'S TOO..

Pat

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If I would of known, I was looking through posts again, didn't realize you had had patch off since thurs either...
you will have a couple more bad days/nights, they ran together for me, sleep when you can day or night if you can... Is is klonepin of clozepam that you are on, I know one of them is a relative of the benzo family (like valium and xanax) which should help a little, you will have a couple more tough days ahead but ITS WORTH IT I PROMISE!! The Benadryl does really help as well as the hot baths, there were two nights in a row I had 3 hot baths, about every two hours, heating pads, ben gay rubs, whatever works best and/or helps you best!! Hang in there.

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I'm so PROUD of both of you Tyger and If only!! AND you're not crazy, the withdrawals should be much better and you should about be done with the WORST although I did find good days and been for 2 weeks afterwards, but NOTHING LIKE THE FULL BLOWN withdrawals. AS FOR THE smell the fentanyl or what is is based in actually stays in your system for 27 days, DON'T PANIC, I mean the smell and stuff, noticed it was well and I swear I could taste or smell it sometimes. I WAS TOLD THIS BY THE SAME REHAB SPECIALIST THAT TOLD ME THAT IT TAKES A FULL 72 hours after patch if OFF before you are in FULL BLOWN withdrawals. You guys are so great. I'm so glad to hear you had a better night tygerlily. It will get easier, just don't get discouraged on the bad days, keep hope that the next day will be a good one, I've found through the 37 some days now a POSITIVE ATTITUDE is as essential as anything. Sounds corny maybe but I keep thinking back to the FULL BLOWN WITHDRAWAL DAYS AND NIGHTS and it helps me remember that THINGS COULD BE WORSE LOVE AND PRAYERS TO ALL!! HANG IN

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tygerlilly....noyour not crazy ,,becauzse if you are than iam ..i smell it in my breath ,,,and skin ....my day is ok ,,im starting to get shaky ...anyone know when it will start getting nbetter ...i must admit tappering is alot easier cause when i was sick with H1N1 ..i didnt change patch for 6 days instead of 3 days ..it was awful.....im praying for everyone...

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To all...does anyone experience a distinct body odour coming through in your sweat when you get the hot flashes? I swear I can SMELL the Fentanys still oozing out of my pores! Am i going insane? My daughter says she smelled it too...but is it the Fentanyl?..or something else entirely? It drives me crazy on top of the rest of the hell!

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If I would have known....Apologies, I was under the impression you were still on the 12.5 patches. If you were down that low, and nothing since Thursday...HANG IN THERE!! I don't know what Colosapam is ....the only thing I could find is Colospam which seems to be an antispasmodic, antivertigo thing. I don't know anything about it. By Badryl did you mean Benadryl? I found it did help a little with the itchy crawlies, but worked best at bed time.
Have you been going through this just since you quit on Thursday?...or did it start already earlier as you were tapering down? I'm interested because everybody wanted me to taper, and I refused and went cold turkey from 100 to 50 to zero in 2 days. Its BAD...but I wonder if it is really any easier by tapering?
My life saver so far is the Valium! I doubled the Dr's dosage for the first 2 days, and am gonna cut back now...so I took 6 first day, doing 5 today, then following Dr. who said 3 one day 2 next and then 1. That leaves 3 left over just in case.
I honestly felt ALMOST human this morning, although the symptoms are coming back now...but not quite as strong as before. I HOPE, given a couple more days I will be done with done with this, please GOD!
Talk to Tessie...she has been my inspiration throughout this so far!

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tigerlily what did you mean to ignore you ....i haave had no patch since thursdy .....its awful im trying colosapam and badryl ....and many hot baths ....im going crazy .....any suggestions .....im waking up at 130 everynight ,,,and cant get back to sleep.....im praying !!!!!!!!

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tygerlilly....why did youtell me to ignore you ....please i need advise and prayers .i took my last 1/2 of 25 patch off on thursday ...i feel like im going crazy ...doc gave me colasaoam and im taking benadryl i keep still legs are kiiling me ..i feel like im about to loose control..........please help and any recommendations would be great ..please pray for me ...im doing lots of that ...

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Tygerlily I really hope and think it won't get worse, might seem not great for next 2 days but then will really start to get better, it did for me. It seemed like the worst time for me was the 5-7 days including the 72 hr half life (time med stays in system after patch is removed). After that and especially with the benzo's I think you will notice a big difference. I really hope you can get some help with the nerve pain though because I know IT REALLY SUCKS!! If you have a good relationship with your doc, he she shouldn't have any problem giving you a few more valium if you need them, also I would ask him about the Lyrica because it really helped my leg spasms, foot pain and whole body pain. Let me know how you are tomorrow. Hope you get some sleep, it gives a whole new meaning to the words GOOD NIGHT. Hang in there!!!

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Tessie..If you read my posts you will see the only thing that I disagree with is people saying WD's can't kill you..They can, they have, and that is the truth. I have never said anything to anyone about NEVER TAKING MEDICATION, My only beef is when people say that it isn't dangerous, and just pray about it..My own husband is tapering and TRYING to be drug free and I support him, but I also make sure he only does it under the care of his doctor because when he has tried to do it on his own he goes through hell. so don't even try to accuse me of not wanting people to be drug free if they want to, and as long as they do it with their doctors knowledge and care

Pat

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Tessie, thanks for the encouragement! My last 2 patches were put on Sat & Sun last week (I staggered them by a day) so I was due for one on Tues. which I didn't put on, and another on Wed.....which I left the old one on until Thurs. and then removed. So basically I went from 2*50 to zero in a day & 1/2. Have had nothing now for only 3 full days...which is your 72 hour time line. Now that its supposedly all gone...will it still get worse first do you think? I'm off to take a Valium & a Bendaryl & hopefully get some sleep.

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Also about the nerve damage, there is the new LYRICA out, it is for diabetic nerve damage but recommended for fibromyalgia as well, my brother uses the cymbalta although it is an antidepressant it does help with nerve damage as well but in your case and from studies I've done on both because I was considering which to use I think Lyrica would be best for you, it really does work well, I noticed a difference within a day or two AND IT WILL HELP WITH SLEEP cuz you can take it in evening or they recommend it cuz it does cause sleepiness, which is nice in our cases. HANG IN, LOTS OF LOVE & PRAYERS, you can do it.

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I PROMISE Tyger everyday after gets a little better, how long did you say you have had patch off because it does stay in your system for 72 hours AFTER YOU HAVE TAKEN PATCH OFF, thats whats so wicked about the da*&^ things, after the 72 hours it got a lil better but pharmacist is right it gets BAD before it gets better BUT YOU CAN DO IT, DON'T put even part back on cuz you still have to withdraw, its kinda like, you got an arrow in you do you want it out fast or slow, IT WILL GET BETTER I PROMISE, I will give you my email address if you want it or I will watch carefully and give you any support and help I can!! HANG IN YOU CAN DO IT.

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Also...Tessie...what do you use for nerve damage? I have damage in both sets of toes (some from the back injury, some from diabetic neuropathy) that drives me crazy with pain & cold. A heating pad a night helps some, but the days are torture. I noticed immediately that for 6 whole weeks I didn't have that while on the Fentanyl, but its back with a vengeance, Any suggestions?

To If I would have known.....obviously I didn't have a clue what I was talking about when I said you should be ready to quit cold turkey!!! You just keep on doing what works for you and ignore me!!

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Well, so much for good intentions!! The Valium just isn't doing it!! I am soooooooo afraid I'm going to give in & put even 1/4 of a patch on (I have the type you can cut). but I'm also afraid that I'm gonna have to start all over again with the withdrawals then. My pharmacist the worst is yet to come....grrrrrrrrr. Its only been FOUR days...I figured on maybe a week...until I got here! Tessie, how have you been able to cope with 35 days? Haven't given in yet...but I'm so tempted!

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