Fentanyl Caution

I am a 46 year old woman who was recently put on a fentanyl patch for chronic pain related to late stage lyme disease. 13 hours after pitting on the patch I was feeling well so I turned on my electric blanket and went to bed. 70 minutes later I woke up having a difficult time breathing , I felt like I could not get air and my heart felt like it was going to stop. I got up and tried to walk around still struggling for a good breath. I took my bllod pressure it was 88/54 heart rate was 51. I decided to call the dr. Who said to remove the patch. Apparently I was having an allergic reaction but moreover the patch should NEVER be used with any heating device electric blanket, heating pad on the patch or hot tub. None of these wee ever mentioned. Please please use caution when using the patch.

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REPORT

In the directions with my patches it says to never use direct heat from a heating pad or any other source because it can cause the medication to be released at a much higher rate than nomal.That probably caused you to have a near overdose reaction.Fentanyl is one of the most powerful narcotics and is very dangerous if taken improperly as most of you who use well know.

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Mike is correct, the detailed information on them says not to use with any type of heat source and the specific reason is because it can cause you to absorb too much of the narcotic too fast.

I'm very glad that you woke up, since such low blood pressure and heart rate usually causes most people to feel sedated, so they'd just sink into a deeper sleep.

Learn more Fentanyl details here.

This medication is over 80 times stronger than Morphine, so everyone needs to be very careful using it and all warnings should be read carefully, before someone ever applies their first patch.

How are you feeling now?

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I would like to add another precaution. Not many people use water beds anymore. I do , as the heat helps my feet stay warm from the PN feeling of frozen feet. BUT , not mentioned directly and I didn, t make the connection .... until reading your reply. Thank you much. Now I know why it made me so sick. Does anyone know if there is an alternative to the patch? Maybe a slow release tablet.

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