Weaning Off Fentanyl (Top voted first)

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I have been on Fentanyl patch the 50 for about 3 years and kept telling the doctor I was having side effects. I am being weaned off to see if it is the Fentanyl. I become very agitated, and can not sleep. The first day the patch ws applied i had vivid dreams, ichy and burning skin, I also feel like i am going crazy and feel like an overdose. I am now down to 93 pounds. The doctor is slowly weaning me but I am still having withdrawls at times. Has anyone else had these side effects and will the withdrawls get worse or better?

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1

If you are doing a slow taper, then they will not get much worse, just keep following your doctor's instructions.

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2

Yes I am in the boat. I really don't know how long I can stay on the patches because of these problems. The dreams freak me out and the sweating is horrible. It was so bad in the summer that I never went out. I don't know what to do. I have constant pain from cancer and nerve damage from cancer operations. You are not alone!

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4

I started off with a fentanyl 25 patch every 3 days, then about 1.5 yrs later a 50, 1.5 yrs later 75, 1.5 yrs later 100, then about 1.5 yrs later 100 every other day, then that started not working so well any more and I wanted off that stuff in the worst way!! Dr said just take it off and I asked about withdrawals (what I felt like I kept going through anyway and my chronic pain kept not feeling the relief it used to so we kept upping the dose) dr said not to worry there wouldn't be any withdrawals... WRONG!! I lowered the dose every 30 days with withdrawals anyway but I could (barely) function at least. Finally after months of withdrawals daily but with some daily functioning too, I finally got off that junk! It was real hard to do and my pain is under SOME control now but it was worth every awful moment to be free of it! I would highly do whatever your dr says as long as anyone on it gets off anyway possible... you'll only need more until you're finally toast!

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5

oh god..withdrawal is the worst thing i have ever been through. I scream, shake, cant sleep..if i dont have a Xanax, i have to take 4 baths just for the hot water to calm my muscles.. if i dont have xanax, i drink cough syrup.. idk..its really bad..after about 4 days of screaming, i feel better.. my friend says if he didnt know better, he could say somebody was hurting me.. its a vicious cycle..i wish i never started!!

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6

Hang in there you will get better. Took me a 3 full months of brutal withdrawal and then each month has become a little easier. First year was brutal at times. Takes a full 2 years for your body to recover fully from Fentanyl. I was on 75mcg for 15 years. Currently 18 months off. I Tapered with a pain mgmt doc, withdrawal meds a must. I will tell you it has been worth every brutal day of withdrawal to get off this drug. I had horrible sweating, fatigue, heart racing, headaches, anxious, felt angry all the time.
I now just take dilaudid for pain. but still am on xanax for anxiety, sleepless nights and racing heart.

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7

Anyone that says withdrawal from fentanyl is easy.... Is lying to you. It's awful. It'll put you in the hospital if you aren't careful. I've done it, not by choice, but because my Dr. messed up & lost my prescription mailing it to the pharmacy. I went 5 days without any patches. After the 1st day, I was desperate. I tried everything. I wore my last patch 5 days... 2 days longer than its effectiveness. I didn't want to take anything else since I got U/A's every month. I was able to keep the withdrawal at a minimum until I got my new prescription. I hope this helps

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3

Good thing this drug does not agree with you, I have ended up fully addicted to it and it is nasty, wean off ASAP but in a controlled manner. If it did agree with you it wouldn't be long before your body needed more and more to effectively manage pain, I ended up with a high dose that wasnt managing pain i needed it because i wAs addicted, im a person who does not like taking panadol unless i have to so feel like a fool. wish I read more about it before trusting a gp that's for certain. Good luck :)

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