Fentanyl Patch Withdrawal Symptoms And Duration (Page 13)
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i have post surgical lower back pain. was in 50 mcg patch and had side effects and so decided to wean off. i finished with the 12 mcg patch a week ago and am still suffering from periodic nausea, irritability, daily joint and muscle pain, but the worst is the consistent restless legs. it is driving me crazy. my doctor says that is not withdrawal. is he right? i don't think so. if it is withdrawal, what can i do about it and how long will it last? i am going crazy.

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The best med that worked for me was gabapentin ... But you have to find the right dose .. I take 4x3 a day.. Ask your doctor , I was on a 50 and a 12 of fentanyl.. With my doctors help I'm now down to 36 it has to be done very slowly .. Good luck

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Elizabeth, What kind of i**** does you daughter have for a doctor. I don't know what strength Fent patch your daughter is on, but any would require the doctor to withdraw her slowly and monitor how she is doing. Since I was on the 50 Fent patch, if I would have just quit I would have been so miserable with restless legs and just sick and people can have seizures too. I know it spikes your blood pressure up when withdrawal is too fast. She will be suffering if the doctor does just take her off. It it is the same doctor who was prescribing the Fentanyl patches he has a responsibility to withdraw her safely and without danger and torture. Believe me restless legs from withdrawal is torture.

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Absolutely not.... She has to be weaned of this from a doctor

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my daughter has been on fentanyl patches for quite some time the doctor wants to take her off cold turkey is this wise

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Neurontin...(gabepentin) for restless legs

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Hi Yvonne , I take gabapentin and it works wonders for me, no more restless legs, I also am on fentanyl , but am slowly weening off with a pm doctor, ask about the gabapentin, maybe it will work for you... Take care

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omg im coming off 50 mg patchs it feels like I want to kick the wall with restless legs it feels like its all over .yes it is the patch

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I just wanted to write a little update for my off the Fent process. For the last month the doc left me at 3 15 mg per day morphine time release. Starting Tuesday it will be 2 15 mg per day for 1 month. After that I certainly hope she will switch to 5 mg so I can break it up during the day to like 4 per day of 5 mg oxy or something like that and not just 1 15 per day. I am feeling a little anxious as I always am short at the end of my script. I am cutting pills in half and just making sure I have something left till Tuesday even if it's not enough. I also have a script for Valium, but it's only for 30 per month, so have to be very careful how I use them or they don't last. I have taken Valium off and on for years and never get addicted to them. They don't relieve pain and make me tired so I am not tempted to take every day at all.

My pain is not worse than when I was on 240+ per day of Oxy. It is pretty much the same. Mainly back pain. Other artheritis probems, but hey, I know we all have to deal with stuff. I feel bad for some I read here who have it much worse. Don't get me wrong, when my back is hurting so much I want a pain pill so bad, but I know I just get used to them and then the pain classes I took tell me they trick my brain into feeling even more pain. So, soon (within the next few months) I will be off all pain meds. I would love to be off and just take a as needed prescription. Meaning only when really bad. The doc offered some type of patch that she said helps a little with pain and is for addicts who can't give up the pills. No thanks!!!!!

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i have just come off 50mg of fentanyl in 5 weeks due to a detox. been on 200mg per day of morphine for 8 years. the problem being i have a clear mind but more aware of pain, which is so chronic i want to put my head through a window. my pain is due to botched spinal fusion and fibromyalgia. not allowed any more opiods due to addictions, so trying other meds, still on 900 painkillers per month but not even touching the sides of it, so doing aqua aerobic, physio anything i can but just discovered chronic pain anonymous, so hopefully, i wish everyone well, pain killers, certainly made me lose 11 years of my life, but you will take anything you can just to relieve the chronic symptoms, which are present 24/7

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I went from 3-4yrs on 50mg fentanyl--cut to 25mg-5patches-then to tramadol200mg- 1 month next 100mg tramadol-one month then ??? I also take 20mg of valium a day. I really can't say it's be awful just feel kinda blah. BUT, my pain level is not as intense as while I was on the patches--(total knee replmt). So, I'm glad to finally be off them.

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Your Doctor is crazy not you!

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My pcp wrote me a 3 month script at a time. I never abused them-used 1 every 3 days. I'm going to have to get my other knee replaced and I wanted to get off the fentanyl so they'd be able to relieve my pain during and after the TKR. Went to pain mgmt cut my fentanyl to 25mg--5 patches--now I'm on 200 mg of tramadol. I'm feeling crappy today, but I've been off the fentanyl patches since 5/8 today is 5/20. Is this withdrawal-can't sleep, toss and turned all night couldn't sleep, just feel BLAH!! Any suggestions for me out there? Thanks

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I have run out of 10 mg oxycodone pills one week before I see pain doc. I have a 50 mcg Fentanyl patch. I can't tell if I am having withdrawal or the flu: hot/cold flashes, anxiety only. I am taking .25 Xanax to help with anxiety every 4 hours. Should I be having withdrawal symptoms? I have been on meds for over a year.

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hjc, I hope my doctor will be understanding and allow me to do what you have said as far as taking a break and staying at perhaps 60 mg per day of the morphine for a little while if I ask and not rush the process. I have finished my first 2 weeks at 3 per day of the 30 mg morphine, which is pretty equal to Fentanyl 50 patch. Next 2 weeks will be 2 30 and 1 15 per day and then back to the doctor. I imagine she will take me down to 2 30 mg per day. I would like to stay at that for a couple of months and then reduce by going to 15 mg morphine pills and I guess just taking 3 per day of those. I am not too thrilled with getting off all pain meds as I have pain, but am willing to try and see how it goes. Thanks for the good thoughts.

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Denise, I think your plan seams reasonable to me. You may want to take a little longer than 2 weeks or a break after a couple of decreases. I'm rooting for you.

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Yvonne, I can't believe your doctor is telling you that your restless legs symptoms, etc. are not because you were one week off of the patch. I have always been told that even if you go down slowly off of any opiod addition that when you quit completely you will suffer some withdrawal symptoms and a 12 mg patch is still quite a bit. I was on a lot of Oxycodone for a long time and then went down a lot on those and was put on a 50 mg patch for about 6 months. Now comes time for me to wean further my pain doctor decided. I requested going back to the Morphine pills the pain clinic had me on right before the patch. I decided if I can stick with it I think it will be easier because of what you are going thru right now. They switched me to 3 30 mg Morphine time release pills for 2 weeks then I will go down 15 mg for 2 weeks and then another 15 for 2 weeks and so on. It just seems like I will be able to go down slower this way and have a little bit of control over when I am feeling the worst symptom wise to take a pill as long as I stick to the allowed amount. I hope you are feeling better and I hope I can do this without too much discomfort. My biggest fear is the restless legs thing. It is so miserable. I'm not sure if they intend to me completely take me off all of my pain meds or just reduce to a much lower amount and leave me with something for pain. I have back and hip pain mostly. Also arthritis. I sincerely hope you are doing better.

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Don't use methadone because it is very addictive and you will again go through withdrawal. Talk with a pain specialist for the best withdrawal method .

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Regarding this post:

"Just to share. Before I went on the patch I spent most of my time in bed. I took me 5 times as long to do the simplest task. I had restless legs, debilitating migrains that needed hospitalizations and terrible sleeplessness all along with fibromyalgia. I was not living. I was put on the patch and got most of my life back. I still had some pain but nothing like it had been. It did cause some side affects but they could be treated and so I stayed for many years. I started having physical issues that I put down to getting old but after some testing it was decided that the causes were the patches. So now I have liver issues and my memory is effected. The various doctors all said I needed to get off the patch and at the very least reduce the strength. So know what. I have reduced from 75mg to 50 mg and within a week I felt like a heavy fog had been lifted. It was amazing and I don't use though words lightly. BUT I have more "bad days". I have already found some things I can no longer do with any comfort. Time is coming to make the next decrease, what do I do? I can be in little pain but loss my memory and what ever else comes along due to the drugs OR I can be in lots and lots of pain, prevent other things from going wrong and remember every bit of it. JUST ME THOUGHTS" .

I think a good argument can be made that if your quality goes DOWN after you reduce your Fentanyl dosage maybe it's better to be on your comfort level and getting to and staying at a good functioning status quo. Though I did just come off fentanyl 100% for good very recently I hurt all over after a strenuous day as a stock clerk. I say my pain doc today and he was horrified that I took myself off of fent. I told him I have "more clarity of thought" now so he just wanted me to know if I ever wish to go back on a 25 mcg patch he will accommodate me. Thanks but no thanks. I did though ask for and received doubling of my Valium Rx from two 5mgs a day to two 10mgs per day to help with anxiety and general b****y-ness. A good pain Dr is hard to find. I feel lucky. Hang in there above poster, quitting can't possibly be right for 100% of us here. Tom in Idaho.

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Just to share. Before I went on the patch I spent most of my time in bed. I took me 5 times as long to do the simplest task. I had restless legs, debilitating migrains that needed hospitalizations and terrible sleeplessness all along with fibromyalgia. I was not living. I was put on the patch and got most of my life back. I still had some pain but nothing like it had been. It did cause some side affects but they could be treated and so I stayed for many years.
I started having physical issues that I put down to getting old but after some testing it was decided that the causes were the patches. So now I have liver issues and my memory is effected. The various doctors all said I needed to get off the patch and at the very least reduce the strength. So know what.
I have reduced from 75mg to 50 mg and within a week I felt like a heavy fog had been lifted. It was amazing and I don't use though words lightly. BUT I have more "bad days". I have already found some things I can no longer do with any comfort. Time is coming to make the next decrease, what do I do?
I can be in little pain but loss my memory and what ever else comes along due to the drugs OR I can be in lots and lots of pain, prevent other things from going wrong and remember every bit of it. JUST ME THOURGHTS

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I'm at that point that I'll be using the patches for a long term. I've been on it about five years and so far have found NOTHING that helps with neuropathy. I augment the Fentanyl with 1200 mg of Neurontin as an adjunct to take care of break through pain.

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