Fentanyl Patch Withdrawal Symptoms And Duration (Page 3) (Top voted first)

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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Thanks God I found all you wonderful people. Trying so hard to stop using the Fentanyl patch. Since Dec. 2014 after my brain surgery. Yesterday I went down to 12. So miserable. I am not able to eat since Dec. constantly in horrible pain not able to sleep. The Doctors don't know what else to do. I read all your comments. Thank you god bless all.

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How long I have. Been on fentaynl 50 to 75 and soma. Alprolozam as well as hydro codone and soma I stopped cold turkey 9 days ago still having horrible metallic taste

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I was prescribed the Fentanyl patch five years ago for a rare autoimmune disease that literally destroys your shoulder and hip and thigh muscles. The highest I've ever gone is 100mcg. For the first two years I was in heaven. No pain. But something else started happening. Yes, it numbed the pain but it also numbed every other emotion. No libido. No desire to be with friends or family. No desire to do anything but lay in bed and watch television. I would dose off in the middle of a conversation. I was also on very serious DMARDS which caused me to throw up, lose hair, etc. And like most of you, there were several times I lost a patch, or put one on too soon, etc. and ended up in withdrawals until I could get the new script from my PM doc. The worst withdrawals EVER. Three months ago I went into remission and immediately made the decision to come off the patch. I weaned down from 50, to 25, to 12.5, to Norco 5 in about six weeks total. I am now at the three week mark and down to 1/2 Norco 5 twice a day. I still feel terrible. The worst has passed, the creepy crawlies, can.t be still, the sweats and chills, the urge to jump, stretch, jerk, the sneezing, yawning, watery eyes, and the smell of it coming through my pores are for the most part over. But the pain in my legs and back are killing me, Nothing helps and I have tried everything recommended on this site. I still have no energy and I'm soooo depressed. My legs feel like they're encased in cement. The one thing that helped the restless creepy crawlies was Lyrica. I had to take a very high dose and it literally turned me into a drunken zombie for three days but at least I could sleep. Clonidine for the sweats. Trazadone to help with sleep, too. But some nights nothing worked, I was wide awake, twitching and jerking still but exhausted and just zoinked out of my head while doing it. If you can get a muscle relaxer and something like Klonopin, those help too. But the sad truth is, you just have to get through the worst of it. And it is hell. I've started walking and lifting very light weights. My doctor said it might take three to six months before all of the withdrawals go away. If you have any other option, do not start the Fentanyl patch. It is a hellish roller coaster ride I NEVER want to get on again.

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I use Lyrica. For me it is a withdrawal symptom.

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Oh Lord, how wd scares me. I've experienced it already, in periods of maybe a full day and it was terrible. I am currently on 50mcg fent and 10mg percocet 4x per day for breakthrough pain. I have 'lost' a patch a few times in the heat of summer (before I discovered tegaderm covers-lifesaving Lil suckers) and more recently have had instances of my insurance deciding they're spending too much money on me and havingto have my doc fight with them to cover my meds (I've never tried filling early or anything that would cause problems in that sense, they just don't like my monthly bill). The fear of what I went through with that, should my insurance ever just decide to cut me off (which I've heard horror stories of) has made treatment hell for me. I'm a business professional and was once across the country on business-I went to my doc before the trip, got my scripts, told her my travel plans, she assured me there should be no problem filling there when they were due in a week since she has lots of 'snowbirds' that go to Florida from these northern winter's and they have no problems. I even called the pharmacy near the hotel I reside in while I'm down there, 'no problem'. WRONG. I was then a thousand miles from home, on my last patch of course (since you must be abusing pain meds if you fill them before the day you need them, if it's heart or another maintenance med then you fill them the week you need them to be proactive-in case something happens, you have time to deal with a situation involving meds that can affect your life so tragically, right-unless it's a pain med. Then your an abuser, why do you need to fill early? The patch you have on is still good until tomorrow......Then when you come back tomorrow they tell you they're out and won't come in for 4 days. That's why legitimate people want their scripts before the day they need them).

Sorry for the rant, but it's happened to me more than once, and I'm always treated like the a**hole. So, after the last incident, on my last patch, within a couple hours after I was due to change, it started. Sweating. A little at first, then wave after wave of drenching sweat followed by freezing and being a blanket. Sneezing so violently sometimes that I couldn't catch my breath. Nose dripping. Body aches worse than any flu ever. No energy. Explosive diarrhea. Skin so sensitive it's painful to the touch. RLS more like restless body, so bad that it felt like every molecule in my body was in a constant state of flux so violent that they were swelling inside me and my body would burst from the inside out at any moment. Eyes watering. Most terrible feelings I've everexperienced. All because someone else felt entitled to decide not to fill my perfectly legit medication. What power. I could lose my job, could lose everything, because I can't function like this. That's when I decided I need off. Though I shouldn't have to, though I have the right to be treated and live a full and pain-free (pain managed,I should say, it's never gone) life, I feel that the right to do that has been taken from me being able to faithfully rely on it without fail due to the negligence, mis-use of power and unfair labeling by our systems (government, insurance and even the pharmacist behind the counter that sneers at you when they see the meds your filling).

This has led me to the decision that I'm better off living with the pain. I've tried several times to drop from 50 to 25, and found that to even be far too intense to be able to function at work and home. I am on the Mylan brand, these are not the reservoir type, and I have successfully tapered in the past by cutting very small pieces at a time off of each patch, remaining at the same level for nearly a week before cutting a larger piece off and repeating the process. I first had to wean of from taking any of the percocet of course, as I figured once I got to a low enough dose of the fent, I'd stop wearing it and replace with an equal dosage of the percocet and then taper those from there. That's what my original plan was, then I was in a car accident and went back to my normal dosages quite quickly. So here I go again, and even doing it slowly like that, was uncomfortable, tired, diarrhea. But I did find that tramadol helps TREMENDOUSLY, especially with energy and the depression that sets in, I actually found that my mood was the best I can remember in a very long time. It would be wonderful to have that right now to assist and get this show on the road. I'm petrified and rambling now just thinking of the long road ahead. Best wishes to you all, May we all find strength (and God willing, FEEL strength) from each other.

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I feel almost suicidal as I have just gone from 1-50 to 1-75 fentanyl patches and have been investigating coming off them altogether. Now I have read about the almost impossibility of coming off them. Please some one tell me it is possible as I am going round the bend.

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Hi posted last July and appreciated every ones replies. TY again.
I am back and the thread has moved along. Much helpful and encouraging. I am worse off than last year at this time. My husband wants me to go back to the mayo clinic as the dr.s here have me on so many meds. They put me back on the 100mcg. fentanyl w / 4mg of dilaudid up to 6 times a day, 50mg of nortryptiline, 100mg of zoloft,and 5mg of valium (all generic). The valium only on days of major flare ups because if i take it everyday i always need to increase the dose as time goes by.
I hope that I hven't discouraged anyone of u.
Once again i am a paraplegic. I have been for 42 yrs. now. and I have had chronic pain issues since 1985. My previous comments are found in July of 2014.
I am at my whits end. And i do not know if i have any more fight left in me at this point.
If possible get off the meds. my drs. believe that i need to be on them. Of course i am not so sure as they have not really found an exact reason for the pain in the first place. And starting at the pain clinic last July has gotten me no where.
maybe I need to go back to the mayo clinic in rochester mn. It is just so far from home.I have a place to stay and that is a big help. But i wont have my husband because he has to work. Just asking you guys for your thoughts on the matter.
I am afraid that I could be gone for over a yrs. time. or that i will go and have to come home and to go back again. It sounds like it could be a whole yr. before i could get off of some of these meds. according to previous posts. I am just tired of the fight to try to get better. Maybe i am beyond getting better at this point. anyways thanks for reading my post. I will look forward to your replies once again.
browneyedgirl

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Candy,
It takes awhile to feel better. Your doc should have warned you about the withdrawl problems. I too have been weening down (from 75mg.) and experienced the side effects with a reduction of 12 1/2 mg reduction once a month. I'm now down to 25 mg. and feeling much more alert and interested in things. This is a great site to post to.

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Hope you are all feeling well and that today is better than yesterday but not as good as tomorrow.

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I had this too! It drove me nuts as I couldn't sleep at all. It was like ants inside my legs, mostly all night and woke me in the early hours never getting to sleep. I researched it and finally found that I need to take and IRON pill with my dinner. It went away that night!!!!! Done! If you need further help, add a multi mineral vitamin mostly with magnesium and potassium. It should work. I'd love to hear if it does. Good luck and go with God!

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Take an iron tablet at night with dinner. It works overnight. In a few days or a week you'll start getting constipation. You don't want this! Take 2-1000 mg of flaxseed oil gels with it and you should be fine. I had the same issue and it was driving me crazy, especially when I couldn't sleep because of it, and then found the iron answer online. So happy!

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Regarding suboxone/subutex therapy, please see post #281 in the following discussion thread for details on the process created by Robert_325:

Discuss/How-to-get-off-Suboxone-204381_p24_s2.htm

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John,

I hope that helps, they changed what I pasted and referred to a post here where it appears someone else had copied Robert's plan and posted it. I glanced thru it and it appears to be word for word the same plan Robert shared many years ago, so it must have proven successful for others too! Good luck!

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Thanks heaps Waiting in the Sun. It looks good.
Gratitude,
John

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Glad I could help, I know how terrified I was to come off fentanyl after experiencing it's wd's. I can honestly say, it was easy using Robert's method. Of course, I still have pain but I've found that it's no worse than when I was wearing a 50mcg patch and taking 10mg percocet 4xday. Now on the days I simply can't take the pain, I will take a couple tramadol, they don't totally kill the pain, but they help take the edge off as well as put me in a better mood with a little energy which also helps in dealing with pain. On another note, I found in the past that tramadol worked wonders for withdrawal from my opiates too (not something to take daily for long periods, as it too can be addicting even though it is not a true opiate). I wish you the best of luck John, keep us posted on your progress and if you need support!

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MG,

I'm sorry to hear of your illness. Is there a reason you decided to come off of the fentanyl? It really is a great painkiller for those of us with extreme chronic pain, if I were terminal I would have no qualms about continuing fentanyl therapy. For those of us that are not terminal, have chronic pain and are still young enough that we're still looking at years of pain management though.......I don't recommend it until ALL other avenues have been explored and exhausted. With fentanyl being one of the strongest options for pain management, one you're on it all other opiates are like taking candy and your options for comfort start becoming bleak other than increasing your fent dosage. This becomes a problem when you still have years ahead of you, or say, you have surgery scheduled.......it becomes very difficult to treat the acute pain that results due to your extreme tolerance. For me, I have a very high metabolism and I seemed to burn thru all the medication in the patch within the first 26 to 30 hours, I then spent nearly a full day withdrawing until I could change my patch again. It was like being on the worst rollercoaster ride ever. It's still not legal in my state, but have you tried medical marijuana treatment? I have more faith in nature's cures than the man made nightmares we are forced to use if we want to live any kind of life.

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I came off the patches when comatose in ICU due to blood poisoning. They gave me IV dilaudid instead. I had the tablets, so decided to stay off the patches after reading how brutal the withdrawal can be......My doctor is looking to get my insurance to give me a stronger version of fentanyl, one that can go under the tongue....only for cancer patients. If I can get that, I will probably go back to it. You are correct it is a good painkiller, but the patches are unreliable, there is no way to monitor or assure dosage. In my case, they fall off, or if I make a mistake putting them on, they are completely unusable. Medical use of what you suggest isn't allowed for patients being given controlled substances in our state. The doctors are not allowed to give out controlled substances if we come up positive for the medication you suggest. It is a way around the new laws, put it on the pain doctors. Until big pharmaceuticals can control and market it, they will lobby for ways around legal use. This is one technicality.

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Hi there I have Lupus ,fibromyalgia , and chronic back pain ( my whole back/and neck) I have pain 24/7 As a Nurse and Holistic Nurse I beat myself of for years because I felt like I was betraying the Holistic field by taking narcotics for this pain. It tried ALOT of different meds and weaned myself or stopped taking cold turkey.I really felt like a drug addict It took agreat friend to remind me that needing to treat my pain and function day.to day was OK .That's why we have them. .Don't confuse taking your meds as prescribed as an addiction.We need more understanding pain management Docs in the US and education .

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I dont know why so much trouble coming off fentanyl I was on fentanyl for 3yrs 150mch every 2 days I stopped cold turkey 8 days ago no withdraw r side effects . How I did it instead of changing my patch when I was suppose to that evening I left it on and took a 25 mg benadryl next moring took another benadryl left the same patch on for 3 more days taking benadryl twice a day no withdrawls r side effects just slight I mean slight stomach cramps first 2 days and that could have been the flu .. u want to know more msg me back .. but im telling u just take benadryl

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you are having withdraw , your legs wont stop moving at night when trying to sleep,i had been on methadone 80 mg. for cronic pain and detoxed a few years ago. give it a few weeks it will get better, good luck

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