Fentanyl Patch Withdrawal Symptoms And Duration (Page 9)
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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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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 will copy and paste the entire process below, it was created by a man (Robert_325) that has helped many many people like us to get off fentanyl (as well as many other opiates, including illegal drugs). If you have read through many other forums you've probably see some of his past posts, he is now a retired member. I tried stopping the fentanyl many other ways and could not even come close to success until his recipe, but when he states that it must be fooled to a T, it really must, or it will not work. Fentanyl and Methadone are the two hardest opiates to come off of is what he came to experience, and I agree. But, as horrible as my other attempts to come off the fentanyl were, when I followed his recipe it was almost totally symptom free, I had a few hot flashes/sweating the first 3 or 4 days but that's all, and if you've experienced full fent wd, you know that that's a god send. The hardest part is the induction, making sure you are in wd enough to start (this is very important, especially using suboxone, if you are not in heavy enough wd and you dose suboxone-the naloxone in it reacts and will send you into precipitated wd.....aka-normal fent WDx100, subutex does not react that way and can be dosed sooner, but it's still best to wait). I will copy and paste into my next post, it's not allowing me to paste in this post for some reason. Do you know if there is a way to pm or exchange email on here?

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Hi Waiting4theSun,

Please could you share with me the instructions. {edited for privacy}. I need to get through the lower dose withdrawals.

Cheers,
John

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Ive read many posts and because of me being a newbe I am scared to death when this happens to me. Doctors seem to treat/prescribe this med like candy. I have skipped a dose as I am on 62 mcg, I was on 25mcg and had no relief. I have had restless legs and also my arms seem to flail when this happens - help!

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Beware of Methadone......it is a drug now given to patients who cannot afford Morphine or Hydromorphone.....and the effects and withdrawal are even more harsh for those trying to get free of it. I have had a number of friends who got caught on it, don't buy into it. I have seen too many people destroyed going down the Methadone path, it is a dreadful drug.

I was using Fentanyl patches exactly as prescribed, but they kept falling off. My doctor gave me 4mg Dilaudid in its place to take 3X a day, and now, I avoid Fentanyl with success. Fentanyl is a stronger pain med, but the problems keeping the patches on, the side effects, and all the rest of it has made it a drug I choose to avoid.

Don't get caught in Methadone. It was originally developed in Germany in the 1930s, and even they realized it was not a good drug, and stopped producing it. In the 1960s, it was "rediscovered" to help opiate addicts....all it did was to make their addiction even worse. One of my best friends from high school died from her addiction, Methadone just was a legal way to supplement her need for hard drugs, it does nothing to address the problem of addiction. I wish they would stop using it here.

Please, ask your doctor about other pain medications. If you are given Fentanyl, like myself, you have some serious chronic pain problems, they don't give it out easily. That is between you and your doctors. There are other drugs besides Fentanyl. Good luck.

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John - I started with a dose of 3mg BUT make sure you are in pretty bad wd before dosing AT ALL, especially using suboxone instead of subutex to start (a 26 on the COWS). Then start taking a half mg of sub every 2 hours until you stabilize and paws dissipate (it may take less than 3mg and probably not more if you do this correctly, which will make tapering off the subs quickly much easier). I followed a recipe created by a guy who has helped a ton of people get off this stuff, it's very detailed and you have to stick to it, but it was painless for the most part.

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Ask your physician for Pramaprexole. It calms the RLS almost immediately and helps with a deeper sleep. I am going to try the iron supplement too as suggested and also use my magnesium calcium supplement regularly. I got tired of always taking pills so left out a lot of vitamins and supplements. I have been off fentanyl now for 4 months and still lowering dependency on hydromorphone. Some days the pain is just unbearable but usually because I did too much work or stood or sat too long. We really have to be diligent to get optimal health. We can make ourselves more comfortable but living often gets in the way. We have to have outside interests, a healthy family life and outings with good friends, pain or not. Keep focused everyone....withdrawal can be done by choosing what works best for you. I could not to cold turkey...think the shock to my body and blood pressure might have given me worse health issues, ie stroke? Heart attack? So words of caution when reading how a young person succeeded at CT. My very best wishes to all who are suffering. Your posts helped me realize that I was not alone nor crazy (my GP thought I was, I'm sure). I am leaving this page now as I need to focus on getting good health so need to find new group or get a good Naturopath perhaps. Best wishes to all. I feel for you, believe me but do not get discouraged. Keep on the good side of your physician and convince him/her that you need help as recommended by fellow sufferers. Mine finally listened to me!

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Restlessness, feet kicking, hot pins and pricks on body are ALL associated with opiate withdrawals. Fentanyl being one of them...

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you are about done w phisical part of wirhvdrawl the mental part of the withdrawal is actually the worst I believe you were probably through the physical withdrawal in about 7 days or so the mental though can drive you nuts for a month or so and depends on u. Drs are genius ask him. They are clueless to withdrawal your lucky they didn't kill u like my wife

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How long did you taper with Suboxone and what was the starting dose please?

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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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Tapering was the most difficult way for me, itwas like drawing out the agony for weeks. I don't need to tell any of you how miserable fentanyl withdrawal is, this drug is much more powerful than other opiates and your body responds as such when you take it away. Even when used as directed, never abused, my body launched into a full scale revolt when I decided to take the fentanyl out of the equation. Tapering was hell, failed, cold turkey....o.m.g., failed, but then I got some advice from........well, addicts. I did exactly as they told me, and it made coming off the fentanyl essentially painless. Now months without the patches I feel pretty good, my chronic pain really doesn't seem any worse than it felt whilst wearing the damn patch but I don't have the incessant sweating and out of control body temperature anymore like I used to get on the second day of wearing those patches. It's very apparent to me now that I was always in the beginnings of WD on the second day wearing the patch, it always subsided after putting a new patch on. I definitely recommend getting help from a good Dr., starting with subutex for 2 days then switching to suboxone for the next couple weeks. Tapering down relatively quickly is key, a huge fail in suboxone therapy is using too high of dosages for too long a time, leading to suboxone dependence. Strength to you all.

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I have been there with fentanyl but was able to afford to patches to taper slowly but I could not have done it without NA..
Praying for you.

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I am 31. I have a past opiate addiction I was a homeless opiate patient. I got jumped, broken ribs. I got a lacerated kidney and liver, here is the ice on the cake. I had developed two not one abscess on my kidney. well a staph infection in my blood. also I also have diabetes. two months of hell get out with a script for fentanyl 100mcg 10 of them and oxycodine 20 mg 90 also 90 other five mg instant release. well two weeks and nine days till I see a doctor, i am living with a good women. I cant fill script can't afford it. $160 and change burned through pills in a days withdrawing bad fear of losing the only good thing I have in my life April is her name she has three kids and took me in. I am honest to her with my use. am I always going to be in pain? can a guy climb out of a pit so deep? but I see the light in her. I want to die the depression is so intense. I can't use that junk here, rather be homeless struggling then bringing drugs into a home. I prayed almost every day and promised myself I would give anything up for dear lord Jesus. I pray in your fathers name for help. I am thankful for everything you have brought me from living on cold street to a warm home with a loving girlfriend. god I can't go any further without your help. no shame looking for advice only one person in the United States has my name. even the homeless junkies want to hear my life and struggle from addiction first time withdrawing I quit for four years. you only learn from someone who has been through it. no one will understand who has not been through withdrawal. I quit too many times to count good luck just know someone has it worse then you. try to think of other people then yourself. I dont care what people think or be to ashamed to seek help. you are stronger than ever to admit defeat you will relapse if your poor or middle class or rich. we are only human. we make mistakes and never learn from taking time to listen to others struggles. it gets worse if you have a house, kids, spouse, family. keep using and you will lose them all as you lose yourself and all you want is someone to care. Look in the mirror. That's who you need to care for before it's too late.

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My husband has cancer that was eating away at his spinal column. The only thing that stopped his pain was a 100 mcg fentanyl patch. After a month he went crazy - yelling, screaming, throwing things, etc. His behavior frightened me. We live in a medical marijuana state and had grown marijuana that had both CBD and THC. I suggested he try some of the High CBD hash we had made. Wow! In less than five minutes he was calm and smiling. THE ANGER AND RAGE WAS GONE!!! Gone. My suggestion to all, get some marijuana with equal amounts of CBD and THC. If that is not available, some marijuana with 12% or less THC. Make sure it is an Indica variety, as Sativa can be too psychedelic and can cause paranoia. He is still in withdrawal. He could not do this without medical marijuana.

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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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I'm over a month free of the 50mcg patches and I haven't felt this good in years. Starting with subutex then switching to suboxone after a few days and quickly tapering off altogether was the best way to do this as painlessly as possible. Wishing everyone here strength!

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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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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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Thank you so much for your post here...it has been so helpful...I'm weening off a 50 mcg patch and Im having most of the symtoms you posted here which my doctor didn't warn me about..I also have some mental disorders so I have been sitting here wondering what medication is making me feel this way and has actually triggered my other issues which has in turn been effecting my relationship...I didn't know what was wrong with me but now I do and thank you so very much

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