Fentanyl Taper To Ms Contin

I have been on Norco and now Fentanyl patches 62mg for over five years now because of chronic lower back pain. My husband sat me down last week and said he can't deal with my mood swings anymore and wants me off meds. I am willing to do it to save our marriage and an really scared of the withdrawal. If I don't take the Norco for over three days my arms and legs get so .. I don't know how to explain it. I have to move them. If I take the Norco and a muscle relaxer (or two) I'm fine. So that's all in my head now.
Skip to present, my Dr. is putting me on a taper with MS Contin, 60mg/4x/day for three days, going to 60mg/3x & 30/1x for another three, decreasing the dosage every three days if my body can handle it. Took one 60mg this morning and felt relaxed, but shaky and a little sick.
I'm so scared about this process. Does anyone have any similar stories or advice?

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I just started using the fentanyl patch, it has been the only thing that has helped my chronic pain. My question is this, I'm on 25 mcg and I still feel pain nowhere near like before, what are some suggestion? No other medication has helped to this degree. Also I itch like crazy. And I nod off a lot, what is that?

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Hello, Scared Wife! How are you doing?

That is a bit of a rapid taper, so I'm not sure how well it's going to go. Usually tapering is done much slower and the Fentanyl is over 80 times stronger than the Morphine, so the doses aren't really comparable, which is why you still felt shaky and sick.

Learn more Morphine details here.

This is a narcotic analgesic, so it has the potential to be habit forming and may cause side effects, such as nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, dry mouth and constipation.

What type of doctor are you seeing? Has he ever helped someone taper down, before?

And Catt, as I stated above, Fentanyl is very potent, so that's why you're nodding off and itching can be a side effect of some narcotics.

Learn more Fentanyl details here.

Do you also have a medication for breakthrough pain?

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Thank you both for your replies. I have been on the taper over 2 weeks now and it's actually going a lot better than I thought. I didn't realize how tired I was all the time, and that it was because of the Fentanyl. I have much more energy in the morning, but in the afternoon, at work, on the Morphine, that's another story. A little hard to pay attention. But I'm down to 2 60's and a 15, going down 10% or so every 3 days and I have not had to take any break through meds, like the Clonidine and Atarax. I'm so happy I'm doing well, but .... my back pain is getting worse and I do have the urge to take a Norco every now and then. I did take 6 the other night. Regret it but oh well gotta move on, was feeling the urge to move my arms and legs and I knew they would work so I just took them. I do have the other meds but I guess don't know if they will help and I just needed to sleep. So I guess I should ask ... any experience with those meds and how they work to help with withdrawal symptoms? and what is my pain/life going to be like with no pain meds? Thanks again for the posts. Feels like someone knows what I'm going through.

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Lyrica may be your answer. When I wanted toget off meds I used lyrica and there was aabsolutely no wds. I've researched and found that many people say to try it. It may ormay not work for you. Once I was off the meds I eeasily put the lyrica down. But it can also give u a "buzz". Like u I was terrified of the wds.

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