Fentanyl Withdrawal Symtoms

I was assigned to Hospice in September. At first they gave me duladid for pain and it wasnt making all of the pain go away. I was then told about this "wonderfull" patch that solves "everything". Last week I was up to 200mg and took myself down to 150. Yesterday we took off the patches and my hospice doctor gave me Methadone to detox off with. I have taken very little of that. The thing I am terrified of is withdrawl. Fent patch made me feel better, but at the same time, it made me feel drugged and sedated. Please, is there anything I can do to help alleviate all of this. I started Hospice in September and the patch in October. PLease help
Nancy

i have been taking the patch for three months... and not for pain but pleasure.. and i also was cutting them in four pieces and chewing on a peice at a time.. at first it lasted me a few days but soon i was chewing up a whole patch in a day... withdraws are rough.. its really the sleeping that is hard... i felt that a lot of it was in my head.. you just have to be strong.. take vitimans.. omega 3 to support brain function and drink a ton of water to flush your system... also i went on a fruit clense where i ate fruit for 7 days... also took serotonin all natural vitiman to sleep.. it is possible to quite, you just have to want it bad enough... also with Gods help.

I don't know if this will find it's way to help one of you, and I am not here to criticize fentanyl for those who are in such pain that fentanyl has helped return quality of life(certainly for those with cancer pain,etc-please disregard my response) To those of you who have come to accept that fentanyl is a nasty monkey on your back, maybe my story might inspire you. I am 7 year Dx fibromyalgia, possible chronic lyme's(still debating go figure). I began with the hydrocodones, then oxycodones with oxycontin for ER pain, tried others such as Avinza, Kadian, morphine IM or immediate release and of course the non-narcotic fibro meds such as lyrica, savella, tryciclyic anti-depressants, etc....Then 7 months ago, along came fentanyl patches. I was put right on the 100mic patches every 48 hours. I was attending school fulltime and my Dr. wanted me on it so I didn't have to repeatidely take breakthru meds. Well at first, the fentanyl patches were great- note that I started the in middle of winter and live in PA! Then, within time came some side affects that at first I didn't even attribute to the fentanyl. Severe sweats, then chills, then sweats again. As spring came the sweat/chills became worse. I was so very constipated, more so than on any other narcotic. I sorely discovered that I couldn't put the patch on up to 8hrs before bed otherwise I could not sleep. ANd food, on fentanyl I just stopped being hungry, besides, I felt too horrible to eat. Oh wow was I becoming miserable. I still had oxycodone 15mg for breakthru pain if needed. Long story short, over the space of 7 months, I began getting so sick. The sweats/chills were HORRIBLE, I thought I was a male in menopause. As spring/summer approached, I learned the heard way that I could NOT be outside mowing the lawn, hell even getting into a hot car to go to the store was causing my patches to release more and more medicine too fast. I always used the MYLAN brand as they stuck to me, and I never had to worry about those reservoirs breaking.

The last week I was on fentanyl, I was a horrid mess. I was only happy the first 5 hours or so after the application of a new patch, then it would just become hell. Then I reached crisis day: a day where after not being able to sleep for days on end, poor nutrition, and fentanyl patches that my body was burning thru at much higher rates, I literally had a nervous breakdown. For the first time in my 35 year life, I was inches away from running to the hospital and begging them to admit me: I couldn't shut my brain down, was thinking horrible things about death/dying, severe anxiety attacks with horrid dread. WTF-this IS NOT ME??? What is wrong. By the Grace of God, a friend intervened that day, came to me with meds to force me asleep. For the first time in weeks I slept 8 hours. The very next day, I put on a 100mic fentanyl patch but said: this will be the last patch I ever use, 6 months every 48 hours=that's more then I ever needed. So I left that patch on facing the possibility of severe withdraw kicking in by day 3, but definitely by day 4,5 and 6. I did have percocet 10's for breakthru which I used 30mg at a time. My Dr. wrote me Xanax and Ambien telling me it wasn't the patches but was insomnia due to my job.

Folks, day 3 came and yes I felt a little uncomfortable. My legs/pelvis ached but nothing like what I thought. So I figured the worse is yet to come. Can you believe that on Thursday, 6 days after my final patch, I slept and woke up with as little pain as I had ever felt for the first time in 7 years. The Fentanyl withdrawl was very minimum, and by day 5 I was feeling better: no more hot/cold sweats, I was eating, and the breakthru pain was managing the fibro pain. I am now many weeks free of that fentanyl devil, and I have vowed that unless I were to be terminal with cancer(or some other extreme pain whereby pain management is the ONLY quality of life) I WILL NEVER TOUCH FENTANYL AGAIN!

I beg of you: if you are someone who has 'some' degree of quality of life, please please avoid being talked into fentanyl by your doctors. We all heard it's 80-100X more potent than morphine, well, I couldn't tell you per se, but fentanyl IS a good pain medicine but the side affects are horrible. Even can cause emotional/mental problems. It's now my opinion is should be for those with terminal cancer pain, and for those whose pain is so significant that they have zero quality of life but managing pain. Next to that, avoid this medicine like the plague. It is one of my physician's opinion that the fentanyl was literally dumping into my body at much higher rates because of the hot-cold flashes(with hot, I mean my skin would warm up considerably each flash) Then, with the efficacy of the patch reduced, I was withdrawing actually thus the insanity. It was a nasty battle of absorbtion, withdraw, and all the negative side affects going with it.

I am asked how come I withdrew so much easier than what most say about fentanyl. I guess we can chalk it up to I was only on them for 7 months, the fact that my mind was made up and I did NOT want to ever have a crisis day like that again, had breakthru meds to feed the brain receptors, xanax to stop the anxiety and sleeping meds to force some sleep. If I didn't mention, I never suffered anxiety attacks nor sheer onset of dread my whole life until on fentanyl. THANK SWEET GOD IT'S OVER WITH! I think the bulk of withdraw also happened since really, I was withdrawing the whole time anyway. I'd get huge rushes of fentanyl in my system and within those 48 hours sweat most of it out. These are only guesses why my withdraw was very quick and relatively painless, but it can be done. I've read that fentanyl is one of the most vicious medicines to withdraw from- I don't doubt it. Maybe I am just lucky, I don't know.

I don't take pain meds to get high like some posts. Anyone who is using fentanyl to 'get high', cutting open reservoir patches and manipulating the gel, chewing them=GET HELP ASAP! This is NOT the drug to be doing that with, and please, you need serious help. For those of you using fentanyl for real pain but having all these side affects, be very cautious of that sweating issue cause you too may be dumping the fentanyl into you body at much higher rates then withdraw is kicking in which can affect you brain so badly as it did mine. Get help please...even if its a family member or friend. My friend stay a week with me thru this, just that little bit of support was so much better. Don't be alone thru this. Fentanyl belongs to those people as I described above, not for those who can function on lower, less powerful opiods. As I repeat, if you have 'some' quality of life like I do(can mow my lawn, play with the kids, go shopping, clean house) DON'T DON'T DON'T go onto fentanyl. It's all around a dangerous narcotic and not for those with a little quality of life. Those lucky to not suffer any side affects, congratulations to you but the majority I see have some or all of them. Watch those hot flashes please.......

Good luck my friends. I know that now, I feel 80% better, and all the side affects have vanished other than constipation which can be blamed on my current meds. It's nice not to sweat my butt off, then be freezing cold and most important, it's nice to have my mind back. I kicked fentanyl in a few days with minimum affects, might be harder for you, but please find a way to do it....you will feel better...

-A former fentanyl user in PA

i have been on oxyicodond and fentynal for 10 yrs for cronic pain.  i would like to know what to expect withdrawals and how long it will take to withdraw and also what i can do to make it easier.  i am going to cold turkey it at home and i need to know what and how long to expect it to go on.           thank u

Dear ksmk, please don't try and stop your fentanyl cold turkey it's a horrible experience. I'm a 8 yr fentanyl user and I tried the same thing around the first of this year (2011) and ended up in the hospital every other day for two weeks (until I just put myself back on the patch). The best thing for you is to have your Dr. start reducing the amt. of med's that you use. For example of you're using 100 mcg every 72 hrs then have him reduce you to 75 mcg for the next two weeks, then 50 mcg for two weeks, then 25 mcg for two wks, and then finally 15 or 10 mcg for the final two weeks. Going cold turkey makes you feel like DEATH warmed over and if you already suffer from chronic pain such as I do then adding the withdrawals will increase your pain 100 fold! It's like being in a living HELL! There is help out there so you don't have to do this on your own.

I am on ALOT of fentanyl!! Patches and 2 forms of oral fentanyl for the last 5 years.  My doctor (a new doctor same clinic) recently felt after 1 year  that she would prefer NOT to have to write the fentanyl script anymore and put me through the detox to start on methadone. I kind of feel that I am leaving one ball and chain for another. Lets not even state the obvious that the fentanyl currently works and methadone may not. But the doctor has told me to "feel free to find another oncologist". Can anyone tell me at I should do besides find another oncologist that shouldn't just pretend to be a pain management doctor with the same amount of compassion for her patient?

if you did nothing wrong like sell them or something funky came up in ur urine, then you NEED to report this Doctor to the Board of ethics, u sound fine, but some folks die from withdrawel from fentanyl, its a nasty strong drug. But Report that SOB, NO one should suffer like that, I could not imagine doing that to my patients. Its disgusting...What State are you in, if that doc is in my state then I want the name....

I was in an auto accident on 6/20/2006 and was rear-ended by someone going 50mph.  I was at a dead stop when he hit me.  Wound up with a torn rotator cuff and severe neck and back pain.  I waited 18 months to ask for something for pain because I didn't want to be addicted to anything and didn't want my kids watching mommy have to take pills to get through her day.  I was prescribed all the usual ones but my problem was an allergy to codeine so that limited what I was able to take.  The doctor prescribed fentora which is fentanyl but you put it between your cheek and gum and that dose was 200mcg as needed for breakthrough pain....after reading all the info in the box I was terrified and didn't take it right away since he prescribed it on a Friday and I called on Monday and told them the insert scared the c**p out of me.  He had me come into the office and take the first dose so if anything did happen there was medical intervention available.  Thank god nothing happened and I really didn't take them to often.  I started on the patches at the 50mcg dose but the dose was to high and was overdosing so he lowered it to 25mcg. 

To be very honest I never got full pain relief, always had some pain and just came to the reality that I would never be pain free again and it scared me to think if I ever went off the fentanyl how much pain I would be in.......I now know.  My situation is a little different the reason I went off of them (just last week) was thanks to Social Security screwing up my getting my Medicare benefits.  I already had the prescription and the hospital coverage but when I originally went on disability I had full medicare.  When my husband got his health benefits at work I went off of the medicare for doctors....HUGE MISTAKE!!!!!  I did everything I was supposed to and lost my husbands coverage 12/31/2011 and Medicare was to be effective again 1/1/2012.  That never happened so now I had no coverage to go to the doctor and they CAN NOT write the script for fetanyl without you being seen in the office due to the drug classification so I am not blaming my doctor he has actually been a god send for me!  I called into his office and let them know what was going on with the insurance and honestly didn't have the $100 for the visit so when I put my last patch on last week I was starting to panic.  It should have gotten changed and I didn't have anymore.  Within 36 hours I was in full withdrawl.  I was getting stomach cramping, tremors, and once the vomiting started my 29 yr old son called the ambulance.  I started crashing on the way to the hospital, they couldn't get a pulse or blood pressure and I was aware of everything going on around me and was terrified.  Get to the ER they give me a shot of dilaudid and sent me home!  My son was extremely angry and the doctor told him I was an addict and should go to detox then rehab and that was the only way I was going to kick my "problem".  Next morning I was back in the er begging for them to send me to detox so I was medically admitted and the following morning they did an EKG.  Within 10 minutes I had a cardiologist at my bedside telling me I had "A withdrawl induced heart attack" and I am now on beta blockers, an aspirin a day and have to go for a stress test to determine how much if any damage there is to my heart.

This drug is dangerous and even though my doctors tell me no one ever died from fetanyl withdrawl there are many instances online where there have been deaths.  I didn't feel I had a choice to go off them any other way, I don't regret I did but I am now back to where I started.  Can't walk due to the back pain, I am in constant agony and after finally getting the Medicare issue straight after telling them I hope I didn't die waiting for it, and finally getting someone compasionate on the phone the issue was fixed within 24 hours I saw my doctor 2 days ago.  I was given dilaudid, klonipin, and the rest of my meds that I hadn't had for 2 months and while I am finally somewhat clear headed I am happy to be off of the fetanyl!  I will never go back to it (the doctor asked if I wanted another script).  I think it is time to figure out what if anything can be done to fix my back problems but was told before I would need surgery which terrifies me even more, I don't want anyone cutting into my back for fear of losing the use of my legs.

Please just use your head if any doctor tells you to go on fetanyl, please, please ask if there is anything else, remember in my case I was allergic to so many of the other options but hopefully the dilaudid will work and I can get the much needed relief......just tired of being in pain all the time!

Good luck to all of you who are going through this and remember go to the ER for help these withdrawl symptoms are NOTHING TO MESS WITH!!

I called a lawyer never called me back. I switched oncologists and then last week she refered me to the pain clinic. Needless to say they want me off also. My life is about to become hell. They told me if I didn't like it to check myself into rehab. I can't tell you what it feels like to get your life back for 5 years to be told there's a possibly snail mucos injected into my back might work.

I just wanted to say to the person who used Xanax norco to get off of fentanyl, yes it was vert easy for you compared to the others. #1 xanax a benzodiazapine helps with with withdrawal symptoms and norco is just another narcotic you're putting in your body in place of the fentanyl...as I appreciate your encouragement those are the reasons why you didn't find withdrawal that bad.

I recently went through withdrawal from using Fentanyl patches after having back surgery. I'm writting this to all the patients that are going through the decision of whether to continue taking this drug or to stop using it and going through withdrawals from this terrible drug! My pain doctor offered me to start using another drug to come down from using Fentanyl, which would of only offered me the same end result, going through withdrawals at one point or another. I'm grateful to say that it's not as bad as you'd think, and the end result is that you're free of taking this horrible medication. Set your mind to believe you can do this, and from my experience, you can! My advice is that you tell your pain doctor you can do this on your own, and don't allow them to continue making money off you and you don't need them. They don't care about you, only what they can make from you continuing to take this horrible drug. Be strong, be true to yourself, and you will be so proud of yourself in doing this!

I recently went through withdrawals from Fentanyl patches after back surgery. What I learned from this is that you can do this on your own. My suggestion to all of the patients that need to make a decision of whether or not to take further medication from their pain doctors, which will only result in you having to go through withdrawals sooner or later. From my experience, my pain doctor only offered me to take another terrible drug and pay him for this. I decided not to put more money in his pocket and do it on my own. These pain doctors don't care about you, they only care about the money! My advise to you is to do it on your own, the end result will be how happy your will feel about yourself. I can tell you that what I experienced was the feeling of having the flue and it only lasted three days. Those three days are worth it you will be happy with yourself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I recently went through withdrawal from using Fentanyl patches after having back surgery. I'm writting this to all the patients that are going through the decision of whether to continue taking this drug or to stop using it and going through withdrawals from this terrible drug! My pain doctor offered me to start using another drug to come down from using Fentanyl, which would of only offered me the same end result, going through withdrawals at one point or another. I'm grateful to say that it's not as bad as you'd think, and the end result is that you're free of taking this horrible medication. Set your mind to believe you can do this, and from my experience, you can! My advice is that you tell your pain doctor you can do this on your own, and don't allow them to continue making money off you and you don't need them. They don't care about you, only what they can make from you continuing to take this horrible drug. Be strong, be true to yourself, and you will be so proud of yourself in doing this! Janet in Simi Valley, CA.

I would sugget finding a new doctor quick and ask them to refer you to the seattle pain center.There are two locatons Seattle and Renton. I know there are different pain centers in other ares you just need to explore the internet to find one in your area

Thanks for this post. I am so encouraged as I am on my lst day of reduction from 75mcg to 50 mcg. My doctor is supervising me, leaving me on the 50 mcg for a whole month. Then I reduce down to 25 mcg for another month. Then off. I too pray, and depend on God. I sense He has wanted me off this for ages. My pain has actually been minimal for several months. I shoved down the feeling I was to come off it, but did check with the doctor who did not support the action @ the time. Last week he did. I had to be ready to face whatever lies in this process. I too know God will strengthen me through this, and I too would never ever want to go on these again. Thanks for your information.