withdrawal from duragesic (fentynal)

Well get a load of this sh*t. I too was "punished" except this was 100% error on THEIR end, not mine, yet I was the one penalized. Let me tell you WHY they treat patients like us that way. Its because they feel as if they are doing us a FAVOR, not their job! But a f*****g favor. Something that we should be gratefull for!

I KNEW I needed to be seen in the month of July and how he had been doing it was schedule me once every 2-3 months and I would just pick up scripts in between those times. Well, my Doctor is only at the one location I can go to maybe twice a month. The other locations are so far. Anyways, my Fentanyl due date wasnt until the END of the month and so THEY SCHEDULED my appnt for several days BEFORE that but my refill date for my pills was on the 11th. I called in and asked to have those called into the Pharm and was told no problem. When I realized they were not there the next day, I phoned my Doctors office and was told that I had to see the Doctor BEFORE I could get those too. Well well well. Im not a mind reader! I am not clairvoyant! If YOU knew that, why schedule my appnt AFTER my pill refill date then? Then Im told they can get me in sooner, which would stil be over a week AFTER my oral refill date and that location was super far! It was totally placed on me, the patient. This was THEIR error, not mine. Had I knew this in advance, I clearly would have scheduled appropiately and NOT accept the date they gave me. I mean do they share no responsibiltiy? If they are the ones who know and want to see their patient by a specific date and this date must be completed BEFORE a refill date, one would think they would have to inform you of this. That to me seems to be the professional thing to do, instead of spring it on me. When I asked what should I do for that time frame, I was told to TAKE over the counter meds. Well, if thats the case, and they feel that those over the counter meds work for me, then WHY prescibe me any of the Prescription pain dullers AT ALL? Once when I was due for my oral pain meds and didnt call in to get them for 4 whole days AFTER they was due, I was scolded and told "Well you need to take them as prescribed, thats how it works to control your kind of pain, by PREVENTING it from getting out of hand" "IF u can go 4 days withot them, then U must not need them" yet I was simply mking what I had stretch. BUT when the error is on THEIR END, then its just fine for me to go that long without them and over the counter will handle it for me? Once you got my body and brain wired to basically depend on it? We are nohing but cash cows to them Doctors and they could give a sh*t. Like I said, the Doctors and nurses treat me like they are doin me some favor that I should be gratefull for and walk on eggshells over, never ever sharing my opinion. Plus, when I do share my opinon of their mishaps, they TWIST my words around and put it in my chart all wrong, totally abusing their power. Im done. I will have to find a way to live my ife withut these meds. I refuse to be mistreated like this any longer.

its not bad , I decided to quit cold turkey on a Quote:

75 mg duragesic patch. i had been on it for 2 yrs. YES ! ITS >;)BUT YOU NEED TO HAVE A MIND SET. THAT MED IS NOT GOOD! IT WILL ABSORB INTO YOU WHERE THERE IS NEVER ENOUGH OF IT AND IT WILL PLAY GAMES WITH YOUR MIND AND BODY. A PAIN CLINIC DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE THEY SEE. THEY MAINLY CARE ABOUT THE DAMAGE THEY CAN DO AND THEN PULL THE RUG UNDER YOU. I FOR ONE WILL NOT LAY BACK AND TAKE THE PAIN AND HURT FROM THEM. I AM A HUMAN BEING,,,,,, NOT AN ANIMAL TO BE TESTED ON

My husband had been on the duragesic patch for chronic pain for about 5 years.  He started out on the 50 and gradually had to have higher doses to help control his pain.  He ended up on 150 (a 100 and a 50) every 24 hours and it was still not taking care of his pain...His body was craving more.  He was referred to the OSMC Pain Clinic in Elkhart, IN to see Dr. Beatty for an evaluation and prospect of a morphine pump.  On the advise of this wonderful doctor he started a slow wean and this process should have taken 2 months but when he was down to the 25 he wore this dosage for one week and then went cold turkey going in to the 7th week of the wean.   I am a nurse and I have never seen anyone in this withdrawal process but I knew it had to be done. 

The first few days were not bad but he gradually started the withdrawal and he went through more agony than a man should ever have to endure.  Sweats, chills, insomnia, stomach cramping severe headaches and excruciating pain throughout his body, just to mention a few.   I knelt beside his bedside and prayed for God's healing touch.  By the end of about the 12th day he was feeling much better.   He was taking only Ibuprofen 800 mg 3 times a day for his arthritc pain. 

On his final follow up visit to the OSMC Pain Clinic and Dr. Beatty in November he was totally off of the patch and feeling wonderful.  It was an amazing visit. When the doctor came in he had already been briefed by his nurse that my husband was doing so well...,so  he came in and sat down he looked at him and said..."You don't look like the same man that was here 8 weeks ago"...and he doesn't ...He has a smile and a countenance totally of peace. He is not completely pain free but he is free of that awful enemy of his body..the duragesic patch. Most all of the pain he was experiencing over the years of increasing the duragesic patch dosage was "withdrawal pain" and not physical pain. His body was craving more and more of the demon drug and when he finally realized that this was what was causing the pain he was ready to wean from it. I had told him over a year ago that the patch was the culprit but he was so addicted that he could not accept the fact that he was trapped.  Now he is just on the Ibuprofen for pain and that seems to be keeping the arthritis inflamation related pain in check. He does not need a morphine pump...He is free of his addiction.

Hi Amy!
I know you wrote this a long time ago, but just wondering how you are doing??? I am in a VERY similar situation and feel exactly the same way! I would love to email back and forth with you if you are at all interested. Please contact me if you are! I know how alone the feeling can be. I hate it. I have been taking a duragesic now for almost 10 years but am now suffering from potential liver disease and have to go off of it. I'm scareed to death. I've tried many times and just couldn't both due to the withdrawal and because of the horrible paiin Ii experience (thus take the meds). I would welcome any advice you (or anyone else) may have. I am going to seeking a professional for going off because my doctor is clueless how to do it! Thanks and best of luck to you!

Actually this post is VERY HELPFUL - so web posts can be GOOD (although you do have to be VERY cautious). BUT my id**t doctor told me to try going off by trimming the patches!!!!! Obviously, now I won't! I am going to see a specialist!

i am going through the same thing , i use sandoz and like the person below said i tappered mine down and had to stop b/c my insurrance was cut of 2months ago i have since ran out of the ones i have saved by cutting them down i was down to less than a qurter of a patch at 125 mrg the past 2 days i am still having horriable withdrawls i am trying to do this at home without medical help b/c i dont have money to do otherwise , i am sweating have upset stomach , i am in alot of pain they told me i would have to be on pain med the rest of my life i am tired of feeling this way its debatable wich is worse the side effects or the pain , i have been on these for 4 yrs , i am only 29 yrs old , i am so depressed havent slept in days cant eat , can barely handle drinking anything ,my bones feel cold my skin feels like its crawling , the sweating and be sooo cold at the same time is the worst ive tried everything i can think of and i have ran out of ideas my heart is with you i know how hard it is i had gone of them cold turkey 2 yrs ago but was only on 50 mg at that time after they decided to try the surjery on my spine the pain became more intense and the doc upped my dose even cutting them down hasnt kept me from having intense withdrawls this is day three i dont know if i am strong enough to do this

im going on my 6th dy from quitting cold turky i was on 50mcg every other day but i abbused my skrip and ran out thursday. i thought then thats it im done this stuff makes my life worse ya u feel good for moment but try not to take it and the withdrawls kick in when i had nothing thursday my worst night was saterday i started the withdrawl symptoms the worst feeling ever i started at 12:00pm and the withdrals didn't stop untill 8:30am i dont reccomend anyone to try coldturky i just didnt want to be addicted anymore so its a strong minded thing to do i recommend ppl to tapper down cause i honestly thought i was going to kill myself but the thought of my kids and lots of praying so ya its my sixth day i feel better i havent slept since thursday but it doesnt matter as long as the withdrawls stop iv been drinking lots of water and take lots of vitamins i sure do hope this demon is out of me but i think not only 6thday but feel way better than saterday , when i say i was abbusing my skrip i would put a 50mcgh on the same spot the inside of my arm then i would cut another inhalf and put it under my toung i would even chew my old patch after i took it off so i would be done my skrip in 2weeks instead of 1 month ive done it plenty of times then i would just buy more on the street im just letting everyone know how bad i was 6th day baby yes thankyou lord.

I would like to know how your withdrawal went. I am told that next month my doctor will be reducing my patch from 75mg to 50 mg and I am scared to death of withdrawal. last year, the pain clinic told me to change the patch at the end of every 2nd day instead of 3rd day due to withdrawal symptoms that were so severe I had to go to the hospital for help.
If the drug your doctor mentioned worked, I would appreciate knowing.

sorry man i quit cold turkey very hard i would suggest for u is suboxone sorry so late have to keep going stay focused u can do it.

Hi, I am going through the second phase of coming off durogesic patches. 3 years ago I went from 50mg  to 25mg but was given lyrica 75 twice a day. lyrica is used for nerve type pain. Last 3 years I have been taking 2x75mg lyrica per day and slapping on a 25mg durogesic patch. I have had 5 shoulder surgeries, 1 to left and 4 to right shoulder. some reason, I have crippling pain in right shoulder since very first surgery. All due to injury 7 years ago. Because lyrica was so expensive and not on government sponsor list , I couldnt afford to increase lyrica to be able to decrease patch. I am suggesting that anyone with such crippling pain seek a doctor to discuss the possibility of LYRICA / durogesic combination. I totally understand all your fears, symptoms, unclear mind, feelings of uselessness, to say the least, I AM HOPING THAT SOME OF YOU WILL INVESTIGATE THIS OPTION . LYRICA IS NOT A CURE BUT WONT HAVE YOU FEELING LIKE A LIVING ZOMBY.       MELISSA.

Shadow: I am also trying to get off the patches because I want to have another child. I was using 100 Mg every two days, and I'm now down To 12 Mg every three days (cutting the 25 Mg in half.) It hasn't been TOO bad doing it gradually...I have little withdrawal symptoms, but the depression/lack of interest has sucked! Good luck!

I am weaning off Fentanyl patch i have been on this med for 14 years. I was on two 100mcg patches for 6 years with oxycodone 20 for breakthrough pain. I then went to Oxycontin 120 mg per day plus 80 oxycodone per day i itched all the time. called the doctor and said get me off this stuff NOW went back to fentanyl patch she only put me on a 50 mcg after all that Oxy and i was in withdrawal bad. i just got sick of the bureauacrecy bull c**p at pain clinics so ive been weaning for 15 days now and it's just getting worse. i am on Clonodine but now it's like its not helping i am constantly HOTTTTT the COLD restless limbs are the worst. and the hot coals feeling all the time. I am weak from no appetite. I hope make it.

Hi. I realize that what you just posted was over a year ago, at least. Still, I want to say this since it's so important. Besides, it could save someone's life. Who knows? You just canNOT cut up a Fentanyl patch. If that first humongous dose you get doesn't OD you, it can leave you without anymore med at all for a couple days. And, THAT also is extremely dangerous. You never know what you could be doing, or where you are when you have that extremely horrific seizure. Over 2 years ago, when I started patches, I'd have been cutting them up myself otherwise. For real. But, I saw someone, my friend Pam, die from this kind of stupidity. Not worth it a bit. For that reason, I just now chose to share this, even tho this is an old post, It just grabbed my interest and I read it all. If I didn't know better, I'd trust that if someone didn't KNOW something was safe, they'd never just share it here like this. Ok. So, no worries. Hope you have a good one.