Intro and few questions

Oh honey,

I feel for you. I have been there with the snapping at the small children. I know just what you feel like. I had severe back problems and my girls were 12 and 8 or around that age. At any rate I was in severe pain all the time and lived on percocet every 4 hours around the clock. The only relief for me was floating in the pool on a huge raft. So I did that from morning to night. Finally I had back surgery and went through heck for one more year while in rehab.

You have to give the fentynal a little time, but if you are in severe pain, I would call the doctor and not wait too long. I want you to know that I am praying for you that you find some relief. Don't be too hard on yourself. Your little ones love you and will be ok. Knowing that you are aware is a good thing and will temper you a little. For those times you snap, don't be too hard on yourself. You are only human and are in pain.

I think that you may have had a high from the med that you described too. Give it a chance to work. You may find that you get relief after all. If it doesn't hold you for the full 12 hours or 24 hours depending, then certainly give the doc a call. No sense suffering. Some doctors will prescribe for breakthrough pain, another medication. But ask first! Don't take any meds before talking to the doctor.

Lots of hugs and let us know how you are doing please!! And by the way, welcome, welcome, welcome!!

Lindaloo

Hello Momma 9803,

 

    Welcome, it is very nice to meet you. I do hope you stay, as there are SooOOOo many differant folks here from all walks of life here. I know others have mentioned using the same medacine perhaps they can help answer some of your questions. I can try to help, but im new to many things related to chronic pain.

 

1.  Why did I feel so good yesterday and was able to go swimming with my children and even spend time at seaworld with them....and today I feel so awful?

  "Went swimming with my children...havent done that in quite a few years."

   Hopefully you just over did it a little, if it persists thou dont hesitate to call your doctor.   

 

2.  How long should I wait before I call my dr and ask him for something else to go along with this to help with the pain?

  If I have any questions, no matter how small, I ask doctor. None of them ever seem to mind, in fact they seem to apprecite questions.  Just ask for when they think you should begin to feel better. Seems everytime ive asked the standard response is "Please call and let us know right away if you have ANY side effects or fever, other wise you should start to feel better in XX number of days."

 

3.  Can I even take other meds while on the patch?

     That is another good question to ask them, when you call.

     Like I said, I am new to many aspects of pain management so I am sure others will be able to answer you in more detail. But.. I did, however go in to see a pain psychologist. For a very long time. She and I worked on many aspects of chronic pain. We re-defined me. Thank goodness   Anyway just a thought. (I too have small children) Again, it is really nice to meet you.

*huggs*

dani

Hi Tonya, Welcome aboard, I'm so glad you found us! There are many here who have similar problems as you and hopefully some will chime in soon. I was using Fentenal patches for a while years ago and I am not a Dr. but my doc had me on percocet for breakthough pain at that time. I didn't like the patches, I live in S. Fla. and I am a big man and sweat alot. Had big pronlems keeping them on. I didn't care for the way they made me feel either. Some people swear by them though and we are all different so the might work great for you, who knows. I agree w/ the others that you probably over did it the other day because you were feeling better, That is something I have had and still do have a problem with! Even though I know what's going to happen later, I still over do things when I'm feeling better! Shame on me! My friends here are constantly reminding me and others but as you know, we all just want to feel the way we used to, even if it's just for a little while, so it's hard not to! Hang in there and give theswe patches a chance and by all means, keep your doc informed on whats going on!
Agai welcome and please stick around, you'll love this forum and all the carring people in it!
Your Friend,
Pete

Hi Tonya,

Welcome to the CP board of HW! This is a WONDERFUL place to be when you are in pain & need support, and even just to learn. Of course none of us are docs, nor can we give medical advice, but we as a group have a great wealth of knowledge based on experience. I'm sorry that you are in so much pain, but we are happy to have you as a new member of our little family!

I've been in severe pain from a traumatic eye injury that I had two & a half years ago. We don't know the cause of my continued pain, nor why the function of that eye is progressively deteriorating. Like you, I've been on a bunch of different meds without much success. Unfortunately, at this point we are pretty sure that my body does not have functional opioid receptors, or something along those lines. I'm on fentanyl currently, as well, as a last ditch effort to try to bi-pass my liver & gut, in case the problem lies there, although that does not seem to be the case, because I do not experience any pain relief, side effects, or anything else, from this med either.

As for your questions:
1) Although the patches are worn for 3 days (72 hrs), many people only experience controlled pain relief for 48 hrs, so perhaps you are one of these people. If you find that you are consistently feeling some relief on days 1 & 2, but not 3, then you should talk to your doctor about the possibility of wearing the patch for only 48 hrs, instead of 72 (some docs allow this, some do not). Another possibility is that you were starting to feel some relief, and then you really overdid it. Unfortunately, this tends to happen. When we feel good, we want to do as much as possible, to make up for the days we feel lousy & can't do much. However, we often pay for it the next day, by causing increased pain. Even if your meds normally give you some relief, they may not cover the additional pain well. You might want to talk with your doc about "break-though medication," which may be used to help cover any additional pain throughout the day, which your normal meds don't cover. Yet another possibility, is that you did in fact experience some kind of "high," causing you to overdo it. I can't give you any advice or information about this, as I have never once felt a "high" feeling from my meds.

2) I don't know how long you've been on the patch, but you should really give it at least a month or two before you decide whether it helps you or not. It takes several weeks to work your body's way up to being able to maintain a therapeutic level of medication at all times. Also, your doctor may want to adjust your dosages. Just because one dose doesn't help, it does not necessarily mean that a high dosage won't. My doc usually defines a "end point," or a level at which we would stop the medication, if we had increased to such a level over a period of time & I still felt no relief. You should probably discuss your options with your doctor at your next appointment, or sooner, if your truly feel that you are getting no relief & have been on the fentanyl for at least two or three 3 day cycles.

3) Yes you can take other meds while on the fentayl patch. However, you should only take medications prescribed by your doctor, or approved OTC medications.

I hope this helps! I'm no expert, but unfortunately, have had a fair amount of experience with changing meds, over the last year! Keep posting with us!

Skeye