Tapering off fentanyl.

I hope everyone had something to be thankful for this New Year's. Things were great at my house with lots of family and friends around.

I knew a while ago that I'd have to stop taking fentanyl due to the side effects, and so I have started tapering off from 50mgms/72 hrs at a rate of -12mgms/ 6days. I am at 24 mgms right now and today is the reduction to 12. I've been pretty sick to my stomache and stuck in bed for several days now, not able to eat much and some days sleeping a lot. I talked to my physician about this before I started and he suggested this rate of tapering, I'm just wondering if anyone out there has experienced what I'm going through and can offer advice.

I've read some absolutely horrible stories of withdrawl from this med and want to be as smart about this as I can. Just "rip it off" works good with band aids, but maybe not so good with opiods. Am I going too fast? Too slow?

My goal is to be free of the opiod pain meds, my body just can't handle them.

Mike

Mike sorry to read you are having a rough time with the Fentanyl patches. Have you contacted your dr and let him know the problems you are having with your taper, if not you need to. He can give something to help with the symptoms you are describing. It sounds like you are very sensitive to Fentanyl. You may be tapering too fast. Give your dr a call and go see him.

Take care.

Thanks for the tips Frances. I've been finding orange juice is ok, and as far as nutrition I'm not worried because luckily I carry a spare 10 lbs of butter on my butt in case prolonged fasting is required. : )

I'll see my doctor on Monday and see if he thinks I'm going too fast, but interestingly yesterday I felt really quite good. I had changed my patches at bedtime the night before but not reduced them further. After getting out for coffee in the afternoon I even ate a bit of supper with my family which is rare.

Unfortunately today is a rough one and I had several hours this morning where I couldn't even lift my head due to nausea. Sometimes all I can do is lay really still and focus on my heartbeat. I swear those stickers don't deliver the med as evenly as they say they do. For the whole time I've been on Fentanyl (5 months only) the third day typically brings nausea and the first day after I change stickers is the best for pain control and side effects. Day two is a coin toss. Its hard to say for sure because I've had such bad constipation and impaction with all the opioids I've taken in the last two and a half years, but I am really looking forward to just being in pain and not sick. I'm sure I won't feel the same on days when the pain is up there, but for right now that's how I feel.

I just have to find some other way to live with this pain without opioids.

Mike

If you can manage it, I'd give up the coffee for a little bit. It will help with the constipation & also should make the fentanyl last a bit longer (anything that raises body temp a bit will cause it to release faster -- hot showers, the flu, caffeine -- even in the tiny amount found in decaf, etc.). There are OTC products that can also be used to help with constipation (I was on Senakot -- it worked pretty well). OJ doesn't have a lot of water in it. If you can't stand water or herbal tea, basically any of the red or pink colored fruits (except grapefruit, which interacts with fentanyl) are good for hydration.

You'll be fine waiting until Monday as long as your hr isn't totally out of control & you're able to keep down fluids (which it sounds like you are). The Catapres (clonidine) patches can't be used until you're totally off the fentanyl anyways.

Fasting + fentanyl = dangerous. If you're going to fast, wait until you've been totally off the patches for 14 days. The drug metabolizes differently when fasting/dehydrated. Trust me, having to be taken to the infusion unit for fluids and nutrition sucks way more than whatever you're going through right now. When I had to go, there were even people who were at least 50 pounds overweight who had to go. Cutting back on calories is fine, but you still need at least 1000 calories per day, unless your PM has said otherwise.

Holy cow you are knowledgable Frances! I wasn't told any of that by the two doctors that have been helping me with this. Not only have I been having a cup of caffeinated coffee once in a while, but also drinking a lot of OJ thinking I was hydrating, hanging out in the hot tub at the pool AND the steam room as often as three times a week , and due to the nausea I often eat very little ( I don't intend to fast but I have been slowly losing weight since Sept 2010) at least twice a week, then eat a lot on the day I feel better. What a mess! What a waste of time. I just found out today that we have an actual pain specialist doctor in town but my doctor has NEVER mentioned this to me in the four years we've been working on this. I get so frustrated sometimes. I gotta ask him about that on Monday.

SD, I had exactly that reaction this summer on the one nice day that was warm enough to take my shirt off. I had taken the kids by boat to a sandy spot on a big river so they could play, and I started walking and wading with the sun on my back (where I put the patches) I just kept walking and feeling better and looser and was even throwing sticks for our dog. After an hour and a half we headed home. OMG was I ever sick that night and all the next day. Mentioned it to my doc and he didn't think the sun could have done it.

People need to know this stuff! I try to keep as informed as anyone but obviously I have been not been advised correctly about this med or its delivery system, and I read everything I find.

And Paula, forgive me if my reply to you was saucy and rude. I sure never meant it to be. You seem like a sweet person and when I reread my post it just sounded edgy. Sorry about that.

Mike

Oh man, you are right. There it is in black and white. I can't believe I never read that.

I think the lesson here is no one is as responsible for my health as I am. Even if my doctor underinformed me or misinformed me it was up to me to read that sheet, and I didn't, and I have suffered for it.

It has been 13 days I've been tapering, down to 12 mgms now, and I haven't been as sick again as those first 5 days. There are times I feel worse than others, but I've been able to cut way back on laxatives already which feels great. I am sleeping a lot and feel cold most of the time, but that's no big deal. I'm thankful that I don't have to go to work feeling like this, I can't imagine someone doing that. So far pain levels have not increased as much as I expected.

Six more days and I hope to be free of this medication.

Mike

Mike, Just wondering....are you going to stop taking pain meds all together? Or are you just coming off of the patch?

Today is day 28 since I started detoxing,and I took my last sticker off yesterday. So I guess I'm free of it. That was nasty.

Right now I am using hot water bottles, hot baths and showers, electric acupuncture, and massage for pain relief, as well as yoga, physio exercises at home, stretching and joint manipulation in my hips and SI's, walking outside, and some days easy swimming a bit to try to loosen me up. The swimming usually feels pretty good.

The thing is that while the exercise is good and healthy, it increases my pain so I can't go to sleep. I take 1 zopiclone pill every night but it wears off in about 5 hours. Five hours sleep is better than 4, but its not enough for me. Any ideas?

Mike