I think the Fentanyl patch is the greatest pain medication ever made. I am not impared and no one knows I'm on a narcotic 100 times stronger than Morphine. I drive 300 to 500 miles to visit my family (lots of stops along the way) and I NEVER feel like I am using any medication. Fentanyl was primarly used for cancer patients until several years ago when a pioneer in Chronic Pain Management (for all types of pain) tried the patch on patients and had great results. I have been on the patch 9 or 10 years. It has been so long ago that I can't remember how long it has been. I can't take any oral pain meds except demerol and a fairly new drug Nucynta because of serious side effects and life threatning conditions. Now days Demerol is used very little and it doesn't work for nerve pain.
Now back to the Fentanyl patch. If you live in a warm/hot climate the patch usually doesn't last more than 48 hours. There are medications that can cause heat surges or hot flashes and the patch won't last more than 48 hours. The part of ones body where the patch is worn
can cause the patch to last only 48 hours. I alternate where I place the patch depending on what I am doing or where I am going. I went to 48 hours after my first month on the patch. I started on 25mcg for a month then went to 50mcg. During a major move I went to 75mcg and had to change patch every 48 hours. During extremely stressful times I go to 75mcg. Then I came back down to 50mcg. 50 mcg brings my pain down to a level of 5 sometimes 7 on the 1 to 10 chart. I have a high tollerance for pain, however my pain level almost never goes below 5. I take as little medication as possible. You might want to talk with your doctor about
going up to 50 mcg and try for 72 hours; if that doesn't work you might have to stay at every 48 hours like me and many friends I have meet through Chronic Pain Support Groups. I rarely take Nucynta for break through pain and when I do I take 100 mg and I have to go to bed and sleep a few hours. When I took 50 mg it did nothing for my pain. Warning!!! If any one decided to try Nucynta it is expensive. With a good insurance/drug plan I pay $92.00 f0r 100 pills.
Have you tried the epidural pain injections along with your regular pain meds? YES I know about
the recent scare and deaths from very bad medication for the injections. I had just finished a series of three injections 2 days before the news about
the bad medication. I have had three injections since the scare. I wasn't concerned because of where my doctor gets the medications he injects into his patients. Since 1990 I have had 27 epidural pain blocks. I don't plan on getting any more because the steriods are't good for my bones. In 15 years I have lost 2 1/4 inches in my height. I can't tell much difference in my back pain however I can tell a difference in my neck pain. I had not had any epidural pain blocks since 1999 until a few months ago.
I'm interested to hear about
experience others have had with the epidural injections. Through support groups I met people who thought the epidural pain blocks and the trigger point injections were similar or the same. They were new in their journey with chronic pain.
Are you being treated by a Board Certified Pain Management Physician? I believe it has been only a few years since Board Certification in Pain Management was available, or are you seeing a Pain Management Pyhsician or your Primary Care Physician?. It has been my experience from working with Chronic Pain Associations and outstanding Chronic Pain Physicians
in Houston, TX that the best Chronic Pain Physicians are Anesthesiologist. Five years ago I moved to a small town in Central Florida and there is only 1 Pain Management Physician out of 7 that knows how to treat all kinds of Chronic Pain.
I didn't mean to write a book however when I get started about
Chronic Pain and Medications I can't seem to stop. I haven't had any formal training in the health care industry however after 20 years of constant pain, I got tired of being told my pain was in my head so I started doing research and asking a lot of questions from what I considered excellent Physicians. I have a complicated medical history and most Physicians don't like to have me as their patient. Fifteen years ago I overheard my Physician tell his nurse that he was having a good day until I walked in. I knew him well enough to confront him and he told me he was joking which I believed because of the good doctor/patiient relationship we had.
By the way, I don't do well with adhesives and my my skin stayed irritated from the patches. I mentioned my problem to my excellent Physician in Houston and she said she had several patients with a similar problem, so she started "thinking out of the box" which she did often. After trying several things she came up with a great fix for most of her patients using the patch. Spray FLONASE NASAL SPRAY on the area where the patch will be placed, let the spray dry or almost dry then apply the patch. The Corticosteriod kept our skin from being irritated. Now this is the weird part....her patients didn't get the same result from any other Corticosteriod/Antihistamine prescripition and the generic didn't work as well on some of us as the brand name. I have suggested this fix to many people and only a few didn't have good results. Usually men with a lot of hair on their chest or back couldn't get enough medication sprayed on until they shaved the places they would place the patch then the spray usually worked. If any of you try this method and it doesn't work the first time don't give up. Try the spray for 3 patch changes. When I'm in the shower and I get too much soap on my body or the water is too hot sometimes I will have a slight irritation. If that happens I remove the patch then I wash and dry the area well then apply vitamin E cream. I spray another area and re-apply the patch. In most cases the patch will adhere again. Depending on where you place your patch, wear snug clothing for a couple of hours and the patch should adhere to your body again. Only twice have I had my patch not adhere. Simple solution, I used a couple of strips of paper tape to help the patch adhere to my skin. I would like feed back if anyone tries this. Your Physician might think you have lost your mind, but if he/she thinks about
all the conditions Corticosteriods/Antihistamines are used for then it should make sense.
If any one would like a pain pal my e-mail address is xxxx. I don't text, use Faceboook, twitter, U-tube or any of the new ways to communicate. I like to communicate face to face, by telephone or e-mail. In my opinion there are to many gadgets now days.
The original patch did have Duragesic in the name but I can't remember the exact name. The medication Fentanyl in the original patch is the same medication as the generic patch made by Watson. When the patent expired the manufacturer making the gereric version calls the patch Fentanyl Transdermal System. The patch I am looking at this moment is made by Watson Laboratories, Corona, CA. I don't remember who told me that Watson Laboratories manufactured the original patch and when the patent expired they continued to make the patch under a slightly different name. From what I remember from the conversation the same Corporation owns the Duragesic and the generic Fentanyl Transdermal System.
There was another generic manufacturer who had a VERY BAD patch. I personally called the company and complained because the Fentanyl could not be seen. I was told the Fentanyl was spread on the patch in a very thin layer of liquid. I believe that generic version was removed from the market because it was so bad. When I was using mail order for my prescript
ions I would call the pharmacy and make sure they had the patch made by Watson. My mail order Pharmacy had so many complaints they stopped carrying the inferior brand as did Wallgreens & CVS where I live. Many of us were given refunds for the amounts we paid for the patches.
Good night all. It is time to take a sleeping pill and get some deep sleep. I need to get up early in the morning and drive 3 hours to watch the Atlanta Braves play one of their Spring Training games. My husband and I are taking a mini vacation so we can watch the Braves play 2 games next week. Atlanta is our adopted home because we have spent so many years there and we miss the Braves. Now that we live close to Tampa, FL we have become Tampa Bay Rays fans.
Thank you for your patience if you made it through my ramblings.
May all of you have a good weekend and have some fun which is hard to do when we live in constant pain or a drug induced fog.
Brenda the Florida Lady
(Brenda... you can put your e-mail in your profile.... and members can contact you from there. --Thanks) --Tina
Post Edited By Moderator (Blessedx8) : 3/24/2013 10:36:53 AM (GMT-6)