Fentanyl for skinny guys

Hi -- I just thought I'd post this so that anyone searching fentanyl on the future might have a chance to see this and possibly avoid a little pain. Fentanyl doesn't work well on the very skinny -- it gets absorbed through your skin, and apparently you need some tissue below the skin to make that uptake happen.

My husband is really skinny now, and had no luck at all with fentanyl (and some pretty unpleasant days figuring this out). We switched away and never knew why this supposed powerhouse drug didn't work for him. His need for oxy-based pain relief has gotten to the point where the insurance company no longer wants to pay for it and was pushing for fentanyl again. And that's when the issue was fully explained -- putting a patch on thin skin basically resting on bone doesn't get absorbed well.

Since many cancer patients in the stages that need lots of pain relief are skinny, I thought it was worth sharing.

(BTW morphine in pill form is apparently very cheap so they were happy to cover it, and it has been a fine replacement for his old oxycontin/oxycodone regimen)

I have been on Fentanyl for over 4 years now (100 mgm/48 hours), both when I was overweight, and when I had lost over 110 lbs and was clinically anorexic, all I can say, it was equally effective at both extremes. I know that pain meds effect patients very differently.

Yes, morphine in pill form is very inexpensive and effective for many, if I ever had to turn my Pain Management over to the VA, that would put me on that, as they do not stock or supply Fentanyl.

I hope your husband does well, I am well seasoned with severe chronic paint from extreme radiation damage related to my prostate cancer. Changing the patch from the more normal 3 days (72 hours) to the less common 2 days (48 hours) made a huge difference for me. By the end of the 2nd day, there was no relief left in the patch, and I suffered greatly every third day.

Fentanyl has been a godsend for me, that was one thing my former oncologist did right for me. It gets a bad rap in the media, but that's 90% if not higher, from people abusing it, or finding poorly made Chinese Fentanyl being substituted for heroin.

Or celebrities having multiple scripts by their "personal" doctors, and then mixing and matching other dangerous pain killers.

For those legitimate users, as I said, it can be a godsend. I could not imagine dealing with the level of constant pain I am in without it. With it, I still need breakthrough meds.

You can't even be put on Fentanyl unless you are determined to be fully opioid tolerant. If it makes you feel high or elated, that's the first sign you shouldn't be using it. It either cuts the pain or it doesn't. Not one time in over 4 years, has it ever made me "feel" good.

And you have to be careful about staying out of hot tubs, hot baths, direct sunlight, other sources of heat while using Fentanyl, as it can make the body absorb the drug from the patch too quickly. I switch arms every two days, and don't have any issues with the patches falling off. I pre-mark each patch with a number, then put that number on my calendar. First thing, take the old patch off, so you aren't accidently wearing two. After applying new one, I flush the old one down the toilet as prescribed. Idiot drug users will seek out old patches and suck them, eat them and even smoke them!!!! I then mark on my calendar once the swap is made.

Point being, yes, its a dangerous drug is misused, but a great one is needed and used as directed. It's meant only for long term use, not short term pain relief.