Fentanyl Patches

1

Hello friends,

Has anyone here had any experience with Fentanyl patches?

My PM Clinic prescribed me this today. I will be 48-72 hrs. before I can pick them up.

I have a very caring PM Nurse Practitioner and Clinic who do try their best to care for me, and to understand my condition. My Nurse Practitioner has even visited our ATN group, just to check it out, and is very interested in what I am doing, with regards to the cause of "Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia".

Ok....enough of me bragging on my Practitioner. She's great. But, I am curious to know if anyone has had any problems or issues with this medication, to speak of.

It is the first time, except for one E.R.visit, that I have been prescribed anything in "patch form".

Comments or advice anyone?

Thanks so much,

Stef

2

Hi Stef,

I have heard that it is a very effective pain killer and will last 3 days. For those who forget if they take their doses often this is very helpful. I haven't tried it myself but would love to know if it effects your burning pain. Keep me posted.

take care,

Tracy

3

Oh! Hi, Tracy.

For sure, I'll be letting everyone know how this works out for me.

I must admit, I am a bit concerned due to the fact that MS Contin and Fentanyl Duragesic Patch are such different medication, that my dosing may not be correct. The tables of conversion I am reading are not even making much sense to me.

Since MS Contin is counted in milligrams and Fentanyl is counted in Micrograms, it is difficult to discern whether or not the PM Clinic has prescribed me the correct dose, or not. The pharmacy says "no". The PM Clinic says "yes".

While waiting for my Medicaid to approve paying for my Fentanyl Patches to be filled, my Pain Management Nurse Practitioner prescribed me some MS Contin (extended release Morphine) to get me through what could take as long as 72 hours. When I was in the office today, picking up the prescription for my interim MS Contin, I told them that the pharmacist had said that the dosage of Fentanyl 25 mcg. was not comparable to the 90 mg. of MS Contin which I rely on to keep me out of the E.R. I was told that the pharmacy was wrong and the dosing was appropriate.

Needless to say, I'm a bit on pins and needles about this situation.

If pharmacists and Pain Specialists cannot agree on this, I doubt anyone on LwTN would know if they have given me an appropriate dose, unless they have made the same, or similar, jump from MS Contin to Fentanyl Duragesic Patches, you know Tracy? But, if anyone has, I would ask that they please weigh in on this thread!

I don't expect replies, but if anyone sees this thread and knows anything about the conversion, please share your knowledge with me here.

Thanks so much!

Stef

P.S. I've missed you, Tracy! It's so good to hear from you! I hope you and yours are all well. Sending much love and positive energy in your direction, friend!

4

As I await approval, I may have answered my own question.

http://www.globalrph.com/fentconv.htm

5

Stef,

I was very close to someone who used the patches, not TN related. They seemed very effective for him. However there were a few episodes where he exerted himself which made them release extra meds, and he'd get pretty out of it and I would have to make him lie down and keep an eye on him. So if you feel like that's happening, don't panic, just lie down and it will pass.

Also, make sure you vary where you put the patch. What worked best for him was to vary it between different area of his back and chest, avoiding areas with a lot of muscle movement.

I hope they work for you, good luck!

6

Hi stef. I have taken these patches before, and if it were up to me I.would deffinatley stay with the ms contin. It just never seemed to help too much for me. Anyways no matter what I hope it does help you.good luck lady

7

Hi Stef,

I have varied thoughts on the Fentanyl patch. For me personally, I hate the way it makes me feel. It's the only opiate that I can't tolerate actually. However, I know several people with other kinds of chronic pain that swear by the Fentanyl patch and they've had wonderful experiences with it. So, like many other medications, it may just be a case by case basis for each individual.

Best,

Tiffany

8

Hi Stef,

I had been given Fentanyl by my doc and they didn't do anything for me. It was awful. This was during a hospitalization for my TN. I begged to get the morphine back because at least I got some relief from it.

I just went to my PM appointment yesterday, he is now wanting to prescribe me Methadone for the pain. He increased the Baclofen in hopes that may help. Ha Thats a joke. He mentioned Methadone at my last appointment a month ago but he doesn't want to add andchange all these meds because of all the meds I already take.

I am leary of the Methadone. There is such a stigma with it and most of the doctors in the ER here are oblivious to TN. The ones I finally break in end up leaving and then I have new ones to break in. I am worried about them labelling me an addict and not wanting to help me when I really need it.

Do you have any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks,

La La

9

Hi, I am currently on 100mcg of the fentanyl patch. It is my baseline medicine. It seems to help the most out of trying about every opiate combination over the past year. Though over the past month the effectiveness is going down now probably due to my tolerance, but generally I am well enough to do light housework or work part time on it. I don't have any side effects from it and also take dilaudid for breakthrough pain. Thanks!

10

I don 't know about MS contin,but I do know about dilaudid and the fentanyl patches.I ended up with them at 200mcgs every 72 hrs. It has been a few yrs since using them but if I remember correctly the only issue I had was I couldn't find good places on my body to put them, my skin broke out where the glue was.They were helping some of my pain.Nothing would help the breakthrough pain. Then one month Medicaid would no longer cover them.So my dilaudid along with klonapin had to be increased for awhile so I didn't. have withdrawals. I just remember I was glad to get rid of them.I just think they were yucky they made your skin sink too. Not only is tn so VERY VERY, PAINFUL, It is such a strange diease, so different in each person.Same way with medication, It reacts differently with each person.