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Ever since moving back from the US I have always resisted narcotic based medications.
After my last operation, I’d been placed on Oxycontin and Oxynorm, but I have been having a bucket load of complications with those.
So today I started on Fentanyl Patches and we’ll see what happens.
Personally, I don’t want to be on any any narcotic based stuff, but my new pain guru is insisting that it’s the right thing to do.
I’ll see what happens with the patches, as perhaps, it was the oral medication causing the complications and bypassing my stomach might actually mean that they work.
I’ll post a bit of history on why I’m switching in the near future.
The only thing with the patches is that my daughter thinks I secretly started smoking again and that these are the anti-smoking ones. She’s the main reason why I could never start smoking again, I could never face the disappointment she’d have if she ever found out.
It apparently takes about 24hours for the first patch to start working, so I’ve quit the slow/timed release (Oxycontin) and I’m just taking the quick release (OxyNorm) as and when I need them. It’s 2.40am at the moment so I can safely say it hasn’t kicked in as of yet. But I’m not getting withdrawal symptoms, so it must be starting to work in some fashion.
Each patch stays on for 3 days apparently, and I can already see a possible reaction to the adhesive. Nothing is ever simple in life is it.
Anyway, time for a hot cocoa and an attempt to get back to sleep. I’ll update in a few days when I should know if these patches are any good.
9 replies on “Starting on Fentanyl Patches”
I have a bad back. Also allergic to Morphine which I told my Dr. Was taking Hydra codone and got switched to Fentenyl patch in Oct. Worked great. I started Hallucinating but didn’t know I was till it got worse, Went on internet to find drugs causeing Halluc. Fentenyl 2econd worse drug. 127 deaths in Fl. I yanked patch off. Havent been to Dr yet. How long before Halluc stop>
Ah, perhaps I should have posted a better update to this…
That patch stayed on for all of a couple of hours. I was literally hallucinating and floating on the ceiling. Once i took it off, I came down pretty quickly, and I’d say no more than a couple of hours at most. I too have an allergy to morphine but I take a couple of different anti-histamines to combat the itchy/scratchy side effects. I deal with the others.
I can’t take the OxyContin (slow release) as my body literally metabolises the morphine much quicker than most other people. Given your reaction to the patches, I’d bet you are the same (and the fact you are also allergic to the morphine). My GP reckoned that for some reason, my body doesn’t take up the Oxycontin/Oxynorm at the same rates as most other people. When they calculated the equivalent dose of Fentanyl, because of the way it is delivered via the skin and it’s a much more efficient method, it was a much higher dose than my body was used to.
Given the allergy/reaction to morphine, our ‘guts’ don’t absorb as much is regular people so even though we are on Xmg, we are probably on X/2 or X/3mg instead.
The hallicinations and out of body like experiences freaked me out so much, I swore blind I’d never touch the stuff again.
I’ve now been on the lowest dose that can mask my pain for over 3 years and I’ve not once had to increase the dose. I’ve come up with a way to trick my body into not getting used to the level I’m on at the moment, so I never get tolerant to that level and end up increasing. Drop me an email offline if you want to talk it over… I really should start posting some updates on this site, but although I’ve increased my activity, it hasn’t left me much in the tank for my own personal projects.
Hopefully, the effecst of the fentanyl patches will wear off pretty quickly for you. It scared the bejesus out of me !!