Fentanyl Duragesic patches

TMWeaver · Sea Monkey Joined: 30 May 2003 Posts: 11

A friend of mine just recommended Fentanyl Duragesic patches for chronic pain. Nothing seems to work for me. I have been on Prednisone, Methrotrexate, Vicodin xs (3 at a time) Motrin, and on and on. I looked it up and it says it is a very strong narcotic. Has anyone tried this method? Confused

Saysusie · Posted: Tue May 18, 2004 6:14 am Post subject:

Hi - I have never tried it! What does your rheumy say about it? Let us know what you found out about it!!

Thanx
Saysusie Laughing

Marinera · Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2004 7:37 pm Post subject: Re: Fentanyl Duragesic patches

Hi! I never used the Fentanyl Patches , but I use the capsicum patch,wich is a natural remedy and they are working.

Smile

Marinera[/b][/i][/color]

shew · Newbie Alert Joined: 13 Sep 2004 Posts: 3

I have been on a whole host of narcotics through my pain management doc and rheumy since I was diagnosed with lupus over seven years ago. Let me give a little background which may help. I started on vicodin with my rheumy which eventually lost it's effectiveness. (My rheumy also kept me on a host of other lupus meds such as methotrexate, plaquenil, medrol, celebrex). At that point my rheumy sent me to a pain doc who has the expertise to deal with the whole chronic pain issue.

My pain doctor tried a variety of pain medications to find one that worked best for me. I was on ms contin for several years, which worked wonders, but as my doctor explained to me, the body begins to develop a tolerance to pain medication after a while and it's a good idea to switch medications when this happens. At this point the duragesic patch was one that I tried, which I had no success with. I was very frustrated with the medication and the lack of relief I received from it and was put on kadian.

Eventually I came off the 12 hour pain medication so that I could become pregnant, which was an extremely scary endeavor because of the intense pain. (I am currently 10 weeks pregnant). At that point my pain doc prescribed actiq, which is fentanyl citrate, the same medication in the duragesic patch. I have NEVER had pain relief the way I do with the actiq. The only problem is that actiq is usually prescribed for break-through cancer pain, when a patient is already on a steady dose of morphine (like kadian or ms contin). I don't know if many doctors would be willing to prescribe this medication without having been on a steady dose of morphine.

Actiq is a really unusual medication. It's actually a raspberry flavored lozenge that you suck on over a 15 minute period. Like I said, I've never gone from a 10 to a 0 on any other pain medication before, and over my seven years of struggling with lupus, my doctor has tried many of them to find the right fit.

That's not to say the patch won't work for you. But maybe if your doc is willing to prescribe duragesic he will be willing to let you try a few actiq, after all, they are both fentanyl, if I'm not mistaken.

shew