Fentanyl Withdrawal Symptoms (Page 81)

I'm trying to wean myself off the Fentanyl patch. I went from 75 micro-gms to 50 now I'm on 25. Having a problem and not sure it is related to the decrease in the med. It's been 20 days on the 25 micro-gm and I'm going crazy. I need to keep rocking, moving in any way b/c my body is very restless. Is this a symptom of withdrawal and what do I do? I cannot take it any more.

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I am a believer in the use of cannabis when you are in pain. it is also great when u come off off the hard drugs and it will relax u in the body and in the mind. really it helps a lot with the depression. and also u will eat more. i for one lost 550-55 lbs when i got sick 9 years ago and just now starting to gain some back with cannabis and a new drug in trial called Dronabinol 2.5mg. I think it was a anti depression drug that had a side effect that helped with eating. great for me, others not so much. God Bless and stay away from any druggies. they can remind you of drugs. environment is a big thing when u want to stop drugs. I still have a hard time. it's all in the mind. but u should stay away from those types. i know it helped me from staying off street drugs.

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Actually it is not illegal and most pharmacies do this. They do it to stop ppl from giving them away or getting addicted and using them wrong. A lot of ppl do chew on them for faster intake. They also inject it. This is in Canada. I don't know where you are.

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Karen, you are not losing your mind. You are doing well! Just keep it up. It doesn't matter how long this takes. What matters is that you keep it up. Before you know it you will start to feel better. I know that weak feeling too and I hate it but that's just your body telling you to rest. I'm here for support if you need it. Good going!! So proud of you!!

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You are so right! Good for you for coming off. I too was on this for 13 yrs. I was up to 150 mcg. That's just insane. I'm off it now too and feel amazing! I'm surprised I'm still alive. This drug can kill you weather you are on it or coming off it. It is DEADLY! You are on a good course! Stay on it and good luck! You can do this!

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I too also use medical cannabis. You are correct in letting all of us know how helpful it is. Good for you too for staying off these heavy drugs! MMJ is perfect for so much. You no longer have to just smoke it. There are so many options. Stay strong!

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Comment 1604 is for P450. Sorry for any confusion.

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yes it is. u need to up your dose with your Dr help.

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Thanks for your reply Sandra
I'm now at almost 12 weeks, this Thursday. Definitely the hardest thing I have to ever font through in my life and I had some pretty gnarly surgeries and recovery.
I will never, ever go back to fentanyl unless I'm terminal!!!
I'm still not feeling real good. A few good days, still more bad days. Trying to stay positive, I'm just so exhausted from all of this. See my dr again Wednesday, will hope to more about how I'm feeling. I would pay to go to a clinic if I would have known how tough this is. Still have hot flashes and so weak and fatigues. Still taking 4 mg dilaudid twice a day. Was put on vicodan by my pain specialist but does no good. Had to go back to dilaudid. Going to try 2ng twice a day see if less side effects.
Hope you are sling wonderful

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Karen you are doing great! There will always be days better than others. We will always have pain. Every sec of every day. I'm on 2 mg dilaudid every 4-6 hrs with long acting dilaudid as well. I don't think I will ever be able to go without some sort of pain med on board. I just will never use oxy or Fentalyn or Percocets. On those tired say do nothing. Listen to your body. I will keep rooting for you and thinking of you. Wishing you some pain free days. Keep up the strength!! Stay in touch Karen.

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Thank you Sandra so much for your support! I really appreciate it!!!
Do you still have hot flashes on the dilaudid you're taking?
Did it take you a complete 6 months before you had your energy back. I can't do much right now I'm so tired.

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Oh yes Karen, I get hot flashes all the time. I don't know if it's the dilaudid or menopause. They are embarrassing. As far as feeling better I hate to tell you but it took about a year to start feeling stronger. Now I went from bedridden to out and about. The 150 mcg of Fentanyl knocked me on my ass. I would just want to sleep all day and was so out of it. I am now very cognitive and have made friends and started my own group on fibro. I also found taking vitamin b12 shots each month really helped heal part of my memory and speech. I was always forgetting words or stopping mid sentence. Don't get me wrong I still have bad days when I can hardly move from pain and weakness. But when I look back I realize that the patch was not helping at all in fact it caused so much damage to my kidneys. I almost died. Was on my death bed when they called my kids to come in to say goodbye. I was out of it and didn't know. But by some miracle I survived and got so much better. I still can't walk to far but I'm doing well. Trust me Karen, we have chronic pain from injuries and surgeries and will most likely have it forever but it's how we choose to handle it that matters. You are handling everything well. Have you tried any counseling at all. I found I really needed it. I also found that keeping a diary of your pain and problems really help. When seeing doctors or specialists make a list of your questions or anything that has changed. I hope you find this helpful. You are not alone. It is really really hard for your body to adjust without it. You realize that Fentanyl is 70% more potent than heroin. Now you see why it's so deadly and addictive. If you don't want me bugging you just let me know. If I can help even one person come off this drug I will be so happy!

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Oh Sandra I'm so sorry to hear how sick you were. How very scary for you and your family. Fentanyl is so horrible!
I so appreciate your advice going thru this. I do see a nutritionist, I had to find a more natural route a long time ago. I do not think I would be alive without her. She uses your bodies muscle for testing your body, to see what I need. She has helped me tremendously with my health and even emotional trauma. She's my earth angel I swear.
I feel like I have the flu right now. Sweaty, weak, nausea, etc....ugh!!
I personally got off fentanyl after over 16 years because the side effects of excessive sweating and weakness that were both debilitating.
For many years I thought it was hormones (complete hysterectomy in my early 30's) until I kept getting really sick all the time. Terrible headaches and flu symptoms that would knock me down a couple days every week. Looking for answers I found out that most likely it was the fentanyl.
The sweating has definitely improved, but I have been pretty much down for the last 3 months at least. Woke up this morning feeling pretty bad.
My poor husband has been so patient, I feel so bad right now, not much of a life. I broke my arm very badly and had to have surgery to put it back together last September. I have felt terrible since then. I think another reason I feel I have been in bed the last 9 months. After arm surgery I got the flu going around, then sinus infection and pneumonia. My mom passed away a year ago, worst year of my life with everything.
Did your Drs give you any help at all?
They put you on these drugs with no way to get off of it.
When I was put on fentanyl I had almost 25 years of joint destruction, before there were any biologics for Rheumatoid Arthritis. I take Enbrel now. Because of the joint damage I had over 20 surgeries in a 10 year period. Only pain control that worked was the fentanyl, which dose at times was 200mcg every 48 hrs. I usual, non surgery dose was 75mcg.
Just knowing I'm not alone and what I'm going thru is what others have experienced reduces my fears of all I'm going thru that feels like no end in site!
Thank you so much!!! . Karen

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I have been slowly going down from 75mcg to know on 25mcg and oh my it's like everything on my body hurts even more. I am barley able to walk know as the pain has gotten so bad in my knee's (where I had none before coming down on fentanyl). Has anyone else had similar issues with trying to get off this narcotic pain relief!

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Sandra, I just want to encourage you...and empathize! I was on here alot while I was weaning myself off all of my meds. Come September I will have been Fentanyl free two years. I wore the patches for 8 years. I didnt do it like most people and drop 25 mcgs at a time. Thats too much. What I did was leave ( at first), a little of the backing to the patch on, where part of it never adhered to my skin. Every few patch changes I left more and more backing on, and less patch stuck to me. I used my oral opiates as normally. The doctors told me it would never work. ( I suggest theres no need for them to know). Its very gradual. Eventually I had such a small piece of actual patch stuck to my skin I had to tape the part with the backing still on to me to keep it on. At that point, I just left that part on until it was so dried up and crinkled it fell off. I never put another on. I did have weeks of horrible leg pain. I had to rub muscle rub on my legs and put tights on my legs to sleep. You wont escape the pain...some of it. The oral pain meds help, but I ran out eventually. You will escape the withdrawals that make so many give up the attempt. The doctors didnt believe it would work. It did. That was in September of '14. When I got my next script of hydrocodone filled, I started breaking them in half and taking less and less, and less often. By November I was off of those as well. Opiate rebound pain is the pain you feel when they wear off. We think its our pain from our condition but it isn't. Its the opiate receptors in our brain screaming for more opiates. Hence the need to wrap your arms around your knees and rock! Its much worse than the pain of our condition. Again, slow increasing drops. Wean. Im so glad to be free. I still have all my health problems and pain. Some days I wish I had something to take. Because Im actually working again. And cleaning all the time again. And grocery shopping. And mowing my yard with a push mower. Living again. Pain, yes. But not like the pain those meds cause. It can be done if you do it wisely. Slowly. Its so worth it.

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YES IT IS CALLED POST ACUTE WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME. What you mentioned are the W/D SE. Try getting some BENZODIAZOPINES Like Xanax, Ativan, Klonipin, or just Valium. Maybe Ambien to help you sleep. You can do it. I did it. I've beat a lot more than All Opiates. 6 mnths clean with no P.A.W.S.

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That is how you will feel. Valium if u have, that will help. I took marijuana to calm me down after I detox from 100 methadone minus 5 mg per week til 0. That is when i went home to my family, (which the kids stayed with my mother, just in case). A few days later and that was that. Where u stay when u are clean will make a difference. I assume it's from pain. Mine was not then but is now.

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I, too, am weaning off of 100 mcg/every 3 days of the Fentanyl patch. I was scared to death as I'm 61 yrs old and have been on them for over 10 years. I heard how dangerous to go cold turkey. My doctor cut me off because my insurance decided it needed prior authorization and he SAID he doesn't do those. I think he was just trying to get rid of his patients who were only getting the scrips and not having any more procedures and because of the sudden media attention on this drug. I wish he'd been honest. Anyway, I was sick of the monkey on my back so while I still had a few patches, I started calling doctors. I hadn't had a PCP in years. I found that if I didn't tell them why I wanted an appointment, I had better luck. I found one who I found, didn't usually do this but I told her I wanted OFF the drug and wanted my health back. She spent a lot of time with me and agreed to help. She reduced me to 75 mcg every 3 days. I've had minor withdrawal symptoms but nothing I couldn't handle. I was so lucky to have found her. I was on my last day of my last patch! Now I'm on my way to finding my old self. I've had blood work (found out my cholesterol is elevated). I've had my first mammogram in years, and will go down to the 50 mcg patch next month. O feel so much better about myself already. Just knowing I reached out for help. The doctor even gave me a hug and said she'd help me. Find a doctor that'll help! My insurance gave me a list of names to call. It may be tough as I go down but it'll be worth it! Good luck!

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Sorry SLICK,but methadone SUCKS FOR PAIN! Maybe it helps in other ways for some, but I tried this year's ago for pain and it did a.b.s.o.l.u.T.l.y. nothing...

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Hello
I was on 75mch or higher of fentanyl for over 15 years. I have severe Rheumatoid arthritis. The fentanyl started making me ill. My last patch of 12.5 came off end of February 2016. It was not easy. I'm not at 4 months and I'm feeling much better.
The withdrawal symptoms seem gone. I still take 2-3 4mg dilaudid a day for my pain.
I do think I came off of the fentanyl too fast, even though I was guided by my pain dr. Looking back I would have went to a rapid detox clinic, or at the very least it should take 6 months to taper down. I did it in 2 months.
I'm not going to sugar coat it. It was the toughest thing I have ever gone through in my life!!
Make sure you have a good support team and the right withdraws drugs once you take your last patch off. Up to that point if was fairly easy. Once my body had zero fentanyl it was not happy. You can get through this. This forum really helped me know what to expect, even if it was tough, at least I knew what I was experiencing was normal. I wish you all the best as you go through this. It will end even though it doesn't feel like it. I was told by others 4-6 months. My Drs said 2 months. I also had the help of a dear friend who is a natural specialist who uses supplements, really helped through it was well. Let people know who can help you what is going on, you'll need there support. Let us know how your doing. It's worth every hard day to get off this horrible drug!!
Good luck!!! You can do this!!
Karen.

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Ladies, thanks for the responses. For some reason I have not been getting my messages. They go right to junk. I am so sorry! How are all if you feeling? You will feel so much better without the Fentanyl. However I am not able to go without any narcotics. I was all oh all narcotics for about 2 months and finally felt good but then the pain started as I got more active and needed something. I am in 2 mg hydromorphone (dilaudid) every 4 hrs. And 3 mg of long acting 2 a day. I wish I could go without any. Hang in there and stay strong. We can live a healthier life without the patch! It's so much more potent than other opioids! I can't believe we are all still alive! I bet Prince didn't even wear as much as we did! Get lots of rest! Hopefully I can get these from now on.

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