fentanyl patches

sharon 1
sharon 1 Member Posts: 50
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

I finished my rads almost 4 weeks ago and chemo almost 6 weeks ago. Thursday, I have my peg removed-THANK YOU JESUS!! Any how I had been using only 25mg patches for about 1month and a half and a couple of weeks ago we took it down to 12mg. I get very dizzy and I am not sure if it from the patches or not so I just took off my patch since I really dont think I need one anymore, plus I want to see if  is contributing to this wooziness.  My question is: how many other people have used these and what did you do to get off them??

Comments

  • MrsBD
    MrsBD Member Posts: 615 Member
    #2
    Fentanyl patches

    Congratulations! You've made it through those really hard post-treatment days.To get off the patch, my doctor had me do the same thing you've done. I went from a 25 to a 12 and then no patch. There were no side effects. Are you getting enough fluid? Dehydration can cause many symptoms. I hope you continue to feel better every day. 

     

     

  • sharon 1
    sharon 1 Member Posts: 50
    #3
    MrsBD said:

    Fentanyl patches

    Congratulations! You've made it through those really hard post-treatment days.To get off the patch, my doctor had me do the same thing you've done. I went from a 25 to a 12 and then no patch. There were no side effects. Are you getting enough fluid? Dehydration can cause many symptoms. I hope you continue to feel better every day. 

     

     

    Thank you MrsBD

    I have been reading too much on the internet of withdrawels and it honestly frightened the stuffing out of me! I just took the patch off a couple of hrs ago so I am in prayer that I wont have any problems.  You are right about the water- I believe I am getting enough.

  • wmc
    wmc Member Posts: 1,804
    #4
    Going cold turkey with Fentanyl patch is not good.

    You should be weaned off Fentanyl, it is stronger than Morphine. Just stopping can be very dangerous. Having it cut in half could be why you got light headed. You might want to leave it on a day longer as that will cut you down slower. I recomend calling your Doctor and ask him, and let him know you got dizzy.

    Bill

  • donfoo
    donfoo Member Posts: 1,771 Member
    #5
    too fast

    Hi,

    Dizziness is a common side effect of changing drug dosing too fast. Call Monday to get advice on what to do now. If you were still on the lower dosage, I'd suggest you not go any lower until you got advice. Cutting in half is a big step for fentanyl. Depending on the time intervals you are likely suffering withdrawl symtoms. Good luck.

  • hwt
    hwt Member Posts: 2,328 Member
    #6
    donfoo said:

    too fast

    Hi,

    Dizziness is a common side effect of changing drug dosing too fast. Call Monday to get advice on what to do now. If you were still on the lower dosage, I'd suggest you not go any lower until you got advice. Cutting in half is a big step for fentanyl. Depending on the time intervals you are likely suffering withdrawl symtoms. Good luck.

    Patch

    i was also warned not to quit the patch cold turkey that doses had to be slowly lowered. Best to ask the doctor.

  • sharon 1
    sharon 1 Member Posts: 50
    #7
    hwt said:

    Patch

    i was also warned not to quit the patch cold turkey that doses had to be slowly lowered. Best to ask the doctor.

    patch

    My Dr and I discussed this a few weeks ago, hence my prescription for the lower dose. I had already dropped to the 12mg last week. My question was about repercussions of stopping usage. I was worried about side effects. So far, it has been 28 hours since I used a patch and I cant tell any difference. Thank you all for your contributions to my post. I also havnt had any wooziness that I had  yesterday and a few days before. Thank God!!

  • Sailor123
    Sailor123 Member Posts: 97
    #8
    I went off the patch cold

    I went off the patch cold turkey and for about three days all kinds of craziness happened.  Nothing monumental, but there was a definite detox for me.  Glad I did it though as I no longer needed it and I felt much better after three days passed.  Once I stopped the patch leg cramps went away and my hair stopped falling out.

    S

  • Loves2read
    Loves2read Member Posts: 33
    #9
    Off Fentanyl

    Sharon- my husband was on 100mcg, then down to 75mcg for one week, when he realized that the 75 must have fallen off in the shower. He went 24 hours of flu-like symptoms before realizing this. We called the nurse and she said if he felt like he was past the worst of it (withdrawal) then he shouldn't put any more patches on. So that's how he got off the patch! It was quite abrupt, but after a couple days of feeling yucky, he is much better now and happy to be done with pain meds. It's not a withdrawal method I would recommend to anyone.

    It's good to hear you're off the PEG! That's the next step here...

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