Posted by Elizabeth on April 8, 2002, at 0:13:25
In reply to Use of the Fentanyl Patch: Judy, Anyone, posted by shelliR on April 5, 2002, at 20:23:19
> Have just started with a fentanyl patch. I was doing well on buprenorphine but last package seems to be confiscated (at customs for ten days now), and supply is out at the overseas companies that generally sell it.
So now you're substituting fentanyl? Dude.
> The one thing that I hated about bupe was that I woke up with depression and pain. The pain is inflation in my chest. Anyway, so far it's 24 hours-25mg fentanyl hasn't hit (if it will).
It's actually 25 mcg -- 0.025 mg. That's the amount that gets released per hour. So you're getting a total of 0.6 mg/day. Potent stuff, that fentanyl. (When I was on an IV drip in the hospital last year, at one point I was getting something like 120 mg/day of Ativan. Woah!)
TCAs and Tegretol are mainly good for neuropathic pain. I didn't find TCAs helpful for my back pain, and Trileptal isn't doing anything either. (The things that have worked for me are opioids, Soma, benzos, and Nardil.)
The Duragesic PI should have directions for calculating the dose you need. You should be able to find the PI at www.rxlist.com. I think there's a good chance that you might need 75 or even 100 mcg. So don't despair!
What was your most recent total daily dose of buprenorphine, BTW?
I still can't believe you're taking fentanyl. But I admire your initiative. :-)
As always, you're welcome to email me if you'd like to chat, exchange stories, etc. I haven't been very good about checking my mail lately, but I promise I will if you mention here that you've written. :-}
-elizabeth
poster:Elizabeth
thread:102083
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020402/msgs/102346.html