Fentanyl Patches.....??????

[Kirs10]

Hello there everybody,
I have a question about the Fentanyl Patches, I have been using the generic one and i believe they are called Sandoz, and I am having a very hard time getting them to stay on during the three days that I am supposed to wear it........
I was wondering if anyone uses the brand name ones and if they stay one better, and if not and I am destined to uses these that won't stay one does anyone have any suggestion to keep them on. I have been using medipore tape and now I am literally covered in red patched and patches of skin missing.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated Thank you for listening to me today.............

[mimimama]

My husband had the brand name patches and had the same problem. They do not stay on well at all. We ended up calling the drug company with his complaint and they sent us (free of charge) some clear sticky plastic covers for them. This helped so much! They were made by Johnson and Johnson. You can cut them to fit.

Hope that helps!

[PurpleKitty]

Tegaderm

When I was using the patches I tried everything to get them to stick including the free Johnson & Johnson coverings, they really irritated my skin. I found that Tegaderm brand worked the best for me. I found a really reasonably priced medical supply source where I ordered them and they were shipped to my house. If you want their info PM and I can give you their name and number.

[Berkshire Road]

I take extra large bandaids, the kind that are stretchy and like fabric, you know? Cut off the sticky ends of the bandaid (don't need the bandage part). Put the sticky bandaid ends over the ends of the patch, and along the sides, sticking to the skin. The bandaids stay on really well for me and they don't irritate, because they breathe a little.

Also, making sure the skin is as clean and dry as possible before placing the patch helps. And where on your body, too, that can make some difference. I find I cannot keep them on well on my arms, but they stay pretty well on my side. Maybe the skin there is not as oily? Although at my age (41) I wouldn't expect oily skin to be a problem.

Well, I don't know, those are my ideas. First aid tape just fell off, like the patch, so that was no use, but the bandaids work great for me.

[yvette]

Hi Kirsten, sorry you're having a hard time with the patches...I think Sandoz is the manufactuer (I use that brand for Elavil) I don't know if changing manufatuers would help...maybe they use different adhesives.

I would look into band-aids with that *flesh colored* flexi-cloth stuff (who's skin is actually that color???)

Could you alternate Fentanyl Lollipops with the patches so your skin could get a break from all that sticky stuff.???..I scar pretty badly from all types of medical adhesive....one of the allergies I've picked up recently.

I hope you find a solution soon,
hugs,
y.

[Kirs10]

Another Question?

I have been putting my patches on my abdomin, and they do alright but then they start itching and I can't control the itching........I am also taking 6 vicoden a day while on the patch maybe the patch isn' working well for me...My doctor doesn't want to up the dose of the patch right now I am using the 75 mcg patch....and 6 vicoden a day.I am supposed to do that for nine days then use justthe vicoden for pain...........I am just so discouraged, I feel that I am going to be in pain all the time..............

[sandymarie]

RE: Fentanyln patches

I was wondering if any of you have a hard tome with the patches lasting 72 hrs. I do ok the first and second day, but after 48hrs they seeem to be gone and the pain returns. Also I have used the brand and the generic. The brand name seem to work better. Please give me your input on this.

Thanks, Have a great day

J.J.

[IC SARAH-CPP]

JJ- When I was on the patch, I used it every 48 hours because it just did not last 72 hours for me. I started going in to severe withdrawals on the last day and there was no way I was going to go in to withdrawal every 3 days!
My doctor was really cool about it and said that it is a significant number of people who have to change their patches every 2 days instead of 3.
I think my body just metabolizes my meds very quickly because it was the same with the oxycontin, vicodin, Oxy-IR, dilaudid, etc. They just never lasted the full time they were supposed to. My doc says he has a "theory" about me, that because I am more active than most people on long term narcotic meds my body just uses the meds up quicker. He is so cool. He never complained about me taking the oxycontin every 8 hours instead of 12 hours. At one point he even suggested taking it every 6 hours because it truly only lasts about 5 hours for me! But i have breakthrough meds that I take in the time between my doses and they help SOOOOOO much. I suffered so much without my breakthrough meds. I was so thankful my doc gave them back to me.
Sarah

[SandyRN]

When I used the patch I was told by the doctor and the pharmacist to put it on my arms, or chest, above heart level. It might help the absorption rate because our stomachs tend to have more fat and muscle...NOT saying you're fat of course, but if you think about it, there's not much muscle in your chest above your breasts, or in your upper arms either.

[SandyRN]

I was wondering if any of you have a hard tome with the patches lasting 72 hrs. I do ok the first and second day, but after 48hrs they seeem to be gone and the pain returns. Also I have used the brand and the generic. The brand name seem to work better. Please give me your input on this.

Thanks, Have a great day

J.J.

At first they worked for 72 hours for me and I was on here saying how great they are....after a couple of weeks, by day 3 I was in pain. I went back to my pain mgmt doctor and got it changed to the MSContin and it seems to help me better....we're all so different, but I'm finding out that a lot of people have this problem.

Sandy

[Ebu's Mim]

fentanyl patches

This is my first post in this forum and i hope i don't cause any problems. I have been using the patch for the last three years. I use 125 mcgms and change one patch every day. I break it down so i use two fiftys and one twentyfive. I get much better control this way.

[SandyRN]

This is my first post in this forum and i hope i don't cause any problems. I have been using the patch for the last three years. I use 125 mcgms and change one patch every day. I break it down so i use two fiftys and one twentyfive. I get much better control this way.

Welcome to the board. Why would you think you would cause a problem? I'm sort of confused about your patches. Are you saying you use 3 different patches at the same time, and change one of those patches every day? If so, that's very interesting. I've never seen a RX for the patches written that way before. When you first started using the patches 3 years ago what dose were you on? I'm really glad that you get relief from the patches.

Nice to meet you, and again, welcome to the board!

Sandy

[Ebu's Mim]

fentanyl patches

I am sorry that is was not clear in my post. I was trying to say that i wear three patches at all times. Today i change one fifty mcgm patch, tomorrow i will change another fifty patch then change a twenty the day after that. The next day i restart the same pattern. This way i get a more even level of fentanyl in my system at all times.
I hope this will make my statment clearer.

[Ebu's Mim]

fentanyl patches

I am sorry Sandy i forgot to answer your other question. I had been on the patch before that. I had stopped using it because it was not working. At that time i was using fifty mcgms. I was having to use morphine injections at home. I went back to my doctor and told him i could not take the needles anymore. I was getting so much scar tissue that it was hard to get a site to inject and it hurt like heck. ( my family doc is a God send and is willing to try anything to help) He put me into the hospital and called in our local pain doc. I had been to that doc five years before and he told me then that he couldn't help me. At any rate he offered two choices. The patch or methadone shots every day for the rest of my life. Needless to say, i opted for the patch. He told me the reason it didn't work before was because i was only getting fifty mcgms when i needed at least two hundred mcgms. Over the next week i found out why he hadn't offered to help me on my first visit. He believed i was an addict looking for a larger fix. When i didn't go through all the problems an addict would he finally took me seriously. At that point he told me that my worst problem is that i keep trying to go off my pain meds and needed to accept the fact that i would need narcotics for the rest of my life. Anyway, when we got the dose up to one-twenty five i found that it was enough. So here i am.
By the way, when i realized why he wouldn't help me five years before i was furious. But as we all know being angry didn't change the wasted five years.

I have been having health problems since i was in my late teens. For over twenty years i was told i was neurotic and attention seeking. Twenty years ago the pain reached a point where i was in pain every day. The next seventeen years were a nightmare. There were very few days that i had any relief at all. Like all of us i survived. Three years ago was when my doctor and i hit the right combination of meds and i have had three years of bliss.

Over the last six weeks for so i have been losing ground very rapidly. The meds are no longer working. I had been using morphine pills for break through pain and it was working very well. Not so now. I am needing to use it three or four times a week. Believe me i am terrified. I don't think i can survive another seventeen years in that hell hole.

Other than that, the sun is shining and it is a beautiful day!

[vocalsgsc]

I am on 50mcgs every 72 hours and I too find that 48 hours in to it they loose their effectiveness. But thepatches are a God Send. I do have alot of break through pain, but 50 makes my tire I am afraid to ask for a higher dose. What do you all think. I use the name brand Duregestic and I also get the sticky film to help them stay on and my skin is full of sores. I have recently gone back to work out of nessesity and that of course increases the break through pain. Sometimes I sit in my chair and just move around cause of the pain. I also have Hydrocodine 750/7.5 to take for break through but they really don't work. I have used Ultram with no success and have had pain management injections but had really no change other then sleeping all day the day of treatment. What do you all think?