| Joined: Jan 2010 Posts: 142 Senior Member (100+ posts) | OP Senior Member (100+ posts) Joined: Jan 2010 Posts: 142 | My last 12 mg patch came off Saturday. no mouth pain but overwheling fatigue and depression w some stomach pain. is this withdrawl?
55 12/17/09 High Grade Muceopidermoid Carcinoma Alerted by Largo my Mini Schnauzer 1/18/10 Clr PET 1/27/10 Surgery found Perineural invasion 3/22/10 Began Rad 05/05/10 34 rads 8/19/10 Clr Pet Scan 12/13/10 Clr Ultra sound/biopsy 5/4/11 MRI Clear 8/2/11 All Clear 5/25/12 All Clear 6/3/2016 All Clear
| | | | Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 126 "OCF Canuck" Senior Member (100+ posts) | "OCF Canuck" Senior Member (100+ posts) Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 126 | Hi Seda Bug, I think it is. We've found that Gordon was on a 3 day cycle of one good day followed by 2 bad ones. Once I realized it was related to the patch, and that he was getting the whole Fentanyl load dumped into him the first day and nothing for the next two, I knew he was getting withdrawal symptoms for the two bad days.
Fatigue and depression I believe are symptoms, as are chills, and a vague feeling of having the flu. Gordon has had anxiety and panic attacks as well. We are going to the 12 mcg. patch tomorrow, then one more and he'll be off.
I understand withdrawal symptoms can last for a couple of weeks after the last dose. Then we get to work on the oxycodone.
Good luck and I hope it gets better soon for you soon. Anne
Anne - CG to Gordon (59), non-smoker/non-drinker. SCC, BOT, HPV 16+, stage 3. Jan./10 - radical neck dissection to remove 48 lymph nodes, 1 node pos. Apr. 23/10 - finished 35 rad. and 3 cisplatin. Jul. 22/10 - PET scan clear.
| | | | Joined: Sep 2009 Posts: 618 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) | "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) Joined: Sep 2009 Posts: 618 | Seda,
I went off the 25 mg patch when I thought i was doing ok. I did not tell my doctor I was going to do this.
I had a good day then two rough ones. It takes a day for your body to clear the drug from your fat. The patch delivers the fentynol to your fat over 18 hours and then it is your fat that delivers the drug to your body. If you have very little fat content, the patch does not work very well.
I told my doctor what I had done and said I had a few rough days. He let me know that he could have prescribed a mild sedative for a few days as withdrawal does occure for a few days but the symptoms from the 25mg level are not that bad (although uncomfortable. He said cold turkey was very acceptable at this dosage. He mentioned a few days of dicomfort and that was about it. I was OK by the end of the week.
Kelly Male 48, SCC (Soft Palet) Rt., Stage 1, T3n0m0, Dx, 8-09, Start IMRT 35 9-2-09 end 10-21-09 04-20-10 NED 8-11 recurrence, node rt. neck N2b 10-11 33 IMRT w/chemo wkly 3-12-12 PET - residual cancer 4-12 5 treatments with Cyberknife & Erbitux 6-19-12 Pet scan CLEAR 12-3-12 PET - CLEAR
| | | | Joined: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,844 Patient Advocate (1000+ posts) | Patient Advocate (1000+ posts) Joined: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,844 | Anxiety, body aches, diarrhea; rapid heartbeat, fever, runny nose or sneezing, chills, sweating, yawning, anorexia, nausea or vomiting,; nervousness, irritability, shivering or trembling, stomach cramps, insomnia, and weakness....I also had leg cramps and nervous leg syndrome coming off of it.
Of course I used oxycodone to curb the withdrawels of the fentanyl then came off the oxy. Coming off that was worse then the fentanyl for me.
Young Frack, SCC T4N2M0, Cisplatin,35+ rads,ND, RT Mandiblectomy w fibular free flap, facial paralysis, "He who has a "why" to live can bear with almost any "how"." -Nietzche "WARNING" PG-13 due to Sarcasm & WAY too much attitude, interact at your own risk.
| | | | Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 111 Senior Member (100+ posts) | Senior Member (100+ posts) Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 111 | is feeling like you have a fever a common side effect of fentanyl?
my mom, age 59.
12/08 surgery & 33x rad 4/09 recurrence 5/09 surgery & 35x rad 12/09 recurrence 1/10 surgery. peg tube, trach, fibula free flap 6/10 recurrence. double chemo treatments. 8/10/10 finally at peace in heaven | | | | Joined: Jan 2010 Posts: 31 Contributing Member (25+ posts) | Contributing Member (25+ posts) Joined: Jan 2010 Posts: 31 | Hi Seda Bug,
My husband, too, is trying to stretch out times between patches. But when he starts to feel bad, he wants a new patch. How did you decide it was time to come off the fentanyl patch? Jim is 3 mos. post-tx. He is eating most any kind of solid food (in very small portions) with no pain. I've been encouraging him to wean off the patch but it's somewhat of a crutch - that is, after 3rd day when he feels a little bad, instead of trudging through the withdrawals, he wants me to replace the patch. He's down to 25 from a high of 75mcg. RO did not offer 12 mcg but did tell us she'd prescribe something if he needed help getting off the patch.
How do you know when to stop? Is it just personal preference? A certain elapsed time after treatment? Thanks, Debbie
Debbie, 53 wife and caregiver to Jim, 68, non-smoker, social drinks only. Stage IV SCC rt. tonsil. HPV+. Neck dissection 12/29/09. Peg inserted 2/2/10. Cisplatin and rad started 2/9/10. Carboplatin given 2nd round. 3rd round cancelled due to toxicity. Finished 30 rad treatments 3/23/10.
| | | | Joined: Sep 2009 Posts: 618 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) | "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) Joined: Sep 2009 Posts: 618 | Deb,
I think the determining factor with getting off Fentynol is pain.
I quit the patch when I no longer had pain all day. I relyed on the liquid hydracodone for meals only after the patches
If Jim does not need the patches for constant pain any longer, I would take the doctor up on the prescription to ease the withdrawl. It's not that bad at the 25 mg level
Kelly Male 48, SCC (Soft Palet) Rt., Stage 1, T3n0m0, Dx, 8-09, Start IMRT 35 9-2-09 end 10-21-09 04-20-10 NED 8-11 recurrence, node rt. neck N2b 10-11 33 IMRT w/chemo wkly 3-12-12 PET - residual cancer 4-12 5 treatments with Cyberknife & Erbitux 6-19-12 Pet scan CLEAR 12-3-12 PET - CLEAR
| | | | Joined: Feb 2007 Posts: 1,940 "OCF across the pond" Patient Advocate (1000+ posts) | "OCF across the pond" Patient Advocate (1000+ posts) Joined: Feb 2007 Posts: 1,940 | Coming off fentanyl can be very traumatic,especially if you have been using it for some time.The effects can make people very ill with sweating,cramps,shaking,headaches,hallucinations and all the associated symptoms of narcotic withdrawal.Trying to go longer with the same patch has the same effect as stopping altogether.You need to have another drug available to help with the last few days of withdrawl,and then he should be fine.
Liz in the UK
Husband Robin aged 44 years Dx 8th Dec 2006 poorly differentiated SCC tongue with met to neck T1N2cM0 Surgery and Radiation.Finished TX April 2007 Recurrence June/07 died July 29th/07.
Never take your eye off the ball, it may just smack you in the mouth.
| | | | Joined: Jan 2010 Posts: 31 Contributing Member (25+ posts) | Contributing Member (25+ posts) Joined: Jan 2010 Posts: 31 | Kelly, I see your doc prescribed or was gonna prescribe a mild sedative to help with withdrawals. Jim is already taking Zoloft daily. He also takes Ativan at bedtime. Do you think he would still need assistance weaning off the patch? Thanks for all the info.
Debbie, 53 wife and caregiver to Jim, 68, non-smoker, social drinks only. Stage IV SCC rt. tonsil. HPV+. Neck dissection 12/29/09. Peg inserted 2/2/10. Cisplatin and rad started 2/9/10. Carboplatin given 2nd round. 3rd round cancelled due to toxicity. Finished 30 rad treatments 3/23/10.
| | | | Joined: Jan 2010 Posts: 142 Senior Member (100+ posts) | OP Senior Member (100+ posts) Joined: Jan 2010 Posts: 142 | I just spent day 3 in bed today it was hard chills. I was only on 12 mg but I tend to be very sensitive to pain meds.I guess since I have been on it since early March got up to 150 mg. I should have seen this coming.
55 12/17/09 High Grade Muceopidermoid Carcinoma Alerted by Largo my Mini Schnauzer 1/18/10 Clr PET 1/27/10 Surgery found Perineural invasion 3/22/10 Began Rad 05/05/10 34 rads 8/19/10 Clr Pet Scan 12/13/10 Clr Ultra sound/biopsy 5/4/11 MRI Clear 8/2/11 All Clear 5/25/12 All Clear 6/3/2016 All Clear
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