I second Christine's fentanyl patch recommendation. Blame it on my hippie youth, but I disregarded the scary guidelines. I had zero problems with it even though I did take hot showers and I changed my patch every 48 hours because it never lasted three days for me. Plus I took alcohol. I told my doctors about my disdain for the protocol and their response was that those guidelines are intended as general ones and like everything in Cancer TX, individual responses vary. Not suggesting or recommending that you do the same, just wanted to give a different slant on how convenient and wonderful the patch turned out for me.
The only rule that I broke that had consequences was when I foolishly quit cold turkey - that was a mistake and I had to start up the patches and gradually wean myself off.
Charm


65 yr Old Frack
Stage IV BOT T3N2M0 HPV 16+
2007:72GY IMRT(40) 8 ERBITUX No PEG
2008:CANCER BACK Salvage Surgery
25GY-CyberKnife(5) 3 Carboplatin
Apaghia /G button
2012: CANCER BACK -left tonsilar fossa
40GY-CyberKnife(5) 3 Carboplatin

Passed away 4-29-13