Duragesic is a transdermal patch. My father had such dry skin at his age he couldn't activate "touch sensitive" lights or remote controls (thank God they did away with those). It is the moisture in the skin that lowers the resitance of the skin to a point that enough electricity (or capacitance) can flow through it to activate touch sensitve lights. That might be the answer to the absorption problem. For a transdermal system to work there would have to be a certain amount of moisture in the skin for passage of the drug transcutaneously. Although I suffered from hydration problems throughout treatment I didn't have any problems with the patch, but I was a lot younger.

ALL opioids cause constipation - even medium strength ones such as Vicodin (hydrocodone). She should also be taking Metamucil or prune juice, which is typical for elderly people anyway. I would think that they would have a handle on that in a facility like a nursing home. One more thing to check out.

I am delighted that we were able to help. Thank you for your feedback and kind words.