 Senior Member (100+ posts)
Joined: Jul 2004 Posts: 188 Likes: 1 | Hi Nicki,
Like Sheldon, I started on the 25mcg Duragesic patch, supplemented by liquid morphine (20 t0 40 mgs) as needed for breakthru pain, usually before I ate. I never had a peg tube, so pain management was paramount to be able to take nutrition orally. Eventually I was on a 100mcg patch. As for addiction, it was something I never worried about. There were some withdrawal symptoms, but I weaned myself off of the patches over a couple of weeks by decreasing patch size every few days. The constipation was probably the biggest problem, and I'm not the one to give advice- I never really got it all under control. The pain meds caused constipation, while the Iressa caused diarhea. Rather than balance each other out, it was more like 5 days of constipation followed by 2 or 3 days of diarhea.
I was on the pain patches from the second week of IMRT until about seven weeks after the last RAD exposure, a total of about 15 weeks.
Sure hope this is of some value. You and Tom will be in my prayers.
Chuck
SCC Stage IV right tonsil T3N3M0. Dx 08/03. Clinical Trial:8 weeks Taxol, Carboplatin then Hydrea, 5FU, IMRT x's 48, SND, Iressa x 2yrs. Now 20 years out and thriving. Dealing with a Prostate cancer diagnosis now. Add a Bladder cancer diagnosis to all the fun.
It's always something
"Adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it."
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