Wendy,

You should still find this drug scary, as somebody struggling to ween off of this drug now, I'll tell you it's no picnic and nothing to take lightly. It is as described the best form of long term pain management in my humble opinion however this sh!t is deadly, 100x stronger then heroin and everybit as addictive.

Of course as said previously, 12mcg/hr is a small dose relatively speaking, however the dose has nothing to do with becoming physically dependant on the drug...use it as needed just know that the longer being on the drug, the harder it is coming off of it.

I was pushing 200mcg/hr at one point during post op w/break through oxy at 60mg every 4 hours...I don't remember the pain, just the need for more pain meds. Right now my physician and I are weening me off of the patch system slowly and I'm down to 75mcg/hr now and feeling horrible, having to up my dose of oxy to function and even then I have my sick days where I refuse to take oxy and can only lay in bed. I guess what I'm trying to say is be careful with that drug, looking back I don't know if I'd use it knowing I'd have such a hard time coming off of it...but then again there is no other form of pain management that compares to it...so it is what it is.

There is no point in being in pain and it hinders the healing process, just know that you have to come off of that stuff and for some, like me, it's no picnic.

Be well,

Eric