Fentanyl

You will die! Get some help if this what you are using it for. I have chronic pain and use a fentanyl patch, Norco, methadone just to be able to walk. your an idiot if this is your intent. People like you make it hard for people like me to get these drugs from dr! Get help and please don't eat the patch !

most drug tests do not differentiate between the specifics and give general results like opiates, benzodiazepines etc... hydrocodone and oxycodone are both opiates, however, there are tests that can and DO differentiate the specifics and they are ordered per situation and policy of the entity that is ordering the test in the first place.

Absolutely, but you need to keep in mind your tolerance level because you are slowing your respritory systym down and your breathing slows down . I take it together but everyone is different

NEVER CUT A FENTANYL PAIN PATCH, the dose becomes totally unstable. It will leach out into the skin and your clothing. It remains active to various degrees and times. If you put on that piece of clothing and a new pain patch it can lead to respiratory failure and death. I know this first hand from the death of my dear son, 39 yrs. old, husband and a father to our 3 1/2 yrs. old grandson. PLEASE consult with your doctor at all times and make sure you understand what your doctor or the literature from the pharmacy has stated. It doesn't matter what you read on the Internet, PLEASE check with the live professionals. My son thought "cutting back the dose" meant he could cut the patch. Unfortunately he is not here today to tell you himself. DON'T CUT IT! Which much love and pain, his Mom.

20 bucks if you live up north, maybe 10 if you live in the south, in the mid west..good luck, I don't mess with that but have some really older people that actually need the stuff...some people are crazy and eat the glue and throw up and get all crunked..yeah..lol

No it won't show up as morphine or hydromorphone. Its totally unrelated chemically. If there is a test category for 'opioids' this might test for fentanyl, but I believe this is fairly uncommon. If there is a test for 'fentanyl' or 'synthetic opioids' these will/may test for it, respectively.

Fentanyl patches delivery slowly. If you rub the patch and then rub your mouth you could overdose in a matter of minutes. You need to be real careful with the patches and use them as directed. Do not just keep adding patches.

The average for most people is about 3-5 hours before you start feeling heavier withdrawals. After that, the discomfort gets worse, especially if you're not used to dealing with it, or you don't have any breakthrough meds to help compensate for the decrease in Fentanyl from your system.

At that point, the withdrawal pain starts to become as bad or worse than the pain you're using the patches for in the first place. That's why it's important to time your patch replacement so that you're adding a new one while the old one is winding down, so you have some overlap and steady dosage rate.

There is no average dose - all fentanyl patients must first be "opiate tolerant", meaning they are already tolerant to the effects of opiate medications. Most, like myself, only start using it when other meds (Oxycodone, Morphine, etc.) aren't effective and long-term pain control is needed.

Initial dosages are based on the patient's current medication. All opiates have a morphine-equivalency rating, as does Fentanyl. The patient's current med doses are converted its morphine equivalent, adjusted for increased pain control if necessary, then matched with one of the standard Fentanyl doses available as an initial dose. Dosage adjustment goes from there.

Most initial doses are low - this is because the Morphine-Fentanyl equivalency charts are purposefully kept on the low end for patient safety considerations.

Noop.

Although they are both in the same class, Opiate, they are very different.

Codeine is roughly 1/10th the efficacy (strength) of morphine. Fentanyl is 50--100 times the efficacy (strength) of morphine.

So, Fentanyl is 500--1000 times the efficacy (or strength) as codeine.

YOU cannot use tramadol in combination with methadone. It is an opiate antagonist which if you are taking methadone can send you into instant severe withdrawl. I do not have the answer for methadone and fentanyl combination but do not use the tramadol methadone combination. If you do or have you are in for a very very scary experience. There are many pain meds you cannot mix with methadone. Take it from a life long methadone patient who has experienced what it is like to mix an opiate antagonist with methadone........Do not try it............................

"Transdermal" means "through the skin". These cannot be injected.

It depends entirely on the situation. If you just add another patch to one that's still effective at full dosage delivery, then you're adding to the overall dosage rate and if you're not tolerant enough you can experience severe respiratory depression or death if you're not careful.

If you're referring to a patch that's in the last few hours of expiration (e.g., 64 hours of a 72 hours prescription period or 40 of a 48 hour period) then you won't feel much difference. It takes the new patch time to start delivery, and depending on how low your current patch is your overall maintenance dose is likely starting to get low anyway.

Over the years I've added a new one as my current one was winding down. This helps to keep the overall dose constant and avoid any withdrawal symptoms. But each person is different, and it's important to know the signs of higher dosages if you're not tolerant to high levels of opiates.

Most Duragesic users know what's normal and what isn't when it comes to patch use over long periods of time, so when something isn't right, it's important to take notice of your symptoms. High dosages can come from different ways other than just adding a patch - increased activity raises body heat, which in turn increases the dosage delivery rate (that's why you're not supposed to expose it to heat or direct sunlight). The first symptoms for most are drowsiness and sometimes trouble breathing, depending on how tolerant they are. Confusion and loss of cognitive ability is the most common though - imagine knowing what's happening to you, but your mind can't direct your body to help itself, and you'll get an idea.

In such cases, the 2 things to do are to immediately remove the patch(es) (make sure you don't fold them - you can re-apply later contrary to what some think), and cool yourself down externally and internally. It's important to also let family/friends know about this as well, so that they know what to do if you suddenly start acting like a wacko. My daughter has had to help me a couple of times when I've become overheated and my dosage rate increased fast (I have an extremely high opiate tolerance level, so respiratory depression doesn't happen, just increased side effects).

If you're using breakthrough meds like Percocet or Vicodin, then your overall tolerance is higher than your patch dose anyway, Just make sure that if you overlap the patches, one is expiring.

It depends on your overall condition, reason for pain, your overall tolerance level, and the length of time you've been using Fentanyl Transdermal patches of any type. However, in general, if you're up to the task, then yes, it's okay, as long as you're aware of the potential risks involved.

Fentanyl patches (either Duragesic or its generic alternatives) work by slowly releasing the drug through a transdermal membrane into the bloodstream via the skin layer. The dosage delivery is controlled by body heat, and naturally any strenuous physical activity will increase your heart rate and elevate your core body temperature. This alone increases the dosage delivery rate, and if you're not yet that tolerant to the drug or opiates in general (rare since the patches are only supposed to be prescribed to prior opiate tolerant patients), then confusion or other increased side effects can occur.

As a long time Duragesic user and chronic pain patient on opiate therapy for many years (see my bio for specifics), I've experienced this several times while doing outside work or remodeling around my home. Even though I knew what was happening, the confusion level is so much that it's difficult to get out of the situation on your own. I describe it as being stuck in a loop you can't get yourself out of. Only removing the patch (if you do it properly you can re-attach it later - see my answer on that) or cooling your body to normal will alleviate the problem. It's also important to understand that opiates are Vasodilators, meaning they open the blood vessels (that's why you feel cold when the dosage tapers off - they start constricting). Opening the blood vessels wider naturally warms your body, but again if you're tolerant to the constant dosage over time then your body is already used to it.

However, if you take simple precautions to keep yourself from getting overheated (stay hydrated and cool while working) and your overall physical condition doesn't limit you from the work (e.g., you're dealing with extreme pain but are physically able to work), and you're prepared for what can happen (my family knows what to do if they find me in such a situation, and I always have my cell with me when working) then there isn't much you can't normally do that you didn't do before.

As you become more tolerant, the depressant effects will become less. I found years ago that a cerebral stimulant will help overcome the depressant effects to the point where I feel relatively normal. Of course I don't use them often, only when I'm using higher opiate dosages to control pain.

As far as driving, it's an individual situation. Not everyone handles opiate therapy the same way, and again only tolerant individuals can deal with the depressant side effects over time. I've never had any driving restrictions, though I've always been acutely aware that in any accident it would likely be an issue. Having said that, unless I told you that I was a high level opiate patient you'd never know as I feel normal most of the time. It's really a topic for your pain specialist and yourself, but if you've already got handicap driver plates or a placard, then your doctor has already signed off on the fact that he/she believes that you're okay to drive. How responsible you are is totally up to you. I won't drive if I need to increase my normal dosages to deal with increased pain.

You should also be aware of the fact that the patches will and do slow your reaction time, so you need to be more aware of safety factors and compensate for your slower reaction than normal when working. Also, remember that opiates work by altering the brain's perception of pain, and if you over-exert yourself, you could further aggravate your condition without realizing it until the pain becomes worse. Be smart.

If you're wondering, at my highest dosages I was using 2 100mcg Duragesic patches for primary pain, Percocet 10/325's for breakthrough (120/150 per month), 100mg Demerol tabs, and 30mg MS Contin tabs for pain. My normal dosages are 1 100mcg patch and the same amount of Percocet monthly. Those have been my normal dosages for about 9 years.

Yes it does. It can make you tired and docile.

You can, but you won't feel much because fentanyl is a lot stronger. The only reason you'd take it is for breakthrough pain, but realistically, it's not that strong; if the pain is breaking through what the fentanyl can't keep up with, you need Percocet or just straight Oxycodone.

YES...fentanyl is much stronger.

I have no idea. It should show up as a true positive for opioids.

a drug dealer

Normally it comes out through the body's regular excretion process - kidneys, etc. During major withdrawals though, and if your dosage is high enough, it'll sweat out through your pores.

That's not a good sign, particularly if the itching is around the patch edges, and worse if it's the entire patch area.

Itching usually indicates either an allergic reaction to the patch adhesive material, or the patch material itself. If the entire skin area under the patch is itching, you likely have an allergy to the gel or the Fentanyl itself.

The other possibility is an irritant on the skin prior to patch application. This is common if you've cleaned the area with alcohol and not rinsed it well with water, or you've used some type of other skin product before putting on the patch. Shaving the area and then immediately putting it on can cause irritation as well if it's not rinsed well.

Fentanyl is a generic drug.

scopolamine patch is applied just behind either the left or right ear. The area should be clean and hairless prior to the application, which should occur the evening before a scheduled surgery