Currently trying my Fentanyl patches every 60 hours. In the past I tried every 48 hours which got rid of the withdrawal between patches, but left my temperature all over the place and I am more sleepy.
Only had 2 patch changes so far at 60 hours, and as expected the withdrawal (chills and sweating plus sometimes very restless between patches) seems to be gone, although I have only done 2 patches so far so might be too early to tell BUT I do feel slightly warmer than usual which I know happened when I used them every 48 hours also. Nothing too excessive right now but I know before it got worse over time so I will have to wait to see.
Also I feel even more tired. It is so hard monitoring my tiredness as I have chronic fatigue so I am always very tired, some days worse than others.
I have another week before I speak to my doctor again.
It is so hard to know what to do as in the past he seems to give me the choice of these patches or nothing when I know there are other opiates that work similar that some people find better than others.
I shouldn’t have to choose between one side effect or another. Would I like to get withdrawal very 3 days and often unable to sleep, or warmer and more tired. They are not great choices!
I spoke to someone in a support group I am in, and they had similar issues and their doctor moved them onto Methadone which I know was originally designed for pain, but mainly is used for heroin addicts.
Why hasn’t my doctor ever offered me anything else and why did he once say pretty much “it is this or nothing as there is nothing else” to me when I know that is completely untrue.
Pills would be better than patches as there would never be a withdrawal! Shame Fentanyl doesn’t come in a pill form.
I will wait and see if things improve. Fingers crossed they do and I can settle on 60 hour patch change as I can’t cope much longer with fiddling around days or doses on Matrifen.
I started back in April 2019 and still haven’t settled on a dose and interval! Been constantly changing doses or intervals all this time and seeing my doctor every 2-4 weeks!
