Opioids Question about Fentanyl dosage

[wintastical]

I acquired a 75mcg/hr Fentanyl patch today and have no prior experience with Fentanyl. How tolerant does one need to be to wear this patch? I take 60mg Oxycodone orally every 6 hours or so currently, which is kinda low compared to some of the numbers I see people posting on here, so I'm wondering if I am able to handle the whole patch or need to cut it in half? Also I'm not looking to chew it before someone suggests that, just wanna wear the patch and feel fine for a couple days.

I tried using a morphine equivalent calculator to figure the answer out but because I don't know how long Fentanyl lasts and it's an hourly thing I wasn't sure how to work it out.

Thanks in advance; sorry if it's already been answered somewhere, but I couldn't find anything in my search.

 

[wintastical]

I cut it in half for now since I'll be asleep in a few hours (before I can feel the full effects and know if it's too strong or not). I'll keep an eye on this thread though.

 

[DarkStarCrashes]

Fentanyl is an extremely potent synthetic opiod, as I am sure you already know - and it is perhaps the easiest to accidentally overdose on. Know that once you begin to use fentanyl your tolerance to opiods and opiates is going to go through the roof and you are likely to have to increase that 60mg oxycodone dose to get the same effects. Honestly, unless you are intimately familiar with fentanyl and aware of how to use it safely, which it appears you are not, I would avoid it like a plague.

I used to get grams of fentanyl hcl in its pure form and dilute it into bacteriostatic water at a dosage of 1mg/ml and by the end was using many milligrams a day to get high, enough to kill a handful of opiate naive people. I almost killed myself a few times, I gave myself sepsis from not storing the solution properly and then injecting it, and one time when I ran out I bought a brick of heroin (50 bags) to try to "get off E" and shot them all within an hour and was still a little bit dope sick because my tolerance wasthat ​high. Nasty stuff imho.

If you insist on using the patch, do not cut it open, suck on it, smoke it, or do anything else that you may hear of people doing on the internet - as these are the easiest ways to overdose. Put the patch on for a short period of time, then remove it when you are high enough. Never apply more than one patch at once, and avoid falling asleep or nodding out with it on. Good luck, I have had more than one friend die from fentanyl overdoses...

 

[wintastical]

Fentanyl is an extremely potent synthetic opiod, as I am sure you already know - and it is perhaps the easiest to accidentally overdose on. Know that once you begin to use fentanyl your tolerance to opiods and opiates is going to go through the roof and you are likely to have to increase that 60mg oxycodone dose to get the same effects. Honestly, unless you are intimately familiar with fentanyl and aware of how to use it safely, which it appears you are not, I would avoid it like a plague.

I used to get grams of fentanyl hcl in its pure form and dilute it into bacteriostatic water at a dosage of 1mg/ml and by the end was using many milligrams a day to get high, enough to kill a handful of opiate naive people. I almost killed myself a few times, I gave myself sepsis from not storing the solution properly and then injecting it, and one time when I ran out I bought a brick of heroin (50 bags) to try to "get off E" and shot them all within an hour and was still a little bit dope sick because my tolerance wasthat ​high. Nasty stuff imho.

If you insist on using the patch, do not cut it open, suck on it, smoke it, or do anything else that you may hear of people doing on the internet - as these are the easiest ways to overdose. Put the patch on for a short period of time, then remove it when you are high enough. Never apply more than one patch at once, and avoid falling asleep or nodding out with it on. Good luck, I have had more than one friend die from fentanyl overdoses...

Thanks a lot for your post. That's crazy. I've read that it increases your tolerance but I didn't realize it was THAT drastic.

I only have one patch though and don't plan to make it a habit, just a one time thing. I did already cut it in half and applied one half though. (Mylan brand) Should I be worried?

It's been an hour or so and I feel some relief, not quite there yet though. I figured I'd wear it until I'm ready to sleep then peel it off to be safe.

 

[tricomb]

What's the manufacturer? Beware, it takes 13 hours on average before the fentanyl really takes effect, and that's 13 hours worth of 75mcg stored in your skin that still has NOT gone systemic / reached your bloodstream, so the terrible thing about people who decide to abuse fentanyl, whether they have adequate tolerance or not, is that by the time they feel that it is too strong, it's WAY too late to prevent overdose by removing the patch. Also, let's not forget how fentanyl is not as easily reversed by naloxone as other opiates due to it's enormous potency.

 

[wintastical]

Mylan is the manufacturer. Thank you for this information, I just removed the patch and will see how I feel in a few hours before deciding if I wanna put it back on in the morning.

 

[tricomb]

Mylan uses a polymer matrix, aight. just making sure it wasn't a gel.

 

[Conspirator]

The main reason fentanyl increases tolerance isn't due to it's extreme potency, it's due to the fact that it
A: has a very short half life, mere minutes nasally, and 1.5-3 hours oral and sublingual, and about 3 hours IV.
B: The euphoric effects aren't as pronounced as with heroin or other opioids, and they don't last the full duration of the half life, especially when IV'd, therefore, the initial dose often hasn't even come close to wearing off when people redose, which in turn will increase the amount in the bloodstream hence increasing tolerance.
C: The huge thing about fentanyl is the rush... IV or Nasal, it has prettymuch the best rush of all the conventional opioids. The only rushes that border fentanyl are it's derivatives and a few oddball opioids.

So, 75mcg/hr fentanyl is roughly equivalent to 75mg morphine IV = 150 oxycodone IV... so half a patch is still well over your current oxycodone dose. I say, save it for a rainy day when you're wding if physically addicted. Fentanyl isn't particularly euphoric, so using it in patch form isn't going to result in much more than nodding and sleeping. Fentanyl is much more effective for pain control than getting a buzz. The other thing some people experience with fentanyl is that once you use it, they never feel other less potent opioids again. Be careful and tread lightly. Also, as others have stated, due to the high BINDING AFFINITY of fentanyl, it's very difficult to reverse an overdose. I believe that naltrexone is used, but don't quote me on that... anyway, by the time any paramedic figures out what's really going on, you're likely gone already.

If you're still planning on using, I recommend having someone with you ICE, and if nobody's with you, prewrite a 911 text so all you have to do is hit send if the worst should happen.

FYI, never ever IV Fentanyl as it will blow your tolerance sky high. I know someone who over the course of a year went from 100-250mg heroin daily to shooting 50-100mg fentanyl daily, yes miligrams. That's equivalent to 10 grams of PURE Pharmaceutical grade heroin a day.

 

[Kittycat5]

Are there even gel resevoir patches anymore? Not sure but all the brands I can think of use matrix system.

It surely is wise to limit fentanyl usage for all the above reasons but you are probably ok. At 240mg oxycodone a day, it is recommended to start at 125 mcg/hr patch and you used only 37.5. It is unlikely to do much of anything unless you keep it on for 12-24 hours anyway, so I would probably just leave it alone.

 

[wintastical]

This website and everyone who's replied to this are fucking awesome.

My friend's advice was "quit being a bitch," so I'm glad there's experienced people here to help people like myself.

I removed the patch a few hours ago, it wasn't as great as I thought it'd be but I'd rather it be too weak than too strong.

Can I re-apply this same half patch in the morning with a bandage or something holding it in place, or do I need to use the other half?

Thank you again everybody

 

[Conspirator]

The big thing with fentanyl is that once you use even just a moderate dose once, you will never feel any other opioids like you used to no matter the dose. So basically I'm saying that if you still wanna enjoy your oxycodone and the sort, don't use the fentanyl as you'll never feel oxy or any other less potent opioids the same...

 

[wintastical]

The main problem was that I can't get the oxys until the 23rd, and since Subs usually make me feel horrible and the only dope I can get my hands on is maybe... 10% at best?, My options were kinda limited. Does that apply to one-time use? The whole not feeling my pills thing.

EDIT: just saw that you already answered the question... my bad.

 

[tacodude]

Mylan uses a polymer matrix, aight. just making sure it wasn't a gel.

I will reinforce avoid cutting gel patches. The gel can then fall out leading to an excessive dose being released. As well as the gel is not evenly distributed so 1/50 of the gel could contain all the fent although unlikely to be that unevenly concentrated I am just making a point.

 

[Conspirator]

The main problem was that I can't get the oxys until the 23rd, and since Subs usually make me feel horrible and the only dope I can get my hands on is maybe... 10% at best?, My options were kinda limited. Does that apply to one-time use? The whole not feeling my pills thing.

EDIT: just saw that you already answered the question... my bad.

If you're in Withdrawal, I'd use just barely enough of the patch to keep the WD away, that's about the only use for patches that won't effect the way you feel your oxycodone, but just use enough to keep WD away, no more as it will screw with how you feel things... A one time use of a pretty low dose shouldn't effect the way opiates feel. Personally, I recommend 1/4 to 1/3 of a patch at your tolerance level as it should be plenty to keep WD away, but not so much that it will mess with your brain as long as you don't make it a habit.

Just be careful.