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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

can I cut a fentanyl patch

nurse nancy

Greenlighter
Joined
Dec 5, 2008
Messages
3
I have a 50mcg Fentanyl patch that i applied after removing only half of the plastic backing. Well tha tdidn't work very well. My question is, can I now cut off the ruined part of the patch, remove the rest of the backing and apply as normal?
I believe I read that the dose delievered would probably still be 50mcg/hr but for a shorter period. Is this correct or will the dose/hr be less as the surface area has been halved.
Oh, BTW, this is a Matrix Patch.
Thank you for your time. Very new here.NN
 
Yes, you can cut fentanyl patches. If your patch is losing it's adhesive, you can simply use some medical tape to tape it back onto your skin. If you cut it though, I am pretty positive that it will no longer be releasing at 50mcg/hr. It would effectively make it into a 25mcg/hr patch. If anyone can veryify this, or correct me if I am wrong, I'd appreciate it.
 
That's what I assumed, but it could also be a case where the drug isn't evenly distributed on the patch, especially in a generic. For example picture a smaller rectangle of drug spread on a larger rectangle of adhesive. It could be off center up, down, left or right and not impact the effectiveness of the patch as a whole, but would impact the distribution if you cut it. This is pure speculation on my part. I know next to nothing about fentanyl patches.
 
^It is possible that it is a faulty patch. They do happen, but it's pretty rare to find a defective patch I would think.

Cutting the patch, in my experience it's always worked just fine and I've never had any problems. Use a fresh razorblade and try to have a steady hand, and it should be just fine. It might make it less effective, though in terms of how much of the drug is delivered per hour, and/or how much of the drug is delivered in total over the lifespan of the patch.

I'm not entirely sure whether it will halve the amount delivered per hour, or if it will simply deliver the same amount over a short duration, but I would think it might simply halve the amount delivered per hour as BrokedownPalace mentioned. Cutting patches always seemed to have this effect for me anyway, but again I can't say that I'm 100% sure.
 
the fentanyl is evenly dispersed through the matrix adhesive so cutting divvies up the delivered dose.
 
Thank you, I figured that was how it was done but I wasn't 100% sure. Now I am though haha.
 
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