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I need help supporting my boyfriend who is trying to get off morphine patches

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melaniej29

Greenlighter
Joined
Dec 26, 2013
Messages
3
Location
York, PA
Hello. This evening, Christmas night actually, my boyfriend had an emotional meltdown and called a crisis hotline. It seems that the morphine patches he has been prescribed for 4 years have been causing him extreme withdrawal for a few months now but he never mentioned it. He has these patches as a treatment for peripheral neuropathy. I have definitely noticed depression, excessive sleep, anger, anxiety, etc. over the last year especially and we fight constantly. All this time, I thought the patches were wearing off and he was experiencing intense pain in his feet. It turns out, he is experiencing drug withdrawal and he was hiding it from everyone. I don't know why he would hide this because it isn't like he was abusing the medication. He was using it as directed and this isn't his fault. Anyway, he has no health insurance and has been unemployed for four years. He was turned down for SSI twice. So, we are currently waiting for a return phone call from a non-profit health center who may be able to offer him assistance. Anyway, I don't know how to handle this. He is crying, angry, restless, shaking. He has been talking about how he wants to just kill himself. I have asked him what I can do and he says nothing. I have asked him if I could call his parents or siblings for help and he says no. I have to go to work tomorrow, calling out after a holiday is not an option, and I am afraid to leave him. He has just put on a new patch and I am hoping that as the medication is absorbed, this might help him relax a little but I am afraid that it also might lessen his desire to get help, which he obviously needs. The medicine isn't helping his condition and he has definitely changed in personality. He sleeps for 12-14 hours a day and has lost over 30 lbs in the last 6 months. He also takes hydrocodone for his back (he has had three back surgeries in the past 10 years) but that never caused any side effects until it was combined with these stupid patches. I assume that he will have to get off both medications.

Anyway, sorry for rambling. This is a subject I am wholly unfamiliar with and I am trying to control an urge to pack up and leave because I know that is probably just panic talking and it is unreasonable since my boyfriend lives in my house and I can't really abandon my own home.
 
Hi melanie welcome to bluelight. I'm sorry to hear about your current struggle with your boyfriend about his drug withdrawal. Every drug withdraw takes time but he has to be strong and you should be there for him.

Is there a way that you can provide for now for him to see a doctor?
 
There really is no way to abuse them. They are time release patches and they are replaced every three days. He gets 5 at a time and I put them on because he can't reach his back to do it. The problem is that he has developed a tolerance to them and now he experiences withdrawal about a day before the patch is changed and then once he gets the new one, he crashes for hours. He is sick of the cycle and wants to stop using them.
 
I was thinkin of slowly reducing the patches but it will be best to see a doctor so the doctor can suggest the proper way of reduction. In addition to this the doctor can suggest a medication that might be helpful for the withdrawal
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I am really hopeful that the center we called contacts us soon. I think if they can help him remove the medication in his system and help make the symptoms manageable until his body adjusts, he would be a lot better quickly. Of course, that still leave the problem of pain management without health insurance but I can deal with that when we reach that point
 
Professional advice definitely the way to go with this one, although with the way your docs in the US deal drugs I wouldn't be so sure.
 
It sounds to me as if he's experiencing inter-dose withdrawals from fentanyl patches. For many patients, they only last 48 hours rather than 72. This is an issue that needs to be brought up with the prescribing physician. It is not unusual. It is not a sign of abuse. Fent withdrawal is horrible, and worse when you're in pain.

I feel really sorry for your boyfriend. Have him call the doctor!!!

<3
 
Hi Melanie, sounds like your boyfriend has been suffering for a while. Sorry he's hurting so much and I'm hoping his pain doctor can give him something else because these patches aren't working so well. I can't imagine going through this for a year and not speaking up sooner.

Do you think he's depressed also? Some people don't like to admit to that, but it might be worth talking to him about. He's paying cash and any doctor worth his salt would wiling to explore other options. Your boyfriend is his own best advocate and needs ask for help. Nobody can do this for him and all you can do is give him a push in the right direction. Wish you both the best!
 
Morphling said:
It sounds to me as if he's experiencing inter-dose withdrawals from fentanyl patches. For many patients, they only last 48 hours rather than 72. This is an issue that needs to be brought up with the prescribing physician. It is not unusual. It is not a sign of abuse. Fent withdrawal is horrible, and worse when you're in pain.
Click to expand...

This. Many people wear them every 2 days instead of 3 for this exact reason. (I've heard in warm states they up people's scripts to every 48 hours in the hottest months because heat degrades them faster.)
In other words THIS IS REAL AND NOT HIS FAULT.
If he likes the patches staying on them might even be an option since I believe there's one of the cheaper options if you don't have insurance (just switch to every other day instead of 3 days).

Depression is also common and underdiagnosed in people with chronic pain.
 
melaniej29 said:
There really is no way to abuse them. .
Click to expand...

Sorry...but this isn't true. The patches can be chewed and if they are the gel ones, the gel can be squeezed out thru a small hole and injected or eaten. I abused Fent patches for years.
You have to question why he was hiding the withdrawl from you, and why he's zonked out after getting a new patch. Using them as prescribed tends to deliver a even amount without highs and lows.
I hope he can get help what even the problem...
 
Hey 29..
The medications I would explore the use of fror detox would be:
>Clonidine< DOSED EVER FOUR HOURS..
one of either
>NEURONTIN< >HERE< >HERE<
OR >Lyrica<
OR >Phenibut<
>A BENZO BUT JUST AT NIGHT<
>a nsaid<
>melatonin<
tylenol

He can do this.. IMO sitting around and thinking how awful we feel is the absolute worst way to detox.. from my personal experience it is much better to keep doing things.. it doesn't make a person detoxing feel worse, it wont make them feel much better either.. but it helps them take their mind of the detox. So if you have some time to motivate them to do things other than sit around on the couch or in bed.. They may put up a bit of a fight but it will benefit them. plan for them being allot more sensitive to hot and cold with layers for clothing and a close bathroom and a spare pair of underwear is a good idea depending in how the pluming is shaping out.

If you go to a Dr and they dont think the GABA variants are a good idea, I would insist on it as this is a somewhat newer approach to detoxing opiates and allot of drs just dont know about it yet.. but IMO it is the biggest weapon we have against some of the toughest symptoms.
 
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