Fentanyl Patch & my upcoming beach trip, what do I do with this stupid patch??

[jennie76]

Let me give you little background on myself before I ask my questions. I am a chronic pain patient after being hit head on by an F150 truck while I was riding my motorcycle, back on March of 2013. I am currently on a 50 meg Fentanyl patch. I just tapered down from the 75 meg patch. I am working toward getting completely off these patches! The problem I'm dealing with right now is that next weekend I leave for the outer banks. This is my first beach trip in about 8 years. Needless to say I am really looking to have a great time & enjoy myself! Unfortunately I will still be on these stupid patches. I do also have oxycodone to use for breakthrough pain. I am trying to figure out the best way to enjoy my beach trip & still be mostly pain free. Because when I get back I will aggressively begin to taper off these awful patches & probably go through withdraws. I know with the patch you can't let your body temp rise or the temp of the patch rise, because it will dump all the medication at once & possibly cause an overdose. That is the last thing I want on my beach trip! However I do want to lay in the sun with my best friend & truly enjoy myself. I have read on the internet that people have removed their patch & placed it back in the pouch it came in & them put it back on their body after coming in & showering. I have also read that once it is removed you can't put it back on because it will no longer release the medication? Well you can put it back on, but supposedly it will do you no good. So I'm not really sure what to believe? I have also considered trying to find a place on my body covered by my bathing suit to put the patch & just leave it there, however that may not work because I'm sure my body temp will rise just being in the sun even though the patch itself is not directly exposed to the sun? Thanks for taking the time to read my post. I really appreciate any thoughts, ideas, suggestions or experiences anyone wants to share with me.

Thanks,
Jennie

 

[pbuilder]

Maybe you can place the patch high up on your arm, and make it a little water proof covering for when you go to the beach. I'm thinking one of those big waterproof bandages, and then you seal the edges with water proof bandage spray so it's completely waterproof. It may work. Or, just make sure you don't go past ur belly in the water if u have it placed on ur upper arm.

 

[Rybee]

I had similar issues, when using Fentanyl patches for a herniated spinal disc. No denying that it was good for the pain, but I couldn't do any exercise other than swim, and I couldn't swim with a patch on as it just came unstuck. I also found showering with it on was hassle, despite how much I covered it up/wrapped it up.

People are free to disagree, but in my experience:

1) Once you take a patch off, you can't use it again - though note that the Fentanyl will still be working transdermally for ~8 hours after removal. I tried taking it off and putting it back on a few times but it either didn't stick very well, or just didn't work at all. The general consensus is that they're useless once removed.

2) You really should avoid putting them on warm skin. A lot of people stick them on their shoulders so they can still wash and get in the bath. Just Google 'Fentanyl overdose in bathroom' and you'll find countless incidents of where people have suffered severe adverse effects from the patches getting too hot and releasing too much Fentanyl. Though I think that's more to do with the humid environment where your body can't thermoregulate, as opposed to direct sunlight, where it can. So IMO, it depends on the type of heat.

3) They don't go well with water - so I'd avoid swimming with one on.


So it really depends what you're going to be doing on your trip, if you're going to be swimming, unless it's on your shoulder and you don't get that wet - I wouldn't bother. If you're not going swimming but you'll be in the sun, you can still have one on but I'd cover it from direct sunlight. You can even put it on your bum-cheek so that you can have shorts on, keep it out of direct sunlight, but take your top off etc...

For me, it just got to a point where it wasn't practical to carry on with the patches so I swapped over to an equal dose of MS Contin/Slow Release Morphine. If you can't organise something like that before the trip then maybe just lay off the Fentanyl for the trip and rely on the Oxycodone.

Sorry this is a rushed reply, I'm just about to leave for lunch - if there's anything you're unsure of, just ask and I'll hit you up later.

 

[jennie76]

pbuilder & Rybee thanks for the info, much appreciated!

 

[Rybee]

I hope it helped?

Anything else you wanna know, just nudge me!

 

[jennie76]

Rybee, you said you were on theses patches. Did you have a hard time getting off them? I'm in the process of weaning myself off & fear the withdrawals because they are so strong. I have a great doctor who has given me a good bit of oxycodone to help me supplement but I'm still worried. So far I have had no problems but I've gradually been tapering. When I get back from the beach I'm going to wean off them more aggressively. I want off them so badly! I wish I never would have agreed to them.

 

[jennie76]

Oh & the info did help. Thank you Rybee!

 

[Rybee]

Rybee, you said you were on theses patches. Did you have a hard time getting off them? I'm in the process of weaning myself off & fear the withdrawals because they are so strong. I have a great doctor who has given me a good bit of oxycodone to help me supplement but I'm still worried. So far I have had no problems but I've gradually been tapering. When I get back from the beach I'm going to wean off them more aggressively. I want off them so badly! I wish I never would have agreed to them.

Hi, no I didn't because I came off of Fentanyl and went straight onto an equipotent dose of MS Contin so had no weaning/withdrawals.

 

[jennie76]

I just wanted to let you guys know I made it through my beach vacation! It wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. I was able to hide the patch under my swim suit & wear a water proof covering. I'm still slowly weaning off them. By next week I should be completely off the patch & just taking the oxycodone I'm prescribed for pain control. Thanks for the info & support, much appreciated!