Opioids *headache* Some help calculating dosage of Fentanyl buccal usage please?

[Rybee]

Hey All,

I used to wear Fentanyl patches for legit PM but have withdrawn from daily use of opiates for PM completely now and just use them PRN, either for fun or for legitimate relief on tough days where my pain flares up.

I've got 3x2.1mg (12mcg/hr) patches left from earlier this year and their expiry date is Sep 2015 (weirdly short shelf life, or normal for patches)?

Either way, I want to use them before they expire but I'm getting a headache trying to calculate the *correct* dose for buccal use, there's so many people telling me so many different things. I usually take 50mg Oxycodone / 100mg Morphine for PRN use, so I'm trying to calculate how much of this 2.1mg patch to cut up and use bucally?

Any help/direction is greatly appreciated...

 

[Rybee]

The ex-bluelighter 'Leftwing' said:

Using the 120mg oral oxy tolerance as a guide, here are my recommendations for dosing for transdermal and buccal Fentanyl. Remember I’m talking the Polymer Matrix ones here, not the Gels or lollypops as I have no experience with them. If someone can give me some reliable information for an IV and smoking dose I’ll add them in as well.

Buccal – Start off with cutting the equivalent to 6mcg/hr, so ½ of a 12mcg patch. Place it up against your cheek, avoiding swallowing your saliva, lightly sucking in your cheeks in to apply pressure to it. Make sure it’s the actual sticky adhesive part against your cheek, that’s where the drug is stored after all.

So if he's saying ½ of a 12mcg patch for a 120mg Oxy dose, I'm going to assume ¼ of a 12mcg patch for my 50mg Oxy dose?

 

[Rybee]

Okay well me being the impatient person that I am just tried ¼ of the patch (0.525mcg) every 45 minutes.

First ¼ didn't really do anything, so 45 minutes later I took a second ¼. Started to feel it, but effects were very subtle so 45 minutes later I took a third ¼. Had me warm and fuzzy but I knew just that little bit more would hit the spot, so 45 minutes later I took the last, 4th, ¼ and it's perfect.

So for future reference for anyone who's interested. IMO, 2.1mcg of a Fentanyl patched used buccaly seems to equal ~50/60mg Oxycodone orally and ~100mg Morphine orally.

Does that stack up with expectations?