I am applying this patch to my 88 yo mother who is in chronic pain, every 3 days, otherwise she is in horrible pain. It may kill drug addicts but there is a place in medicine to help with chronic pain.
I find the top of the shoulder between the socket and the next best. It doe not wrinkle and bend as much as other areas of the body does and is less likely to be seen unless you take your shirt off. It usually has less hair there. I also am medium hairy meaning I have hair on my chest and being middle-aged, I have some on my back. I DO shave my shoulder areas and the hair grows back slower there but I do not put a patch on immediately after shaving. Do NOT put it on irritated or cut skin. I use a "Sharpie" brand marker to note the date I put it on, i.e SAT for Saturday, WED for Wednesday, etc. I do this before I put the Tegaderm cover on so it won't wash off so I won't forget what day I put it on. I then use a Tegaderm patch that is slightly larger than the Duragesic patch to help it stay on. Otherwise, I have had them come off in the shower, the pool, or from sweating on a hot day and doing some type of physical activity. They warn you not to wear them in the hot tub. Higher skin temperatures can lead to over-absorption. Read the directions and do not eat grapefruit or certain other items. The model 1624 (2&3/8"X2&3/4) patch works well for the 50mcg patch but you have to be careful to get it centered well when placing the cover over it. If it is off-center, do not pull it off. Add another patch on top to cover the parts that are not covered well. For the 100mcg patch, they make larger Tegaderm patches or similar brands and I simply cut those down a bit so they provide good coverage and extra protection without having a giant sheet of sticky plastic in the area. For me, some brands, like the Mallinckrodt, do not seem to last 72 hours for me. I don't know if it is the patch or the way my skin metabolizes it, but the medicine does not seem to keep working after 56 or so hours. I told my doctor it "had no legs" on the 3rd day and I was in pain. He prescribes me 15 patches for a 30 day period and I change them out after 48 hours instead of 72 hours and that was a huge help. Another brand I now use works a little better but during the last 5 or 6 hours, it is running out of juice. VERY IMPORTANT. DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOL. The effects multiplied many times and the two or three drinks you used to have will make you wasted and drinking on top of opiates is one of the leading causes of overdose. Check with your doctor about other medications you take as opiates have a multiplying effect with each other along with muscle relaxants and anxiety medications. Your breathing can become very shallow and you could stop breathing in your sleep and die. Or worse, you could live but be brain-damaged. That would suck! Do not take them in any other way than applied to the skin. Do NOT suck on them, swallow them, 0r scrape at them, or put them in your ass. You can overdose that way and the doctors may not find what you did with them until it is too late and you are a partial vegetable or dead. If anyone has experimented and found a better place to apply these patches that absorbs the medicine better, please let me know. I learned by trial and error. The area above the shoulder on my back between the ball joint and my neck is n easy place to apply. The skin in that area doesn't seem to bend as much as other areas of my body when I am moving around and is not visible to the public. I know a gal who puts it on her ass cheek but it is visible when she wears her thong bikini to the pool. I think people must think it is her birth-control patch.
Thanks for this, im just trying to learn how to safely apply and remove these patches on a friend/neighbour I now care for recently , he has a community nurse who does most of his care but he has some patches for breakout pain, and his niece was doing it but we found out she was just putting the old ones back on and stealing the real ones
I know it's been several months but two things I'd like to mention. One don't apply the patch in the same location all the time. Rotate around. Two make sure the patch isn't somewhere that builds up a lot of heat. Like on the back. Heat builds up if the person sleeps on their back.
That's odd he is given patches for breakthrough pain, that is usually a short acting opioid like hydromorphone or oxy since the patches aren't an immediate effect method of delivery.
Q: I had double hernia surgery. Surgeon prescribed 50mcg Fentanyl Patch and it was applied in recovery room. Spent night inpatient. Patch became loose overnight. RN starts taping over entire patch. I told her that tape should go around perimeter of patch to allow even release and distribution of the fentanyl. She said that taping over all of it won't affect it. I asked Dr. in charge and he said same thing. Are they right?
No they are not right they just don't want to write up a new patch as they are a controlled drug once a patch comes off it is no longer effective and does not work like it should and I know been there done it wore the t shirt it boils down to money and paper work unfortunately
had same problem with first patches falling off before expiry time but then tried matrifen patches. they stick great, sometimes still on after the bath, if not to long or hot. try to get a better brand. they are more expensive and the doctors don't like to give them out but be firm and stick to your guns. i never had a matrifen patch fall off in 4 years.
there is NO "STICKY SIDE" LEFT. After one day my patch comes OFF MY SKIN. What else can I do? Even the tagaderm wont stay on. And they say bathing should be no problem either. Anyone else having this problem? And found a solution?????? HELP! PLEASE!!!!
Was having same problem. A nurse told me the solution. Spray the area with a blue ventalin asthma inhaler first. Let dry then apply patch. Works great for real.
It depends, if you have the brand that makes a plastic pouch you have to cut it to open it (they even do at hospitals) but other brands are paper pouches & don't need cut. Bottom line is as long as you cut at the dotted line and inspect your patch you will be fine.
🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍 Woe woe woe woe... Dawg Food Patches... Dawg food era got users Looking like they in the Crack Era Why? And Who? Catch 22 when you Do things like this.... 🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍 Spirit Undefeated
@@sunshinedaydream6244 Yes, heroin in weaker...I was on a 100 mcg patch every other day along with Percocet for my chronic back pain along with 40mg of valium daily and Ambien at night..all I can say is I am fortunate to be alive today...be very careful with fentanyl...
