Progress and the lack there of

15 years 6 months ago #21484 by Stephany
Replied by Stephany on topic Progress and the lack there of
thanks, Dan....my husband is out of the hospital, finally, and we can start to address the pain again.

Stephany in Iowa

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15 years 6 months ago #21449 by danpeters
Replied by danpeters on topic Progress and the lack there of
Stephany,

Yesterday I increased the strength of the Fentanyl patch from 25 mcg/hour to 50 mcg/hour. It made a big difference. I was not on strong pain med before that. With the higher dose patch I still needed a Percocet but only one, 5/325 for the whole day. Before the patch I was taking one Percocet every 5 or 6 hours. The pain meds are constipating but my doctor said to take 30 ml of milk of magnesia and it worked. As is so often the case, solve one problem create a new one. True the long term effects of all these meds is a question but for now I'm enjoying the relief.

Today I'll have another CT scan to take a closer look at the spot on my hip they saw in the bone scan. If the cancer is in the bone we'll probably stop chemo and move to radiation.

Dan

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15 years 6 months ago - 15 years 6 months ago #21442 by Jeff F
Replied by Jeff F on topic Progress and the lack there of
I have been on pain meds for 5 months during my wound problem. My wound Dr recommended taking 2 senocets (sic), the constipation herbal pill, everytime you take a pain pill. It seems to work for both hydrocodone and percocette. Frankly, I did it a few times, now I just take one or two a day, but if you need to, it seems to Get'r done!

BC diagnosed 01/2007
Cystoscopes and Miomyacin in 2007
R/C ilial conduit 04/27/2008

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15 years 6 months ago #21438 by Julie
Replied by Julie on topic Progress and the lack there of
Stephany, when the Dr. started Dick on Fentanyl they started at 12.5 mcg. I think that is the lowest dose. Dick had already been taking morphine and oxycodone.
What is Doran taking now for pain? Is he seeing a pain specialist? I am really glad we found another one after the first one was on medical leave for so long.
Sorry I took so long to respond I think I must have overlooked this thread. Anyway yes Dick is on the Fentanyl patch which helps a lot but he still needs to take oxycodone for breakthrough pain. It is heavy duty pain medication and you have to use it as instructed. He is now at 100mcg as of last Thursday but he has reduced the oxycodone. Another issue is the issue all narcotics give a person. Constipation. You have to stay ahead of it. Dick is using a combination of stool softeners and senna. Hope you get Doran home soon. Julie

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15 years 6 months ago #21437 by Stephany
Replied by Stephany on topic Progress and the lack there of
Just wondering how the patch is working, Dan? I did some looking on line, and the sites said it was only for those who had been on opiates at a higher level, so I was thinking it might not work for my husband, but you weren't on really high levels before the patch, right?

Let us know how you're feeling!

Stephany in Iowa

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15 years 6 months ago #21419 by danpeters
Replied by danpeters on topic Progress and the lack there of
My regularly scheduled CT scan has been moved up two weeks to Wednesday, maybe it it will answer more questions than raises. In the meantime I started a Fentanyl patch (25mg/hr) for pain. This is the lowest dose. You wear the patch for 72 hours before replacing it. What I didn't know was that it takes up 24 hours to kick in (supposedly just the first time). So after a rough start I learned I should keep taking the percocet until the patch starts working. After 48 hours there is a marginal difference. I was taking percocet every 5 hours now its every 7. Later today the doctor will decide if I should increase the patch strength. The goal is to have a consisent level of pain management.

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