💊 ❗ So angry my GP gave me FENTANYL without warning me how powerful it is!
Posted , 6 users are following.
Has anyone else been prescribed Fentanyl like they're giving you sweets?!
I have a long history of back pain. My first surgery in 2014 failed. I had a revision done privately in July because the NHS said it was too risky (read too expensive, and even though I was going through the equivalent of going into back labour every night and on huge doses of morphine, 600mg Oxycontin daily, plus 60mg of morphine every 4-6 hrs. I was sent back to Pain Management, who suggested a 3 week residential course on "how to live with severe pain". Like I didn't know that already!!). After my 2nd surgery, I thought once the epidural wore off I was going to die the pain was so bad. It still brings me to tears thinking about it now. About a week into my post op stay a nurse handed me a pill, which she told me to stick under my tongue. I had NO idea what it was. I just used it and my pain resided. That's all I cared about. So they continued giving to me. To cut a long story short. When I got home I said to my Husband "I've run out of Fentanyl" . So he asked my GP for some more, which she duly did - a box of 56, 200mg buccal tablets. I took two whole boxes over 3 months. Normally, I'm pretty clued up on my drugs. But I honestly thought that other than Morphine, Ketamine was the strongest prescription drug I could be given. I thought Fentanyl was in the same family, but perhaps a slightly different composition, like Bupronorphine is. How wrong was!! Fentanyl is 30-50x stronger than morphine!! 😮 Yet my GP gave me absolutely no warning whatsoever. She knew how much morphine I was on and even made me sign something to say that I would not take any more than my current dose. Yet she gave me this! I am so angry at her! 😠 I can't even bring myself to contact her, which I really need to do as I am going through morphine withdrawal at the moment (not touched Oramorph in nearly 3 weeks now, and down to 200mg of Zomorph Slow Release a day . Starting to feel pretty hellish though 😵
. How could she be so irresponsible? I discovered via a Google search, that this stuff has become a HUGE problem. Particularly in the States where it is mixed with Heroin, Crack etc. There has even been a 'National Public Health Emergency' declared over there this week because the abuse of opioids led to 64, 000 deaths last year, and the abuse of Fentanyl played a key part in this. Ironically, the very same night my Husband watched a Louis Thereux documentary on a State in America where they were picking up Fentanyl addicts off the streets, left right and centre, and pumping them full of Naloxone to bring them back from opioid overdose. He came upstairs and started to tell me about it and I just replied "I know" and burst into tears. I stopped taking them immediately. Knowing I could have got hooked on Fentanyl or potentially accidentally or even deliberately overdosed on Fentanyl (I am suffering from severe depression, which ironically is lifting since I cut down on morphine) just has left me totally shocked and upset 😢. Thank you for taking the time to read my post. Know it's quite a long one, but I thought it was an important one to share. I'd be happy to talk to anyone about their experiences of Fentanyl in private if they don't want to post to forum.
0 likes, 95 replies
Anonymous111 emmyloue
Posted
Fentanyl is phenomenally strong - stronger than Diamorphine many say.
I personally would not take them unless absolutely necessary.
Guest emmyloue
Posted
Hi emmyloue
I feel your pain i really do!
There is alot of talk about Fentanyl in the uk currently & what a big problem it is due to the strength of it!
I too was given a high dose, not of Fentanyl but of Oxycontin. I was prescribed 800mgs per day but towards the end it was closer to 1500mgs per day. I too was never told what it was by my gp or how strong it was. I even turned Morphine down as it frightened me. Little did i know Oxycontin is nearly 3 x the strength of Morphine!
I've now been off the Oxycontin for just over a yr & have managed to reduce the methadone dose from 115mils per day down to 40mils per day.
My problem now is im in constant pain in my back almost 24/7. I struggle to even walk without being in agony. I had an MRI scan in 2011 which the consultant said showed a back in the condition of a 70yr old due to "Degenerative Disc Desease" i used to hand stack thousands on 125kg concrete slabs per day for yrs & thats whats caused it.
I go back to pain clinic at end of month but, due to me getting addicted to the Oxycontin (which is a fact that people do anyway because it is Heroin) i worry they woiil be afraid to give me any decent pain relief but, i cannot carry on how i am doing!
Gabapentin 2700mgs per day, Naproxen, amatryptaliñ, etc etc, ive been on them all in last year but nothing helps at all.
I can no longer hoover as after a minute in one position, i get what i can only describe as agonising cramp all along my lower back. I even get this after walking a short distance also.
So, i can relate to you never being told etc, i think the problem is that most gp's dont even know themselves as they just look in their book & say "try this" without knowing exactly what it does to you!!
I know its a massive problem in USA, UK isnt far behind now either!!
Good luck
Ritchie xx
Anonymous111 Guest
Posted
Guest Anonymous111
Posted
You're not wrong there Ben!
Carolineq8 Guest
Posted
Ritchie have you had faucet joint injections? Or been offered a spinal cord stimulator? 😊
Guest Carolineq8
Posted
Hello Caroline my mate 😚
I have yes. Ive had 3 which is all you are allowed to have.
The first 2 did nothing.
The day after the 3rd i felt ok & thought, hello!! This has worked, i woke up next morning & everything had gone back to normal, where i couldnt move a muscle for 20 minutes after waking up due to crippling pain!
Im hoping i can talk to the pain clinic when i go on 23rd of this month as to what options are available to me, as this is now driving me mad Caroline!
I know when i was on all that Oxycontin just how bad things were which, as you well know, is the reason i came off of the stuff, but, when i can't even go shopping to help my partner get a few things or, what would normally be a 5 minute walk this morning to get some milk & bread, took me 40 minutes because of the agonising pain all across my lower back & really struggling to actually move my legs without crying out in pain!
What worries me is that its more than "just" Degenerative Disc Desease as reading up on it, i should not be in this much pain as thousands of people suffer from it.
Im worried its more than that now. Even struggling to lie on my stomach the other day, reaching to get something under my daughters bed. (Why are teenage girls so lazy lol) i was in agony all day & it literally feels like ive been kicked in the back by a dozen shire horses. Thats why im so worried! But, i guess I'll find out on the 23rd. The first major challenge is on the 16th at the tribunal, not sure what i will do if that goes against me as i keep thinking, as im in agony, dripping with sweat etc & can barely move, who the Hell would employ me!!! Xx
Carolineq8 Guest
Posted
Hi Ritchie my friend 😊I'm exactly the same, can't shop, do house work, walk my chiawhua in the park which is 30 yards away, ah it's agonising and they've said the same to me...ddd...they said I had failed fusion but now it's fine and they don't want to see me until March so I'm trying to find out what's wrong with me also, I think it might be faucet joint syndrome, check it out, jus tbecause the injections didn't work it dosnt mean that's not the source of your pain, it's worth looking into, my surgeon also said there was nothing more he can do but I don't believe him I just don't think they have the resources for long term suffered like us we're young and costing the system to much so they want to shove opioids on us. I can't have a stimulator because I have a cyst on my thoracic cord caused by the fusion and theyneed to monitor it yearly.
There's a new technique called glider faucet restoration, it replaces fusion but I don't think it's available in this country.
Good luck for the 16th and 23rd, let me know how it goes, keeping my fingers crossed mate😊
Oh and Ye teenage boys are worse😂😂
Carolineq8 Guest
Posted
Oh and by the way it's 3 per year and there's other injections available if they don't work, make sure they don't fob you off mate 😊
Guest Carolineq8
Posted
It's bloody horrible init Caroline. The worse thing is the frustration as well as the pain!.
Im 49yrs old for christ sake!!
I had an extension built to turn a 2 bedroom bungalow into a 4 bedroom house not 10yrs ago. The builders built the outside shell & me, myself & i, did everything else, all on my own, the bedrooms, bathroom, all the plumbing, wiring, carpentry etc. The one & only thing i didn't do as i was crap at it was the plastering!
Thats why im so very angry & frustrated. Cus i could do all that, but now, if i carry summat as little as 10kgs, as far as 10 yards, i just lock up with cramp in my back & struggle to move! Aaaaarggghhh the frustration because i used to be able to do it! Now i cant work even though i would love too. And you've got the idiots at DWP trying to make my life total hell so I'll give up & go back to work!!
I WOULD LOVE TOO BUT MY BODY SAYS NO!!!!!!!!!
Carolineq8 Guest
Posted
Yip I totally get it, we also converted 2 houses into one doing most of the work and now I can't clean it or decorate, I can't even put a load of washing in without being laid up for an hour, I watch people do the simplest of things like stand and have a conversation without even thinking about it and I just want to be so like that again, I watch people just walk down the street like it's nothing and wander why I can't do something so simple and the docs saying there's nothing we can do but what I don't think they understand is we just want to be normal again, they've got a lot to answer for!! 😡😡😊
Carolineq8
Posted
I worry about stupid things as well Ritchie, I bet you do to, my husband is 53 and works about 70 hours a week and I get scared if he hurts himself then we are done. When you join a forum like this it makes you realise how many people are suffering with terrible disabilities and no one gives a s...
A saying my Mam always used....as long as youve got your health....😊
Guest Carolineq8
Posted
They so have Caroline.
As i said, it's the frustration that really gets to me!!
To think 2yrs ago i had a great job, lovely car, but i knew really that the Oxycontin was gonna screw me up & it was only a matter of time, hence, where i am now!!
Please try to keep your chin up Caroline!
Keep smiling, hopefully our day will come soon Sweetheart!!
Take great care!!
Ritchie xx
Guest Carolineq8
Posted
My mum said the same, that health is the most important thing, if you have that then you're fine.
But, so many take it for granted. Look at us for example, one day fine, then, woooooh, hang on, what the hell happened in the last 12months that totally destroyed my totally normal, happy healthy life!!!???
Thats how it goes Caroline. The good in me hopes it never happens to anyone else but, that little Devil that sits on our shoulder really does hope & prey that, it happens to those MP's who dont give a damn, the gp's who put us in this position & the DWP who blatantly Lie & cheat to meet targets!!!
You & your husband take care sweetheart!!!
Ritchie xx
Carolineq8 Guest
Posted
emmyloue Carolineq8
Posted
Hi guys. I replied to both your posts, but not sure what happened. Ironically, my Husband and I renovated several houses together! We were always off cycling, or hiking, or at the gym. We also took a year out and travelled across Asia, Australasia, and Southern Africa. Now I can't do anything much except watch the world go by and it is just soul destroying. I too just want so desperately to be 'me' again. To be able to be a proper Wife and Mother. My little girl has only ever known me like this. In bed, in pain, and terribly sad. I've had a reduction in pain since my failed fusion for DDD was revised (not on the NHS mind. They refused to do it, even though they knew I was suicidal. We had to use our savings to pay half, then both sides of the family paid the rest. It still annoys the hell out of me that they did such a poor job of the work, and yet we had to pay to get it rectified. Now we don't have enough money to extend our little 2 bed cottage, and being cramped up in this house does my mental health no good at all). Coming off the opioids has helped a lot and I no longer face the nightly trauma of severe pain that I used to, thank God. But I'm still nowhere near able to work. And I hear you about the bloody ESA. I just don't have the mental energy to contend with them anymore. But that's exactly what they rely on. They make it such a long convoluted process. Having to PROVE how ill you are, when any person with even a modicum of sense and a bit of empathy can see that. We're just too weak and exhausted to fight them anymore. So we just give up. They win. B*******.
emmyloue Carolineq8
Posted
I have replied yet again, but I probably said something I shouldn't, because it's being moderated. I hope you're both OK. Totally understand the "what the hell happened to my life". I'm only 39, and I feel like the best years of my life have been stolen from me. This started for me in my early 20s, but got really bad after I prolapsed a disc picking my Daughter up 7 years ago. It breaks my heart that we all have to go through this, but there's no big charity backing our cause like there is for other life changing diseases. We are just given highly addictive drugs, then left to rot.
Guest emmyloue
Posted
Don't worry about the moderators on here Emmylou, as they delete most things with nothing wrong anyway! Ask Carolineq8!!!
That's this once great country of ours, leave you to rot & don't wanna know unless you've got many £millions in the bank!! Other than that, you're on your own, left to rot in the mess they put you in sweetheart!!
Hope you're ok!
Ritchie xx
emmyloue Guest
Posted
Apart from feeling like complete crap, I'm OK. Not sure I can take another 5 weeks of this though! Still 150mg Zomorph to go. Coming down 30mg a week. Just feel like I've got a bad virus. Achey, joint/limb pain, stomach cramps, nausea, headache. Can't sleep, eat, feel so weak and exhausted. So tempted to just go cold turkey now. Get it over with. Would be at possibly the worst time of year too. I spent last Christmas alone in bed all day due to pain/exhaustion. Really don't want to miss another one with my little girl 😕. The dumbest thing is, if I'd been abusing my medication, I could get support. Both meds and group therapy, but because I'm taking it as prescribed, there's nothing there for me. My GP has told me she's "out of her depth" and refuses to give me anything for the side effects, including the severe depression and anxiety I'm experiencing. I ended up in A&E 3 weeks ago as I tried to take my own life. It's unbelievable the way she had behaved. First the Fentanyl, then leaving me to go through Opioid detox completely alone ??. There are no words I can put on here that can describe how much I hate that woman!!
How are you? Hope your back isn't giving you too much grief. Emma -xx-
Guest emmyloue
Posted
It really is terrible how you've been treated & spoken too!!
Which Is why I said to talk to the surgery manager, every surgery has one & it's part of their job, tell them how this GP made you feel!
If you get no joy then get in touch with your MP. I got in touch with mine when I was refused any help & he was very good & got in touch with the top people in the county demanding that they help me.
One other thing you can do for help is contact "Release" they're a drug charity who, without their help, I wouldn't be here now! They opened doors for me that had been slammed shut in my face! This is their N0:
02073242972
My back is getting worse to be honest & is a real struggle at times. I'm waiting for another lot of injections to see if that helps but no idea when that will happen.
Good luck Emma xx
emmyloue Guest
Posted
Thanks so much for your reply Richie. We are going to write a letter of complaint. Just hard when my head is so messed and DH is flat out at work. Will give that number a go.
Not sure what happened to my replies to Andy. So mad they've just vanished. Took me ages to write. Just posted another shorter one. So frustrating! Feel like opening up a FB group for us and other Chronic Pain/Opioid Users which we wouldn't moderate to death, or 'lose' people's comments! 😠
emmyloue Guest
Posted
Sorry. Missed the bottom bit. Really sorry to hear your pain isn't improving. God it sucks. I've spent most of my adult life trying to help and support people and their families with disabilities. Now I've got one myself and I can't do anything for anyone! I wish more than anything I could take it away for you. I hope the dates for the injections don't take too long to come. Keep strong. Emma xx
emmyloue
Posted
I meant your worsening pain sucks. Not my not being able to support people like ourselves in a practical way. Although that sucks too, because I miss my job and hate being housebound, but mostly because I can't *really* help anymore (I used to be a disabilities Social Worker and put care packages in place for people with both physical and learning disabilities, so they could be more independent, or at least have someone to care for them and assist in the home. Just in case you were wondering what I was blathering on about! 😊
Guest emmyloue
Posted
Thanks Emma, I knew what you meant 👍
Apart from the pain it's how so very frustrated & angry I get with myself for not being able to do simple things that I always took for granted!
Even things like washing the dishes puts me in pain from standing in one position for a couple of minutes, so frustrating i cant explain but, you know exactly what I mean because it's the same for you!
I was reading one of your previous posts about DWP & giving up, which is exactly what they want us to do as you rightly said! & which is what i would've done if it wasnt for support of my family & partner! I went for 3 months without a single penny as they stopped my ESA after saying i was fit to work because i didnt know i was entitled to anything! The DWP didnt tell me, citizens advice did when i went to them as i was nearly kicked out my flat, I just didn't know which way to turn!
I was telling Caroline, when I won my ESA tribunal appeal in November, the DWP sent a reprsentative along, I'd just finished answering the judges question about how, due to bedroom tax, instead of the £73.10 I was getting, I was having to pay £26.24 out of that per wk for an extra bedroom & i couldn't afford to buy food etc. The woman from the DWP then said & i quote: "if your back is as bad as you claim it to be, why don't you catch taxis everywhere"
After staring at her in total disbelief, I kept calm & just said this: "with all due respect, you've just heard me tell the judge I can barely afford to buy a pint of milk, please tell me how i can find the money to pay for taxis, if you can, I'll gladly go into business with you & we can both retire as millionaires"
And there in lies part of the big problem Emma, they're specially chosen as they don't have any emotions or feelings at all towards their fellow human beings, end of!!!
Not from this planet etc especially the robots they use to do the inhumane assessments where they're all specially trained to tell blatant lies when writing out the assessment report which I proved mine had done!!! 😊
Guest emmyloue
Posted
I've sent you a private message Emma xx