Pain Relief - A Life Changer?

BuTrans Patches - Anyone used these? Any info gratefully received.

Had them prescribed for me this afternoon and have just applied the first 7 day patch, which I am told could "change my life" They take 24 hours to start working so roll on tomorrow afternoon when I could be pain free for the first time in about seven years.

If they work as well as I am led to believe I am thinking that at a fair bit more exercise will be possible which will help not only with my diabetes but my respiratory problems as well so a win win situation hopefully :thumbup:

Really quite excited by this development :fingers crossed smiley:

Cheers Geoff, so far so good :thumbup: About 16 hours since the patch went on and this morning I dont feel too bad just a slight twinge in my right leg but not anything bad as is usual.

I did/do feel a little groggy though and very mildly dizzy but I am hoping that will pass shortly. The real test will be late afternoon and this evening when I would usually be in considerable discomfort and popping codeine.

Actually Buprenorphine (BuTrans) is a lot safer than the DF118 Dihydrocodeine 40mg that I have been using for pain relief with a significantly lower level of dependency associated with it which is one of the reasons it was suggested to me. So thankfully no worries on that front thanks

minitata said:

I take 8 30/500 co-codamol a day - I moved down from morphine when I was found to have a gangrenous gall-bladder :sick: - for multi sited pain. Is your patch for multi site or just one area?

I'd love some real pain relief - to be pain free would be amazing.

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I was taking co codamol before being put on codeine 40mg (DF118) which is a lot stronger than co codamol and did work well for me but caused very bad constipation which is associated with all opioids and I was loathe to take them except when the pain was unmanageable any other way, like hot gel packs on the lower back. I should mention that my pain is caused by osteoarthritis of the lower spine (spondyltis) but I get pain in my lower back and related neurological pains down my right leg caused by damaged nerves around the lumber region. The leg pain can be anywhere from the tip of my big toe to the inside of my thigh upto the groin, kinda like sciatica.

So with the codeine I would take two 40mg tabs every 4 hours when the pain was bad so thats an 80mg hit of opioid analgesic where as the BuTrans is a slow release patch that at the strength I am trying is 10mg per hour so once it has fully kicked in (24 hours) there should be no peaks and troughs in the pain I get.

I did look at one pain relief forum yesterday where the term "life changing" was used by quite a few people. I was told it is rarely given to opioid naive patients but as you have already been on morphine perhaps it is a possibility. My GP was keen to get me off the codeine anyway, of course I would have no idea if they would be appropriate in your situation but it may well be worth asking your GP about them.

Well the first patch went on Wednesday afternoon so I'm what, three days in and so far it seems to be working great, I still get occasional twinges in my leg but unlike before they dont last long and are not that bad either.

Plus points over Codeine:
Put on patch and forget it, gives an even level of pain relief.
So far no sickness which was always a problem when taking codeine.
Last two days no constipation, again always a problem with opioids.
Three strengths of patch, I am trying the 10mg per hour patch which is the middle strength and it seems to be working very well for me.

Negative points: Still some insomnia but no more than with Codeine.
Some slight moments of dizziness, well more light headedness really. I felt a bit groggy the first morning but that has not happened since, so could have been unconnected.

I have read some reports of skin rashes after patches are removed and even of open sores but I guess that depends on how sensitive you are to the adhesive in the plasters, hopefully I shall be OK but I will keep an eye on it. The patches have to be rotated to different areas of skin each time they are changed and must be placed on a hair free area which for me means shaving a small area on my upper arm.
You can shower and even swim with the patches on but there is a warning not to let them get too warm/hot as heat can cause more of the drug to be released, so there is a need to be careful sunbathing, not a problem for me as I dont do sun bathing anyway and hot gel packs should not be employed to the patch, why would you duh!

I am due to change the patch next Wednesday and then have a follow up appointment to 'see how its going' and if alls well should get them placed on my repeat prescription. I was just given two patches as a trial.

So, so far I am very happy with the results, a life changer? I am quietly optimistic :thumbup: