Methadone or fentanyl patch?!
Question: which is more powerful; Methadone 5mg or fentanyl patch 15 mcg? I was just switched from the methadone to the patch by my pain doc b/c the methadone was making me so sick. Just wondering. Thanks!
Answers: which is more powerful; Methadone 5mg or fentanyl patch 15 mcg? I was just switched from the methadone to the patch by my pain doc b/c the methadone was making me so sick. Just wondering. Thanks!
Well provided you read the above answers; also these are two different acting opiates. Fentanyl is extremely fast acting and Methadone works by keeping ALL your pain receptors filled constantly. It's like Methadone keeps all your pain covered BUT, small milligrams dictate a thin wall (Still blocking) and higher milligrams the wall gets thicker Keeping the pain from penetrating better than a thin one does.
Fentanyl does not work like this. You only need a trace amount of this. Methadone works entirely different. And maintains a flat blood level throughout. But the patch system does also, but still hits higher. Fentanyl administered any other way than the patch would hit you like a ton of bricks. And boy would you know it. To say Fentanyl is one of the strongest pain-killers out there. Let me put it this way. It is the strongest pain-killer on the planet. And yes it is considerably stronger than.......read a PDR. It will tell you.
This is sort of like comparing a shot of whiskey to a single beer. Even though your consuming the same amount of alcohol, your gonna feel the whiskey quicker but not necessarily be more intoxicated. It would be the same amount. .By this virtue Milligram per milligram a Percocet is stronger than 5mg's of methadone, initially and than drops like a rock, where the Methadone maintains. You think it is stronger but really isn't. The Methadone will prevail. A perception, not medical fact. Just an analogy to explain how difficult of a question this is too answer. I am trying.
Just 5mg's of methadone made you sick so you get a Fentanyl patch?
The Fentanyl in this situation might be evenly distributed and slower in this situation and I assure you is gonna work better on your pain than the 5 mg's of Methadone so in your case it might be stronger. I would bet my life on it. It's gonna hit higher regardless. Is it fundamentally stronger? Like comparing apples and oranges.
But remember, the enitire reason you got sick off the Methadone in the first place was the fact it was too much for you, hence too powerful. Why a Fentanyl patch? Just goes to show it has an entirely diffent method of action. Maybe the next guy can answer this question in a question.
from what ive heard is that fentanyl is the strongest pain med they have out right now, my friend has had problems for the last 10 years with an accident he was in..he's gone through every medication from percocet to oxy contin to morphine..hes now on the fentanyl patch..he's up to 75 mcg but started on 25 mcg, he says that nothing has worked as well as this did
Your question is not actually possible to answer. Fentanyl Patches deliver 12.5 mcg per hr, 25 mcg per hr, 50 mcg per hr, 75 mcg per hr or 100 mcg per hr. There is no 15 mcg per hr patch as you are asking about. Additionally, methadone is usually supplied in 5 or 10 mg tablets and is usually given more than once per day. A correct comparison can only be made after totaling your daily dose of methadone.
If you edit the information a more correct evaluation might be possible. However, if you take a daily dose of 10 to 44 mg of methadone daily, you would normally consider using 25 mcg per hr of fentanyl in the transdermal patch.
I hope this helps.
They're such different meds it's difficult to compare. Fetanyl is an anesthetic used to put people out for surgery. In the tiny dosages we recieve in the patches it works as a pain med.
The first med that my pain doctor tried me on 15 years ago was methadone because it is the least expensive but I just couldn't tolerate the side effects and continue to function. I have found that the fentanyl is more affective at a low enough dosage to allow me to function normally. It shouldn't matter which is stronger, all that matters is what works best for you. If you're not getting relief from the patch give it some time. You're on a very small dosage as you should be to start. Keep track of your pain day to day and tell your doctor how your doing on your next visit. He may move you up to a larger patch after you've adjusted. You'll notice on the box that it emphasizes "only for opiode tolerant patients". Adjusting your dosage must be a gradual process. I began on a 25mcg/hr patch and moved up little by little until finding the dosage that made my pain tolerable but did not make me drowsy or give any other side effects.
I get confused by questions like this? Sorry! I have never been 'offered' any pain killer choice. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and so would only take a simple Tylex if I felt I had tried everything else: shower, swim, sauna, steam, massage, walk, handstand, creams, TENs whatever I could do to ease my pain. If it all failed then I would pop a Tylex. Next I know my GP puts a Fentanyl Patch on me after seeing my MRI and off I went? Three days of vomiting, ended up having a injection to stop this and then my body went normal again. However, I have met people who have stated 'Tried that was sick gave it up' without asking if the Doc could give you 'something' to stop the vomiting. I assumed; silly me that because I had ruptured a disc, all the way around the hard shell, they would surgically remove it, certainly not stick a band aid on me, all new to me! However that was 2 years ago and I am still using the Patch, will do for another 10-15 years. At time I try and hold off on the 72 hour patch change, extend it just to see how the spine is holding up. Few belts and I know the time is not yet right to come off the Patch. Pain is such a individual feeling and when I landed with my GP and said 'I have Stigamata' as in the wounds of Christ, he simply said 'Neuropathy, we have something for that!' As you can tell I am not good at describing pain. would rather forget about it. As for switching or dosage, out of my depth with this! The last time the disc danced: disco as I call it my legs crumpled and down I went holding onto my privates. The on call GP told me to stick another patch on, only if I had someone to keep an eye on me, in case I slipped into a Coma. I will be honest, going into a Coma seemed like a nice pain free alternative, however I stuck the patch on and came too about six hours later exhausted. I really prefer to let the experts deal with pain and pain killing drugs, as I really have no experience. However outside the Fentanyl Patch, I am on Lyrica and Valium, on top of anti-inflammatory and have just returned from a 3 mile walk, about to iron some curtains, so I really have no complaints. I really wish you all the Best, just remember different drugs for very diverse types of pain.
WAS JUST PUT ON THE PATCH. I AM ON THE 50 strength and it has only helped a little. I am also on oxycodone and oxycontin. I am also on gabapentin. I heard from my friend who lives in the apt. downstairs that she is going off the oxycodone and on the methodone and she is feeling wonderful. Your pain Dr. should put you on the patch first.