The Fentanyl Dance and Oprah, Girlfriend! Where have you gone?

Today, I am finally back to my usual  state of pain partially controlled by pain medication.  For years Fentanyl and I have been doing the same dance.  When one partner starts to wear out another one smoothly attaches to my back and we waltz to the music of no pain, no gain. It is one variation of a set of dances called the Combo Pain Relief Mombo.

Last week, I started having terrible itching on a part of my back that was underneath a patch.  I have been having minor episodes of itching before but never one that lasted this long.  I took Benadryl and my spouse sprayed Benadryl around the patches.  Nothing helped and I put up with the itching until early the next morning when my patches were scheduled to be changed.  My spouse wiped the area with anti-adhesive pads.  We hypothosized (how many  times have all of us had to do that, we should be scientists) that too much adhesive had built up under my skin over time and perhaps we should try another area.

So, we placed the patches on another area.  Some background info: My dance with Fentanyl started off as more of a jerk with a lurch.  Any metabolic or hormonal changes affect how much Fentanyl gets into my system.  Every month, when I had estrogen changes right before my period, I would receive less Fentanyl throughout my system.  Also, I found out as a lot of people have that my patches ran out of the medication before 72 hours.  Things were really rough before I was given any break through meds. 

Anyway, back to my recent adventure.  the new area where we placed the patches did not  receive constant pressure as my back does.  Within a day or so, I was starting to have withdrwal symptoms which included yawning, joint pain, tiredness and irritability. 

I mentioned these symtpoms to my dh and he deduced that the problem was probably because we put the patches in a location that had less pressure.  So, he placed them in a different place that had more pressure contact.  I felt better after a little while but then I started having withdrawal symptoms again.  So we huddled again for a new game plan.  We are having to tape the patches on at this point because of course they've lost their sticky power and you all know that the patches are priceless, a limited quantity carefully counted by the pharmacist.  We deduced that perhaps the place where he had applied the patches had more subcutaneous fat.  So once again, my dedicated dh, placed the patches in yet another place.  Finally, this morning, success! Now the dance begins again.

My last comments are regarding the latest gab through the grapevine.  Oprah and Dr. Oz!

Et tu Brute?  I don't expect Oprah to be a medical expert but what happened to that massive staff she has who is supposed to research everything.  Oh, Dr. Oz, you were one of my last hopes that the medical community at large knew anything.  You know a lot about feces but regarding pain you do not know bull chips.