Use of the fentanyl dermal patch.

Yes, I wore the patches for several months for chronic migraines. I wore two 75 mcg patches that I changed every 3 days. Very effective but ultra expensive without insurance. Also, I think it exacerbated my depression. I think because it numbed any and all pain. Good luck!

Glad to read where you had better results than I did.

The patches seemed somewhat effective for me for a few years, not enough to get me back to a, "I'm a human being and can do stuff I would like to, like stay employed," state. But, the pain was significantly worse without one and the withdrawal symptoms when a patch was ruined we pretty hellish when combined with the naked pain. I don't remember it doitmuch for my head pain as it seems to respond quite differently. If it works better for you, that's awesome.

If there are other options you might yryhttttt5eliminate first, from my experience, I'd try those possibilities first.

We lived near one of the world's largest medical center, but still something needed several afternoons cv a pharmacy that could reliably $fill the script. Some locations would not even look to see if they had them in stock unless we physically handed them the written script. Wonderful as that would take 45min to even drive there.

If you come in close contact with others you will always have to make absolutely sure they don't touch the patches, or the plastic stickum covers or the inside of the pouch a patch comes in. The printed warnings state that anyone who touches any of these items should be rushed to an ER. Certain physical acts of marritible affection had to be done with caution. Raising a toddler was also difficult f_as it took a lot of effort to get them to not just jump on me, etc.
An officer reportedly arrested someone, came into 2° contact with the fentanyl and had to be rushed to ER after collapsing. I don't remember the other symptoms, maybe seizure or respratory distress.

I'm not sure if I'm trying to scare you off or just make sure you are well informed. As my head pain grew worse or perhaps more resistant, I had to try something else, we had an internal pump installed. We were extremely happy to get those patches out of our lives.

You might consider switching to buprenorphine patch from fentanyl patch? Fentanyl has greater side effects, only lasts 3 days vs 7 days for buprenorphine, less constipation, is cheaper. Here is a study comparing the two for treating long term non-cancer pain.
https://academic.oup.com/painmedicine/article/14/1/75/1858341
And here is more info for buprenorphine too.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4675640/
I’ve been on buprenorphine patch for about 3 years having failed morphine ER capsules. I began on 15mcg but after a week increased to 20mcg where I’ve been for majority of 3 years. After 34 years of back pain I’m finally in a pretty good place. As my back continues to deteriorate from spinal OA, PN and osteoporosis I keep on exercising, walking 2 miles daily, gym 3x week. As long as I’m moving I’m good.

Was prescribed 3 fentanyl patches and instructed to replaced 1 every 3 days. Why when I applied the prescribed fentanyl patch did it work at relieving most the pain the first day but by day three was not effective for my back pain. What was really odd was when I went in for the required urine drug screening every three days they told me the fentanyl did not show up in any of the test even though I showed them I was wearing a patch I inquire as to whether it was somehow possible for them to be using the wrong type of testing or the medication to enter my system all in the first day leaving none for the next two Dr. said no and yet I continued to use my last patch only to get the same results. I was puzzled as to why this was happening and asked if there was another form I could use instead. My doctor replied no. It wasn't until I got the idea a couple of weeks later to look it up and found it does come in a pill form did I get the disgusting feeling that he must have thought I was a drug seeker or something. I know the situation was very odd or suspicious but I didn't have the answers. It was great to be relieved from the suffering back pain of a decade. I want to just skip the patch because maybe it enters my metabolism too quick or something. Why couldn't I tried another way? I'd sure like to hear from anyone else who's had a similar experience. I don't know how I could be the only one.

I had no relief from using the patch. So, I went back to taking Oxycodone.

I wore them for about 3 years. I found only the ones made by Mylan worked(Watson made ones did not). I also wore a Nexcare clear bandaid/patch over the Fentanyl patch. You made need increased dose or change the patch more frequently. I startedwith 12.5mcg patch that I changed every 3days. When I finally said "Enough", I was wearing a 75mcg patch that I changed every 48 hours. All under dr supervision. I was never tested to see how much was in my system. My dr explained the vicious pain/pain relief cycle and how meds have to be increased as we build tolerance.

I was on 75 mcg patches for about a year for chronic migraines. That was over 20 years ago and they were incredibly effective but when I moved and had different insurance I couldn’t find anyone who would prescribe them plus my insurance wouldn’t pay for them. In retrospect they were almost too powerful and deadened my pain as well as the rest of me. I flew into a horrible depression and am glad to be off of them. I was put on methadone for years until Botox injections came along and they’ve been helping me for at least 8 years until recently. I don’t remember who the manufacturer of them was but at the time I think there was only one. Sounds to me like you’ve gotten a bad batch. Best of luck to you, it’s powerful stuff.

Opioids were massively oversubscribed for years as a money making racket by doctors. Now we have swung the pendulum too far in the other direction.

Sorry to hear that. I have a long list of major things that were already enough to warrant the need to be on opioid medication for my pain management. And then I was diagnosed with primary progressive MS.
Prior to this long process of elimination to arrive at MS-- I was just fine with the 50mcg fentanyl patch and hydromorphone 8mg tablets x4 daily. This was in combination with my epilepsy meds - Klonopin since age 7, titrated up over the last 40 years to 16mg daily. Pregabalin capsules were added after I had an aneurysm burst in my brain causing a subarachnoid bleed and subsequent series of 3 massive hemorrhagic strokes. Pregabalin was after a long list of other ASMs which were either ineffective, or intolerable. Keppra, Topamax, Zonisamide, Carbamazepine, and many other 2nd & 3rd generation ASMs (not to mention all of the 1st gen & early 2nd gen ASMs I had already been tried on throughout my childhood, teenage years, and as a young man such as phenytoin and phenobarbital).
I mention this because of the fact that pregabalin helped me with my pain as well as quieting down the seizures.
Additionally, a muscle relaxer has been a great tool for my pain management. I currently take Baclofen although I have been on Soma which worked well for my muscle spasms and cramping, along with the strains I get by trying to do most basic need-type of things that are okay one day, and then gone from my capability the next.
As far as the fentanyl transdermal system and your husband go, I can say with absolute certainly from my 19 years on the same thing, times-tolerance is a very real thing that is humanly unavoidable unless a person doesn't wear the patch and/or take their dosage in full, every single day, and never stop for more than 6 months, with the outcome being a substantial difference with that duration increasing to years, and even decades. *Some people, a very small percentage are given the gift of never experiencing this, but that percentage is less than 1 in 10 Million. And there's no data beyond a very small abstract study with less than 150 people who were actually able to be monitored consistently over the 36 months of the trial.
The 2nd thing that is definitely a factor in your husband's case is the insanity of the changes in the overall amount of medicine that each system contains. This used to be fairly uniform: 100mcg patch contained 16.5 mg of fentanyl. The amount began to fluctuate by the manufacturer, and different manufacturers were and are still, not created equal.
Sandoz, Teva, Mylan, and Mallingkrodt were leaders with the better quality matrix formulas. However they have been discontinued - and the alternatives are not the same. Each one I've found has 10mg per system for the 100mcg, 5mg for the 50s 2.5 for the 25s etc. And that's a huge deal! Not to mention, I uses to get stuck with different types whenever the pharmacy got a different type - until I would go through withdrawal as a guinea pig to find a new one that worked for me without burning my skin or something else wonderful like that, and then have my doctor write, "Dispense as written" wjth the name of the one that worked as "medically necessary" and list the ones that were caustic as, "Do not dispense, Severe Allergy" or whatever the doctor and my pharmacist said to use for language to be placed in my file as an electronic note that throws a red flag if someone accidentally tries to fill with one of the bad ones.
Anyway, all of this information is available on this site and the FDA site drugs.com -- forums going back 20 years with real people like myself in a Q&A discussion format, as well as reviews on each medication with the reason why each person is taking it, for how long, and so much other content related to...

I hope you and your husband are well, and that my mini novel here while I am in too much pain to sleep, proves to be of some sort of help to you.

Take care,
Michael