Has anyone had bad side effects to buprenorphine patches?

Posted by lgumerman @lgumerman, Oct 2, 2023

I had horrible allergic reaction to buprenorphine patches. My doctor was ingnorant of these reactions so I did my own tracking of symptoms and discontinued use of the patch and symptoms went away. What symptoms did you or do you know about? I had uncontrollable spasms, slurred speech, breathing problems, drop in white blood cells (detected in ER), intense stomach pain (my reason for taking this patch), hallucinations, and more. I had to visit the ER 3 times. Anyone else? Liz

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Wow. It's good you were able to discontinue. I'm sure you aren't the only one to draw this unlucky card.

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I only had nausea and some skin reaction so what you are seeing is quite unusual I would think. My son used patches too and only had the skin rash issues sometimes but with a cortisone cream it was fine. I am assuming it is for your chronic pain. My son moved to ketamine wafers and now no patches. Ketamine works for some people with chronic pain, and you can avoid the opioid impacts so many people suffer from. It was a game-changer for him - no more patch-related issues, no opioid side effects, and far less pain. The difficulty is finding that specialist to see if it works for you. For some people, it does not work, or the side effects are too much. We are all built differently. One trick we did learn is to take goat weed or milk thistle tablets which help keep your liver much happier. It is so frustrating when what helps becomes worse than the original issue.

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@csearch

I only had nausea and some skin reaction so what you are seeing is quite unusual I would think. My son used patches too and only had the skin rash issues sometimes but with a cortisone cream it was fine. I am assuming it is for your chronic pain. My son moved to ketamine wafers and now no patches. Ketamine works for some people with chronic pain, and you can avoid the opioid impacts so many people suffer from. It was a game-changer for him - no more patch-related issues, no opioid side effects, and far less pain. The difficulty is finding that specialist to see if it works for you. For some people, it does not work, or the side effects are too much. We are all built differently. One trick we did learn is to take goat weed or milk thistle tablets which help keep your liver much happier. It is so frustrating when what helps becomes worse than the original issue.

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I had a reaction to a compounded cream made for my nerve pain in my feet.
It contained 4-5 different meds and my feet broke out in a measles type rash.
Don’t know if they were itchy because I have no feeling in my feet.
Once I stopped the cream, the rash went away after several days.
"

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@csearch

I only had nausea and some skin reaction so what you are seeing is quite unusual I would think. My son used patches too and only had the skin rash issues sometimes but with a cortisone cream it was fine. I am assuming it is for your chronic pain. My son moved to ketamine wafers and now no patches. Ketamine works for some people with chronic pain, and you can avoid the opioid impacts so many people suffer from. It was a game-changer for him - no more patch-related issues, no opioid side effects, and far less pain. The difficulty is finding that specialist to see if it works for you. For some people, it does not work, or the side effects are too much. We are all built differently. One trick we did learn is to take goat weed or milk thistle tablets which help keep your liver much happier. It is so frustrating when what helps becomes worse than the original issue.

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What kind of doctor prescribed ketamine wafers? I have heard about ketamine infusions but not wafers. Thks for your input.

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lgumerman you need to find a younger ketamine specialist who believes in wafers as some of the older generations still only do infusions which is so much tougher on the body or are done in the hospital. They will likely do infusions to start with, monitor your reaction, pain levels and liver function for a period of time then if all is good transition to a wafer where you can manage the treatment without the ups and downs of an infusion. Look up ketamine treatments in Miami and you will find some options to call. Ketamine is not for everyone but if it works it can be a game-changer as my son has seen. He got his life back,

harley22 sounds like you had a reaction to the combination of medicines. A colleague of mine has exactly the same issue with a bad rash and other issues which a doctor finally worked out was related to the combination of medicines in the compound they had made up. Again, we are all different which is why this one-size-fits-all mentality annoys the hell out of me for pain-related medicines. On an opioid, I get 3 hours of relief, while a friend of mine gets 12 hours of relief yet we get treated the same generic way. One day we will have a tailor-made system where this is all calculated by a simple test and a medicine will be formulated. I think many people will be glad when an alternative to opioids is finally released which is nonaddictive and more efficient. Roll on that day.

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The information sheet says it will rot your teeth. I want to keep mine so after paying 75.00 with my co- pay l dropped them off at a drug return drop at cvs. Waisted my money. My pain management doctor didn't tell me any of this he just wanted to give me more drugs, get paid and see his next patient. He is almost like these facilities that hand out drugs to anyone who will pay him. But since I have chronic pain due to a bad neck surgery I have to keep seeing him. A lot of doctors in my area are not prescribing narcotics anymore and I have been on a Fentanyl patch for my pain for four years now. I'm lowering the dose because it's effecting my liver. And a host of other illnesses I'm dealing with right now. I have a Mayo clinic appointment this month to evaluate my liver because my GI doctor can't do anything further to help me. I have unexplained weight loss, insomnia, anxiety disorder, GI problems, and my endocrinologist is testing my adrenal glands to see if they are being affected also.

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The literature that comes with it tells you it will rot your teeth. You need to see if you can live with that.

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@lildiva4jc

The literature that comes with it tells you it will rot your teeth. You need to see if you can live with that.

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I have been on Buprenorphine buccal patches for a few months for neuropathy pain. It is the only medication that helps. So far, no side effects. I’m 83 and have all my teeth which I take good care of. If they do rot it will be worth it to get the pain relief for advanced neuropathy after more than 10 years of pain from several different problems. I have to weigh the benefits.
The patches do make me sleepy and I don’t like that.

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@sidegate

I have been on Buprenorphine buccal patches for a few months for neuropathy pain. It is the only medication that helps. So far, no side effects. I’m 83 and have all my teeth which I take good care of. If they do rot it will be worth it to get the pain relief for advanced neuropathy after more than 10 years of pain from several different problems. I have to weigh the benefits.
The patches do make me sleepy and I don’t like that.

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Yes, a lot of narcotics do this. My Fentanyl patches don't effect me this way. I wish they did since I put them on at night every 72 hours.

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@sidegate

I have been on Buprenorphine buccal patches for a few months for neuropathy pain. It is the only medication that helps. So far, no side effects. I’m 83 and have all my teeth which I take good care of. If they do rot it will be worth it to get the pain relief for advanced neuropathy after more than 10 years of pain from several different problems. I have to weigh the benefits.
The patches do make me sleepy and I don’t like that.

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I have been on Oxycodone for well over a year and these patches have been like waking me up from a coma! Thank you for your feedback I just started using them and I was looking for feedback like yours.

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