Does anyone know anything about fentanyl

[Arcanetrance]

My dad was put on it recently by his pain management doctor. Reading through the drug info on the Internet it really worries. Does anyone have any experience with it and can tell me whether or not I'm worrying myself over nothing.

[Warpy]

1. Fentanyl is an extremely powerful synthetic opiate

It's used in patches for chronic pain and IV during and after surgery. Following instructions with the patches is vital, as is proper disposal of them. Junkies who have cut the used patches open have rarely absorbed a lethal dose. Mostly they kill themselves when they squeeze the contents out of the patches and inject it.

I'm guessing your dad isn't a junkie.

If he becomes oversedated on it, remove the patch and call the doctor. Make sure he has on only one patch at a time, removing the old patch before applying the new patch. Otherwise, it's a safe, slow delivery of a very good drug for chronic pain.

[Arcanetrance]

2. Thank you for your response

I've got everything marked down as far as date and time to change it and all that. The doctor started him at 50 micrograms or whatever

[Warpy]

3. Right, that's a typical starting dose.

Just be really careful about those patches, making sure the old one is off before a new one goes on.

That's the cause of the trouble I've seen people running into, the drug spaces them out enough they forget to remove the patches. "Grandpa's sleeping more than usual" because he had FOUR of them on.

Grandpa was one tough old bird, thank goodness.