Butran patches

hezmarie25
hezmarie25 Member Posts: 63
edited 28. Mar 2009, 12:15 in Living with Arthritis archive
Hi all
I have posted a few things on here and I am relatively new. A few people have asked me about my medication that I said I was on in my original post.
It is butran patches which is buprenorphine. It is a controlled drug and is available in 5/10 and 20 micrograms per hour.
I started on 5 and my gp put me upto 10 two weeks ago and next week he wants to put me on two patches a 5 and a 10 to see how I go.
I was very, very concerned when I first got the prescription and read the leaflet as they are addictive so I got it into my head to try them and if they helped the pain a lot then I would give them a shot, if they only helped a little then I would not as I dont really want to become addicted.
At first I felt very drowsy, very sick but gp gave me tablets to stop this, couldn't drive, was as itchy as hell, very constipated, dry mouth infact I felt rubbish and was ready to give up. On the 4th day I woke up and thought oh, the pain, its not bad! Over the next few days as the patch got to work I realised that my pain was greatly reduced and I felt like a new woman. Yes I fall asleep at times but I did that anyway because I could not sleep because of the pain and I still occasionally feel sick. The itching has almost gone but for me the pain relief I have is brilliant and I feel after taking different meds for years I have finely got something that works for me. I hated taking tablets every day and the amounts of pain killers was getting higher and higher.
Anyway, I just thought I would let you know exactly what the medication is and if anyone needs any further info please let me know.
Keep well everyone and keep smiling
Love Heather x