MYLAN Duragesic Patch - Problems

[Guest guest]

To all of you who use this brand of Duragesic:

Since being on the duragesic patch, I was on the &

brand for the first 8 or 9 months. I will have been on the MYLAN

patch now for about 2.5 months or so.

Here is my experience--

1. After being on the MYLAN patch for less than a month, I underwent

severe reaction to the regular dose (a reaction not encountered as

much when my prescription was raised from 15 to 50 and then 50 to 75)

which must have been a terrible INCREASE in medication with the 75

patch. All I could do was to sleep, only taking enough time to eat,

drink, or go to the bathroom. I was so affected mentally that I could

not even read a single sentence in a book without having to read it

several times only to fall asleep and to forget what I had read. This

went on for the entire 3-day duration of the patch itself.

2. In my 6th or 7th week I experienced a severe DECREASE in dosage. I

had the heebie geebies really bad. My legs were cramped and sore. My

breathing was labored. I could not sllep for naught because of the

pain and discomfort overall from the lack of this medication. I guess

it was my first experience in detoxification cold turkey! I got

permission from my doctor to change the patch whenever this occurs as

long as I let him know of the circumstance.

3. Just this last week (Sat.-Tues.) I experienced another INCREASE in

dosage and had the same symptoms as I had in #1 above.

Today, I called my doctor and complained about this medication. He

referred me to the pharmacist with my HMO (Kaiser Permanente). The

pharmacist agreed that the MYLAN patch was not working for me and

recommended that I contact my doctor with the information that it

would be permissible for him to write me a new prescription in which

he would write that no generics were to be used.

Now I am faced with a financial burden greater than I had before but,

it seems that it all evens out. Here is my MYLAN expense list for 100

days:

3 scripts for MYLAN

Duragesic $15

1 Carton of 100 bioclusive patches from & $86

Total = $101

The costs for the and product are:

3 scripts for J & J

Duragesic

$45

1 Carton of 100 bioclusive patches from & $00

Total = $ 45

What am I going to do with the extra money? LOL

Seriously, should you EVER suffer any of the above symptoms, it may

well be a sign that you should go back to the J & J product. I would

not wish such suffering as I have had on anyone.

Anyse

[Guest guest]

Anyse,

Thanks for your warning. I've been using only the Janssen brand,

( & ), of Duragesic patches for the last two and a half

years. Duragesic is actually a trademarked name, licensed for use by

& , of which Janssen Pharmaceticals is a subsidiary, so

they are the only labs that can use the name Duragesic legally. Mylan

is just a generic substitution, and in my opinion, a poor substitute

at that!! After what has happened with the Mylan patches these past

two weeks, I think I'd even welcome that unexpected " increase " in

medication, because these things haven't done anything at all to

relieve my pain.

I'd written in an earlier post that my PM doctor advised against the

use of Mylan generic substitutes, claiming that there were reports

that the generics were substandard and had problems with leakage and

dosing irregularity. I finally found out what he was talking about!!

Unfortunately, when my refills were due at the end of last month, my

PM doctor was on vacation. So when I went down to pick up my script,

his partner had written out the script, checking the box allowing for

generic substitutions. Foolishly, I failed to look at the script

before dropping it off at my pharmacy, and the pharmacist who is my

friend and owns the pharmacy, was on his day off when the script was

filled. If he'd been there, this never would have happened, but the

substitute pharmacist processed the script for the Mylan generic,

instead of the Duragesic patches. Naturally, my insurance company was

more than happy to okay that refill, and now I'm stuck, NO pun

intended, with them.

After two weeks of use of the Mylan fentanyl patches, all I can say is

that they don't work as effectively as the Duragesic. I'm still in

the same pain that I was before I " thought " I was getting better

again. Also, these patches won't stay on at all....just another

negative complaint. Fortunately I had enough of the Bioclusives to

put over them, otherwise they were falling off on the second day. But

I truly don't feel that I'm getting the pain relief that the Duragesic

patches give me, even though these are the same dosage. I'm ticked

because I'm stuck with a month's supply of the Mylan patches and I'm

not getting enough pain relief, so will consequently run out of my BT

meds, (oxycodone), at least a week or more ahead of time. I know that

this is going to cause me BIG problems come renewal time, so I plan to

call my PM doctor tomorrow and ask for an appointment. I need to get

either an increase in the fentanyl patches, or more oxycodone. I

don't really want to have to do either one. After dropping my dosage

from 75 to 50 I'd like to stay there. And I also don't want to have

to start using more oxy just to make up the difference!

I've learned an important lesson, and that is to read that script at

the doctor's office, have it translated to me if I can't read it...and

MAKE SURE IT'S CORRECT before I ever leave the doctor's office. It's

been a very painful lesson, and I hope to never have to use Mylan

patches again.

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

www.pancassociation.org/anthology#Heidi.html

Bluffton, SC

SC State & SE Regional Representative

Pancreatitis Association, International

www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/pancreatitis/

Note: Comments or advice are based on my personal experiences or

opinions only, and should not be substituted for professional medical

consultation.