Re: To re Fentaynal post

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

I'm very sorry if you regarded my message as a lecture. I was just

asking that you research further into the facts about the patch other

than alarm everyone by saying that both the fentanyl and Durgesic

patches had all been recalled, and then furnish a number that was

supposedly one to call to confirm this.

The patches haven't all been recalled, in fact, I picked up three

boxes of Duragesic 75 mcg's. just yesterday at my pharmacy. While I

was there, I asked the pharmacist if any of them had been recalled,

and he said, " no, not since the recall last April " . The ones you have

are fine.

The number, as you know now, was to an attorney's office that is

handling the lawsuits against J&J from the defective patches last spring.

I was showing concern and emphathy for you, , by saying that I

thought your dosage might be too high. Your symptoms of severe

drowsiness and breathing problems indicate that. Even doctors make

mistakes sometime, and prescribe a medication with a dosage that is

too high for the patient to tolerate. When that happens, we need to

communicate that to our physicians. That's why I told you what the

manufacturer's of the patch recommend, that the first dosage given is

only 25 mcg's., so that the doctor can monitor the patient's reaction

to this very strong narcotic. All I said was that I was very

surprised that your doctor would start you out on such a high dose of

a medication that you hadn't had any experience with, and that now you

were obviously having severe problems with, especially when it is in

direct contradiction to the basic dosing recommendations already

established by medical practioners.

Have you called your doctor to discuss this? It's been over a week

that you've been complaining about these side effects and you should

be communicating with your doctor about these problems. Your doctor

can help you with this far more than we can.

All we can tell you here is what our own experiences have been with

this medication, and as you know, each person has very different

tolerance levels and different adverse reactions.

I'm sorry that you felt I should have called you. I didn't realize you

were that frantic and scared, and if you felt that way, you could

always have called me. If you notice the time of my post, it was very

late in the evening that I got online, and hardly the time to call

anyone, even a friend, without permission. And since I had two

doctors appointments yesterday, one an eye doctor's appointment to

take Austin to, plus registration at his new school, pets to transport

to the kennel, my PM doctor's appointment on Hilton Head, and ironing

and packing to do for our trip today, my time was too occupied by my

own personal schedule to think about calling.

I'm sorry that you feel that I failed to support you, I tried to give

you the best advice that I could in regard to what I know about the

patches, and my concern about the effect it was having on you was sincere.

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina Rep.

Southeast Regional Rep.

PAI

Note: All comments or advice are based on personal experience or

opinion only, and should not be substituted for consultation with a

medical professional.