buprenorphine 10mcg patches and nightmares

[MyStar86]

Hi,

Has anyone else got any experience being on buprenorphine 10mcg patches? I have been on them since December but since I have been on them I am getting awful terrors every time I close my eyes and doze or try and sleep, it’s very upsetting and scary. The patches seem to give me insomnia and I’m forcing myself to sleep and just end up in a nightmare to wake up really scared and boiling 🥵 I know it’s partly due to the pain I’m in but it has to be the patches as I didn’t have anything like this before.

Has anyone else experienced this? Do you have any advice on how to prevent them? Has anyone come off the patches and got experience with that as I tried but I didn’t have anything to replace them with and due to the pain I had to go back on them and I did only last 2 days. I speak to my pain specialist on Monday thankfully but any advice would be welcome because I am really struggling.

Did anyone else find it have them stomach problems with them as well?

Many thanks x

[kev60]

hi, sorry to hear about your experience. I am on patches and have been for years, currently I am on 30mcg per week. I was prescribed Morphine but it didn’t agree with me and I was having hallucinations and my GP took me of that and put me on patches . I went from 5mcg to 35mcg but that was too much so came down to 30mcg, it only dulls the pain so it’s still there 24/7 . It sounds like you maybe have a reaction to morphine. I don’t know if there are alternatives but hopefully your pain team will help. It’s strange how the body works, I react to Gabapentin. Good luck with your meeting sorry I couldn’t be of help. Kevin

[MyStar86 in reply to kev60]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply it means a lot I can’t believe how helpful everyone is on here!! Yes I can’t tolerate morphine and I did tell the pain specialist this when he put me on the patches but he said they were different to morphine but the side effects are so bad I had another terrible night so scary waking up shaking and terrified knowing I have to go back to sleep and it was over and over then I tried to rest in the bad and bam more terrors I don’t even feel like me anymore I’m so anxious and emotional I’ve never cried so much thank you again I must message everyone to say thank you as it means a lot to know I’m not alone x

[psytrancer]

Afraid this won't be any help but so you know from someone else on the same dosage patches as you, Ive been using them for about two years & in that time Ive never had an adverse reaction. Does sound like you're having a reaction to morphine, the only difference is that its been tweaked so that you don't get high on the patches but its still morphine. Don't suddenly stop using them, you need to slowly reduce the dose, there are 5mcg patches, guess you'll have to change down to those for a while before stopping altogether. If you can't tolerate morphine ask if you can try tramadol, in my experience its about as good at pain relief as buprenorphine but I prefer the patches because they carry on working through the night