Hi,
I just wondered if anyone could advise me the best place to put the patch to get the most benefit from it because sometimes I find it barely does anything and other times I know that it’s really helping. The instructions say that it can only be applied upper outer arms, upper back and chest.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Many thanks 🙏🏻
Hi My star
I have been using one of these patches for about 3 months . i have always applied it to my upper arm or shoulder. The release of this drug should be constant till it is changed. Are you taking any other pain killers at the same time? If not I would assume that the level of pain relief is not good enough and you nee to speak to your GP about it.
Hope you get the relief you need .
Kemptville
Thank you for getting back to me, I put the new patch upper outer arm so hopefully it will be a stable steady release but do you find they only really last 4/5 dsys? The last two are always agony trying to make them last 7 I don’t find they give enough relief as it is but I’m sticking them out as I tried to go without them and it was definitely a lot worse. Yes I take x2 30mg codeine a day as well as the patches and paracetamol.
Thank you for your advice but my gp is awful she has never been helpful with my pain and told me to buy myself some flowers after my last surgery vs pain relief so I spoke to a private pain management specialist to help and force the gp to do something!!! She has made me cry multiple times and makes me feel awful even tho I’ve been having surgery after surgery recently so I am not well at all and I even told her the pain was making me suicidal but she just fobbed me off as being silly well her exact words were “oh that’s just your monkey brain panicking” you are fine just give it time so I try my best to avoid the gp at all costs if I can.
Do you take any other pain relief at the same time? Do you have any side effects?xx
I would look to change your GP as yours sounds as if she has no bedside manner at all.
At present I am on the 5 mcg patch and Etoricoxib 90mg , Duloxetine 30mg . amitryptiline 10mg . I have had 2 lots of surgery last year for lumbar stenosis and then a lumbar disc problem. I have now been diagnosed with Lumbar arthritis of the last 3 facet joints. I was given an injection into the facet joints about 8 weeks ago, but the pain has now returned and tomorrow I am going to have the nerves associated with these joints destroyed. This should give me relief for 6 months to 2 years. Then I hope I will be able to come off all the pain killers.
Just a thought but it may be that you need the stronger level of patch. This might be able to give you pain relief for the full week.
hi, I am on Bunov patches started on 5mcg and cycled up to 35mcg that was found to make me sick so we dropped down to 30mcg per week also on up to 8x paracetamol per day and codeine for emergencies (rarely used). I favour using the tops of the arms and alternate every week. I did try my back but it didn’t work. I am still in pain 24/7 as I found although the patches work they just take the edge off the pain, I have to work on a day to day basis some days are worse than others in which case I am bed bound. Try getting a referral to a pain clinic , also when going to gp don’t forget you can have someone with you and if you have no one you can have them provide a chaperone. Good luck.Kevin
Thank you and I’m so sorry to hear of your suffering I can totally relate being in agony 24\7 is unbearable and no one truly understands unless they are going through it themselves the doctors can read all the text books they like but no one can imagine what evil chronic off the scale pain is like the the point that you hurt even when laying in bed. My pillow is constantly wet from my tears I try so hard to be strong but I’ve had so much of my life stolen by pain it’s so scary I can’t have any form of a normal life. I was bad before my last surgery but this one has ruined my life I can barely walk down the road now and I feel like my body is giving up on me. I considered stronger pain patches but the 10 patch gives me terrors whenever I sleep plus the nausea is so bad I don’t think my body would tolerate a higher dose plus I’m only around 40kg so I think that makes a big difference.
I am lucky to have health insurance so I went private for pain management as I got the feeling the nhs use a lot of talking therapies which is a load of rubbish when you are in agony I hate taking drugs but without them I would be dead I can barely face the days as it is I’m trying so hard but my body seems to be winning. I hope you get seen quickly via the pain clinic and they don’t fob you off with the talking rubbish and actually provide you with some relief xx
I find that the patches are most effective on my upper arms. They are less effective on sides of chest. They may be effective upper chest but I am hairy and shaving is itchy. I rotate left and right arm on three areas on upper arm. I have been on the patches for almost 8 years now with good results.
Good luck
Wow you are really lucky I get so many side effects from them and this last box has caused awful rashes on my arms that are red raw squares where the patches have been 😞 plus I get horrible insomnia, terrors and crazy anxiety which isn’t me at all but this fresh patch has left me in a mess I’ve been crying all day and I just don’t think these are the right patches for me. I’m just very lost and confused it’s never just consistent pain relief and at the moment I am finding the bad aspects far outweigh any good that I am getting from them but I’m so scared as each time I’ve tried to stop them I end up in a mess with the pain so I know they do help but is it enough to try and cope with these side effects that’s what I’m trying to work out.
MyStar86, I use a 7 day 20mg Buprenorphine patch for RLS and in my experience, and I am not alone, the patches effective strength barely last past 4 days. As a result, my Neurologist agreed to allow me to change after 5 days. I hope this information is of help to you. Good luck. Rivers
It helps to know that you had your prescription from a neurologist as I initially saw a pain management consultant and these patches and pregabalin were all he was able to prescribe so when I started having problems he said he didn’t know what to do but said he could recommend a neurologist however I was too scared to speak to a neurologist as I didn’t really know what conditions that they treated…..also thank you for reaffirming my thoughts on the 4 days as it’s awful I basically go through withdrawal from them over 3 days then get such a big hit when I put the new patch on it sends me crazy with anxiety and side effects so it’s very confusing. Do you see a neurologist for RLS? Thank you for coming back to me that’s very helpful 
I do see a neurologist for RLS and I can certainly sympathize with you about the side effects. However, I happily trade the side effects of Buprenorphine, anxiety and depression, with the RLS symptoms. Now, at least I am sleeping. I am no expert but I would surmise that the dose of Buprenorphine you are taking might be too low if it’s not getting you past 3 days. It’s the same for me I believe but its very tricky when it comes to doctors and opioids even if they are low dose.
I don’t follow this community closely but you might try joining the RLS community. There is a ton to learn about Buprenorphine there. Best of luck Rivers
sorry one more thing. See the neurologist. You have nothing to lose. R
hi there, I alternate my patches between my upper thighs. I also found that I needed to apply additional plasters over the top as the patches didn’t always stick very well on other parts of my body. Eventually I bought some clear medical plaster tape on eBay/temu (similar stuff used to cover new tattoos etc) as it also keeps them dry in the shower as you cannot get them wet! I would also say that if you find the patches are not doing much for you then you’ll need to speak to your GP to get the dose increased. I started on a low dose single patch, now I’m on a combination of two patches totalling 25mcg. Hope this helps. Take care
I have read the instructions and mine are the Butec patches which can only be applied to the upper outer arms, shoulder, chest and upper back. It would be much easier if I could use my legs as I’m limited to the left arm as I sleep on my right side and when I tired that the patch came off and stopped working all together.
What brand do you use? Thank you for the it advice and I will have to go back to pain management to increase the dose the GP is useless but thank you xx
mine are Reletrans which also say to put in the same places as yours in my instructions . Unfortunately I tend to overheat and I found the patches kept coming off my arms and chest etc., so at the end of the day, skin is skin and they seem to work fine on my thighs. All I can say is maybe speak to your GP and ask if it’s okay to try.
Thank you for letting me know and sharing your experience. I can’t risk putting it on my leg just in case it doesn’t work as they put specify the areas that they do for a reason. I agree about getting hot and coming off so it is tricky but I’m too scared of putting it on then having a week of suffering.
Thank you but my gp is rubbish it was hard enough to get her to put my codeine on repeat she will only chafe the patches once I have gone back to pain management.
Do you know of any other strong painkillers that come In patch form?x
the only other that I know of is fentanyl patches which my doctor put me on back in 2016 when I was diagnosed with a prolapsed disc. However these are a lot stronger than morphine! Unfortunately naff GP’s don’t help the situation either!
Thank you 🙏🏻 well hopefully the pain management will be more helpful than the gp as she really is a joke after my last major abdominal surgery I said I was in agony and paracetamol wasn’t helping could I have something else and she told me to buy myself a bunch of flowers to celebrate how well I’m doing in my recovery……I did ask her if she had listened to a word I said!! Idiots it’s terrible really when we rely on them I don’t know what I would do without my private insurance as that’s the only way I get any treatment these days!!
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