Buprenorphine patch

[Lea1987]

I have been on 5 microgram patches for over 2 years now. Apart from feeling sleepy more often than I did before they are brilliant. The only bad point is the staying out of the heat. I've done 2 years of staying in the shade and I really miss the sun bathing. 🌞

[Shir_11]

I have been on the patch for 1 year and I don’t stay out of the sun even though I do wear short sleeves so I have it covered in the heat. I had a Holiday at the beach and changed to Temgesic sublingual tablets instead of the patch so I could swim daily. The Temgesic are great and usually take about 1 hour to take effect and you need to take half twice a day and they aren't as strong as the Norspan patch.

[Lea1987 in reply to Shir_11]

Thats interesting to know, thanks for that 😀

[Pagan707]

Hi I’m on the 35mg patches as prescribed for fybromygelia and back pain not primarily RLS though have found it’s working wonders with that! I’m quite a hairy guy and have enough pain without ripping adhesive plasters off!! So my 6 sites are upper inner arm, upper middle of arm and higher on shoulder of arm. These can be easily covered by t-shirt or wrapping a bandanna around arm over patch if in strong sunshine. As for swimming you could do it in between changing patches, this is when I always shower and bath fully. A post a couple of weeks back on here spoke of an extra adhesive plaster that goes over your patch and protects it from the water. Sorry can’t remember name but GP can supply them with your patches. Wish I was somewhere where strong sunshine was an issue! Lol

[Lea1987 in reply to Pagan707]

Well I get your point about the sunshine haha but come summer and I could lie in it and go to sleep.

[grandpianoman]

I have recently begun taking buprenorphine, 110 mcg orally at night. Didn't know about staying out of the sun. Does that apply only to the patch? Is it that the patch shouldn't be exposed to sunlight, or does it mean the whole body? And does it matter whether one takes the drug orally or uses the patch? Thanks in advance for answers.

[Lea1987 in reply to grandpianoman]

That's a good question I just read it says no sunbathing but I will speak to the gp to get all the info. Basically if your body temperature is up the body will absorb more of the medication . I'm not sure about tablet or liquid forms etc

[Pagan707]

I’m pretty sure it’s just the patch. Not just sunlight but any form of heat on the patch, such as a hot water bottle will quicken the release of the medication from the patch.

[s_gc]

Many thanks Lea1987, Shir_11 and Pagan707 for sharing this. Are you all based in the UK? Would you be able to share a bit of your medication history? I am trying to understand whether I could ask for the buprenorphine patch or Temgesic sublingual tablets when I see a neurologist hopefully within the next week or so. I have had RLS for about 6 years, I have never been on medication (being well aware of the problems with augmentation as widely documented through this forum) but in recent weeks my RLS got much much worse, waking me up 3 or 4 times a night as opposed to one or twice before and also taking much longer to go back to sleep (e.g. 1h30-2h instead of 5-30min). Thanks in advance!

[Lea1987 in reply to s_gc]

Hiya I am in the UK yes. Basically I tried alsorts of medication before asking for a patch. I have discs out at the bottom of my back which won't go back in as there is callus lumps on the end of the discs. My sciatic nerve is squashed and that was why I was in agony all of the time. Because of doctors basically fobbing Me off for years saying its wear and tear this has now caused permanent nerve damage. Bearing in mind Im 33 and it started when I was in my mid 20s. Nothing medication wise touched it. I was tired because I couldn't get comfy at night, some medications I tried made me feel strange, I don't take medication or didn't until this happened as I have panic attacks and convince myself I'm going to have a reaction to things. Having a background in care settings I new about the patches and I asked for them. Honestly it's the best thing I did. I'm not pain free but i can sleep at night and the pain down my leg is so much easier to cope with. I'm even attending a gym to strengthen muscles back up that I've probably not used in ages. Hope this info helps. Thanks for your message 😊

[s_gc]

Thank you very much Lea1987, it is very helpful indeed. So happy that this is working for you. I am now experiencing the debilitating symptoms of RLS as never before, I can't imagine having another condition to deal with at the same time.

[KLS9188]

Ola señorita! Apologies in advance for what will no doubt be chapter, verse and epilogue…!!

I’ve been on 35micrograms/h for coming up to a decade, whilst I live in the UK (therefore not overly sunny or hot) I’ve never not ‘been’ in the sun.. always very hot and/or humid destinations.

Funnily enough, a while ago I had a long discussion with a pharmacist who is v. interested in chronic pain, pain relief etc. etc. and he really drilled

into me that I absolutely must not be in direct sunlight in any capacity…....

I’m not going to lie, I was never going to NOT continue my holidays or being a sun worshiper.

Whilst I have the understanding it is your entire body rather than just the area the patch is applied to (advice and research states this), I challenge this as i can never put a fresh patch onto an area previously applied to within the few weeks/months prior - changing every few days leaves little option to place and subsequently nigh on no (suitable) area untouched which is very often areas that are damaged.

Therefore (and in short), having been on the patches for nearly a decade, having been on both stronger and equally as strong alternative meds, when on holiday I stick the patch in an area that would be covered by my bikini top or similar and during the rest of life do everything possible to hide from display so I guess, irrelevant.

I appreciate meds are meds and there are major dos and donts, particularly with controlled meds such as this. However everybody’s body is different and reacts considerably different to all manner of things and in my (very humble) opinion, do what is best for you as long as you don’t put yourself directly into harm’s way.. you’ll likely receive incredibly conflicting information from a number of people in all manner of fields/places but equally.. your body should tell you either way if it’s okay with things like direct sunlight etc.

Apologies again for long winded message x