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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Suggest Treatment For Lung Cancer

My husband has been diagnosed with stage 4 small cell lung cancer. It has spread to lymph nodes, bones ( spine, ribs, pelvis, femur, back of the skull) and liver. He has been in great amounts of pain. The dr. prescribed the fentanyl patch, beginning at 12.5 and increasing over the weeks til he is at 150. It seems that when the patch is increased pain is less of an issue for about 2 weeks, then pain returns and the dosage is increased. My question. Is the pain with the cancer increasing so that my husband needs the increase in the patch or is his body adjusting to the medicine and it takes more of the drug to tolerate the cancer pain?
posted on Fri, 14 Apr 2017
Twitter Wed, 23 Aug 2017 Answered on
Twitter Wed, 23 Aug 2017 Last reviewed on
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Pulmonologist,  's  Response
Hello!Though not very common , few people can have tachyphylaxis with fentanyl and other opioid medications. Meaning to say , they will have rapidly diminishing response to successive doses of drugs, rendering it less effective . Looks like it is this reason that is causing the need for increased dosage every week for your husband.
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Suggest Treatment For Lung Cancer

Hello!Though not very common , few people can have tachyphylaxis with fentanyl and other opioid medications. Meaning to say , they will have rapidly diminishing response to successive doses of drugs, rendering it less effective . Looks like it is this reason that is causing the need for increased dosage every week for your husband.