Dr. Saltiel received his Pharm.D. from the University of California, San Francisco, in 1980, following undergraduate work at UCLA. At UCSF, he was the recipient of the Outstanding Service Award and the Bowl of Hygeia Award. He completed a residency in clinical pharmacy practice at the University of Illinois, in Chicago.
Jay W. Marks, MD, is a board-certified internist and gastroenterologist. He graduated from Yale University School of Medicine and trained in internal medicine and gastroenterology at UCLA/Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
PREGNANCY: Fentanyl can cross the placenta and enter the fetus. Effects on the developing fetus are not known; however, fentanyl can slow breathing in newborn infants whose mothers were exposed to fentanyl. Routine use of fentanyl by
pregnant women can lead to withdrawal reactions in the newborn. Thus, caution should be used if fentanyl is administered near the time of delivery.
NURSING MOTHERS: The effects
of fentanyl on the infants of mothers who nurse is unknown. Since most drugs are
concentrated in breast milk, it is advisable that women requiring fentanyl bottle-feed their infants.
SIDE EFFECTS: Mild physical dependence occurs commonly during therapy with opiate agonists such as fentanyl. Abruptly stopping the drug in patients can precipitate a withdrawal reaction. Symptoms of withdrawal include
nausea, diarrhea, coughing, tearing, nasal discharge, profuse sweating, twitching muscles, and yawning.
Fentanyl can cause respiratory depression (decreased rate or depth of breathing). Nausea or vomiting, constipation, and itching can occur during treatment with fentanyl. Transdermal fentanyl can cause a variety of skin reactions. Commonly, redness occurs at the site of application and can last for 6 hours following removal of the patch.
Other side effects include a decrease in sexual drive, hypothyroidism (low thyroid hormone concentrations), dry mouth, abdominal pain,
loss of appetite, drowsiness, confusion, headache, dizziness, nervousness,
hallucinations, anxiety,
depression and euphoria. The FDA is
investigating reports of deaths and other serious side effects from the use of
the fentanyl transdermal system as well as overdoses.
Some patches may cause burns of the skin if worn during an MRI (magnetic
resonance imaging) scan. Patients should tell their helathcare providers
that they are using a medication patch prior to receiving an MRI
scan.
Cancer is a disease caused by an abnormal growth of cells, also called malignancy. It is a group of 100 different diseases, and is not contagious. Cancer can be treated through chemotherapy, a treatment of drugs that destroy cancer cells.
Pain management and treatment can be simple or complex, according to its cause. There are two basic types of pain, nociceptive pain and neuropathic pain. Some causes of neuropathic pain includes: complex regional pain syndrome, interstitial cystitis, and irritable bowel syndrome. There are a variety of methods to treat chronic pain, which are dependant on the type of pain experienced.
Chronic pain is pain (an unpleasant sense of discomfort) that persists or progresses over a long period of time. In contrast to acute pain that arises suddenly in response to a specific injury and is usually treatable, chronic pain persists over time and is often resistant to medical treatments.
Chronic Pain RSS
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