Patches: To help control my back pain, I've been prescribed small patches containing my old nemesis, fentanyl. At first, the dosage was too high (surprise) and the typical side effect of hallucinations presented themselves again, although nowhere near on the level of what I experienced at NIH (I did see a small gargoyle at the foot of my bed a couple of times, though). I'd had enough one day and pulled off the patches.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Huge waves of nausea overcame me.

The doc I talked with at the hospital said that what I did was like inducing a mini-withdrawal from some of the more notorious opiates. (Hell, there was nothing "mini" about it to me.) Anyway, with the dosage adjusted, the badness is kept to a minimum. I just wish the patches kicked in more quickly  (better yet, I wish I didn't need them at all).