hi doctors, thanks for providing this service for us. My question is about pain relief from neuropathy in my feet and hands. I've known I was hiv positive for over three years and am taking sustiva , combivir, ziagen, neurontin, elavil , and roxicet for pain. I seem to have built a tolerance to the roxicets effect and want to try fentanyl patches. Would fentanyl work? Would I build a rolerance as I did to the roxicet?

Peripheral neuropathy can be very painful, and I am sorry that you are having these symptoms. You are already taking two medications which can help- Neurontin and amitriptyline. Severe pain may require narcotics on an ongoing basis. The advantage that fentanyl offers is ease of drug delivery- you can put a patch on every 3 days and have a very steady level of pain reliever in your bloodstream. I would strongly suggest consulting with a pain specialist because they can be very helpful in the management of chronic pain. Good luck!