Lidoderm - Can the patch be used more than 12 hours at a time. What about continuous?

Leaving it on for 24 hours in a day whether it be every day or every other day, could affect the heart. I follow all my prescription directions to the “T”, but I know that lidocaine patches work on contact and really wish I could keep them on all day but respect the prescription as it written because life is too precious for an overdose or harm to my heart

Hello. I used the lidoderm patches for four months with shingles. My doctor said that although people do leave them on longer than twelve hours, that is about all the medication they can have. certainly if it is 13 or 14 hours, it is not a big deal. The statement that it should be about letting the skin breathe is very important. The Older one is the easier for skin to break down. Also the adhesive starts to dry and crack causing pain when the patch is removed or for me it ripped the skin in places.

What was not mentioned is that another patch cannot be put back on without the wait. The reason is that too much of the medication is very toxic. Since body weight and metabolism determines how much a person can have before toxic and the health of kidney and liver determine how rapidly it can remove the drug it would be easy to take too much. My doctor was very specific about this.

I do understand how she wants it on. She should not do 24 hours. If it were not harmless, they wouldn't restrict the time. Read the package instructions. Or check them on this site.

Yes, I was going to say that it can affect the heart. Another reason to have it off is that this medication works by osmosis and the fat depot under the skin can only absorb so much medication. Osmosis is the movement of particles (medication) from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration through a permeable membrane (the skin). At some point the area becomes saturated and wont absorb any more medication. Taking the patch off allows the area to clear so it can uptake medication again later.

No reason that I can think of why the lidoderm patch can't just stay on if The patient thinks it is still working