Actiq Lollipop

My husband, (Remigio) has been taking Actiq lollipops for approximately 4 to 5 years.  The reason being is that he has CREST Syndrome. Every letter in the word CREST is a disease, if you have two out of the five you have CREST Syndrome. Unfortunetly my husband has all five. The worst ones are the Raynauds syndrome and Systemic Sclroderma. In 2001 he was diagnosed with this disease and they gave him two years to live, and we were living in Washington State at the time. After a doctor diagnosed him I went on the computer every night and learned every thing I could on this disease. I did know I had to get him back to Minnesota and find him a doctor at the Mayo Clinic. We did get back to MN. and I did find a specialist who only specializes in this disease. She had worked at the Mayo for 20 years and she is very good at what she does. And we have a very good family doctor also. My husband heard about the Actiq lollipops at our doctor's office while reading a pamphlet. He asked our doctor if he could try them. My husband has more wrong then the CREST syndrome, he also had duodenal ulcers when he was eighteen which burst and he had 3 surgeries on them, then the doctors said he is going to have to go  to the University of MN and have it done right. He was then transferred to the U of M and had a major, major surgery where they took out a third of his stomach and did patchwork on the rest which left him with lymphoma of the gastric post. He was in the hospital for a month. After we were married and had four daughters he worked off and on the best he could and I beleive in 1995 he was working for a well driller and my husband slipped in the mud box while holding a 50lb drill bit and fell and broke his back which required 3 laminectomies and one major major fusion with ray cages and what not. Getting back to my question. After taking the Actiq lollipops for two years my husband has been absolutely doing nothing! He goes from the sofa to the bed. I told him to try getting off of these lollipops and maybe he'll feel like doing something, it has been a week now and he is always ill. He doesn't know if it's coming down from the Actiq lollipops or if he is just ill. I think it's coming off of the lollipops myself because he keeps coughing up phlem and is just sleepy and feels sick all the time. What kind of reactions could we expect from coming down from these lollipops? And what can they do to a person after taking them for so long? He always seems so congested and I am very worried but he says they help him so much. I just don't know what to do about the situation? Is there anything he could take in place of the Actiq lollipops but would work just as good? Please help me and I thank you for listening to me!

Sincerely,

Sandra joy Raumer