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Help spread the word about Suboxone Talk Zone and SuboxForum with merchandise, including coffee mugs, sweatshirts, baseball caps… even intimate apparel! Proceeds from sales help support my efforts by paying for business cards, which then get sent to doctors’ offices to be shared with addicts new to buprenorphine. 
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I HAVE BEEN ON SUBOXONE FOR 5 DAYS AND I AM SOOOOOOO TIRED AND FEEL LIKE I HAVE TO THROW UP I CANT EVEN EAT AFTER MY FIRST DOSE, WHAT I AM WONDERING IS SHOULD I SHALLOW MY SALIVIA WHEN I AM DONE LETTING MY PILL DISSOLVE OR SHOULD I SPIT IT OUT . OTHER THAN THAT I FEEL GOOD.
Was your daily dose a bit low? sometimes it takes awhile to get totally used to the Suboxone– the tired feeling should go away. It sounds like your tolerance wasn’t real high– in that case Suboxone is more potent than you are used to and that is where the nausea comes from.
Most people swallow the saliva after 5-10 minutes of spreading it throughout the mouth. Some rare people get headaches (they are common for a week or two and then almost always go away– I’m referring to when they stay beyond a couple weeks) and that MAY be from the naloxone– I usually have them spit the saliva out to test to see if they feel better, as spitting it out results in less exposure of your system to naloxone.
I WAS ON VICODIN FOR BACK PAIN, THE MOST I TOOK WAS 8-5-500 ADAY. I GO BACK TO THE DR FRIDAY WHAT DO YOU THINKI SHOULD DO SPIT IT OUT OR MAYBE TAKE A1/2 ADAY . I FEEL SO SICK ITS LIKE I AM GOING THROUGH WD ANYWAYS
I TAKE 2/0.5MG TWICE ADAY. OF SUBOXONE, ONLY GET SICK WHEN I FIRST TAKE MY FIRST DOSAGE THEN I FEEL YUCKY ALLY DAY TILL I TAKE MY SECOND ON AT NIGHT THANK YOU
Jennifer
I was taking hundreds of mg’s of Oxy, sucking the gel out of the 10mg Fentanyl patches, and using benzo’s (not bragging just putting it in context for you) I had a doc who got me down to 80 mg of Oxy and started me on 24mg’s of Suboxone and if a few days I felt great- not high or buzzed I was normal not sick. Before I found Sub;s I was either blasted or in WD’s no middle ground. Give the Sub’s time get on the right dose and your life will change. Imagine never having to be dope sick again or scam another doc, sit in another ER with some fake pain, or buy some crap off the street. It will be worth it. It’s been three years I take 4 mg’s a day and I have a good job, I finally finished my Ph.D, I have a house I wouldn’t have had anything w/out the Sub’s.
Thanks for sharing your story, Scott, and congratulations on the PhD. So many opiate addicts have such potential locked inside of them.
Hi I really need some help, ive been taking suboxone for a while now, I started on 8ml but alot a day. Then once a day then 4ml a day, now im taking 2ml a day. I would like to stop taking it now and ive been on 2ml for about a month now. I just want to know what im in for, I tried not taking it one day and it seemed like I was major upset and I couldnt sleep, thrashing like kickin herion. I would like to know how long that will last. it seems like the less you take the worse it is.
thanks
debbi
I BEEN READING ON OTHER WEB SITE FORUMS AND THEY ARE REALLY FREAKING ME OUT ,SAYING THE WD FROM SUB ARE WORSE THAN WD OFF THE VICODIN ,GOSH I HOPE I DIDNT MAKE A MISTAKE.
Hi ~
This is my first time for speaking out so, please bare with me. I’m a mom with three kids, a husband, a good job, beautiful home etc….the perfect life right, yeah whatever! Until of course I got caught up in the zone of taking pills. First started out with percocet 5′s, 10s and then oxycontin 40′s and then 80′s; doing this for over year, getting them from my doctor, my husband who needs them spending money I didn’t have, the only thing I haven’t done yet is steal from friends or family to obtain money to buy them. I’m on the seat of loosing everything. I WANTED HELP! I turned to a doctor who has given me a prescription for Suboxone. Today is my first day and I took (1) pill of 8mil, waited an hour and felt okay and then took a half of one. As advised, I could take up to (2) pills a day. I have been fine except I have been sweating on and off, feel a little achy and have low energy. Can someone tell me if this is normal? Is my dose that I have taken to high or should I take another half? Thanks for listening!
Hi,
I came across your website while looking for answers to suboxone. I was wondering what you thought of a patient being prescribed suboxone for depression and anxiety disorder? I have tried almost every antidepressant you can think of. I have also tried lithium and depakote because my doctor (at the time), thought I may have bilpolar II. I recently started taking suboxone and I feel like a brand new person who now is excited to wake up in the morning and do the things I need to do with enjoyment. I no longer have chronic headaches, IBS and constant anxiety. I was never addicted to pain killers (hydrocondone), which was given to me a few times for an injury and also severe migraines. I did however, like the feeling of the hydrocodone but was unable to get a doctor to prescribe it to me for my problems. I am very leary about taking an opiate, especially after reading many of the questions and comments on your website. I am doing well on the miniumum dosage (2mlgs) once everyday. I would really appreciate your thoughts and opinion on this. Sincerely, “leary about taking suboxone for help with my depression and chronic anxiety disorder”. Thank You.
I was diagnosed with cancer 2 years ago. I was scheduled for surgery and decided, stupidly, that I would go off Suboxone myself before the surgery. My surgeon checked my records with my gynocologist before I had a chance to tell him myself, about the suboxone and my heroin addicted past. I went from being a normal person to a piece of garbage in his eyes. I didn’t have the surgery and haven’t done anything more about the cancer. I don’t think I can find a doctor who would not treat me like dirt. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you, Kathy C.
I have been on Suboxone for 3 years. Before that I was on Methadone for two years. The Suboxone has kept me and my wife clean with no ill effects.
(Except the cost). We want to join a group to help get the word out in favor of Suboxone treatment. We are in our early 50′s now and the last 30 years would have been much better for us and our children if Suboxone had been around.
We had a $200.00 per day habit. I had a job that allowed me to afford this and still maintain a seeminly “normal” life. But I can only imagine what our life could have been like with Suboxone treatment. We both went into treatment several times but nothing worked long term like Suboxone and 12 step meetings. I wish we could help get the word out as we have run into Doctors that have never even heard about Suboxone.
I am confused about how the forum works. It seems like everytime I visit, something else is changed. Maybe it’s just me. After what I call a relapse, I have just been sitting here like stink on shit, waiting for something to happen. That’s the story of my life, always waiting, instead of getting off my ass and doing something about,well, anything, would be good! I finally have come to accept that no matter what, I cannot take any benzos, for whatever reason, ever again. I just took a prescription of Klonopin, and within a week was back into all the thoughts of using, and the weird dreams, and I’m talking weird!!!! I can’t remember anything when I take this shit, and I always thought it was the vikes that got me in trouble. I know that ANY member of this class of drug is off limits. It sets back my progress, and dumps me on my ass, so I end up sitting around like I am now, trying really hard to get a thought to actually process, or to feel a feeling. So maybe it’s not the forum setup, it’s just me, because I feel like I just woke up from another one of my stinking naps!
Hi I have been hooked on methadone for a/b 4 or 5 months now. I have worked my way up to a/b 50-60 mg a day. I don’t go to the Clinic to get it……So I usually get it every other day. I know 50-60 mg is not alot, bad news is I can’t get anymore and I don’t have enough money to go to the clinic…..but I hate HATE the WD’S and plus I want to get off this crap sooo bad. I was jus wondering is the soboxone gonna be okay for me
And one more thing I don’t have insurance is it gonna cost alot????
Hey Dr Junig – Nice blog, really informative. I went to my suboxone doc today to talk about my ongoing taper. I’m down to 2mgs a day and he has me splitting the dose because I was on a bit of a rollercoaster taking it once a day.
Anyway, I aked him today if he’d heard about low-dose naltrexone – which I’d heard about from this new-fangled thing called the internet and a bunch of recovery websites. He’d never heard of using naltrexone that way and was remarkably incurious about the whole thing, basically saying that he’d never heard of it and wasn’t comfortable with the idea (!) So I thought I’d ask you if you have an opinion about it.
The theory is that a low dose of naltrexone taken before sleep will stimulate endorphin production. This seems like a good thing for recovering from discontinuing suboxone treatment, which I hope to do before my insurance stops paying for it this December (they limit coverage to 12 months). Have you heard of this application? Do you think it’s worth it for me to try to find a doctor in my area who might treat me with LDN? I’m hoping this would be able to help with any PAWS, but also with my fibro and possibly depression, in the event that it returns when I quit the subs. Of course, my backup plan is just to stay on sub if quitting brings my depression back.
A quick search on Google provided me with plenty of links to articles in actual medical journals as well as studies, like the one on LDN and fibro at no less prestigious a univeristy than Stanford. I’m confused as to why both my psychiatrist and my primary care doc have never heard of this treatment. Don’t y’all read journals?
Thank you for your time, and for your comment on my blog (Diary of a Quitter). I’ve linked to you in my blogroll, so now you’re famous!
Hello – I’m new to suboxone treatment and would like to ask Dr. Junig a question. I was on a fairly high dosage (32 mg.) for two weeks to treat my 200 mg day oxycodone habit. For me the strong appeal of this treatment was that suboxone would block any effect of oxycodone if I slipped. The suboxone kept me from feeling withdrawal but I was extremely depressed which is really the reason I took the oxycodone in the the first place as I don’t really want to get high – just feel ok. The oxy helped at first and it felt like I was cured of depression but then I started getting terrible anxiety and panic that I’d never had before. Anyway, several hours after my 16 mg. morning dosage of sub I decided to take just a small dose of oxy and it affected me just as if I hadn’t been on sub – depression cleared and i felt great. Do you have any experience with other people like this or any ideas what could be going on? My Dr. doesn’t know. Thanks for your time.
Hi– thanks for writing! I must say first that your screen name is interesting– and funny! But as you get better, watch for feelings, thoughts, and behaviors that have the potential to pull you down… from the inside. Maybe the name comes from something else, but people with addictions tend to put themselves down inside, sometimes putting up a wall of cockiness or ‘I don’t care’ on the outside. As you heal, we want both parts to come together for a more accurate self-assessment: you have good points and bad points, like everybody else. You have a horrible illness in addiction that is in some ways ‘your fault’ and in some ways not your fault at all. You certainly didn’t ask to be in your current situation– and you don’t deserve it!
Many people will have similar responses to taking oxy while blocked. This is hard for people to believe, but your feelings didn’t come from the oxy– they came from repeating a behavior that you associate with happiness. You have probably heard of ‘Pavlov’s dogs salivating when the bell rings’– anyone who hasn’t should Google that phrase and learn a bit about the foundation of behaviorism. Another term for what happened is the ‘placebo effect’. For example, when people with real depression are placed in a study about antidepressants, a full half of patients will recover when they take sugar pills. Some people think ‘it isn’t a placebo effect because it was real’. Understand that in the placebo effect, the effect is as real as any ‘true’ response. The patient cannot tell any difference; the recovery from depression from a placebo is every bit as sound and as permanent as the recovery using antidepressants!
A similar thing happens with pain– pain patients take extra Suboxone, claiming it relieves their pain. Check out my most recent post– I talk about that a bit.
Suboxone will take you only halfway. You still need to get beyond the conditioning that is inside your mind, that will always be there to some extent. The way to do that is to TRUST ME– and next time you feel ‘depressed’ try to distract yourself, and take a walk instead, then congratulate yourself on your step forward. Dose one time per day with Suboxone, and don’t take anything out of a feeling of ‘need’. If you do those things, your depression that you ‘treated’ with opiates (a very, very common claim, by the way) will fade away. You’ll even have a new screen name– maybe ‘brckhausewarrier’ or something like that!
Hi – thank you for your reply and your compassion. I feel quite cheered by your analysis – if my mind can do that then anything is possible. I also wanted to let you know about the screen name – you’re right in that I am very hard on myself. I have high expectations of my behavior and what I can do and my family thinks I’ve taken on an impossible task of caring for a very old relative with dementia in my home. I often think they’re right but I won’t admit it and won’t give up. The name is from the old nursery rhyme about the big bad wolf and the “third little pig who built his house out of brick”. Thanks again.
Hello every one,I am 24 ive been useing oxycontin for about 1 year now and heroin every now and then,i really want to kick i have been clean for 2 days now,and today was my first day doing suboxone, witch was given to me by one of my good friends who wants to see me get clean,i took 2 mg when i woke up and 2 more jus now before bed,i got to say its quite the miricle drug for me i feel 100 times better,i dont feel sick,the first 2 days with out oxycontin i felt like death would be better then what i was feeling but i stuck it out,i was useing 3 80′s a day,
i was just curious how do i get on suboxone my friend gave me a 8 and it really works for me,i dont want to come to him for more what he gave me was awsome enough of him,i’m afraid to go to any doctor to tell them my story,Any one have any idea’s for me as to how and where i can get help,this is my third day of sobriety.
I have to say I am very confused about subonone. My husband has/had a oxy addiction, he started taking subs from a friend came home and told me about this majic pill that would get him off the oxys.he went to a doctor and got his own sub. perscription. It’s been 8 months he suposidly has been taking the subs. I know for a fact that he has binged on oxys. but he denies it . We are not living together anymore because I don’t trust him his new friends are meth heads yet he says he doesn’t do that either. Is there anyone who has taken sub. and has managed to not need them anymore or is the sub. just a legal substitute for oxys. vic. ect… From what I have found on these websites is that suboxone is just a way to relieve withdrawlls for ever. I just don’t get it. Whats the difference except you can say you have a legal script for it and it doesn’t show in a standard drug screening??
If you read this site, your questions will be answered. Suboxone must be used correctly– addiction has multiple aspects and reduction of cravings is just one tiny part. You are incorrect in your thoughts that it is a ‘substitute’ for other opiates; as a partial agonist, it has properties that are entirely unique compared to opiates like oxycodone or methadone. Read my last few posts– I think I talked about this issue in one of the more recent ones. If you just start reading and going back through posts you will learn quite a bit.
OR…(shameless plug)… if you pay 9.99 you can get my ‘lecture’ about Suboxone– it gives some background, compares it to traditional treatment, talks about the chemistry a bit… the 9 bucks will save you a great deal of time searching out answers. I sell them because I get tired of writing the same background info! Check the recording out, and let me know if you have any further questions– and I will get right back to you!
i have been on sub for 21 months i am down to 1 mg a day but scared that i will go through withdrawals when i come off i know the doctor told me no that won’t happen but still scared i have 3 kids to take care of that’s why i got on sub was because the withdrawal was so bad i couldn’t take care of them. No matter what i am going to get off the sub in the next couple of day’s if i go trough withdrawals how bad will they be? and also how long will it take to start having withdrawals? and how long will i go through withdrawals?
I am opiate dependent. I stopped a few weeks ago and thought I was going to die. Since then a good friend gave me about 50 8.mg SUBUTEX. I know its not a good idea to take drugs not prescribed by a Dr. But I am going to anyway. Here is my question–how should I take it and how often. I know I have to dissolve under my tongue but I don’t know how much to take. Should I break them and take 4 mg? Last, how long do I have to wait after my last opiate pill before I should start SUBUTEX?
Thanks, I don’t know what I would do without this blog since I cant ask my DR.
Steve
Steve, I hate to encourage this type of using. I have to say the usual warnings– see your own doctor; I cannot be your doctor as I have not taken your history, so my words are for general discussion– not medical treatment.
If taken correctly, 8 mg of Subutex is fine in many cases, although I usually give twice that. It is absorbed from all of the surfaces in the mouth, NOT just under the tongue. I tell people to bite and crush it, then swish it around for ten minutes or more, then swallow the rest. Don’t drink for 15 minutes (any liquid).
In my opinion it is important that it be taken only ONCE per day, in the morning– and only automatically (not in response to ‘needing’ it). This approach is necessary to get rid of the conditioned behavior of dosing in response to all kinds of symptoms every four to six hours. Don’t divide your dose and take it twice per day– that only defeats the purpose.
steve i would start by taking 1 8 mg and see how you feel then go from there my husband was real bad when we stared on suboxone and he was fine with a little more then 8 mg, i will tell you that i quit so many times but getting on suboxone was the best thing i have ever done, now i am clear headed and have had counseling now i can say i will never use again. you should get on suboxone for sometime so you can fix everything then get off. if you dont get some type of counseling i think it will be harder for you. if you do get on suboxone make sure your insurance will cover it. i hope this helps. if you take what your friend has given you and stay clean still get counseling. they really help.
Hello there, I am a 33 yr old woman who is 16 wks pregnant and currently on 6mg a day of Subutex. I have to have a scheduled c section as I had to have one with my first two children. With my last c sec two years ago I was given spinal anesthesia in which I was given Duramorph. It worked wonderfully and I was pain free for the first three days post-op. After that I only had to take a vicodin in the a.m. for three days. I was wondering what my options are for anesthesia and pain control with this one? It’s really the only thing that has been weighing on my mind because with c section number one I had very inadequate pain control and was miserable. This time around I will have a toddler and a 13 yr old to care for so basically I dont have much time for the pain! Any advice will be greatly appreciated!
Hi Doc, can you please please help me?
I am a recovering heroin/opiate addict who has been taking Suboxone for the last 2 years. I’ve been titrating down from a dose of 16mg with a 2mg reduction about every 3 months or so. I recently went from 6mg to 4mg.
I was having a lot of trouble with this new lower dose… feeling jittery, high anxiety — scoring a (self-assessed) 9 on COWS. I made a mistake and I took a double dose on a few days, leaving me short on my prescription.
When I first decided to get help over 2 yrs ago, I hid about forty 10mg oxycontin pills, “just in case”… I put them away and I pretty much forgot about them. I guess I felt good knowing I had the drugs on-hand all the time, and that each & every minute I was consciously choosing not to use them. But I also thought I’d hang on to them, in case the final withdrawal from Suboxone was unbearable.
Well, guess what happened when I realized that I was about 5 days’ short on my prescription? I took out those Oxycontin pills and I used some of them. The thing is, by then, they were over 4 years old – according to the bottle they were in. Still, I snorted about 10 of the pills over about 60 hours, receiving very minimal effect, even after I’d been without Suboxone for over 2 days. My plan was to use the Oxycontin to help me make my prescription last as long as it should.
After about 2 1/2 days of doing this, I looked myself in the mirror and was like “What are you doing? You are JUST getting your life back, are you going to throw it away?” … I had a reality check because I REALLY didn’t like my behavior. So I flushed the rest of the pills — something I really thought I could never do. I had wanted to flush them for over 2 years, but I couldn’t bring myself to part with them. I wanted to tell SOMEONE that I had stashed these pills – to tell on myself – but I just couldn’t make myself do it.
I felt very empowered that I finally flushed them… because in the back of my mind I had planned to keep them “just in case” I couldn’t stand the final withdrawal from Suboxone, and now they are gone. It meant to me that I believed in myself enough to just live life on life’s terms and that I gave up control. I made my choice when I flushed those pills – I am done with opiates. I am done.
My problem is this… I took my last dose of oxycontin Monday, and about 6 hours after that I also took 4mg of Suboxone. The Suboxone felt effective, but not as strong as usual. The last two days have been the same: I wake up with a LOT of anxiety. I feel very jittery, but I can sit still for long periods. By the time its time to take my Suboxone, I’m yawning a lot & watery-eyed. The relief from Suboxone only lasts about 4 hours, and then it starts again.
I also don’t want to tell my treatment provider about this. I have had a very good track record with my treatment team, and I really really feel like this was an isolated mistake and that I have learned a very valuable lesson from it. I know more NOW than I ever have that I don’t want that life for myself anymore. I KNOW that my sobriety is not in danger, in fact, its safer than its ever been before.
I’m afraid if my treatment provider learns what I did, she will try to force me to go back to the beginning of intensive outpatient (which I completed 2.5 yrs ago!). I have a job and a life and I just can’t go back to the beginning of treatment. I also don’t have insurance, and I can’t afford to pay for treatment again (no sliding scale). But this is what I’ve seen happen to other people if they tried to use.
I’m at the end-part of my treatment, and I made a mistake. I very much have learned my lesson….
My question is, what’s happening? What do I need to do?
Thanks for the responces, one more thing
How long do I have to wait after my last opiate pill before I should start SUBUTEX? I have heard terrible things from people who did not wait long eneough
Thank you to all!!!!!!!
Steve
Melanie, I understand your point about the image on the web site, but I think that it bothers you for a reason beyond the one you are aware of– I am saying this because of your second message. I fear that it is activating that part of you that is still ambivalent about using– the same part of you that hung onto the pills all this time. Please see my post in the main section– and as for the image, I use it because it is powerful and frightening. If people find it to be glamorous, do an ‘insight check’ on where you are at with your old memories. If you have ‘euphoric recall’– memories of the ‘good old days’ of using– be sure to take the memories ‘full circle’ and include in the memories all of the misery that opiates caused in your life. You want to remember the REAL old days– and remember that you hated life back then.
Gigi–
The duramorph is not going to be a good option this time around. It will be blocked, as will the vicodin. You could try to minimize the blockade by lowering your suboxone dose as much as possible, say 4 mg per day, then stop it entirely 2 days before the section. The half-life of suboxone is over 70 hours– very long– and so there will still be some blockade of your opiate receptors, but the duramorph may have some effect, particularly if your anesthesiologist is willing to increase the dose to 10 mg. He/she may or may not– there is a risk of late respiratory depression with epidural or spinal narcotics, and it would not be entirely free of risk to bump up the duramorph– you would need a pulse-ox monitored fairly closely, maybe even in the ICU.
The main problem, though, is that even if you are off of the Suboxone, your tolerance will still be high from the Suboxone. So a few vicodin won’t provide much analgesia. You will likely need oxycodone, and maybe even doses higher than percocet– which come in 5-10 mg doses. I would suggest using oxycodone 15 mg tabs, starting with one every 4 hours and maybe increasing to two tabs if one doesn’t cut it. When it is time to go off narcotics (usually 4-7 days for an uncomplicated c-section) you would stop the oxy for 16-24 hours, then start Suboxone.
As for the anesthetic itself, anything is fine– general, spinal, or epidural. Anesthetic agents and local anesthetics are not blocked at all by buprenorphine (Suboxone’s active ingredient).
Congratulations, and good luck– don’t let the staff make you feel guilty about ‘withdrawal’ in your new baby either. Studies show minimal withdrawal in babies born to mothers taking Suboxone. I have articles about that subject somewhere… I will post the references if I find them!
Thanks for your reply to the post I made about the image. Personally, I experience only revulsion when I see images like that. I often have intrusive thoughts of my own needle-using days. Its definitely not attractive to me. There is no ambivalence for me with regard to needles.
I am not sure I agree that it was related to my other post (& why would you out me as the same person? if I had wanted that, I’d have used the same name!)… I stashed those pills at a time when I was not 100% resolved about getting clean. Yes, there was a time early in my treatment where I figured that I would go back to using someday. I happened upon those pills and I just could not pass them up, as shameful as that was to me then & now. I had them for over two years, and my thoughts about them varied over that time. Sometimes I was privately proud of having the drugs on-hand, but not using them… Sometimes they were a safety net for my final withdrawal from Suboxone, if I were to find that unbearable. Most of the time I just wish I had the strength to get rid of them.
When I used the portion of the pills that I did, I knew I was doing something I didn’t want to be doing. But I felt that I had to, because I had shorted myself on my prescription (something nearly everyone at my treatment center has done at least once – we talk about it in group all the time). After two days, I had a moment of clarity, and I just realized that NOTHING was worth this. Avoiding withdrawal symptoms was not worth going back to the life I had lived in active addiction. The stupid pills were not even making me “high” really because they were so old… What little high I DID feel was actually sort of unpleasant.
I think the important question is not “why did I keep the pills?” but “why did I get rid of them?”… If you had asked me two years ago whether I thought I would ever flush 30 oxycontins down the drain, I’d have fallen over laughing. Until I actually DID it, I didn’t believe that I could.
Afterward, yes, I’m feeling some unpleasant effects, but I’m getting through it. Do you have any advice about that?
I will probably never ever feel comfortable with images of people shooting up. My treatment team has always advised avoiding such imagery if possible in movies or TV or elsewhere. “Sober people, places & things” as they say in AA (personally I’m not much into 12-step, but I like that saying). That picture is not a “sober thing”. I maintain my earlier position that its triggering and inappropriate for opiate addicts in early years of recovery (which I would imagine most of your visitors are). But, as they also say in AA “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change” — I don’t own this website, you do.
Do you have any advice about why I’m feeling so much withdrawal on Suboxone after what I did? It can’t be precipitated withdrawal, all medical accounts I’ve read say that happens within 1 – 3 hours, and what I feel is nowhere as violent. But I am feeling very anxious, headaches, watery eyes, yawning, feeling like I can’t sit still – but I do, etc. Should I skip a day of Suboxone? Would that help?
I would never ‘out’ someone! I assumed that the connection was visible to all readers– but now I realize that it was only through the e-mail addresses that I made the connection. It wasn’t a purposeful ‘outing’!
I hope you will continue to visit and read after going through the post I just completed, using your comment. My comments are my opinions– they are based on years of my own addiction and recovery, years of teaching about addiction, and years treating opiate addicts in a number of settings: Suboxone treatment, sobriety and step-based treatment, prisons, psych and detox wards…
My primary point with addiction is that it is impossible for an addict to ‘know himself’ completely. Addicts twist things so that the facts support a certain outcome. You will never see an addict give a convoluted, complicated explanation of why they need to COME CLEAN, or why they need to ENTER residential treatment– the logic ALWAYS ends up supporting keeping quiet, avoiding inconvenience, etc. I think I understand addiction pretty well, but for my own care I talk to someone else– cause I can’t understand myself.
steve hi i would get clean for 2 days before you start subutex hope this helps. one day mite be fine.
please email me at Alanogray@hotmail.com. I have been using opiates on and off for 12 years with NO issues. July 2006 I quite cold-turkey a 18 pill a day and was “clean” for 20 months. The opiates started out as a friend then became an enemy and that is why I quit. I also quite all the people in my life that were part of the drug, in other words if they relationship was a drug relationship they had to go along with the drug because temptation never takes a break. 20 months later I thought I was strong enough and could handle anything. Met up with an old drug friend and within 20 minutes I was back on the opiates and here it is 8 months later and 10 pills a day later. If the opiates were not so difficult to get, I probably would NOT quit. That being said, I am starting therapy with a therapist. Will he help me with this dependence? Will he prescribe any of the drugs that you talk about on this blog? And finally, you mention several drugs here and I don’t know if they are the same drug and people just mispell them or if they are different drugs. But I am asking this entire community along with this doctor here to help me by sending me an email to my email address. What drug do I take to get off of the Opiates? then for how long? Then what after that? And so on and so forth. Thank you – all you strong humans. We humans have a strenght within us that our humanness does not know, but yet there is a part of us within that DOES know and it knows that it knows in a gnosis way. Please help. thx.
Hello
Here is my story in brief. I got off percocets last spring with the help of suboxone. 8 months later, I slipped and took 6 percs (last week). (5/325s). I took this slip seriously and spoke to my psych, she put me on 8 mg/day suboxone to quell my desire for continued use. Well, the sub has quelled my desire but it is also making me feel high. ( I suspect my tolerance is very low since I only used (6 pills)once in the last 8 months) Did I just do a dumb thing by starting 8mgs sub to kill a day of weakness? I have been on 8mg for 4 days straight now.
Thank you
Hello everyone, I have been taking suboxone for almost 9 months I thank god everyday.Looking for some support.
hey everyone i am new to this site. I was reading about the generics and there was one on subutex but they pulled it because the pharm company was granted another year on both subutex and suboxone. So we got to pay out the behind for one more year. I dont understand for something that works so well for addiction and it is so expensive and hard to get. But you look at methadone and it is like getting candy it is so easy. It is not the best thing for you for addiction. It is just a legal and safe way to stay high. I sorry if that offends anyone. i do not wish to offend anyone.
i have been on 16 mg of suboxone a day now for a month . i do believe that it’s a miracle drug . i am a serious opiate addict , either high as a kite or in w/d . i now have no cravings or depression . amazing . i do occasionally wish that i could take a klonipin for some anxiety that i experience . but then again , that just might be my addiction talking . thank you suboxone for giving me my life back .
I started on Suboxone awhile ago, i ended up getting pregnant and was switched to Subutex. I had a miscarriage but still stayed on the Subutex because i didn’t really like the taste of the Suboxone. I was on that for months and months,and was totally amazed by the results. I don’t even think about taking narcotics anymore, but when they came out with the generic it was gritty feeling in my mouth. And i have a bad gag reflex so it kinda sucked. My doc switched me to the Suboxone again to see if it would be better. WELL…… I have been taking the Suboxone for 4 days now and i feel like crap! I am tired, VERY irritable, even kinda sick to my stomache. I thought okay, i just need to get used to it, but it’s seems like it’s only getting worse!!! Im hoping to hear back from my doc today but i was just wondering if anyone else seemed to have this issue. That is if anyone switched from the subutex to the suboxone. I went looking for answers on the internet but of course you can’t believe everything you read on the internet! So if anyone can help me that would be great!
I am interested in learning more about the use of Zofran to help to minimize withdrawal symptoms while tapering off of Subutex. I am fully aware that it does not treat the addiction (that is what NA and my doctors are for), but it certainly could help increase the level of success when trying to come off of a medication that makes it seem impossible otherwise. I have already successfully come off of Subutex once before so I know it is not impossible to do without the help of another drug (I did nothing other than slowly taper and then jump off). However, I am currently back on Subutex and would like to learn more about more humane ways of coming off. My current addictions specialist is unfamiliar with it, and therefore could not provide much support in this area.
Let me add, I am on Subutex again because I began severe withdrawal after being on Percoset for two weeks. I took the Percoset AS PRESCRIBED (10mg every 6 hrs, and even tapered down to only 10mg/day ), but still was unable to manage withdrawal symptoms without the Subutex. I have taken only up to 2mg (often I am only taking 1mg/day) of Subutex for 3 weeks, and now am experiencing terrible w/d’s when attempting to stop taking it. It seems unfair this time since I followed the rules and was so careful – even having my husband lock up the meds and only give them to me when they were due), but since I am genetically predisposed to addiction, I have to assume that may be why I am having such difficulty, where as others may not have any problem coming off such a low dose after such a short time. I will also add that when I was on Suboxone in the past, I was on up to 10mg/day.
Thank you!
Hey every one ive bin on subs for abou 1 -2 years and am looking for help with a question i was wondering. I go for mnthly scrips and today was my next appoint and the doc office closed and will be closed tomorrow im so scared to go with out cause ive bin on them for almost 2 years is there any thing i can do pls help me if you have any answers pls e-mail me at kmorin1386@live.com
thank you
Kristen
Hi
I am new to the forum and thought I would share a little about myself. I have been addicted to opiates for almost 20 years with several periods of recovery some lasting as long as 3 years at a time. 2 1/2 years ago, after rupturing a disk, I was offered pain medication. Funny that I neglected to tell the doctor I in was in recovery for opiate addiction. I knew full well what the outcome would be and once again I was headed down the path of destruction. Whether I saw an ad on a billboard or found it on the computer, I became aware of suboxone and it sounded like a lifesaver to me, and indeed it is. It’s been two years now and I have my life back with the help of suboxone and AA. Life is good. I live in Texas but am relocating to Bentonville, Arkansas and am curious if anyone knows of a good doctor there. I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks for letting me share.
I am not on sub or coming off but a very good friend of mine is. I used to do perks many years ago but not enough to where I was hooked so I have some insight I think. I helped last week by being with her just sitting around, getting food for her, and talking. she was on sub for 3 years and had been on hydro and some other but not oxy. she had tapered down to maybe even 1/4 ml but even that small, still had some strong withdraw symptoms so earlier, when she needed some, was sweating nervous etc and took a very small amount and symptoms left. her clinic forced her to quit and she wants to also, so has been off for 12 days. the first 7 days seemed to be bad physical symptoms mostly – they were more obvious.
she had all listed symptoms you read, kicking, sleeplessness diarrhea cold symptoms, lots of sweating at night, pacing, nervousness, sleeplessness nightmares.
now it seems now as those have subsided I have noticed there was excitement in being able to do something physically finally instead of being pinned to the couch but I think it is mixed with restlessness some. 2 days ago it seemed she has gotten much more moody, now angry with me short tempered, very controlling, but earlier was very glad I was there and close to me. i gave her back rubs and leg rubs which helped. initially day 2 – almost got suicidal but it passed soon.
What I want to know is does it make sense – or do symptoms “progress” from 1st being physical to then psychological mainly? maybe the psychological was there all along but now that physical is less, the psych are more obvious. I didn’t understand why an apparent mood swing to irritable even though I read it is a symptom but now I’m seeing it in my face. I want to not be blind sided by what may be coming. I read about pause and I think maybe this is that phase? she goes to some NA meetings and AA and I think it helps some but sometimes I wonder. Let me know if this seems normal or makes sense – physical symptoms dominating first mostly the psych. How long should we expect it to go on? she tapered to 1/4 mg and had been on sub 3 years.
ive been on sub for about 5 months now and lately ive been having the worst withdrawals… i feel like im going to throw up, my stomach gets extreamly crampy (like pms cramps), hot cold flashes(so bad i thought i was pregnant), i usually call out of work when im having these withdrawals because they are too much to handle. my boyfriend who does sub too his sympotms are just yawning!!! and hes been on it for 2 years! helllpp!!!!
Wow, I’m happy I ran across this site! My name’s Josh and I’ve been on suboxone for about six months. I know this question may have been answered already, but I read for 2 hrs. and couldn’t find an answer…Any word on a generic form? All you guys know as well as I do pertaining to the cost of what I call my lifesavers,lol. Anyways, I shouldn’t complain, and I’m not, just curious. Lord knows, in comparison to the amount I was spending daily chasing opiates pays for my months supply. Also, when i first started reading this site, I noticed a guy complaining about the loss of “high” switching from Sub to Subutex. I was a little put off by the comments. I guess I feel a bit protective over this issue, simply because I “personally” don’t feel anyone treated correctly wants the “high” or takes Sub’s to achieve euphoria. But, that’s just my limited opinion. It would seem any recovering addict would remember the days and nights of detox (jeez, it scares me thinking about it) as the cost of that “high” I take half of an 8mg tab daily, and seem to do fine. I could easily see how the addict in me would want to chomp the bottle, but given the circumstances, I didn’t want to blow this avenue of recovery. One could say “Well, he just didn’t do enough to need more…” Bullsh*t I partied with the best of ‘em. My dependency consisted of 25-35 norco’s a day, 3-4 bars (xanax) cocaine, meth, or whatever else I could get my hands on. I’m not bragging, just expressing some inner anxst, and validating my use of a small amount to keep my ass out of jail. And allowing me to lead a somewhat “normal” life. But I’m not special, and most of you will take this blog with a grain of salt, but, sorry guys this blog isn’t for you, it’s for me. And so far as coming off sub’s, I figure, if I take it for the rest of my life, that’s okay with me. I know,one day, just like opiates, I’ll be ready to stop and that’s when I’ll make it happen. So, for what it’s worth, to all you guys out there who are taking this drug for the right reasons, embrace the fact you didnt become an addict overnight, so quit trying to recover overnight.
Good Luck to Everyone
-Josh
please help me.! i have been stuck with a doctor who does not know a thing about sub w/d (he is just a GP), i cant get a new doctor because of the sub manufacture is paying for my meds, (i have no income). they are stopping the meds, i cant pay, so therefore i have 1 month to taper off 8mg sub, been on it for 9 months. feel w/d when i taper cus its so rapid. my doc is completely unsympathic and tried throwing an ssri (doxipen). i really need a medical assistance or i will probably kill myself, can someone please for the love of god give me a list of meds that work best to alleviate w/d . i asked for clonidine, he refused, i need something else to ask for. i have one appointment left b4 i quit. please if anyone is qualified help me, my doc wont, i have to do all my own research (med journals, wiki, clinical trials) but im such a mess from the rapid taper i cant retain anything. please someone who has been there or has md background suggest some meds so i can get through w/d without killing myself, (literally). i have pre-existing anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder, i dont thonk i will survive. i am grasping at straws , everyone says i will be ok, but i know how bad methadone/suboxone withdrawls are. i am feeling them now and i cant imagine it getting worse when i jump off. (i know it will) i read all the data, but please help i need to be medicated somehow to get through the first week or two. i know clonidine can help, but im also taking clonazepam and soma. beta blockers or other antihypertensives will help, but i need names to give to my doctor. if you have tried any of these drugs to alleviate w/d please let me know if it helped. im all alone in this and desperate. i NEED a kick-kit of some kind, please help before its too late. did i mention i am also suffering from benzo w/d at the same time. cannot afford a clinic, even sliding scale. all my savings went to buy suboxone. the E.R so i have heard has no sympathy and will just throw phenegran at you and kick you out. i really need med advice. thank you for reding this, sorry abput the spelling, hands are shaking.
for the love of god i need a kick kit. not o.t.c.
anyone qualified or experienced please comment to my post, i have little time, i have little time, last doc appointment is in a week, i need to suggest some possible medications to help alleviate p.a.w.s (withdrawal).
its me again, just a little info, i am looking into clonidine, robaxin, doxepine.
beta-blockers, etc. however, i am currently taking low dose of soma and clonazepam, but they are like placebo because my tolerance to benzo’s is sooo high. im feeling mild w/d from tapering suboxone so fast, still trying to get down to 6mg. sweats, nausea, extreme anxiety , adrenaline rushes constantly, nightmares, RLS, crushing depression. i cant imagine what it will feel like to totally jump off. i want clonidine but i dont know if mixing that with benzo will kill me. are there any alternatives like anti-hypertensive drugs, anti convolsant, anti-cortisol. please post some suggestions that worked for you or you think might work for me so i can ask my doc and do a little pharmacology reasearch. i know what the brain chemestry of opiate w/d is but i really need a medication that can address most of the symptoms, i cant ask my doc for 5 different drugs, is there anything that will help . please god someone must know, my doctor sure as hell does not.
does anyone answer or comment to your posts on this site, or am i in the wrong place?
It takes me awhile sometimes!
This is a good place to post comments, but the best place to go if you have questions is to the forum. There you will get replies to your comments or questions. I also have a number of informational materials for a small fee, and the proceeds help keep the blog, forum, and other pages going– the materials are here.
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