I have now been on Suboxone for 11 1/2 year. I tried to taper off after the first 3-6 months and ended up relapsing. I have had 7 close friends overdose and die from heroin and about 10 more people that I know pretty well that have also overdosed and died. I have cone to terms that I have a disease called "addiction."  I read a great article that totally made sense to me about a year ago. It was about other diseases that you have to take medication for. Take diabetes for example. If you have diabetes you are not going to stop taking your medicine for it because it will make you much worse and most likely even kill you. This is no different than having a bad addiction to opioids. I have taken suboxone for 11 1/2 years and for the first year and s half I tried to get off of it and relapsed several times. Once I decided to try to stay on some suboxone and not taper off I have not even had a thought of using for just over 10 years now. So you can look at this is a couple ways. You can be a person which is not me and go off of something and never go back, or you can take medication for your diseases and have a fighting chance to stay alive. I just now want to go fisht either the government or the maker of this medication to make it affordable to people so they can have an experience like mine. I have been fortunate enough to stay clean, get good health insurance that would pay a good amount so I could afford my suboxone because if I didn't there would be no way I could afford $800 per month to stay on this medication. If anyone happens to know anyone I could talk to about my personal story and life on suboxone and possibly find the right people to talk  to to make it affordable so we don't have so many deaths and people who want to get on this that cannot afford it. Please feel free to email me at ***@****.

when you take your first pill of suboxone, do you feel nauseas?? or vomit at all? or does it take all of that withdrawal away?? i have a phobia of vomitting and im not looking forward to doing it!!, can someone please answer that?

And you can obtain a prescription for Suboxone from your psychiatrist IF he/she has a license to treat patients with Suboxone...

Hi! - here is my post from a few days ago about Suboxone. I think it answers some of your questions. And yes, Suboxone is covered by some insurance companies (not mine unfortunately). Hope it helps!

Hi guys. I am new to this forum but feel that my knowledge could be helpful to you as your comments and stories have helped me through my addiciton. I have been addicted to pain killers and heroin for 2 years and have just recently taken the steps necessary to get help for myself. I was motivated by the fact that I don't want to be prisoner to these deamons anymore! They destroyed me financially and emotionally and have greatly (and negatively) affected my relationships and interactions with the people around me. I find great comfort and support from this forum and want to lend my support to all of you. I have started seeing a therapist who began treating me with Suboxone. I would reccommend this treatment to anyone who is ready to get help. I agree with others who say that treatment wont be successful unless the addict is ready to help themselves. I didnt think that I was addicted and I certainly didnt think that I needed help until I was cut off from my family and from their financial support. Suboxone is a partial opioid agonist and opioids like pain killers and heroin are full opioid agonists. A full opioid agonist is one that fully binds to the opioid receptors in your brain, thus giving you a complete feeling of euphoria. A partial opioid agonist is one that partially binds to the opioid receptors in your brain, thus giving you a minimal feeling of euphoria while at the same time, blocking other opioids from binding to those receptors. Thus if you take any type of opioid while you are on Suboxone, you will not feel the full pleasurable effect of the drug, thus giving you less positive reinforcement when taking a drug like heroin, lessing your desire to take a drug like heroin. I find that I am able to achieve a minimal euphoric feeling from Suboxone but mainly, the drug allows me to function normally. I can get up easier in the morning and participate in activities that I enjoyed before my addiction - like going to the gym. I am also less moody. The most important benefit resulting from treatment with Suboxone for me is that I am less focused on combating withdrawal symptoms (since they are essentially nonexisistent with this drug) and cravings and can direct my focus to more pressing issues such as why I began using the opioids in the first place. Attacking the underlying problems to my addiction I believe will ensure my long-term recovery. I hope this helps! Again, I really enjoy this forum and I would welcome any questions, comments, or responses. My prayers are with you all.

-Kate

it sounds like we have a lot in common. My husband also is giving me a hard time. thats partly why I justified in my mind that it was "ok" to take some of his pills.  

Im afraid my family is falling apart.... well.......truthfully it IS falling apart. its too long to go into right now...but i think I too should go seek counseling. I used to go to psychologists years ago, and I think I need to start again. Im in a very dark place right now, unable to help myself or my family, and Im afraid if I dont get help, our entire family will be destroyed.  Good luck to you and let us know how your appointment goes.