Buprenex Withdrawl

[jonesing247]

Does anyone know how hard buprenex withdrawl is? Ive just stopped taking oxy's and im on the sublingual form of bup. I was wondering if anyone knows how hard it is to kick the bup when the time comes. What am i in for? also has anyone kicked oxy's and NOT felt overly depressed or lethargic after 1 week......i need to know that someone has so that i wont psyche myself out to expect the worst. Thanks all, you guys are great.

[Jonny248]

HI everyone,
I know these are all fairly old posts but I imagine someone could still read through here and find this post useful. I was addicted to heroin for about a year and quit after my parents found out I was using and sent me to detox and IOP. I stayed completely clean for a few months but back problems (along with the obvious drug addiction) eventually led me seek out prescription drugs as well as occasionally relapse. Since I had such a high tolerance for opiates I found that hydrocodone and darvocet really didn't do much for my my pain. Since I didn't feel that telling doctors I had a very high tolerance to opiates from heroin addiction would result in adequate doses of pain meds I instead decided to try suboxone. I was on  suboxone for about three or four months, at first it was managing my pain very well (and even getting me a bit high) but in time its efficacy waned. Since I didn't particularily care for the high cost, monthly doctors visits, waiting 15 minutes a day for it to dissolve under my tongue and constipation that came from the drug I decided to stop taking it. At this point I had gotten to taking the drug every 2-4 days and had never noticed any withdrawal symtoms so I assumed I did not have any physical dependence. I told my doctor I had stopped taking it and did not need my prescription refilled. I proceeded to actually stop taking the meds, about four or five days deep I began to suffer terrible withdrawal symptoms. I did some reading online and decided to seek out a doctor to get clonidine and some benzodiazepines (which I did successfully). They definitely helped but the withdrawal symptoms were awful and lasted well over a month. The first time I quit heroin I had waited till I was fairly sick and taken a suboxone followed by a half pill the second day which I found to be very effective. The withdawal from suboxone itself however was much worse than anything I had experienced with heroin. If you are currently on other opiates I think suboxone is fantastic for minimizing short term withdrawal symptoms to help you quit. I do not think that suboxone is a good idea for permanent or long term use, for me at least the withdrawal symptoms were dramatically worse than for other opiates (although I've plenty of horror stories about methadone). If you plan to take suboxone to quit opiates make sure you are in a fairly severe state of withdrawal before administering the first dose. It is a partial agonist with very high binding and can put you into withdrawal if you still have a decent amount of the drug in your system. I would avoid taking it for more than three days as the withdrawals off of this compound were much worse for me than that of heroin.

[IBKleen]

shootme,

You have come in on an old post. Go to the top of this page and hit the post a question button. Start your own. Hope to see you out there.

[shootme]

I was a heroin addict for 2 years and then got on methodone for 3 years. i detoxed off of methodone and was extremely sick! After about a month of being very lethargic, having diarrhea not being able to eat and and sleep. I gave in a started taking very small amounts of buprenex which i got off the street. I felt 110% better. The only prob was it wasnt regulated an i started to get hooked. Its very easy for me to get as well.  I have been taking it for a few months now and when i dont have it i do go through withdrawl. I cant sleep, or eat and have diarrhea. Its not as severe as methodone or heroin withdrawls but, its definently not pleasent. I would suggest not using it for withdrawls or using a very small amounts, and not staying on it for more than a few weeks. I trying to kick this habit now and it feels like its never ending. Does anyone know how long the withdrawls last from it?

[InLimbo]

I was on the meth program for 3&1/2 years, doses of 120 and still shooting heroin.  After the first year and a half, I realized I had been beaten!  So the next 2 years was continual detox from the meth, 5 mg.s a week and staying off the heroin.  I got down to about 10 mg.s over a 2 yr. period, and decided to walk.  To my suprise I was overwhelmingly sick and sought out a doctor on line who offered buprenex injectibles for a period of 1 month.  This past month has been alittle turbulant, but I've reduced from 5 ampules a day to 1 over about a 5 week period.  Now at the end of this time I have been clean of heroin for over 2 years, needed the bup to get off the meth, and full of anxiety about being without something.  My sleep patterns have been obviously irregular and I'm starting to always feel alittle sick.  I was hoping that the bup had taken me past the meth w/d's and put me in a place where I was able to bear...since they say that bup has minimal w/d's.  Any advise or opinion?

[InLimbo]

I was on the meth program for 3&1/2 years, doses of 120 and still shooting heroin.  After the first year and a half, I realized I had been beaten!  So the next 2 years was continual detox from the meth, 5 mg.s a week and staying off the heroin.  I got down to about 10 mg.s over a 2 yr. period, and decided to walk.  To my suprise I was overwhelmingly sick and sought out a doctor on line who offered buprenex injectibles for a period of 1 month.  This past month has been alittle turbulant, but I've reduced from 5 ampules a day to 1 over about a 5 week period.  Now at the end of this time I have been clean of heroin for over 2 years, needed the bup to get off the meth, and full of anxiety about being without something.  My sleep patterns have been obviously irregular and I'm starting to always feel alittle sick.  I was hoping that the bup had taken me past the meth w/d's and put me in a place where I was able to bear...since they say that bup has minimal w/d's.  Any advise or opinion?

[1fortheroad]

actually - i've heard of bup being sold for $18 an amp on the street - what a joke!

[skipper]

hairysoda:

if your doc will write for buprenex, go ahead and get it. as an-
other poster put it, the injections aren't difficult (it's not like
shooting up). if you still can't inject then quirt the bubrenex un-
der the tounge and hold for ten minutes (good luck on that one).
people who take thae sublingual tablets tend to detox much quicker
than people on perscribed buprenex. the tablets are scarce and some
what of a pain in the ass to get. i'm hearing about amps of bup-
renex on the street now too. nobody's come back with the black mar-
ket price, although it's probably not much...'cause they won't get
you high.

keep an angel on your shoulder
kip

[1fortheroad]

sublinguals are not available anywhere in the u.s. yet...they are still not fda approved.  you can get them overseas, but i don't really know much about that - legalities and whatnot.  

the injects aren't bad - i was deathly afraid of needles, and i'm able to do it...desperation helps you do a lot of things you didn't think you could do.  the needles are really small, and they go right into your muscles - no pain...seriously.

[newfriend]

I'm from So. Fla too. So is Lifeisbetter. Maybe she knows. Where are you from?

[hairysoda]

here in so fl my dr says that the sublingual is not available. is it and where can i get them since i would like to try them vs the injections

[OxyDout]

Fair enough, and I apologize for maybe being harsh in the past. So, getting back to where we should be, how have you been. I haven't heard lately about how things are going. I'm also ignorant to anything about bup, how often do you take it and what quantity? I"m curious because I have never seen it and never heard of it until this forum. I hope all is well and would like to hear how things are going when you get a chance.

GWH

[galawyer]

Everyone is different.  I just stopped taking percs and oxy cold-turkey.  I felt like **** for a couple of days but I had so much work to do and a new puppy that the days seemed to go by quickly.  I was only taking the percs (#10) and oxy (20mg bid) for a little over a year.  I have never been on buprenex but seriously considered it to get off the other stop.  Keep up the good work and it will all be okay.

[groovygirl]

we all have our different ways of expressing ourselves. mine is totally honesty - i've spent so much time living the lie of addiction, that i've perhaps taken the honesty approach to a point where it sounds harsh instead of helpful.

i expect certain things from this board, but what i don't expect is being personally attacked by anyone.  it's real easy to take your frustrations out on a person you can't see, cowardly yes...but easy.

i've tried to give back the help i've received here while at the same time have tried to help maintain the integrity of this forum.  there has been plenty i have read that blows my mind, and at times i have felt the need to comment on it's inappropriateness (sp?).  i have commented on posts i perceived as people drug seeking and on insensitive thread breaking.  people have turned that into a battle, and their words have been very hurtful. a few months ago, i never would have responded to their posts, but i now feel the need to stick up for myself. if you see my name and you KNOW i am saying something you don't like, why do you bother reading it??  i have chosen to disregard certain people's posts who i KNOW are either just chit chatting or talking about stuff that does not interest me.

from now on, i will not respond to posts i think are inappropriate for the board...thread break and drug seek all you want.  i'll continue to read and post until this place becomes just a chat room, and then i'll move on. only a few of the people who have reached out to help me are still here - so many have left because of the reasons i have talked about. to all  the people who reached out to bash me in the head, sorry you don't have anything better to contribute.

[skipper]

jonesing247:

i'm not real sure what the jones from bup is like. i was a iv
drug abuser for many years. mostly stuff from ripping off drug
stores and clinics...you know morphine, dilaudid, neumorphan,
and the other stuff i could inject. i got clean for 17 years and
then an old neck injury came back (with a vengance) to haunt me.
2 surgerys in the last 2 years has stableized my neck, but still
left me in intractable pain. my pain doc has told me i will prob-
ably be on oxy or something else for the rest of my life. i will
not accept this, even though i know in my heart it is probably true. so... every so often i take myself off oxycontin and oxyIR.
i take 40mg of oxycontin 3 times a day. i do not want to be on
this **** for the rest of my life and the only way to find out,
is to take myself off every 4-5 weeks for 7-10 days. i've gone
off cold, tapering with darvon (don't laugh it works!) and tap-
ering with bup. i generally like to taper off as quickly as i
comfortably can.

are you taking the now famious Thomas recipe? if not get on it
as soon as you possiably can. it doesn't matter if your stil using. in fact, i've found it works best if you start a week to 10 days before you actually sart to detox. this recipe is just on the other side of a miracle! also a small stash of klonopin ot valium will really help, but be careful as these types of drugs (benzos) are  addictive also...so be careful! instead of benzos i've beeen using a neural muscle relaxer called baclofen.

you should be able to find the ingrediants to thomas's recipe by
reading some of the older posts...or maybe someone will post it.
if neither of these work, i will post my somewhat modified version.

please keeep posting...there will alwys be room for just one
more addict here!

keep an angel on your shoulder
kip

[groovygirl]

trumpet69s - you are lucky to have had such an easy time of it.  as you can see by reading here, most people aren't as lucky and the withdrawal symptoms can persist for an extended amount of time.  there is actually something called post withdrawal syndrome, and from what i've been told, it can last up to a year.  that is probably the worst case scenario, but it can happen.

jonesing247 - buprenex does get rid of all withdrawal symptoms, and for me it made me feel on top of the world.  it doesn't get you high, but you have none of the lethargy that goes with w/d. the only problem is getting off the stuff.  there's a lot of fear about that for me.  i have a VERY hard time tapering, but i have to stick with it.  i didn't have any success with the sublingual tabs...the clinic i went to prescribed injectibles which are much stronger.  my feeling is that if you taper down slowly enough and get down to maybe 1/4 amp/day, wds will be minimal.  i'm not sure what you'd need to get down to with the pills.  let us know how it goes.

[trumpet69s]

Hi.  I was on Oxy and Hydro for years and abused both.  I finally could not get any from my doctors. After about 2 weeks of feeling like I had a bad case of the flu I felt OK and have never had a desire for eithe since (Been off both about a year now)  My suggestion to anyone is just go through the withdrawls and get it over with for they will not kill you.

[Witchywoman]

From what I've heard, if you taper off the bup slowly, the wds are minimal. The formula for tapering I've seen suggested is to go down by one half a sublingual pill every two days. It is said if you do this, you will feel almost no wds at all, maybe just a small amount of lethargy after stopping.

Let us know how it goes for you, and good luck.

love,
WW

[tex3]

Hi Jonesing. I was on buprenex injectable for almost half a year but didn't use it to detox. I was prescribed it after detoxing from hydros (had also been on oxy) when I couldn't take Ultram for pain. So I used it for pain relief for quite a while. In the beginning, I did my usual: took more than prescribed in hopes of getting a buzz. It never did give me one, and I settled down and used it right. But the few times I ran out (either from using too much in the beginning, or when I couldn't afford to get it since my insurance didn't pay for it) I had no real physical withdrawal. Mostly it was mental; I was so afraid of not having it I psyched myself into a depressed and anxious state. The only physical symptom I really had was a reduced appetite, but that was more because I had such an increased appetite while taking that or any opiate. It wasn't the same as not being able to eat when detoxing.
While bup will get you through the detox, you still might feel the lethargy and depression after quitting. I don't know how long that will last because I was put back on Norco after quitting bup, and I was hooked again immediately, until I quit April 1.
The depression and lethargy suck. But you will get through them. If you take a pill to feel better, you're not only delaying the inevitable but setting yourself up for another fall, and it's likely to be worse than the one you just went through; detox got worse for me each time. Not worth it. I picked the worst possible time to detox as I'd just had surgery, moved, quit my job, and was dealing with some major physical problems. Plus I'd just left my husband then reconciled. It was a recipe for disaster. But I still made it; I forced myself to prevail even when there were days I didn't care if I lived. Didn't necessarily even want to. But that was just two months ago and now I'm great. Two months isn't that long when I abused myself so long. It's really a pretty good deal if you think of it that way.
Ask Groovy this question as she might have a different take. I know she's had problems quitting the bup, or tapering off it, I think. Everyone responds to it different, but for me it was a wonder drug when I needed it. Best of luck and let us know how you're doing.

[groovygirl]

for me it is extremely hard to get off buprenex.  it has been as hard as getting off the vics and percs...same kind of flu-like symptoms and major depression.  however, most people say it is not addicting and there are no wd symptoms associated with it.  i guess i'm one of a kind.  you should do a search of this site - you'll find more info because we've discussed it here before.  good luck.