Aa
I will be detoxing from longterm suboxone use and would like to extend an invite for others to join me so that we can help support each other
I am about to emabark on a detox I have planned for about a year now. I have been on suboxone now for almost three years and I am finally paying heed to the downside. First, on the good side. Suboxone has helped me to stabilize my life along with AA and therapy. I have gone to school, become a drug counselor(I graduate this friday May 9th) become involved in a loving relationship, drastically improved my relationship with my family and stopped most of the negative behaviors associated with addiction. On the flip side however, suboxone is taking it's toll on me. The last time I was free of all drugs, was July of 05' after a protracted and painful detox from suboxone and methadone, which I had been on prior to the suboxone. I want to be completely sober again. Suboxone has ruined my sleep patterns, my creativity and robbed me of much of my enthusiasm for life. Since I no longer get natural highs, except from sex, I am ready to go through the arduous and drawn out detox that is a suboxone detox. I have been through many short term detoxes using suboxone and buprenex some as early as 95-96. I would like to share what will be my final detox with this community as I am actually going through it. In fact, I would like to invite others to detox with me at the same time. I will be done with school and have finished my last internship as a drug counselor and have set aside about 3 weeks to get through the worst of it. I am planning on using benzos during the first week and would like all the feedback possible. In exchange, I have a wealth of information about so many drugs. I have lived in 5 different countries and have been in more than 25 programs. The longest I have been in recovery is 21 months(current). While I have progressed in my life on suboxone I believe I have reached the point where it's effects are more harmful than helpful. Recovery is all about self-honesty and I know that to fully spread my wings in life, I must get off the suboxone. So, my detox starts on May 26th at which time I hope to be down to 2 mgs or less. Right now I am at 5mgs and I have been as high as 32mgs daily. I found that it is so much easier to taper when you split the dose into three or four administrations. A couple of months ago I got down to about two mgs a day but when it got tough at the end I decided to put the rdetox on hold until after my semester ended. So talk to me, I am originally from the NY/NJ area but have lived in the SF/ east bay area for the last five years.
I noticed that the original author of this thread "suboxonaddict" was over 5 weeks ago. Wonder what became of this person?? How is their recovery going? Are you there Suboxonaddict? Clearly we are all interested in your progress...please pipe in.
One thing that I want to comment on that was brought up in this thread is the topic of AA meetings and judgmentalism. Whoa...this hits a real home run for me because I have had a personal struggle with being in AA due to issues just like this...so much judgment. I am in recovery (for 18 months now) from coccaine and alcohol. But because I am Bipolar (a truly frowned upon topic in AA), I do take other necessary meds. I never reveal what meds I am on at AA mtgs. I made the mistake early in my recovering of revealing to many details when I was "sharing" in a meeting...they ate me up like sharks. I walked out of that meeting and almost never went back to any AA mtg. I'm really turned off by the program actually, but there are very few NA mtgs where I live...almost none. I'm cross-addicted, yet the drug addiction is not permissable. I became so turned off by the lack of acceptance that I've basically stopped going to AA. It became more of a drain to me rather than what it should be, which is rebuilding and fortifying of my nature and inner strength. It's rather sad because the originators of AA never wished for people to be judged, yet it is a reality that has made me feel alone in my struggle with addiction. I'm sooooo grateful for this forum...finally, I feel it's okay to be me.
One thing that I want to comment on that was brought up in this thread is the topic of AA meetings and judgmentalism. Whoa...this hits a real home run for me because I have had a personal struggle with being in AA due to issues just like this...so much judgment. I am in recovery (for 18 months now) from coccaine and alcohol. But because I am Bipolar (a truly frowned upon topic in AA), I do take other necessary meds. I never reveal what meds I am on at AA mtgs. I made the mistake early in my recovering of revealing to many details when I was "sharing" in a meeting...they ate me up like sharks. I walked out of that meeting and almost never went back to any AA mtg. I'm really turned off by the program actually, but there are very few NA mtgs where I live...almost none. I'm cross-addicted, yet the drug addiction is not permissable. I became so turned off by the lack of acceptance that I've basically stopped going to AA. It became more of a drain to me rather than what it should be, which is rebuilding and fortifying of my nature and inner strength. It's rather sad because the originators of AA never wished for people to be judged, yet it is a reality that has made me feel alone in my struggle with addiction. I'm sooooo grateful for this forum...finally, I feel it's okay to be me.
Wow, I had no idea that this stuff could cause so many problems. A friend of mine in AA was telling me that it was best thing since sliced bread and it wasn't addicting etc.....
Recently I went thru tx for hepatitis c and let me tell that ain't no ride in the park. Lots of pain. So my md wrote for pain meds and now I am addicted. This weekend I want to detox with the subutex. But after reading all this it will only be on it for a short time a couple of weeks maybe. I hate being addicted. I've been in recovery from herion over 11 1/2years. I am not going to let this stuff send me back to that.....Thanks for the info and may God be with you.......
Red
Recently I went thru tx for hepatitis c and let me tell that ain't no ride in the park. Lots of pain. So my md wrote for pain meds and now I am addicted. This weekend I want to detox with the subutex. But after reading all this it will only be on it for a short time a couple of weeks maybe. I hate being addicted. I've been in recovery from herion over 11 1/2years. I am not going to let this stuff send me back to that.....Thanks for the info and may God be with you.......
Red
good luck. well you dont need it. congrads becuz you know what you want to do and that is be free of subox. i am 8 days w/out sub but not completely every third day i get tired and achy legs so i take a small peace of sub and it helps. within a month i know i will be feelign better.
If the pills are large and oval they are 8mg tablets, if they are oval, very thin & small they are the 2mg tablets. I have been on both the 2mg white subutex pills and the 8mg white subutex. It was much easier for me to take the 2mg pills sublingually, BUT it was much cheaper to purchase the 8mgs, so I split them in half. I have been on for about 3 years, I really hope that I have the strength & courage to taper someday...
Hi,
I would just like to ask if anyone here could help me to find any medical documentation pertaining to the process of transitioning a patient from Subutex to Buprenex. I went through a "rapid detox" almost 3 years ago and immediately after I attempted a gradual taper from Buprenex over the next 3 months, but when that didn’t work, (I am a chronic pain patient as well) I was transitioned from Buprenex to Subutex. Since then I’ve been on Subutex and am currently tapering from 32mg per day to 24mg per day.
Yes, I would like to get off this medication completely eventually, but the impetus for this decision to transition from Subutex to Buprenex is a financial one. My insurance has never covered the costs Subutex and likely never will. As a result, my monthly medication expense is around $1,000 per month for Subutex. When I was earning a good income, I just toughed it out. Yet, my job at a treatment facility as an out of state consultant was recently discontinued, which left me without an income to cover the cost of the Subutex.
So, I decided to review my insurance coverage again to see if anything had changed in the last 3 years relative to their coverage of buprenorphine based medications and, to my disbelief, I discovered that they now cover Buprenex . . . and only Buprenex. After asking all the appropriate questions of one of their Insurance Reps, it was confirmed that if I could successfully transition from Subutex to Buprenex, I could save approximately $990 per month! Basically, I would just be required to pay a $9 copay and the copay for the syringes.
Although I once had a phobia of needles and still cannot even think of injecting myself without cringing, I did so successfully for 3 months after being discharged from inpatient care almost 3 years ago. At that time, I was put on a Buprenex taper and had to administer those injections 2 - 3 times per day.
So, needless to say, after this discovery, I immediately told my psychiatrist about what I had found and since he was very familiar with my current financial issues (and all the other issues I have! ), he was willing to consider such a transition. The problem is that neither of us can find any data, stats or other medical information regarding such a medication transition. He found info regarding the absorption rates of sublingual subutex compared to that of injecting Buprenex, yet we couldn't even interpret that info because their absorption rates were represented so differently. Absorption of subutex was represented in anagrams and the absorption of Buprenex was represented in milligrams. The only thing we know for certain is that very little buprenorphine is absorbed when taken sublingually and a great deal of buprenorphine is absorbed when injected. And, to further complicate things, subutex when administered sublingually remains effective for up to 37 hours, whereas Buprenex when injected only lasts approximately 7 hours . . . per the data he reviewed.
So, without the medical documentation to guide us through such a transition my psychiatrist is not eager to turn me into a “guinea pig” or to possibly subject me to terrible withdrawal symptoms considering how well I’ve been doing. And, this of course, is why I am here and asking if you might have seen or heard of any references to such a transition. Everyone that has posted or commented on this thread seems very knowledgeable about the medications discussed, so I thought it might be worth a try.
And, before I go I just want to acknowledge the courage and support I've witnessed reading your posts. Its so nice to "hear" such positive and helpful conversations pertaining to a subject that, when typically discussed, is reduced to a self-promotion (i.e., I know more or I know what is right for others) or self-defeating (i.e., I’m just a victim of society, family, etc. or I’ve had it worse than anyone else, etc.) dysfunctional banter. So, thank you for the pleasant and informative dialogue. And, more importantly, I pray that you all experience continued success in your mission to attain and sustain the balanced, productive and positive life your working towards and that you successfully overcome any obstacles that might get in your way!
I would just like to ask if anyone here could help me to find any medical documentation pertaining to the process of transitioning a patient from Subutex to Buprenex. I went through a "rapid detox" almost 3 years ago and immediately after I attempted a gradual taper from Buprenex over the next 3 months, but when that didn’t work, (I am a chronic pain patient as well) I was transitioned from Buprenex to Subutex. Since then I’ve been on Subutex and am currently tapering from 32mg per day to 24mg per day.
Yes, I would like to get off this medication completely eventually, but the impetus for this decision to transition from Subutex to Buprenex is a financial one. My insurance has never covered the costs Subutex and likely never will. As a result, my monthly medication expense is around $1,000 per month for Subutex. When I was earning a good income, I just toughed it out. Yet, my job at a treatment facility as an out of state consultant was recently discontinued, which left me without an income to cover the cost of the Subutex.
So, I decided to review my insurance coverage again to see if anything had changed in the last 3 years relative to their coverage of buprenorphine based medications and, to my disbelief, I discovered that they now cover Buprenex . . . and only Buprenex. After asking all the appropriate questions of one of their Insurance Reps, it was confirmed that if I could successfully transition from Subutex to Buprenex, I could save approximately $990 per month! Basically, I would just be required to pay a $9 copay and the copay for the syringes.
Although I once had a phobia of needles and still cannot even think of injecting myself without cringing, I did so successfully for 3 months after being discharged from inpatient care almost 3 years ago. At that time, I was put on a Buprenex taper and had to administer those injections 2 - 3 times per day.
So, needless to say, after this discovery, I immediately told my psychiatrist about what I had found and since he was very familiar with my current financial issues (and all the other issues I have! ), he was willing to consider such a transition. The problem is that neither of us can find any data, stats or other medical information regarding such a medication transition. He found info regarding the absorption rates of sublingual subutex compared to that of injecting Buprenex, yet we couldn't even interpret that info because their absorption rates were represented so differently. Absorption of subutex was represented in anagrams and the absorption of Buprenex was represented in milligrams. The only thing we know for certain is that very little buprenorphine is absorbed when taken sublingually and a great deal of buprenorphine is absorbed when injected. And, to further complicate things, subutex when administered sublingually remains effective for up to 37 hours, whereas Buprenex when injected only lasts approximately 7 hours . . . per the data he reviewed.
So, without the medical documentation to guide us through such a transition my psychiatrist is not eager to turn me into a “guinea pig” or to possibly subject me to terrible withdrawal symptoms considering how well I’ve been doing. And, this of course, is why I am here and asking if you might have seen or heard of any references to such a transition. Everyone that has posted or commented on this thread seems very knowledgeable about the medications discussed, so I thought it might be worth a try.
And, before I go I just want to acknowledge the courage and support I've witnessed reading your posts. Its so nice to "hear" such positive and helpful conversations pertaining to a subject that, when typically discussed, is reduced to a self-promotion (i.e., I know more or I know what is right for others) or self-defeating (i.e., I’m just a victim of society, family, etc. or I’ve had it worse than anyone else, etc.) dysfunctional banter. So, thank you for the pleasant and informative dialogue. And, more importantly, I pray that you all experience continued success in your mission to attain and sustain the balanced, productive and positive life your working towards and that you successfully overcome any obstacles that might get in your way!
i havent been on it nearly as long as a lot of you but its all the same , this is my seventh month on suboxone and am finally starting to decrease my dosing. I am now at 24 mgs. And plan on going down 8 mgs each month till im down to 8 then I go slower so there is as little discomfort as possible. I definitely have felt the withdrawals from lack of suboxone and they arent fun. Granite they arent as bad as heroin or oxy withdrawals, but they are similiar and last way way longer. I am nervous about that but I am glad to have my life back, have the will to live and just be happy with my life.good luck to everyone tapering and everyone can beat this disease, its a definite!
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