New on sub

[NicoleHewitt]

Hi. I started sub yesterday after quitting a5-6 a day hydro addiction. When will I feel normal? Was feeling so dizzy and slow and out of it yesterday then last night I was itching terribly and slept very little. This morning I was still very light headed and slurred speech. Didn't go to work for fear they would think I was messed up. Took fifth under tongue film an hour ago.. Prescribed 3 a day right now.. My hands are burning a bit and wrists .. So tired just want to feel normal enough to get on with life .. Any suggestions or insight ?

[newoutlook12]

Keep yourself clean getting off the drugs is the easy part learning how to live clean and sober and staying tgat way is the hard part.  But it can be done!

[newoutlook12]

And remember when u go on subs it puts your withdrawal on hold so no the hydro withdrawal is not almost over its just been on hold.  Don't stay on the subs to long  or it will be even harder of a withdrawal for u in the end. In my own opinion(coming from someone who has been on them for over 3 years) if I was u I would keep weening myself off them little by little. That way the withdrawal wont be to bad, but u need to be going to meeting getting a sponsor in the mean time so u can keep yourself cl

[clean_in_ks]

Since you just started the sub 2 days ago.....if you read over all these comments above, you'll see "the consensus of opinion" is to stop the sub now and let your detox play out. (You're still taking more sub than the amount of hydro you were ever on.)

[NicoleHewitt]

Ok still taking a small bit of sub.. Today only took 1/4 of a 2 mg 3 times...I'm so freaking tired and get sweats etc .. I don't know what to do... Almost feel like the worst of hydro withdrawl must be over... Haven't had since last sat... What of I do

[newoutlook12]

Thats great so glad to hear that trust me that could have been even worse of an addiction than you previously had. Hope you are feeling much better now, u will soon if not now. Is stays in your system for a long time. I hope you also take everyones advice about not being on them long.  Good luck to you in your recovery aftercare is a must if u want to stay clean,  just find what works for you.  It may take a while but its worth it getting off is the easy part. Its nice to have the subs for the withdrawal symptoms so u can start to get your mind clear.  Do yourself a favor and figure out what it really truly is that makes u use in my experience that is what really helped me to get and stay clean.   God bless you and good luck

[NicoleHewitt]

Thanks to you all!! Went back into doc today and told him Way Too High of a dose and he reluctantly agreed. So I will be talking 1/3 original 6 mg day dose he prescribed! He just wants me to split one 2 mg. film in half a try that off a bit. I think I can handle that. Also told him I don't want full blown sub addiction too !!!!!

[clean_in_ks]

Hi Nicole...and welcome to the forum~

When I first read your initial post I thought, "oh know....someone else is going to make the same mistake I did!".

I am a former hydrocodone user and I ignorantly went on subs when I quit the hydros.  I was in a crisis mode at the ER and my primary care dr suggested a sub dr that she used to work for.  I had ZERO knowledge about subs at the time and was so sick I couldn't think straight.  Since then, I have learned TONS about subs and want to give you a conversion table link that will show you how much hydrocodone is equivalent to 1.2 mg of sub (bupe)....

http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/18499/Conversion-table-other-drugs-equivalent-to-sub

As you can see, 1.2 mg of sub (bupe) is equal to approximately 30 mg of hydrocodone.  SOOOOO......as you said above, you were taking 5 pills a day that were 7.5 mg/each....that totals 37.5 TOTAL mg per day and you were prescribed a total of 6 mg/day of sub (2 mg 3x/day) right?

So 6 mg of sub would be equal to approximately 180 mg of hydro!!!!!!!
THAT'S WHY YOU WERE SO SICK!!!  WAY, WAY too much sub!!

I was up to 300 mg a day of hydro......and I still got VERY SICK on subs.
The dr also put me on WAY TOO HIGH OF A DOSE.  

If I were you......this is just me speaking from my mistakes and experience....I would stop the sub NOW....and just detox from the low dose of hydro you were on.  We can help you thru the detox....please read and read lots of posts here on the forum....post with your questions.  We will all pitch in and answer any questions you may have.  
I hope this equivalency info helps you.....I had no idea how STRONG an opioid suboxone was...heck, I didn't even know it WAS an opioid.....
Let us know how you're doing, ok?  

[nursegirl6572]

Ditto the advice you've gotten above.

Treating your minimal addiction with sub would be like killing a fly with a shotgun.

Again, we cannot tell you exactly what to do, but I'd recommend rethinking the sub completely.  If you DO stick with it, you need to discuss your dose with the sub doc....you would only need a TINY bit, your dose now is WAY too high IMO.

[newoutlook12]

Please please take the advice of everyone before me saying your dose is to high! U might want to cut the strips into forths and just do that. Put it this way they usually use that to get people off herion or something very strong like that. And please if u stay on them dont do it for long and don't let them raise the doseage u will get stuck in this horrible cycle and find it is much much harder to stop the subs. Trust me I know I have been on them for over 3 and a half years but they were used to get me off herion so I have to say in my case the subs saved my life. Just remember u are just making your tolerance stronger the more u use of the subs. I would def talk to your doctor to tell him its way to strong or try to ween yourself off just taking little by little less everyday before your body gets used to them. Hope this helps god bless you I  pray u overcome this horrible trap of addiction,  it doesn't get better until u get out and are sick and tired of being sick and tired!

[vicki595]

Hi- I can't tell you what to do but if this were me I would not take any more sub and just let the detox play out.   You don't need sub for this amount of use, in my opinion. It's an opiate as well and will cause wd's when you stop using it...

Just go through the wd's because you WILL have to face them sooner or later and they may not be bad at all.  

[NicoleHewitt]

well..like i said i am finally feeling normal..maybe ill just hold out for now..maybe i dont need the sub at all?? could the worst have passed already? HELP

[bama88]

Because your on too high of a dose......

[NicoleHewitt]

The suboxone was making me very sick ..not puking but tired, itchy as hell all night last night and felt lightheaded BAD

[NicoleHewitt]

I just started the sub yest had 3 doses of film that were 2 mg each and then 2 doses today...havent taken the 3rd and i feel almost normal again..thinking of not taking it at all..havent had a hydro since sat at 3. I took 5 7.5 a day..should i just hold out?????

[weaver71]

Jinx is right. I like the analogy, using sub for a hydro addiction is like swatting flies with a shotgun. The dizzy weird feeling is too a high a dose. For reference, I was on 250mgs of methadone and 8mgs sub worked just fine. That is how strong it is. Hydro detox is a week or 2, buprenorphine is several months of detox and adjustment. At 5-6 hydros, assuming 10mg norco, 1mg of sub would likely work great. Talk to your doctor about getting to a lower dose and ultimately get of the bupe. If you keep a high dose, your tolerance will get very high and you will likely have the infamous bupe headache. How many mgs a day are you taking now?

[Jinx_777]

oh Lord.  you are on subs for a 5-6 a day hydro????

i will start out by saying DON'T DO IT.  
i was just making this point in another post.  sub's are VERY strong, much, much stronger than hydro.  you are trading a somewhat easy detox for a VERY hard and long detox.

i don't want to go against what your doctor is doing, but this is crazy.
PLEASE type in suboxone withdrawal in the search bar and read, read, read.  educate yourself.  everyone should do that before starting any new med.

you are having those symptoms because subs are 30 times stronger than hydro.  

hopefully one of our fellow ex sub users will chime in here.