Starting week 2 on Suboxone

Well, I start week 2 on sub today.  I went to my pain management/sub doctor yesterday.  I must say he is an incredibly sweet, supportive guy!  Anyway, I'd been taking 4mg 3x/day and occasionally an additional 4mg in the middle of the night if I woke up with pain that wouldn't go away.  He has me taking it for pain and to get thru the withdrawals.  So, yesterday I saw him at 3pm.  I'd taken my am dose at 6am and hadn't had any since. I felt fine. No pain, no withdrawals, no cravings, nothing.  And as we talked about I realized I'd felt fine since day #3. So, he told me that there is no reason for me to be taking it regularly.  I am now to take it as needed for pain, withdrawal or cravings since the acute withdawal is over.  He said he uses it as a pain management drug in patients with hx of addiction and opiate tolerance.  So, I took 2mg last night at 6p because my back was really hurting and then I woke at 2am with really bad pain so I took 1000mg of Tylenol - guess what IT WORKED!!!   It's now 11am and I haven't had any since 6pm yesterday and I feel just fine.  I'm shocked and amazed.  I plan to use it in 2mg increments now and will try the Tylenol before trying suboxone.  I am truly in a state of shock and awe.  I had expected to need it for the withdrawals for a very long time since I'd been up as high as 30 10mg Norco's a day but I don't.  He said that a big part of my success is my strong desire to be off the drugs.  I feel very blessed right now.  I wish you could all feel as good as I do.  

[beachtowel]

great job and it looks like you and your doctor are working together...some here have said that taking one 8mg four times a day was way to much but it depends on your habit..........
look how much better your doing in your second week and in your first week no problems and no pain that is awesome.............

Keep it up and soon you will be drug free......outstanding job Lurker.........

[ToManyToCount]

Yes!!!  What a great post.  I'm very glad for you, it must certainly empower you to keep on keeping on.  

TMTC

[beachtowel]

the greatest thing Lurker is your very close to managing your own life again and the pills are not a slave to the pills..........

[lurker]

thanks - I don't feel that I'm not a slave to pills just yet - I need to be totally off the Suboxone before I will feel confident but I will always maintain a healthy fear of relapse - I don't want to end up right back where I was and I know that's just one pill away.  I've been sober from alcohol for over 13 years.  I haven't been to an AA meeting in about 3.  I'm planning to go back to my old home group next week as I need that connection and that constant reminder of how slippery the slope is, regardless of the drug/drink of choice.  I consider this relapse with pills a relapse of sobriety and know that in order to begin to get well I will have to admit to it in a meeting and begin my 13+ years over again.  But that's the only way to get clean/sober and stay that way.  But, I will always be thankful for the Suboxone because without it I'd still be on the Norco roller coaster.

[fishmeal]

that's what the buprenophine is all about getting the slave part out... and you are doing so good just taking small doses, (I almost said "chipping" but that sounded too much like what we did)  God Bless and remember to pray in Jesus Name.

[lurker]

thanks for the support - I thank God every day for finding this forum and learning about Suboxone. I would not have been able to make it on my own.

[lurker]

here it is

[hillary5]

That is awesome!! Good for you!!! So happy to hear that you are feeling well  and had a good experience w/the suboxone ... keep up the good work ... peace!

[kyjobr]

yeah!!!  I know there is a bunch of stuff about the honeymoon phase of sub usage and how we like to shout it from roof tops when we start but it's because it's so wonderful to have that little part of you that is good and hopeful take over the evil twin that has dominated for so long.  

[lurker]

Thanks - why do you think your sub doc is hesitant to lower your dose?

[hillary5]

well, just because of the depression and he knows that when i'm feeling like this i just want to throw in the towel and say f'it ... because thats what i used to do.  Also, there are other medical problems i'm having too .. i need to have surgery to remove some fibroid cysts in the uterus, so that along w/having PMDD and endemetriosis, it can cause for some heavy and painful periods... and i have a slight bulging disc in my neck ... so i'm not taking the suboxone for just addiction but for pain as well ... i've been at 20mgs for almost 4months now .. i'm hoping to have the surgery this month so that by the 1st of december i can go down to 16mg ... but then we run into the dilema do i stop the sub for a day and a half and take the pain pills as needed after the surgery or up the sub to 32mgs a day - my gyn doesn't thing that it will be strong enough for the pain and either does my sub dr... the procedure i will be having done is fairly new and cannot be done on women who plan on becoming pregnant again and causes you to have severe cramping compared to labor pains .. ick! been there done that .. don't want to go thru it again ... so, i may only need the vics for a couple of days ... so, there's quite a few resonsas to why we haven't gone any further than the 20mgs ... damn if i do and damn if i don't right now ... so, knock on wood i can get the surgery done this month, if not i won't be able to have it until the end of december when my husband is off wrk  .... i'm hoping this is making sense ... didn't mean for it to be this long either .. stared typing and just couldn't stop .. see .. lol ..

[lurker]

I too have endometriosis so I know what you're going thru.  I may need to have some surgery and my sub doc says I'll need to go off it for a day and then use high dose oxycodone for post op pain.  He said he would be more than willing to manage my pain meds post op because he doesn't think the surgeon will give me enough since they typically don't understand opiate tolerance and the need to use higher dose drugs. He said I'd need probably 15-20mg per dose and most docs are afraid of that dose.  so, that's what I'll do. I feel very lucky to have this doctor.  He said once the post op pain was under control, we'd go off the oxy for 24 hrs and start the sub again.  Says he's done that with lots of patients before and they did great, no relapse into the 30 oxys a day.  Sorry to hear you're in a lot of pain.

[94orchard]

I have been on Suboxone 16mgs daily.  1 8mg in the AM and 1 8mg in the PM.  Now I don't have any pain, I am taking for an addiction to opium.  From what I understood suboxone doesn't do anything for pain, (only withdrawls)  My brother was on the same dose as me and quit taking them about 2 weeks ago.  Let me just say that he is still suffering, he said no quite as bad, but he flops around in bed all night the leg cramps.  Check out www.suboxone.com for more info.  Good Luck.

[wait2long]

GREAT POST!!!  you sound great!!  and you have definatly found just what you needed. kill 2 birds with one stone, so to speak...and you are so very fortunate that it has gone your way!!!  congratulations,  being pain free must also be an amazing thing for you!!!  keep up the AWESOME work and posts!!!

[hillary5]

it is ALSO used for pain managment ... there are several others on here who are taking it as well for pain ... they usually use a higher dosage of the suboxone, up to 32mg to help ease pain symptoms ... i've ck'd w/both of my dr's on this and have read the information on the sub web-site ..... but thanks for your input ...

[kyjobr]

hillary is right, sub is used for pain.  In fact any dr can prescribe it for pain relief but only certain ones for addiction.  It's been used for a pain reliever for years before it was approved for addiction.