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Suboxone?

For anyone interested in the Suboxone program: I am on day three.

I realize that is not a long time, but I can say that is DOES take away any, and all, withdrawal nightmares. You have to be in withdrawal to take your first pill. I took 2-1/2 and after about an hour all symptoms were gone.

My only problem is that I was addicted to Perc's and Vic's due to an accident. What I am finding out is that my pain is still with me, and it is intense. So, although I am away from the horrors of hunting down my next pain pill, I am back in the same boat that drove me to start taking the pills in the first place because of the pain.

For anyone who takes pain med's for recreation, the program probably will work. It is, however, very expensive. The doc was $250, and the pills are $6 a piece.

My fear is that I will return to the pills. After 9 years of using I finally made a decision to get help and get off the elevator ride. Was it the right way to go?

It is scary.
23 Responses
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257844 tn?1191157544
OK....I WILL GIVE IT A TRY.  THANK YOU SO MUCH
Helpful - 0
182493 tn?1348052915
If I were you I would take 20mg 3x a day until your appt... taking 70mg at once is not helping you get off really.. still shocking your body.. just give yourself an break until Thursday go back to taken normal doses split up..no reason to suffer
Helpful - 0
257844 tn?1191157544
ok i have had to go back on the hydro until i can start the program.  i start thursday.  but i have cut down tremendously.  here's what i do....i take two xanas in the am, two in the pm and then i take my hydro about 6ish (70 mg).  even with this i am still crawling out of my skin until 6pm.  i am hoping this program, the suboxone, will get me through once and for all.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thank you for your post.
Pls listen to Fladdict, she has experience and a lot of knowledge on Suboxone. She has done a lot of research.
My only concern is that you may have gone cold turkey too long to go on Suboxone. You have to be in moderate to severe detox in order to begin the program.
For me, I was about 15 hours detoxing when I started.
But again, listen to people who have had more experience with it.
Also, there is a host of information on the web about it.
One site that helped me was: www.suboxone.com
They have all the basic info you need.

Pls keep posting and hang in there.

God Bless, Bonnie
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
oh Navymom
I feel so bad for you.  Try to hang in there.  Did you take your drugs or just the xanax to calm the withdrawals.

Thinking of you
I went cold turkey and the first 3 days were really bad, it started to get better after that.
Helpful - 0
182493 tn?1348052915
are you back on your drug of choice.. if you are this many days in they probably wont' give you Sub.. its usually started within 12-24 hours after your last dose of pills...
Helpful - 0
182493 tn?1348052915
If you have any questions i did loads of research on sub and took it myself for 10 days to get off hydro.. i suggest no longer than 3 weeks tops..ITs just enough to get off hydro and then taper down properly from the sub before you get dependent on that as well..I would also suggest starting to take some of the vitamins and amino acids suggested.. will help prepare your brain for quitting..
again, if I can help in anyway let me know
Helpful - 0
257844 tn?1191157544
hi all.  i was at 210 mg of hydro daily.  i knew i was ready to quit. i made it 30 hours cold turkey.  by the 31st hour i was ready to kill myself.  couldnt sleep, couldnt think, had the shakes, felt like crawling out of my skin.  it took all my energy just to get to the shower.  my mother gave me some xanax to take the edge off.  i really had to take high doses to even get a tiny bit of relief.  well, i have contact a suboxodone clinic and am to start thursday. my problem is not in my mind but my body (the physical withdrawals).  i am hoping the suboxodone will help and get me through.  i am also hoping not to be on this program long.  long enough to detox off the hydro.  any suggestions are welcomed.  dawn.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thanks guys. Just got home, was away last night. Today is day 5 and I feel so much better.

FLaddict, I took your very wise advise and I started weening myself already from the Sub. I do NOT need another addiction, I have enough of them in my life. Thank you.

Calzy, my appologies for saying "lady" (although I did laugh when I read your post). You are right, even the pain is a little better today. It is still as frequent, but not as sharp, so I am happy.

You all take care and thank you!!!!!!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I am glad your new post is giving you some of the answer's and support you were needing. The last post to me you said good luck lady, I'm a guy but i need the good luck so thanks. As others said you have to give your body a chance to function again off all those pills and most of the time you will find you can handle the pain a little better than you think. If you find a doctor who understood all this he would charge 2 or 3 times as much because he or she would be one of the few.  
Helpful - 0
182493 tn?1348052915
I took Soma while i was on sub and it worked fine..its not an opiate so it doesn't get blocked.. I also have legitimate pain issues so i know how you feel hun.. its tough but its doable so far.. These docs who prescribe sub only took an 8 hour class to be able to treat patients with sub and most of them took the class online.. they don't know anything.. and alot of them do it for money.. its no coincidence that most of them don't take insurance.. i did tons of research on it b4 i did the 10 day detox...
if you need anything just ask hun.. or email me if you don't see me around.. my email address is in my profile just click on my screen name..

XOXO
Stephanie
Day 72 zero pills in 10 min
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Gez..I cannot tell you guys how much you are helping. Wait2long & FLaddict, you guys are giving me so much insite. Certainly more than my doc. This doc, as I said, I have met once and I believe he is after "The almighty dollar". It sucks, but that is how it works with the docs in this program, at least most of them.

I wish I had someone (doctor I mean), nearby who UNDERSTANDS.

I will admit, I took a Soma late today. I couldn't take it anymore. I doubt the darn thing worked, but it was in my head that it did.

I feel like I am not going to make it because of the pain. Then again, I am not willing to give up just yet.

Oxyhadenough: Hang in there. What you are doing is not easy, but it is doable. Keep posting and these good folks will talk to you and help. Just don't give up.

Nite all, and, in my prayers.

Helpful - 0
182493 tn?1348052915
IF you are 3 days into detox then you will not need suboxone. It is given by a special certified doctor. Usually these docs have some background in addiction or pain management. It is started 12-16 hours after your last pill of your drug of choice.
Since you are coming off of oxy the first week should be the worst.. then it will be lack of energy, depression, and insomnia..
welcome to the site.. you may wanna start your own thread if you would like support.. this post is kinda long now and may get looked over.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I am 3 days "cold turkey". I am thinking of doing this on my own and looking for advise. I started oxycontin 6 years ago after 3rd back surgery. I take about 140 mg per day on average. I was intrigued by all of your comments. I hope I'm not heading into 2-3 weeks of hell. I am a single dad and have 2 small boys. Are there others out there who have done the "cold turkey on there own??? Did you talk to your regular doctor about suboxone or someone else? I'm sick of living my life around this drug.
Helpful - 0
182493 tn?1348052915
5mgs on day 3 is perfect... you are right where you should be.. Tomorrow is day 4 and i suggest dropping a mgs or two.. The shortest time you are on it the better... Less than 3 weeks is the best. I did it for 10 days and only had some mild WD 3 days after I stopped the Sub.. mainly sweats and chills.. If you get off of it soon you should not suffer any more than i did..  I have been off pills for 72 days...
welcome and good luck
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
well i'll tell you a little about what went on with me...i was a severe addict to .anything i could get my hands on (25-30 percs a day), i live in an extremely small area, where there isnt much help provided, and with no insurance..forget it... so i bought methadone illegally took 20 mgs daily for about 9 months, then realized i was in a worse situation then what i started with...a friend mentioned suboxone to me...i did some research and decide i would do it,  my suboxone doctor is awesome, and honest, she told me i was her first patient to switch from strictly methadone to suboxone, she has worked in the mental health field all her life, she is an addiction specialist and also a science professor at a college about an hour from here, i talked with her alot before really making the commitment, she told me because of my size i would most likely start out on 16mgs...so i stopped the meth waited for the paws to start (which i might add was almost 5 full days!)   i took my first dose of sub 8mgs, still felt like **** so i called her 2 hours later and she told me to take another 8ngs..this went on until i was at 32 mgs and i was i full precip.WD's, she finally decided the sub was making me worse and to stop and try the next day...she told me to start on the clonidine which helped immensley, and that next day i took 12mgs... feeling a little better,,, but then i started waking up at about 3 in the morning with severe withdrawals so i ended up taking a split dose 16 mgs in the morning and 16 mgs at night and that worked really good for about 4-5 weeks, and i have slowly worked my way down to 10 mgs as of now...and next monday i will lower it to 8mg....she wanted me to stay on 16 mgs for at least 2 years...NO WAY!!!  i was all for it at first, i'm no doctor or expert so i wasnt going to question it...until i came to the med-help forum and read all the postings and the response i got to my post and started talking to a girl here named fladdict who has really given me alot of insight on suboxone...first of all i am going to get as low as i can as fast as i can...then hopefully just be done with it...hope you dont mind the long story.. so no..i dont think 5mgs is alot at all, but thats because of the dose i was on...
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
hey, it's great to hear when something good is going for someone.  I've been thinking about suboxone for awhile now but i'm still on the fence.  I'm  on a methadone maintance program and have been for six years.  For the last five years I've been taking it only as prescribe and not taking anything eles.  so in my mind I've been clean for five years, of course with the help of methadone.  Anyway,  I'm scared because now I'm tapering and starting to feel the detox's.  They are small now and usally only in the evening and durning the night I'm having problems sleeping.  I thought to get on to suboxone when I got down to 30 or 20 milligrams.  I'm on 39mill now.  At this moment I'm going to try to just get off and not start taking the suboxone.  Because the methadone has worked so well I figure if I don't make it out to the other side,  I'll just go back on methadone.  who knows.
anyway way to go.
take care, Robin
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
WOW, I thank you guys enough for your posts. I layed down for a while and when I came back on here, there they all were.

katie_s: 72 hours..way to go! Hang in there.

rayy: I have heard the same things you have. I need to do some reading about it.

wait2long: you have been on it over two months? I was hoping not to be on it that long. The doc said about a year and I told him "No Freakin' Way". I want out, and like you said, I don't want to live the life of an addict anymore. I am beginning to think the Sub is just an addiction switch for me. I've been there before and it's dangerous. I am on 5 mgs per day. Is that a lot?

dfr3: GOD love you. I know weening off all too well. Sounds like you are going down pretty fast. Everybody is different, but be careful. I was taking 15 Vic's and Perc's a day. I had a script for Vic's 15/80 and a script for Perc's 10/650. Then, of course there was whatever I could get in town from friends, or buy.

I will talk to the doc about the pain. This doc is not my regular one. I only went to this guy for the Sub. He wasn't very informative. I called his office about the pain. He is on vacation until the 4th of Sept., but the nurse said he can give me shots to eleviate the pain. Bull! I want to know what is in those shots before I will take them.

Anyway guys, thanks so much for all your support. Also, you have all given me strength. Geez, you are all out there going through detoxs of your own and I am whining over here.

Take care.
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Avatar universal
there are alot of people on this site who are very familiar with suboxe, i have considered it .  how many pills were you taking.  i was taking 20 hydocodones a day and it finally started causing other pains.  you may ned to fully detox to feel the extent of your pain.  i am so sorry you feel like this !  i am on the weening process.  i am down to taking 10 pills a day.  if this does not work i am going to talk with my doctor about sub!!!!!!!!!!!!!  the w/d's were pretty bad yesterday, but i was taking my self down to fast.  in 9 days i went down to 8 but went to 10 to elevate some of the w/ds.  i am going to ween slow now.

just think once your liver is clean you might start to feel better.  the poisons are coming out.

hang in there and try to at least finish what you started then you and your doctor can decide whether this is the right thing to do.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
i am on suboxone, i have been on it since end of may...and yes you are right..it does nothing for pain although it does work for the addiction.  but if your pain is so bad that advil or tylenol doesnt work, then you should talk to your doctor...i decided i can live with the pain, but i can not live the life of an addict anymore, i think living in active addiction was worse than my physical pain. it may be different for you.  how long do or did you plan on taking the sub for?  i have heard and now believe the lower the dose the better and the shorter the time on it the better. what did your suboxone doc recommend for you?  
Helpful - 0
255075 tn?1208132824
Hi all im on day 8 of my detox/recovery i feel alright i reealy dont kno much bout subox except from what i hear ive heard bad things and i have heard good htings ive heard people say its very difficult ot get off of the suboxun and ive heard people it owrked great for them so i assume everyone is different


RayRay
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I'm not on Subox, so I can't help you there, but I would call your dr and tell him exactly what you're feeling.  It's scary because there's always the fear of being judged for wanting to relapse, but you don't know what options they can offer you until you fully inform them of what you're experiencing.

I know the alone feeling all too well.  I'm on 72 hours clean and my nights are one big long alonefest, with panic attacks for company.  We're not alone, though.  I hope someone will come along who can give you the benefit of some experience with Suboxone.

It's actually something I've been thinking about trying, except that my physical symptoms really aren't that bad - it's the emotional and psychological part I'm struggling with.  I'd be interested to know if Subox helps with the panic attacks, depression and despair.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Same day and feeling alone out here that I got no replys. Feeling sorry for myself? Probably.

But, I am scared and I am in so much pain. I just want to stop the Suboxone and take a few perc's. That ought to do it.

If anyone has been on, or is on, Subox, please let me know how it goes from here. I don't know what to expect.

Thanks in advance.
Helpful - 0
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