Taking Oxy- when do I start Bupe?

Hello all,

Long time lurker, fairly new poster.  I am taking 3 to 4 80mg oxys per day.  I have only been taking the oxys for about a month.  Before that I had been taking Norco (maybe 14 per day) for about six months.

I have 2 mg.Buprenorphine troches (they look like little candies).  They are just Bupe- no Narcan.  I have takne the bupe for a couple years before I went back to the other opiates.  I have never switched from Oxy's.  I tried once maybe 16 hours after my last oxy dose and it seemed to start the withdrawals (i almost immediately got stomach cramps, chills, etc.)  

I know the half life of Oxy isn't long- I'm not sure why that happened.  So, please advise on how and when to start the bupe.  I took my last oxy at 4pm yesterday and I still feel fine (it is 10am).

PLEASE , PLEASE help. I can't do the oxys anymore. They are draining my bank account and taking away my life. NO MORE!

[eliminnopee]

I don't know much about bupe, I too am fairly new here.  However,  I know that with subuxone you should wait until the onset of withdrawals.  If not, you experience faster more intense w/ds.  May be alike if these drugs are similiar.   Hope I helped.  Good luck!!

[IBKleen]

I am answering both your posts. I confuse easy.

The last oxy you took was 4 pm yesterday? My time, that was almost 21 hours ago. Are you experiencing any withdrawals? Is the bupe prescribed by a doc? Or, did you get them elsewhere?

[abrahamlee]

Ha- you found it!  It is almost 11 here so about 19 hours ago. No withdrawals yet although my stomach is starting to "work" again if you know what I mean.  Yes, they were prescribed by a doc but I am not a part of detox program.  (bupe can be prescribed for pain as well) ( ihave 60 2mg tabs)The oxy was not prescribed. I was doing great on the bupe a while back and I had to stop because  I had a c-section and had to take "normal" opiates. Here we are 5 months later. I am ready to go back on the bupe.

[IBKleen]

Hi Again!

If you are 19 hours into the w/d, and you have minimal symptoms, why would you want to take the bupe? I need to ask because I don't understand your thinking on this one.

The bupe will help with the w/d's..but you don't have any. Have you considered simply stopping at this point?

I am afraid if you take it now, you may get sick. You were only taking the oxy's for a month, that in addiction terms, is not a long time. The norcos were only 6 mos. You may experience no w/d's at all. Wouldn't that be great?

If it were me, I would ride it out. I would not want to start on another med if I didn't absolutely need it. The purpose is to get away from all the meds, right?

Tell us what you think.....

[liscamdave]

Def wait over 24hrs. It doesn't matter if you feel withdrawal or not. You will experience some w.d, but the longer you can hold out, the better the bup will work in your system. I did the bup shots (3 shots, 1 a day) Rapid Detox. I did it twice, the first time I waited almost 32hours, before I took the first shot, and I felt great. like I have never been on drugs ever, but I was infact injected with them...Then the 2nd time I waited about 18hrs, cause I was in w.d, and it made it worst and I had to wait another 24hrs till I could take the next shot....be careful..

[abrahamlee]

Hmm, maybe I didn't give enough background.  I have been an opiate addict on and off (more on) for close to ten years now.  I had been taking the bupe for about a year before the norco and then the oxys. And I got on the bupe in the first place to avoid withdrawals from Norco. I have not been opiate free for longer than a day or two in three years.  I may not have withdrawals now, but I know I will. It is just science.  One can not take as many opiates for as long as I have and feel fine. To behonest, I dont know why I feel okay now.  Like I said, I dont think the half life of Oxys is very long.

I guess I should just wait it out to see when I do get sick. If and when I do I will start the bupe.  

I appreciate you trying to be positive and I do agree the goal is to be drug free.  I think I will wait and see how I feel.  

[IBKleen]

There you go. the last piece of the puzzle. That is why I was questioning you..I knew there was more.

You are right. The oxys should be getting out of your system by now..at least by 24 hours, and that is pushing it.

Good for you hun. Wait until you are ready. You know if you take it too soon, it will make you sick.

Good luck. Hope you keep posting.

[wait2long]

are you taking suboxone or subutex?  when you took the oxies, did you take them whole or did you chew them?  if you took them whole your withdrawal symptoms MAY take a little longer to start...but if you are taking the suboxone, you HAVE to wait until you are in withdrawals or it will cause you to have precipitated withdrawals, which is worse...
my advice is to wait until you are sure your withdrawals have started before you take anything, then take your 2mg, if it dosent seem to improve your situation wait an hour ot two and take another 2mg tab...just keep doing that until your withdrawals have subsided, this is called the induction stage and it can be tricky to figure out your dose at first, then when you have figured out your dose you are supposed to take it all at once the next day, stabilize on that dose for a few days then start to taper as low as you can, if you plan on staying on it for a few months stay at your lowest comfortable dose possible or you can keep tapering slowly until you are off in a 10 -21 detox, that choice is yours, you may need more than 2mg at first..thats a pretty low dose for coming of 320mg oxy habit...you may need up to 16 mgs for the first few days then  you can taper down, you can take up to 32 mgs of sub daily if needed, but start to taper down on your 3-4 day, i needed the full 32 mgs for 5 weeks, but i was coming off methadone...if you have anymore questions, just post, i am sure someone here can help you...
i hope this information was some help to you....

[abrahamlee]

I have just pure buprenorphine. It is a compounded 2mg that I was prescribed for pain (it was used as a pain med LONG before it was used for opiate dependency)  That is why they are just 2mg.  I dont think my doc thought I would stop taking them and start taking a **** load of oxys.

I chewed my oxys.  As the day progresses I am starting to feel worse but I will wait until am I really bad to take anything. Although, the bupe I have has no Narcan in it I have read that it can still kick off other opiates and cause the precipitated withdrawals.

Thanks so much for the info- truly appreciated.

[abrahamlee]

[wait2long]

so then you are taking what we call subutex...

[abrahamlee]

Yes, I guess it is.  Just not that the brand name but I know that doesnt matter.  I guess I should have said that earlier and saved some confusion....