oxycontin to suboxone

[bluestrat]

i'm down to 60mg of oxycontin per day.  rough saying there.  id' like to switch to suboxone.  what is the conversion factor?  how many mg., of suboxone = 60 mg./day of oxycontin?


This discussion is related to oxycodone.

[sid3]

I wasn't suggesting he play around with his dose, my only point was that intitially it can take a few days to find the lowest effective dose to eliminate wds and suppress cravings. I believe that's why most Drs consider an induction to last up to three or for days. Also keep in mind it takes about a week to stabilize as the medication builds up in the blood levels. I sent you a note bluestrat.

[bluestrat]

thanks sid for your info..  i'm seeing a therpist regularily now, so that should held with the head issues.  i have fallin into the same raps as you, stress of life, money, etc., means the Oxy use goes up.  The part I hate the most is the cravings.  Searching my whole desk, whatever, to find a dropped oxy, norco or percocet.  exhausting!  off i go to the airport to go back home.  

[bluestrat]

I will be seeing a doctor this Wednesday.  I just got off the phone with him and felt not so isolated, ie., druggie, by taling to him.  He only works with Sub patients and seems to very knowledgable.  My main thng over and above getting off of Oxy is to get rid of the cravings...which has got me smoking agin since May 2009.  Amazingly, he mentioned that 'his record patient' was a guy tkaing 25, 80mg., Oxy's/day via the needle.  Can you imagine that?

[GA Guy]

There's a reason that larger doses of Suboxone are given to newer patients. If the Doctor suggests you take 12mg, then do so. Never reduce dosages or start messing arund with dosages unless your Doctor is aware of what you're doing.

[GA Guy]

Are you doing this under a Doctor's care?

[sid3]

It doesn't work that way. Everyone is different so the dose needed for the meds to work properly vary greatly from person to person.  Basically when done correctly, sub is started by inducting the patient at the lowest possible dose to stop acute wds and suppress cravings. The Drs that do it the right way start with 2mgs every hour until the patient feels normal, ie no cravings or wds. There are too many Drs that treat patients with the one size fits all approach. Sub is unlike other opiates in that taking lesser amounts tends to work better than taking more. When I first started sub I had been using the same amount of oxy as you and my Dr prescribed 2mgs twice a day. It worked very well, in fact after a month I felt even better only taking 3mgs a day. Because I failed to work on my recovery and only took the sub, I relapsed when I got hit with an enourmous amount of stress and some brutal financial hardship. That led to my Oxy use shooting through the roof to the point where I was taking 240mgs and sometimes 320mgs a day for about 6 weeks. Then I went back to the sub Dr and was put on 16 mgs a day which turned out to be way too much sub for me. I almost made it to the psych ward.  The most important thing about sub is finding the right dose that works for you. And more importantly to work on your recovery while using the sub the way it is intended to be taken, as a medication to treat a disease. Sub alone is not enough to be successful in staying clean. There is a huge debate on the lentgh of time to take sub , the wds from sub can be horrible if not tappered very slowly. Many feel that sub should  only be used by those who have tried to quit many times and those with very large habits
Getting as much information about sub treatment before starting is very important.