suboxone for pain

hey there .. i guess i just wanted your opinion on something.  you seem to be well versed w/the suboxone ... i'm also taking it and have been on it since april .. i've had two surgeries for herniated discs a few years back  and have a slight bulging disc in my neck which causes my arms to go numb, cramp and burn ... when i first went to my dr i was there more for the addiction to the pain pills than the pain itself. i started out at 32mg also and am now down to 20 .. i'll tell you what i have less pain being on the suboxone than i did when i was on the vikes.  I also have a surgery coming up soon, not exactly sure of the date yet for some female issues. The one who is doing the surgery says i will definately need to be on some pain meds .. told this to the sub dr, he said fine, i can stop the suboxone, take the pain meds after the surgery as needed, then go back to the suboxone .. i'm really not sure i want to do this ... or i could go back up to 32mg of suboxone for the pain then go back down .. but the dr who is doing the surgery doesn't think that the suboxone will be strong enough for the pain.  I'm just confused as to what to do ... my 2 back surgeries were successful but i will always have issues w/my back because of that .. plus i had two pregnancies afterwards which really didn't help much ... anyways, any thoughts or ideas??  hopefully i made sense writing this. its been a very long day fighting w/my18 yr old who wants to move out .. thinks anything would be better than living here w/me and his step dad and two very younger siblings .. ugh! ... ;-)

[hillary5]

i wanted to post this ? to you .. i don't know why it didn't show your name in there .. anyways ... let me know what you think when you get a minute...

[FLaddict]

I know someone who had surgery that was kind of an emergency and was still taking a fairly large dose of Sub and it didn't help at all for pain.. I just wanted to let you know.. Buprenorphine when used for pain is usually prescribed in the injectable version, Buprenex this delivery allows it to work better for pain than the Sublingual.  Also the doses normally used for pain are thirds or eigths of what is prescribed for drug dependence. Its two different things almost..  I would re consider using regular pain meds for relief after surgery.. because if the sub doesn't help it will be in your body and will block any pain meds they try to give you.. which won't be fun.. My poor friend.. they tried giving her large doses of morphine and that would not bust through the Sub.. she was in serious pain..

[hillary5]

thanks~  my sub dr thought maybe if i went off the suboxone like 4-5 days before surgery and then start the pain meds right after surgery .. how about that .. i'm just trying to go the best route w/no pain .. i mean some is fine but its for endemetrioses and fibroid cyst ... so ... ugh .. i'm just getting frustrated thinkin about it .. it's like why did i do this to myself after my prior surgeries and get hooked on pills and now when i need them - blah!!! ... anyways ...

[FLaddict]

Yes that is a good idea.. My friend had a lymph node removed from her arm pit and she was in alot of pain.. they will give you meds after the surgery via IV and then the ones they send you home with have someone dish out to you for 3-4 days and then back on sub.. won't be a big deal.. accute pain is different from chronic pain.. like in notmenow's case.. I would listen to the doc's and plan to stop for a week or so. The good news is.. after surgery and being off of sub for a few days.. you may not need as much when you go back on it.. I would look at this as a opportunity to reset your 'Sub tolerance"

[hillary5]

thanks much for your input .. appreciate it .. more than likely i think thats what i will do and hand over the meds to my husband.  i can beg and plead w/him for hours or even days and he's not the type to give in, especially w/pain pills....and who knows, maybe i can start out at 8mgs of sub and taper from there ..  i've been letting this bother me since i found out i was going to have to have the surgery, don't know why .. guess i'm just afraid of what might happen if i start the pain pills again for something that i know i'll need them for .. but i can't let that get me down when it hasn't even happened yet .. thankyou again!
have a great nite! peace!  hill

[FLaddict]

Don't work yourself up, you will have a plan and stick to it.. you have come far from where you were. Just make the plan tell your hubby and make sure you both stick to it..

Night