suboxone good or bad???

Question

hi, i'm 35 and been using since i was 15 years old... mostly crack and oxycontin (i mostly smoke them)...  since january 2008 i've been on suboxone treatment to help with my oxy addiction... 16 mg a day... at first it seem to be working just fine... but now for the past month or so i've been having constant cravings to wich i have succombed a few too many times... what is happening ... should i stop the suboxone ???  i don't know what to do anymore.... please help

avisg · Answer

I am sorry to hear that .Was it your obgyn that put you on the methadone .How much longer does she have to stay.

babygirl870 · Answer

i just had my baby two weeks ago n shes still in the hospital.i was on methadone.n now the drs.had to give her methadone for her withdrawls.i wish i never took methadone n got pregnant.my dose was seventy three.

Redbluffer · Answer

My mom is a registered nurse who works in the OB of the hospital. She says they see all kinds of methadone babies that do have to detox when born. I guess it hard for them to figure out if or how badly the babies symptoms are. Now I'm not sure but suboxone atleast is only a partial agonist so you would think it would be different from the methadone. I just know how bad methadone w/d's are and hope the babies dont have to go thru exactly what a grown person would have to. They do give them certain drugs to help calm them and it may even be small amounts of naloxone to get them clean, I dont remember. Not to say I think it is right to purposely have a baby with an addiction, cause it is not, you wouldnt give your kids drugs once there born so giving it to them before there born is not good. But nevertheless I also understand and wouldnt think it would be a huge problem, just really try and take the least amount possible of whatever you are taking. If it happens it happens, but I hope people wouldnt intentionally get pregant while addicted to anything that is just irresponsible. I wish you the best of luck...and your right that if you need it to function than you need it, but be warned buprenorphine is very hard to stop if it is taken for long periods of time, mainly over 6 months. I was off under 4months sub, previously had been taken 100mg methadone daily had to ween down to 30mgs over 6 month period then switched over to 8mg of sub. I could have taken more but my doc clearly told me you really want to use lowest effective dose, because it wasnt designed to be an ongoing multi-year detox like methadone. Even methadone if being used for detox I believe shouldnt be used for years and years, but some people I guess have to, but everyone is fully capable of becoming completely sober, you just have to actually want it, not tell yourself you want to. Good luck to you and those around you, I hope you have good support for yourself, positive, honest and supportive, people are a must when trying to get off opiates.   Red

broknbck · Answer

You do understand that the suboxone is just another opiate and that is why you are feeling alright. Just try and not take it for a couple of days or weeks. It is very hard to get off of once you are dependant on it. A lot of people have said it is even worse than the vicodins. That may well be why you are having cravings. It limits your brain to only allow a certain amount in. So if you want to take it forever and it is working for you, than fine.You will have to just hope that this doctor will keep on perscribing it to you and that it will get paid for because it  is expensive also. 

it is hard to believe that you can take an opiate for the whole 9 months of pregnancy and it will not affect a baby. Maybe i am wrong.

drug_counselor · Answer

Without knowing any specific details and history based on your post your dose is to low.
Remember when using Suboxone or Subutex or Methadone you have to find the correct dose for the addict.
It is also very important to deal with a drug counselor or a doctor to have a plan so that the drug can be used correctly.

cri1972 · Answer

yeah i have severe brain damage!!! thanx !!! my doc told me i could stay on sub for as long as i wanted.... i know people who have been on it for 2 1/2 years... if being on it means i can have a normal life... meaning i can fonction like a normal person everyday, go to work , take care of my business, my family and everything else ... i say it is well worth it...

broknbck · Answer

did you say you have been on the suboxone for 7 months!!!  that is way too long and now  you have to find a way off that. i have heard that is no easy feat either.
what kind of doctor leaves you on it for that long? what is the schedule he has given you for getting off?

i am sorry but you must have severe brain damage from all the drugs to even consider having a new born and all this to deal with too. why do you want to purposely get pregnant while you are addicted to a drug?

cri1972 · Answer

yep.. around here most people smoke them... actually , we chase the dragon... just like H

cri1972 · Answer

thanx people for your input ... i am also in counselling once a week... i guess the cravings are just getting to me... i saw the doc today... he now decided to put me on prozac... maybe i'ts gonna help with the downs i'm getting these days but it's just another drug in my body.. i'm so sick of this... it never stops

and around here(hawkesbury, ontario) the norm when you get on suboxone is 16 mg a day

marcatj · Answer

i agree with Avis...

something to really check out before getting preggers on.

good luck, again, to you..

-mj

ps - good for you Christos for getting back on track! :-)!

christos24 · Answer

maybe try a higher dose, and lots more NA meetings and group meetings as well, along with getting a sponsor. i know it definitely helped having someone to always talk to when the cravigns got insane,but it eventualy got the best of me once again. after breaking my wrist after being 8 months clean on suboxone I ended up back on pain meds, they prescribed along witha small amount of sub, ms contin 240 mgs and from teh hand specialist norcos. It was recipe for disaster and I know I already knew that but my addicitve mind is soo damn manipulated and fried that I started the vicious cycle all over again. I am now done with my first month on methadone and I can say it works a lot better than suboxone for me, but everyone is different. I feel more motivated and productive than before and my cravings are a lot more tamed than with sub. my addiction to H and Oxycontin was terrible and I am surprised I wasnt dead after all the junk I went through on top of all the xanax and benzos I ate up, but I consider myself lucky cuz Im on the fast track to staying clean adn sober for gooda dn feel better than ever.

avisg · Answer

MJ knows quite a bit about sub more then I she has taken it  .I would make sure to tell the doctor you are trying to get pregnant .I don't know whether they would adjust your dose at all for that but it something to ask.

marcatj · Answer

actually, i know a number of people on a higher dose (16mg, or more) for the longer term.

we don't hear that as the norm here on the board, nor has it been my personal experience.  but i have heard of this before.

i think if you trust your doctor, the 16mg could very well be fine...

avisg · Answer

Sub is a tool that has helped many get clean .However its just that a tool there needs to be  recovery counseling with it to help you get and remain clean .16mg seems very high for someone that has been on it for 7 months  Are you planning on going off of it ?
I see from your profile that you are trying to get pregnant while still on sub have you spoken to your sub doctors and your OBGYN about it ? I think most doctors switch women over to subutex while pregnant because it does not have the nalexsone in it .

marcatj · Answer

Suboxone is a great tool in my opinion.  but it doesn't work just by itself.

you need support in addition to it.  especially after an addiction as long as yours.

you need meetings, or counseling/therapy, an addiction specialist - SOMETHING else, to add to your recovery.

you CAN beat your addiction.  but the Suboxone just by itself won't do it all.  it isn't - right?

don't give up... just add something to your recovery so not only do you get clean,but  you stay clean.

that is very, very important.

you can do it.  just put some more work into it.  no one ever said it was easy... but it IS doable.

and life is about a billion times better clean.

good luck to you. and welcome.

-mj