update on suboxone program

[navymom525]

hi all.  i posted a couple days ago i was starting my first dosing of suboxone.  today is day three.  and i have been taking 4mg. in the am.  that is all.  and it is certainly taking away the w/d's.  i feel good.  i dont see a need for me to up the dosing past 4mg. regardless of what the doc says.  he recommened uping my dose daily until it was up to at least 24mg by day four.  i am feeling hopeful that within a week or two i can be off this stuff....or am i setting myself up for false hopes?  anyone on the suboxone i would welcome your input.  thanks dawn.

[bettie1976]

Id been on opiates for 10 years on and off (mostly on) and at my worst got up to 300 mgs a day. only 5 days and navymom-if your experience with the sub is anything like mine, youll have no w/d's at all.

[TJack]

Hi, i am so excited to hear how well you are doing.  You are on your way to having the real YOU back. That is what i want so badly.  The sub dr. asked me on friday why i wanted to quit taking perc.?  I told him I am so sick of a pill controlling my life!  
Did you take your first pill at the drs. office?  That is what i will do on Monday at 1.  And i am a little concerned as i think it will be 8 mg. Hope that isn't too much.  If you did fine on 4, that sounds much better to me.  
   There are only two drs. in this town who are licensed to give sub.  If it is only an 8 hour class, wonder why that is all that do it?  bettie, you were only on sub for 5 days?  How long had you been on narcotics and at what strength per day?  Thanks for posting girls and please keep it up.  I will be off percs. after today and i do have clonidine to help with w/d.  I am so looking forward to Monday getting here.  TJack

[navymom525]

i so appreciate your comments.  you are absolutely right about the doctors.  mine gave me a handout about uping my dose daily until i was at 24-36 by day four.  this forum has helped me tremendously and people like you.  i tried cold turkey and make it 30 hours.  after that point i could not function so i did need something to get through.  the suboxone and valium and clondin (? spelling) has been my saving grace.  like i said, i am on day five, and down to 3 mg. of the sub and hope to reduce day by day.  i am wondering though, once i take my last and final dose....how am i going to feel?  am I going to have any w/d's that were maybe being masked by the suboxone?

[bettie1976]

I was only on it for a very short time thank god. i ALMOST got suckered into going into one of those sub clinics and someone here talked me out of it. Im so glad I didnt go. I think the doctors just see this as a way to make tons of dough and dont care about the patients. Especially when theyre telling them to up their dosages, makes NO sense whatsoever!
Im doing great. day 30.
I would recommend only doing the sub for 5 days as it was given to me. It was effective and I didnt get hooked on it.

[navymom525]

good morning.  thats great to know.  i have read post after post about people having to w/d from suboxone.  i have a feeling if i had followed my doctor's directions, i too would have been one of those unfortunate ones.  how are you doing now being off the suboxone?

[bettie1976]

like I said, I took it for 5 days with no w/ds at all after.

[navymom525]

update:   day four.  took 3mg. of suboxone this am (my only dose of the day).  i feel so hopeful that i will ge off this stuff soon.   does anyone know what i should expect once i am off the suboxone.  will i go back to the w/d's i had from the hydrocodone?  god i hope not.  

[navymom525]

thank you, thank you, thank you.  you are all wonderful!!  i will definitely keep u all posted.

[FLaddict]

you should have no trouble tapering at all.. in fact i expect you to follow a similiar detox as i had.. based on what you started with.. Tommorrow go down to 3mgs.. few days later 2mgs then 1 then 0.5 you should be golden..
If I can be of any help please don't hesitate

[bettie1976]

I didnt have a problem after my last dose. NO withdrawls at ALL. I also had clonidine, vistaril and ativan at home. Now Ive got valium and that helps better than the ativan ever did. I didnt need anything for withdrawls after my last dose of sub b/c of no w/d's. But I did need something for the anxiety. Just knowing you have those meds is gonna help you big time. You may not even have to take them.

[bettie1976]

I did it on 4mgs every 12 hrs for two days, then 2 mgs every 12 hours for two days then on the last day it was after 24 hours they gave me 2 mgs. It worked wonderfully. Im glad youre doing good!

and p.s why the H E L L would he want you on 24 mgs??? More money for him and the drug companies? I dont get it. Stick with whats working for you!  

[navymom525]

ooo heck no will i be on this sub for years!!!  i am ultimately the one in charge of my health care and progress and recovery.  i am taking the advice from fladdict and running with it!!  three days on 4mg in the am only.  tomorrow, day four, it will be 3mg.  and so on and so forth.  i will  keep the valium and clonidine for when i start tapering off the sub.  i am hoping that i will not have a problem tapering since i have only been at 4mg.  what do u all think?

[beachtowel]

just like Methadone.......patients get on it and stay on it for years and now doctors seem to want to do the same thing with suboxone unless the patient does that own homework

[FLaddict]

They really don't... They don't get it at all it seems... doctors are supposed to do no harm... I feel that the way they use Sub is crazy..I know more about it then they do... They took a 8 hr class online.. I did research for weeks..

[beachtowel]

Ya but you forget FLaddict nobody seems to care that this is a short term medication.....I think doctors don't even know how to prescribe suboxone............

[FLaddict]

save those for when you are getting off the Sub they will help the trasition..

[FLaddict]

Freaking docs!!!  I can't believe he told you to do that... I have personally read the dosing schedule that was supposed to be used.. and that aint' it.. 4mgs is perfect.. That is right around where i started. And i started tapering down slowly at Day 3.. Sub has a really long half life.. so it "builds up" in your system.. You should have no problem taking 3mgs tommorrow or the next day. The longer you stay on it the harder it will be to taper off.. In fact if you are like I was you could be off in a few weeks easy..

[navymom525]

o and one more question.  what do u think about me taking the valium and clonidine along with the suboxone???  do u think i still need those?

[navymom525]

thanks for your replies.  that is exactly what i will do.  bonnie, should i do 2mg or 3mg tomorrow?  what do u suggest?  tomorrow is my first day back at work after taking a few days of leave to get through all this and i want to be in tip top perfomance.  

[BonnieAnn]

Good Morning!

You are absolutely doing the right thing. If 4mg is working, then don't mess with it. The idea is to get off of it as fast as you can. For me, two weeks tops. I am down to 1/2 mg today and I feel OK. I would start weaning tomorrow.

Take care hun and keep posting.

[liscamdave]

I think if you are getting by on 4mg, then do not up it at all. Suboxone is also highly addictive, and you dont want another addiction on your hands. If you maintain the 4mg for one week, go down to 2 the next, then try to eliminate it altogether. It has worked for so many, and will for u if you dont let it stay in your system too long. Good Luck...

Lisa