Long term suboxone? This is my 2nd time

[Jessicka]

I have been addicted to opiates for 5 years now (oxys, roxys, percs, deladas, morphine, methadone, anything I can get my hands on). January 2008 is when I decided that I had enough and went on Suboxone. For 3 months I was on the maximum dosage allowed everyday. It made me feel better and after 3 months I decided that I was ready to get off of it and do it on my own (even though my entire circle of friends, family, and boyfriend are also opiate addicts). Within 2 days of being off the medication and I knew it was out of my system I relapsed. I went back to the doctors yesterday to start taking the Suboxen again and though I am being optimistic, I am also wondering how long you are allowed to take this medication because I feel that I cant stay clean without it and keep in mind that I am not going to cut my family and boyfriend of 6 years out of my life (I know I need to get away from that environment but its not going to happen). So I guess my ? is can you take Suboxone long term or am I better going on Methadone? Any help would be appreciated.

[GoingToMakeIt]

This is a very tough question. No one really knows all about the long term effects of sub, other than it is very hard to get off of after you have been on a long time. Methadone is also a bear to get off of.

[u812]

i was on sub for a long while to and i weaned myself down to a little crumb every other day and came off pretty comfortable. take your time and wean down! take the smallest amount you feel comfortable on and go from there. i know there are alot of horror stories out there about sub but it is very doable

[worried878]

Did u jump off the sub the first time at a high  dose?...if u felt bad from doing that it could be why u relapsed....tapering is how people get off....u were probably addicted to the sub....long term use from what i have heard...over a year or so can actually start making u feel depressed...everyone is different but the drug can actually turn on u like the hydros did to me..made me feel awful at the end....also the receptors do not heal like they should as u r still taking a narcotic...everyone is different...if i had to stay on a maintenence drug the rest of my life i guess i would choose the sub over methadone...have u tried to taper off the sub to a crumb?  did u use due to feeling bad or because u just wanted to use?..aftercare is a big part of all of this as well

[iwas1ncthr]

I am faceing a problem right now. I take 3 8mg suboxons per day or at least this is what is prescribed but I never take 3 usually ony 1 or sometimes 2. I was in the BR a few days ago doing my morning routien of takeing my subox followed by brushing my teeth to get rid of that awfull tast in my mouth. Next thing ya know the bottle goes up in the air without the cap on it they all spill out of the bottle and I lost I dont know how many down the drain.  I have 1, 8mg left until my refill on the 5th and I have no idea how I am going to make it on this. I will try 2mgs every other day as I took a whole one this morning and after thinking about it realize how dumb it was to do the entire 8mgs when I should have stuck to only half or even a quarter. I should be crawling up the walls by tommorow after noon or the next day and then curve it with a 2mg dose being only a half of a half and hope that that will bring some relief. I tried my hardest to get that darn drain pipe off and even though I am 6'5 303lbs with 10% bodyfat I couldnt budge the thing or get the cap off the P Trap. Most likely they are disolved by now but come the 5th I will probably be flying when I put a whole one under the toung. I am very thankfull for the drug as it has given me my life back but as with everything there is always WD's whenever you are on something long term. I give a friend some of them due to it being impossable to get on in my area and I cant believe how well he is doing. We both had a bad oxy problem and now I am getting ready to deal with this horror show. My doctor told me there was no witdrawl when you stoped takeing this drug. Isnt it nice how a doctor who never experianced withdrawl can tell you what your not going through? LOL, some of these people as cruel as it sounds I would love to put into a room, keep them on 100mgs of oxy per day for 3 months and hand them some clonodine and tell them the effects of withdrawl are all in there head. WEll, I'll keep posting throughout the next 8 days, reading about this makes me want to quite completely but I am also aware of how wonderfull this stuff is in being able to function without craving those life ending oxy's. It's just sad that I replaced those with this replacement................

[mr.lucky66]

Long term sub is viewed by health care folks  pretty much the same way methadone is, harm redution therapy. It can and does work but most of the people I know on long term sub seem to go back to opiates after, methadone or stay on go back on sub.

[mr.lucky66]

Long term sub and methadone are also called "narcotic replacement".

[SPDOUBLE]

CAME OFF PERCOCET & VICODIN 3WEEKS AGO,TOOK SUB
FOR 1 WEEK & FELT GOOD.STOPPED THE SUB FOR A WEEK
& NOW STARTING TO CRAVE AGAIN.SHOULD I HAVE WEENED OFF THE SUB-I WENT FROM 2 A DAY TO 1 A DAY FOR THE FIRST WEEK-FEEL LIKE ITS STARTING OVER AGAIN.

[mr.lucky66]

No, don't start again if you are craving with no WD's. There isn't any magic bullet for cravings you just have to resist and after enoght time it will pass. Sub only helps with craving when you are on it and when you stop , you have cravings again.

[casper_47]

My husband has been addicted to everything from vicoden to heroine our entire marriage of 30 years.  Just recently our youngest daughter turned 18 and graduated...I raised our 2 daughters on my own with him here he was too high to ever see that he wasnt there for the 3 of us at all.. just looking for that next high spending everything.. the lies.. I just dont know if I can handle the next 2 weeks to umpteen years hoping that he is going to get better..  After him not hearing my crys for him to stop day after day... I left him.. It was the first time he admitted to anybody outside the family and friends  who already knew him that he was and has been addicted to drugs for years.. After promising that this was it he would get help if I came back... Well here I am and he is on suboxone.. I have no faith and no hope in this drug whatsoever.. Alls I see is  this man being taken over by another addiction.. Awaiting the day of the Doctors appointmen.. Anticipation of the last pill in the bottle.. If he will have the gas and the money to go back to the doctor and get his script... I dont know if I have the time in my life for this addiction as well... He has reasons for not going to NA only has been to 2 meetings .. Says he can do this on his own and that not everybody needs to go everyday... If anybody can give me some hope I would love to hear from you..  Please e-mail me...    ***@****

[CarissaLou]

my cousin is on suboxone now for a year and doing great on it. i think he will stay on it forever and i know of peoplethat will haev to take it for the rest of there lives and i dont think you should go on methadone. i think subozone isgreat if it truly worked for you alst tiem then continue it.

[Chad564]

Don't worry many people feel the same way as you. As a recovering heroin addict myself I have been on suboxone for 1.5 years. And to be honest even if I did have to spend the rest of life on suboxone, hypothetically speaking. I think it beats the hell out of spending about 150 dollars a day to get high, plus looking for drugs, withdrawing, ect. ect., repeat, repeat. Now I know you don't want to spend the rest of your life dependent on something, neither do I, but look at it this way; You started doing opiates cause the way it made you feel, right (I know I did) but you kept doing it to keep from getting sick, at least thats how my addiction worked (although I still like the high too). But now that your body is all ready dependent on it, and you feel like you cant function w/o it (I feel like this too) just look at it like this; Addiction is a disease and you may not be strong enough in your life right now to get over the withdraws, but one day you will and you won't have to worry about it anymore...Or may you never do (and have to stay on suboxone your whole life) does it really matter as long as your outta the lifestyle and happy...

[Chad564]

If anyone ever needs any help with addiction or anything please feel free to email me at ***@****. I would love to help anyone with a problem who needs help, because I know exactly what your going through, and still battle everyday.