Advice on Suboxone.......

[Jen777]

I haven't been on here in a while because things have been going well being on suboxone. Well, now I want off and my insurance is forcing me to get off. I think I am on way to high of a dose anyways. So, if anyone out there has any suggestions for me I would greatly appreciate it. If I stop taking my suboxone how long before I go into withdrawals? I currently take 1-8/2mg pill in the morning and 1 1/2-8/2mg pill in the afternoon (12 mg). So I am on a total of 20mg of sub....does that sound right? Anyways....I hit a cap on my insurance and now instead of pay $35 for my scripts, I pay almost $500. I can't do this the rest of my life. what I want to do is just stop taking it, go through a couple days of withdrawal and get myself down to 1 pill a day. Does anyone have any feedback or suggestions for that?

Thanks!

[sway1]

omg! can you imagine the world of hurt you'd be in if someone stloe them off your porch?

[Stevo977]

Wow, I'm starting to wonder if insurance would start some of that bs on me. I remember going to the er a month ago for a dog bite and had to pay I believe somewhere in the $500 range or more because insurance wouldnt cover all of it. Also, they made me fill out a form describing the injury, what led up to it, etc.

So far, they haven't done anything about my suboxone. It's been 4 months. I pay 30 per doctor visit and 30 for 60 pills per month. In fact, they even sent me a form to fill out to get my prescriptions mailed to me. That's like leaving cash on my doorstep!

[sway1]

i think i am gonna start squirrelling some away now. i don't really need the dose i am on. just in case my insurance company pulls this type of thing on me. i've kinda been plannng this in the back of my mind anyway. sometimes i take half of what i am prescribed. i am starting a new job tomorrow and i don't need any surprises. peace, sway

[HenryS354]

Hi Jen,

Im so sorry to hear of your situation.  I too was private pay for awhile, and sub can get pretty costly!  

There is now a generic form of Subutex available now, and most pharmacies retail at $3 per pill, still costly, but if you can get your doc to change your script to subutex, and you work on lowering your dose it can totally be done.  Suboxone is not yet available as a generic as the pharm companies are having a hard time getting the Buprenorphine/naloxone combo to dissolve the right way, but it is in the works.

Also, have you tried lowering your dose to say 8mgs? Most people have no problem decreasing until they hit the 4mg mark.  Perhaps break a tab in half and take 4mgs in the am and 4mgs in the pm?

I wouldnt reccomend jumping from as high of a dose as you are on, as it can be pretty uncomfortable.

I am at my 4th week off of sub, and I came off at 3mgs.  The wd's werent fun, but they were very tolerable for me personally. Like PDX said, the mental aspect is the toughest at times, that combined with the insomnia.  This was just my personal experience, but check out some of my threads, and you can read about my experience.

Sub wd's take awhile to go through, just so you are aware and ready.  My wd's didnt really kick in until day 4, peaked at their worst at day 8, and through day 14 I would have a good day, and then a bad day.  I noticed I was feeling remarkedly better around the 3 week point.  I just felt kind crappy.

You can get through this, but dont start fearing the wd's. Positive attitude, and humour was some of my best tools in my sub detox!

Henry

[pdx505]

i was on about 16mg of subs a day for...well, quite a while. longer than recommended. on and off for a few years but then i decided to get clean for good and stuck to subs and only subs for about six months. i decided to taper down and did so rather quickly...i got down to a sliver a day and after about a week i stopped completely. i had pretty severe wd's...the physical wd's didn't kick in for about 48 hours but they were pretty bad. 14 days later i'm not really suffering physically anymore but i am an emotional wreck. the mental part of this is the most challenging in my opinion. i wish you the best. you can do it. stay strong!!!

[Stevo977]

since the cap on suboxone is32mgs a day, don't you think you are wasting a few pills?
I would take 8 in the morning, and 4 in the afternoon or vice-versa since it has a 36 hour half-life. There would be no more worries from insurance and I'm quite sure would have minimal if any withdrawals. Just think about it for a minute...

[avisg]

there is a generic brand of it know I believe check into it.

[IBKleen]

Welcome back!

Going ct off of that high of a dose is going to be real, real tough on your body, not to mention your mind. You would do much better off to taper and jump off at as low a dose as you can.

Anyway to do that?