Suboxone first time use

[KM612]

First I want to say how much I love this site. I have been a lurker for a few months and because of everyone on here I finally got the help I have been hoping for. I have been addicted to lortabs for several years now and 2 weeks ago went to a trmt center and started suboxone. So far so good. No cravings whatsoever and really feeling good. I felt really good the first couple of days with lots of energy, but now I can hardly keep my eyes open during the day. Is that normal?  Now for my reason for posting. My husband as well has been addicted and wanted to try a film to see how it made him feel. He took a 4 mg yesterday with no problems. This morning he took another 4 mg and around noon he took the other half. Since then he has been very dizzy extreme fatigue and basically just feels horrible. I took him to the pharmacy to check his bp and it was great. He told the pharmacist what was going on and he felt he may have taken it too early and he was going through withdrawals. What do y'all think!  He is in bed and wants me to check on him every 30 min to make sure he is ok?  Of course this has me worried. I prob shld add he is sick with bronchitis and got a steroid shot yest and was put on antibiotics and inhaler. Thanks guys!'

[HumbledXtian]

KM612,

great post from Nursegirl. Your hubby almost certainly went into precipated withdrawals by taking the suboxone too quickly. Unfortunately, you have to go into w/ds before taking sub.

He needs to consult a doc, ASAP, and do things the right way.

[KM612]

Thanks I will go read now.

[KM612]

Thanks so much. I really think a lower dose would b better for me. My dr wanted me to take 8mg in the morning and 8 at night. I did rht the first day and did not get any sleep. The second day I took in the morning and my second dose around 2. I slept much better that night. I have cut back to 4 mg in the morning and 4 around 3 and I really think I could go all day on just 4. My husband does have an appt scheduled for next week and you are right we really should not have done it that way but my husband did not want to go cold turkey and thought he was in the beginning of w/d's. yes, the clinic that we go to does drug test each visit. Should I not b reducing my dosage until I see the dr again?  I guess reading this site and other things about suboxone I thought it wld be ok. Probably not very smart. Thanks again for replying and the useful suggestions.

[clean_in_ks]

Hey girl.....I just typed a long post having to do w/subs on the post "Day 12 and not normal" by KellKell (today's date) 10/10.    Hope you will read it.  
Don't want to confuse this thread by re-posting it here.

Also, Nursegirl......good advise.......the best!

[nursegirl6572]

Hello there.  Congrats on your decision to get clean!

You should communicate how you're feeling to your sub doc, it's very possible your dose is a bit too high.  With sub, less is better.  A lot of people are on doses that are too high.  Sub is pretty strong, most people, even heavy users, can usually be comfortably maintained on a very low dose.  You're still stabilizing too.  It takes a week or two for the opiate receptors to adjust to the sub, as it is a partial agonst.  In other words, it "fills" the opiate receptors a little bit differently than full agonist opiates.

Your husband trying out your sub at home is a BAD idea.  For one, in my experience, a sub doctor ONLY Rx's the exact amount of strips needed from one appt to the next, how do you have any to spare?  

Secondly, there is a process involved in calculating the induction dose, EVERYONE varies, many factors are taken into consideration.  For one, he is taking it too often!!  He wouldn't have needed to re-dose from morning to lunchtime, even if in full blown w/d's.  Also, most likely, he put himself into precipitated w/d's.  When starting sub, the patient HAS to be in mild to moderate w/d's, otherwise, they will feel ten times worse.  If he wasn't in w/d's, he should have never taken the sub.

The other issue with this whole set up is that it is that addictive self medicating behavior, and abuse of a prescription.  If your husband want to get on sub, he needs to do it himself, at a clinic, under a doctor's care.

Unless you guys have an "MD" behind your name, you shouldn't be messing with this.  Is he on any other meds?  Benzos, for example are contraindicated and could actually have caused him some problems.  PLEASE don't mess with this...do it the right way.  Part of making the decision to get clean, is to ditch thse addictive behaviors that got you in trouble to begin with, like this.

Please make sure you are looking into aftercare.  Sub treatment should never be just about getting around detox.  It's a TOOL to be used in recovery, along with a lot of other things.  Hopefully you have found a good sub clinic that has strict requirements about drug testing at every visit (or very frequently), therapy, aftercare, etc.

I wish you both the best!