Methadone to Suboxone Detox Help

[werdna]

My friends like to ask me medical questions because I am about to be in med school.  I  definitely couldn't answer this one...any help?

"I have been on 70 mg of methadone for a little over a year. I decided to start detoxing a while ago. The clinic told me to do it 5 mg every 2 weeks, but I wasn't down with taking half a year to detox. So I decided to do it 5 mg a week. So everything was smooth sailing until I got down to 20 mg. The drop from 20-->15 was difficult and the next drops from 15->10 and 10-->5 were even harder. So now this is my first week on 5 mg a week and I am defiinitely getting the DEATHADONE withdrawl symptoms.

I am going out of town for a week this Sunday and I will no longer be prescribed methadone. I am scared that my withdrawl symptoms will be so much that they will mess up my ski vacation. My friend is going to give me a few of his suboxones to help...

1) What dosage should I take them?

2) When should I start taking them?

3) How long should I take them?

4) And if I only take them for a week, will I still get withdrawl symptoms from the methadone or the suboxone?

Thank you so much!

[trypta]

What he should do, is use another milder opiate instead of suboxone. Don't know if he was scripted the done for pain or if he was trying to get clean but the fact you have to be in mid-withdrawals before you can dose means it's not worth going through unless you're going to switch & quit that. It would not be worth suffering for 3 days, to do sub for a ski-weekend, and then get back on methadone.

Try to find something like hydrocodone or maybe oxy, just keep your goddamn doses low and your nose clean. Also watch out for large ammounts of apap& all that typical ****.
These opiates are short lasting, will avert Methadone withdrawals, give you your painkilled energy for the day and if you keep the dose low, won't get you thinking about binging/getting ****** up.  

hydrocodone dose @ 0 tolerance = 15 mg's
20 if heavyweight, can always re-dose abit to achieve comfort but only bump 5 mg's at a time and don't over-do it.
ORAL ONLY. prodrug/full of tylenol/don't dare snort or shoot it.

oxycodone dose @ 0 tolerance : 10-15 snorted 15-20 oral
This dose can easily be too much or too little depending on your body weight. I've seen people wigg out on 10-15 mg's and know people who can snort 80 mg's in a night with minor/no tolerance. Donot snort/shoot percosets/anything with APAP, they have tylenol in them.

godspeed

[mr.lucky66]

The way you want to do it is to not take sub for more than a week as the last poster said. The problem is that it won't do much good in the longrun because he will still have methadone withdrawl. There are many other ways to get off of long term methadone and I have tried most of them. all the best

[wait2long]

when transitioning from methadone to suboxone, his dose is recommended to be between 20-30 mgs of methadone a day, he should be at this dose for at least 2 weeks...he then will have to be in withdrawals before he can take the first dose of suboxone, that can range from anywhere from 3-5 days, at this point when he feels he really is suffering from withdrawals is when he should take his first dose of suboxone, he can start with 4mgs and wait, but more likely than not, 4 mgs is never enough to help with methadone withdrawals if the dose is still at 20-30 mgs daily, so most start off with 1, 8 mg tab, let it dissolve,wait 1-1 1/2 hours to see how he reacts, if no improvement, then try another 4 mgs, wait 1-1 1/2 hours again, you keep doing this until he gets releif, for me, it ended up being the max dose of 32 mgs, and i was on the full 32 mgs for 6 weeks, then i tapered down to 12 mgs within about 2 weeks with no problems.
knowing that his dose is 5 mgs he may do just fine with 1-8 mg tab, but must be in withdrawals from the 5 mgs of methadone that he is currently taking, even though he already feels awful now, he has to be in WD's from the 5 mgs.
the amount of time you take them is up to you, you can take them short term, or you can get on a maintenance program with your own doctor. this choice is YOURS to make, no one elses, and suboxone is far better and safer than ANY drug i KNOW of.
taking them for only a week, will make you feel well enough for that week, when you stop them after a week, you will not suffer WD's from the sub, but most likely will still be suffering from WD's from methadone.  methadone WD's CAN last for up to 6 weeks, and depending on length of time on methadone, possibly up to 3 years of PAWS, i HAVE heard of cases like this.
i am on on sub myself, transitioned from methadone, i have been researching and learning about sub for well over a year now, DAILY, and I have not heard of 1 person having any type of bad reaction to this med in all of the material that i have read over a years time, and its a lot of material.
i would like to of course hear that this person was going through a doctor and working the program correctly, but i understand its not attainable for everyone at times needed, maybe after he returns from his vacation he can work on this...suboxone and the whole treatment program has been a life saver for me...
good luck, and if you have any more questions feel free to send me a private message, ANYTIME!!
i have tons of information on suboxone, if your interested let me know...
and i also have heard PLENTY of success stories of people that were on long term maintenance with suboxone and had NO PROBLEMS getting off, this should not be a problems if done correctly, there is a correct way to do this, and some are just too inpatient or eager to stop so they suffer WD's, because sub IS addictive, but much easier to get off than methadone.

[Shotrock]

Tell the dude to lose the Ski Trip, take the time to focus on his recovery. He will have a lifetime to be skiing. My Doctor gave me 60 8mg Subs said take two a day and come back in 30 days. nothing else about tapering or anything it was a joke.  Good Luck, the time to get clean is now.  Good Luck to your Friend!

[mr.lucky66]

I would suggest that he try other meds than sub. It too has problems and people here are always complaining about how hard that is too get off off. If this person is young and strong he could get through it with some time off in a detox or at home with the right meds. It's the whole thing about using this new miracle drug to get off a bad drug. like herion to get off morphine or methadone to get off heroin. Next we will have a drug to get off suboxone.. I not saying sub can't be helpfull but I think it's overused "Methdone, there's no future in it" all the best

[werdna]

No I am about to be in med school.  I am not asking for medical advice, I am looking for more experience advice.  I also don't know how the suboxone works vs the methadone.  I know the methadone needs to leave your system before you take the suboxone.  Is it even worth it for him to take the suboxone or should he just muscle through it?

[Penelope14]

Hun, this is insane thinking, how do you know how your body will react to the sub? I almost went onto sub untill I found out I,d have to be in withdrawals for at least 2 to 3 days & stay in a rehab center so I could be medically supervised, & this is fairly common practice with people who are on methadone, as you are well aware of its half life?  I,ve been tapering for almost one year, I,ve gone from 90mgs straight down to 3mgs & never hit a wall untill I got to 3mgs, then boom! It hit me from out of the blue, sweating more, sleeping less, feeling lethargic, anxiety, etc, I think ya get where Im coming from? You claim your in med-school? would this something you would recomend to one of your patients? Do the right thing, dont make rush decisions pertaining to your health. Penelope

[cathy5841]

ummm, i have no answers for you....it sounds like something that should be supervised by a professional to me.  good luck to your friend.