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started suboxone today, will it work?

Hi, I have reading the posts in here for quite awhile. I think everyone in here is so helpful and truly interested in giving the best advice they can. After many months I have decided that I wanted to try Suboxone. I know a few people who have had success with it and I have seen that tapering or stopping on my own wasn't going to happen any time soon. I normally would take 80-120 mg's of oxycodone. Between a mix of percocets and/or crushed up 40mg oxycontin. Usually in 15-20mg doses. I've tried to taper and once even stopped totally last year. Unfortunately I thought I owuld be able to stay off but didn't. the holiday's came around and I started back up again. The second time, as most people have said, is harder to stop from. I found myself staying at my dose of 80-120 mg's a day. No matter how hard I tried, I couldnt taper. This morning I went in for the Suboxone. I was in full withdrawal as of 4:30am this morning. The 6 hours of hell until my appiontment were hard. I must say that the Suboxone does work well. I wound needing 8mg's to bring me back to normal. I was wondering, they usually say that the 3rd and 4th day are the hardest when stopping oxycodone, will the 8 mg's be enough to tide me over? I asked the doctor who said that there shouldn't be a problem but I know there are many people on here who have been through my situation and would know first hand. Once thank you for all the great advice and support. There are soo many people who just pop in to read and you guys/gals really know how to help someone on their last end. Thank you
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401095 tn?1351391770
this chart was helpful to me to understand just how powerful sub is..it is approximate only as everyone responds differently to different drugs..but serves as a good guide

Equivalent Doses In Comparison to 1 milligram of Sub

Buprenex.....1 mg (suboxone, subutex)
Morphine....30-40 mgs PO/ 10 mg IV
Dilaudid........7.5 mg
Opana/Oxymorphone........10  mg
Oxycodone....20 mg
Hydrocodone…30 mg
Codeine.........200 mg
Methadone..….15 - 20 mg
Demerol...........300 mg
Darvacet...........200 mg

so if u r taking 8 mg of sub it would be close to taking 160 mg of oxycodone..so u should be feeling pretty good...as u r on a higher dose than u were originally in comparison as this would be 160 mg of oxy...most at a dose of 120 mg a day would start at 4 mg and quickly get off....less is better with sub..lesser dose and the last amount of time possible...2 mg daily usually suffices for a 100 mg a day hydro user..u r on the upper end of what would be needed for ur dose and doc....will it work?  that depends on what ur goal is...will it take away wds?  YES...will it take the place of the high u got with oxys?  NO...will it keep u from relapsing later when u have quit the sub?   NO    Is it addicting? highly so and can easily become ur doc if u r not careful...some people need something long term or even for life to keep them clean...if this is the case then ur goals would be different than someone who needs to avoid wds so they can work etc....wds are not the part of getting clean that is so hard tho...it is staying clean that is hard...and sub can not do that for u unless u let go of the need for a "high" as u can chase a high forever..but with sub it is hard to get that high u got off oxy..perhaps a jolt...but not a high in comparison..u need to want to quit and stay clean and seek aftercare...the sub will not do this for u...even if used forever it can not make u clean if u r not commited as i have seen people use sub, quit and use their doc for the high, and go back to sub....it can be abused...but if used for the right reason it is a good tool to "help" u get clean...the rest comes from within u..deep down within ur sould, the need to be clean,,,what is ur goal?  to use sub to avoid wds or for lifetime use?  many get stuck on this drug and planned to get off but never quite get there...u gotta really, really want cleandom for urself and u will succeed
Helpful - 0
175734 tn?1225134440
I have been on Subutex for 10 days i started with 2 mg twice a day and now i'm doing .5 mg's twice a day.
I did Suboxone treatment like 2 yaers ago ( maybe 1year and a half ) and it was great until i tried to stop. I think i tapered to fast and i was spiking too much.

So this time i'm going to taper for a long time. I've already tapered to 1mg a day and i think the best thing to do would be to get to 1mg every other day. Sub's have a long half life and that is what causes the hard w/d's.

I go back to Sub doctor on Wensday and i have like 10 subs left....thats a big deal to me, the fact that i did them as perscribed or less and not more like i did with everything else.

I am really thinking about NA or group therapy i think i need some kind of after care other then this forum.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thank you for the support. I didnt like the Tramadol because I tend to be depressed at times and the little time I took Tramadol it made me feel very level. Too tempting, jumped off that ship quick. Again, thank u for the response
Helpful - 0
199177 tn?1490498534
I have heard that .It is supposed to help with sleep. I am very gald to hear you are not taking any tramadol:) ......
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
It was trazadone. i take 2 at bedtime. Not tramadol. I had them. Still have a whole bottle of them. didnt like them at all. But the trazadone works really well. It takes that night-time edge off.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I used subutex to stop a morphine habit I developed from being treated for Hep C. I was taking quite alot and had cravings for about 4 days. At the time I was taking about 36mg of subutex. My original plan was to only take it for about 3wks, but when the 3 wks came I was not ready and I knew it. So I took it for probably another 4 wks and the last week I kept cutting it in half. Becasue I had heard on this forum how horrible the withdrawal could be. Personally it wasn't a big deal. But I have the mind of chronic addict I can make anything a big deal. But I had been going to AA meetings for the last 12 years and that helped alot. So I would support your idea to go to NA or AA everyday. You cannot beat this addiction, you just get a daily repreive from it.
So go for it
Red
Helpful - 0
199177 tn?1490498534
I dont think sub helps with cravings it helps with WDs. A meeting is such a good idea to help deal with the cravings .I would look in the health pages for some info on PAWS. The med that your doctor precribed was it trazadone or tramadol?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi All. Well here I am at Day 6. I've pretty much stayed at 6-7mgs a day for each day except the first 2 days. I was at 8mgs the first 2 days and it made me feel too out of it. I usually take my 4mg dose at 8am and another at 2mgs at noonish. Today I was up at 4am and didnt take my 4mg dose until 11am. Before I took that dose I was seriously considering taking a 10/325 Percocet. I have a bunch of them left over. I didn't take it and Im glad I didn't. but i cant say enough how strong the desire to take it was. My question is, isn;t the suboxone supposed to make u not crave as much. I really do crave alot. I am going to go to my first NA meeting ever this week. I want to really look into going twice a week (time permitting) to NA. But that aside, should the suboxone cut the cravings down. I know people who were/are on it who had no cravings. I hope the cravings go away. I love being my old self. I feel like a cloud lifted, a haze that covered my mind 24 hrs a day is gone. Also my sub doc prescribed me Trazodol, which works wonders. any ideas???
Helpful - 0
199177 tn?1490498534
PA , you seem to be doing very well its great to hear that you are getting counseling as well .That will make it an easier transition when you stop taking the sub . You will know when the time is right for you . Good luck   ...:)
Helpful - 0
548568 tn?1291847324
Hi,
I started suboxine on 6-24-08 after a 28, 30 years of addication to morphine & vic's perk's, which ever was avaible. Plus I had been on xananx for 20 yrs. I had used suboxine before from the street. I'd keep & save it for when I didn't have any pills. But when I had the chance to get in the program I did. b/c this time I really want to stop using . I am so tired of running all the time. Suboxine is a federal program. I have go to a drug counsler every 2 weeks. Do you go? It's nice to talk to someone again. (use to go yrs ago to therapy for depression & anxiety. He is also an addict so I know he knows what's it really like being addicted to pills. His father is the dr I see. He is the 5th dr in town certfied to write for suboxine. He started me on 3 8mgs a day. I did that for 2 wks then cut down to 2 8mgs, that is about what I take now maybe even less sometimes. My biggest complaints are sweating uncontrollably!! My pillows are soaked, even where I lay on the couch gets wet. I don't have a very good appetite. I eat but I can't sit down anymore & eat a whole meal, or even a whole sandwich for that matter. I have lost probably close to 15pounds by now. I did not have any wd's from the opiates. I used about 60 mgs of morphine 2 days before, I had very little wd's before I took the sub at drs ov. It was just sneaking up on me but the sub kicked it. My other dr took me off xanax about a year ago b/c I was taking 8 to 10mg a day. He felt it wasn't working anymore so he switched me to klonopin. It didn't work any where near as good as the xanax did but the dr wouldn't budge. When I started the suboxine I stopped the benzo's for about 3 weeks then my anxiety was out of control. So the dr that gives me my sub's gave me 2mg valium to take 3 times a day. I am thinking to my self how? I use to slam 6 or 8 10mgs of valium in my mouth, thinking what the heck will 2mg do. I never took benzo's right. Tend to take them when I am full of anxiety. I took them everyday but not like they were prescribed. So now I faitfully take all my meds correctly and I feel great. I am having cravings for xanax, sometimes real bad. But being off of them I realized what a fog I lived in when I was taking them. I figure that I probably will be on suboxine for a year. Hopefully 2mg every other day by then. Some people on here do a rapid detox with sub's. If you search through some of the posts you will find stories about it. I also do not want to take suboxine for the rest of my life. I consider my self clean as of 6-24-08 b/c I haven't used since but taking suboxine is using in some peoples eyes. For some people it is a mircle pill for others complete horror. It can become their DOC.  Everyone is different.
good luck to you
paaddict
Helpful - 0
199177 tn?1490498534
want2 ,
That sounds like a good plan .Most of the meber that have done the 21 day tape have had very little withdrawl when there done .

   I think just like anything if you are not careful you can end up substituting one thing for another .
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I plan on being on suboxone for hopefully 3 weeks. i have read, mostly from this forum and online that after that its just another thing to try to get off of.
Helpful - 0
199177 tn?1490498534
Kova , I feel quick seem to be the best way to go .Some of the people here that have taken long term have had a very hard time coming off it .Important part is not to trade one med for another .When you do taper go all of the way down to a crumb it has worked the best for the posers I have spoken to .Sub can be a great too to get of meds but just that a tool.Have you looked into recovery care ?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
i took 4mgs of sub a little while ago.  not feeling fantastic, but definitely better than i was.  i intend to do a rather rapid taper, but i don't think my habit was quite as big as yours.  also, my drug of choice was methadone.  even though everyone says wds from methadone are the worst because they last so long, i still don't think it is as painful of a withdrawal as oxys.

good luck!
Helpful - 0
352798 tn?1399298154
Avis brings up a good point. Sub has it's own set of problems. It too is very hard to get off of. It can be good but generally it seems best to get off of it within a few weeks.
Helpful - 0
199177 tn?1490498534
How long are you planing on being on it .
Helpful - 0
352798 tn?1399298154
Most of those on sub say that it helped them. It practically eliminates the w/d.
Helpful - 0
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