suboxone. 3 months now, questions!

[rothy]

Hi everyone. I have been an opiate addict for the last 5 years since my first shoulder surgery. Every pill u can think of i snorted it our swallowed it. morphine and oxycontin with a benzo mix became my favorites. but anyway about 3 months ago i started on suboxone. the first 2 weeks it was tough. my eye bulged out of my head and there was alot of anxiety probably due to my sensitivity to medications in general. the constipation was acute and things weren't good. but finally they settled down. whenever i would take the med i would feel excitable/anxious still but bearable. My craving were gone and the thoughts of using did not preoccupy my mind. things were great the next month or so. my 10mgs/day provided a feeling of contentment and positivity. nothing like a high. but recently i have noticed that i dont always get that positive/excited/anxious/good feeling that stopped my cravings. sometimes for days i wont get it. increasing my dose doesnt even help. the positive "effective" feeling now only seems to come randomly or in lower forms.

has anyone experienced this "feeling" on suboxone or had it leave them while on the maintenance treatment? please fill me in on the effects you have experienced while on the medication personally. i dont want any second had stories or experiences of people who misused or use while on suboxone.

[rothy]

one thing my doc did said was to avoid chat rooms/boards like this where everyone thinks they're a doctor. i should have expected. you guys have to realize there are times (situation pending) where doses need to be higher than others and duration on the medication has to be longer. it depends mainly on me, the patient. i know people on the suboxone for years now and other people on 32mg/day. my dose or amount of time on the drug does not mean its bad for me or that im misusing a drug in any way.

i tried to explain the benefits from suboxone that i get. there is a feeling when you take the drug. no questions about that. it has an effect just like any other type of medication has. this "effect" makes me content and NOT HIGH. It is this feeling that kills my cravingsand it has helped my mood, personality, has helped me keep this job for months (something i could never have done while using) if someone here is on suboxone and tells me that they feel nothing when they take it, i find that hard to believe.

you guys seem to think that suboxone is meant to get off quickly in everyone's case but not mine. its going to take more time till im ready to function without the drug's help.

now my basic inquiry for the group was wondering how people felt on suboxone and whether they feel its effects have lessened over time on the drug. this obviously is NOT a question for those who are just detoxing. i am using the drug for maintenance purposes. thank you.

[wait2long]

i too have been on sub. for close to 3 months, transitioned from methadone   NOT AN EASY TASK!!!!  but was on 32 mgs , split dose for 4-5 weeks, worked great..then when i was down to about 16 mgs daily i was starting to feel horrible again, learned alot from fladdict here on this forum that i needed to lower my dose even more...and she was right ...the higher dose was what was making me feel like ****...feeling pretty darn good now at 10 mgs,...will soon be going down to 8 mgs...so maybe you need to lower your dose?   there is another person named littlelai , and we are going to work together on tapering our doses..littlelai is also at 12 mgs and on sub for 3 months,   care to join us?  i am sure we could all use the support... we can have our own little tapering off suboxone club,   LOL!!   keep us posted...

[BonnieAnn]

Hello and Welcome!

I too am a bit confused by your post.

For me, I used/abused pain meds for nine years. I have 6 herniated disks and the pain is legitimate. However, as my tolerance built I decided that I would rather find alternatives to pain mgt than to live my life for my next pill. I chose Suboxone to help with the w/d's ONLY because I have heart disease and cold turkey is scary and dangerous for me.

I am on day 13 of Sub, and have been cutting down since day 2. I plan to be off Sub in a few days. I will go thru w/d, but not from the Sub, it will be from the pain meds.

If you have read anyting about Sub, you will see that by now, you are probably addicted to it. In fact, I am sure you are, especially if you have increased your dose. Three months and 10 mg a day is a very strong dose for a very strong med. Have you increased under the doctors care?

For me, I do not want to FEEL anything on the Sub.

It is simply a suggestion, but you should consult your Sub doctor and tell him/her what you are feeling. If you want off all pills, then be honest with the doc. If he is a good Sub doc, he should begin to wean you off. You will go thru w/d, but it will not be as severe. I can only suggest that you start to stop now before you are really addicted to them.

I hope this helped.

[tooklastdose]

If you increased you dose, to "get that feeling"  wouldn't that be misue??

[TJack]

i too am curious about your intentions?  I thought it was a drug to get a person off of another drug, not to get addicted to as well.  I am to start on suboxone on Sept. 10.  My intentions are to start at 8 mg. and go down from there and be off the stuff in 21 days.  As i have heard from others on here who have done it that way and made it though.  I just want myself back.  If I am happy, i'll be happy, sad/sad.  But, it will be me being the real me.  Good luck to you and
please continue to post.  TJack

[beachtowel]

question please when you first started with the suboxone what were your intentions?