Is Suboxone right for my pain treatment?

[DaddyRed]

I am new to the forums but not to the chronic pain situation. I have had serious back pain since June 2001, got hooked on the pain meds, had surgery in March of 2005 and I am alot better as far as the pain level goes but now I have to take Oxycodone and 10mg Norco 3-5 TID for even the smallest amount of relief. The problem is that I have to take these meds even on the good days to keep from going into withdrawl. I am thinking of going on Suboxone for 3 to 6 months to try to get my tolerance down enough that I can take meds, be it OTC's or others, only when I need them.

[sandee1818]

"" I guess what I'm most concerned about is what am I going to do after I've gotten myself off the hard stuff and the suboxone? ""

Well as far as pain levels the suboxone is used for pain control too so you may be one of the people who does do great on it and it controls your pain as well as keep you from having to take the narcotics because I am assuming that is your goal. To get pain relief and stay away from the narcotics, correct?
I think your very astute and want the best thing for you and I praise your efforts to try everything you can to have pain control without having to deal with the addiction issues also. Great job!
I can refer you to some articles on suboxone if you would like.
Of course you do know that being addicted and being dependent on opioids for pain control are two totally different things. So if the suboxone isn't right for you then you can certainly explore other options with your doctor. I know it is scary taking narcotics when you have addiction problems but remember that chronic pain is a disease and it has to be treated with medications to control it. I know your very well aware of these things but sometimes its nice to hear them from someone else:)
Please let us know how your doing and how things are going and if you need to talk or have questions or just want to vent were always here for you.

[DaddyRed]

Thanks for the response. As far as your question about how I'm doing on the suboxone today was my first appointment with the addictionologist and I decided that I would take the weekend and do some research before making a commitment. I'm not really worried about the pain levels for the immidiate future I just want to be able to get through the withdrawl with the minimum about of problems. I guess what I'm most concerned about is what am I going to do after I've gotten myself off the hard stuff and the suboxone?

[sandee1818]

Some doctors say the suboxone is great for pain management and others say it is not. In my opinion it is worth a try to see if it would work for you. Everyone reacts to medications differently so you could find great relief in the suboxone. One thing to keep in mind though is you have to make sure all the other pain meds are completely out of your system and you can not take them while on the suboxone either so this is something you should keep in mind. if it does not work for you then you will have to wait until it is completely out of your system before taking the medications you were taking such as oxycodone and norco.
Have you discussed this with your PM doctor at all? He will be able to tell you if you may benefit from this medication.
I do sympathize with you because it is very hard dealing with this kind of pain without taking the medications that work to relieve it. How are you doing as far as keeping your dose at the lowest level possible? If you feel the dose your on is not strong enough maybe your doctor will be willing to prescribe something that is an extended release and therefore that will help longer and work better on your pain levels to keep them as low as possible.
We all here understand your pain and we will do all we can to help in any way we can.