I could have written this post myself. Also a long time peruser of the boards when I have a question or just curious, and I had to register to share my experience with banging the strips. For some context, I've been off dope and on suboxone for 14 months (started at 8-10mgs daily, now down to around 6 mg daily). I've snorted the pills before, way back when I was also using, but since I got clean I have never snorted or shot them until a couple days ago.
This is my second month on the film, and after seeing some very realistic-looking IV drug use on a couple TV shows, I was getting "needle fever" and starting to think seriously about buying some dope, so I decided instead to try banging my strips to see if it would help kill both the cravings and the needle fixation. For my first try a couple days ago, I dissolved around 1/4 (2 mg) of the strip in a spoon with 7 or 8 units of water, heating and stirring with a knife just a little bit to keep it going. The solution was cloudy and maybe just ever-so-slightly orange tinted, but it didn't look like it had any visible particles in it so I assume it dissolved nicely. Unfortunately I have no micron filter so I used a cotton and hoped for the best.
So I found my main vein in the crook of my arm (I was pretty excited it grew back!), flagged, and banged the whole shot. Immediate effect: pretty substantial and dope-like head rush and euphoric feeling. So far so good. Then however I started feeling flushed, hot and skin-crawly, and a little short of breath -- I think I had cotton fever once before, and it reminded me of that except maybe a bit stronger even. I was in the bathroom and I had my shirt off anyways, so I could see that my entire upper arms, torso, head and eyes were beet red. I was still feeling OK from the initial rush, so I drank some water and tried to shake it off. Soon after, I started feeling the shits coming on and a really bad nausea like when you've shot a little too much dope for your tolerance level. I ended up taking turns at the toilet, shitting and throwing up rather violently (and unfortunately in one instance, both at the same time) until about 15-20 minutes later I started to feel OK again. After recuperating for a little while, I realized that despite all that I still felt pretty good, like feeling the effects a little bit more than I would sublingually, although my eyes were so bloodshot they were visibly red from a distance for a couple hours.
Since then, I've been banging 2 x 2 mg shots a day, one in the AM/afternoon and one later at night, without any of the problems I had the first time, although I also have not felt the head rush or euphoria really either; rather, it feels more like the feeling you get a little while after taking it sublingually, only it kicks in almost right away. And of course, I'm taking less than my prescribed dose, so for the first time since I've been on suboxone I actually have more of my prescription than I need, instead of less. All in all, it's been a mixed bag for me, so if you're so inclined I say go ahead and try shooting it as long as you're careful. As for me, my arms are getting a little bit beat up and track-mark-y from trying to hit (I've never been great at this), so my needle fever has worn of a little bit; I think I'll either go back to under the tongue or try intranasal tomorrow and see if that works better.
