Bupe Sublocade??

[Allison7one5]

Hey fellow Bluelighters! Just saw a Sublocade commercial tonight for the first time. (A once per month subcutaneous injection for opiate dependency, if I understood correctly). Does anyone have any FIRST-HAND experience with this Rx? Cost per month? Covered by state insurance? (Proven course of unsuccessful with other maintenance meds?) Pros, come, otherwise....?? (For background: opiate dependant {20+ yrs, mostly IV}, Suboxone maintenance for past 11 yrs, <2 mg/day). Thank you in advance for any pertinent input.

 

[jms138]

Hey fellow Bluelighters! Just saw a Sublocade commercial tonight for the first time. (A once per month subcutaneous injection for opiate dependency, if I understood correctly). Does anyone have any FIRST-HAND experience with this Rx? Cost per month? Covered by state insurance? (Proven course of unsuccessful with other maintenance meds?) Pros, come, otherwise....?? (For background: opiate dependant {20+ yrs, mostly IV}, Suboxone maintenance for past 11 yrs, <2 mg/day). Thank you in advance for any pertinent input.

Hey fellow Bluelighters! Just saw a Sublocade commercial tonight for the first time. (A once per month subcutaneous injection for opiate dependency, if I understood correctly). Does anyone have any FIRST-HAND experience with this Rx? Cost per month? Covered by state insurance? (Proven course of unsuccessful with other maintenance meds?) Pros, come, otherwise....?? (For background: opiate dependant {20+ yrs, mostly IV}, Suboxone maintenance for past 11 yrs, <2 mg/day). Thank you in advance for any pertinent input.

4000$ without insurance, with insurance drug cost paid by insurance 1900$ I have 85$ copay. On my 8th shot and I'm happy.mot worrying about taking those nasty subs.

 

[Opi_Kid_Rock]

Do you feel more or less unwell near end of month compared to taking daily sublingual Bupe?
I kinda want to weigh convenience of staying on the stuff indefinitely or tapering off this stuff for good.

 

[Keif' Richards]

Do you feel more or less unwell near end if month compared to taking daily sublingual Bupe?
I kinda want to weigh convenience of staying on the stuff indefinitely or tapering off this stuff for good.

This would be my biggest question as well. @Opi_Kid_Rock raises a relevant question. It is a relatively new medication with a relatively new route of administration. We all know that the pharmaceutical industry is staffed by human beings and it is thus, highly liable to bullshit. When I first heard of this, my first question was regarding stability. Different people have different clearance rates due to their unique physiology/biology. If you're dosing a medication once a day or thrice a day, I can see how this interpersonal variability would not be as visible, but if you extrapolate that to 30 days, it just seems like it would be difficult to hit that bullseye effectively without tailoring in some way.

Now, if everything is great, the medication works exactly as it is supposed to, I think this route of administration could have amazing benefits over daily dosing. I think anyone who has been addicted to Opioids can instantly surmise what these benefits would be, but for those who don't: Buprenorphine is a very effective medication when used properly, but it's not uncommon for people to skip doses to get high, sell doses to get high etc. If you're given the monthly injection, you're choice is taken out of the picture. Sometimes, our ability to choose needs to be taken out of the picture for us to be successful in recovery.

I'd love to hear what others have experienced! Maybe we can help OP make a good decision, but I'm out of my depth on this one

 

[jms138]

Do you feel more or less unwell near end of month compared to taking daily sublingual Bupe?
I kinda want to weigh convenience of staying on the stuff indefinitely or tapering off this stuff for good.

Im on year 3 being off the needle. The shot has worked great for me. My well being has improve to the point I feel normal again. I hardly every think about being on something and have no cravings and experience no highs or lows.

 

[Ds]

Im on year 3 being off the needle. The shot has worked great for me. My well being has improve to the point I feel normal again. I hardly every think about being on something and have no cravings and experience no highs or lows.

That's great news man. Congrats for being clean from sticking, and prodding yourself. That gets old quick, and if you were anything like me, then I'd poke and prod even more, to chase a high ,and unable to stop on my own willpower alone.
For real, if this shot can help people recover from opiates, then we need more of it, and available for the low-income & homeless folk, because Lord knows that they need it.

 

[Mimi Bordeaux]

Hey fellow Bluelighters! Just saw a Sublocade commercial tonight for the first time. (A once per month subcutaneous injection for opiate dependency, if I understood correctly). Does anyone have any FIRST-HAND experience with this Rx? Cost per month? Covered by state insurance? (Proven course of unsuccessful with other maintenance meds?) Pros, come, otherwise....?? (For background: opiate dependant {20+ yrs, mostly IV}, Suboxone maintenance for past 11 yrs, <2 mg/day). Thank you in advance for any pertinent input.

Yes
I am on the Sublicade injection and I have been for a few months. It's free here in Australia. I just go to the doctor and he does it. Personally I don't notice any difference in my life as a whole. But one time I had it and I got really high. It lasted all day and night and was great. But it hasn't happened again. I was on smack but this time I was put on it for meth use. It is a great leveler for the meth and heroin. You wouldn't associate it with meth but I tell you that it's worth getting it just to less withdrawal when you run out. But I prefer the films that you eat or slip under the tongue. Much better than the injection I think. Anyway I like it and I would get it if I were you even though in the States it's bloody expensive

 

[Gaz_hmmmm]

Yes
I am on the Sublicade injection and I have been for a few months. It's free here in Australia. I just go to the doctor and he does it. Personally I don't notice any difference in my life as a whole. But one time I had it and I got really high. It lasted all day and night and was great. But it hasn't happened again. I was on smack but this time I was put on it for meth use. It is a great leveler for the meth and heroin. You wouldn't associate it with meth but I tell you that it's worth getting it just to less withdrawal when you run out. But I prefer the films that you eat or slip under the tongue. Much better than the injection I think. Anyway I like it and I would get it if I were you even though in the States it's bloody expensive

You were given Sublocade for methamphetamine use or do you mean methadone?

 

[SpiralusSancti]

Before answers (probably meth) I’ll add that bupe is increasingly prescribed to alcoholics in my country. And I think sublocade would be far better delivery system for them but it’s still unavailable for any propose last time I checked and doubt they’ll be getting it in that form. While that in combo with naloxone/naltrexone would be far superior to what sadly most of them end up doing – snorting pills in combo with booze.

 

[Mimi Bordeaux]

You were given Sublocade for methamphetamine use or do you mean methadone?

Methamphetamine use. It's not common but I reallly believe it is a great helping supplement.

 

[Gaz_hmmmm]

Methamphetamine use. It's not common but I reallly believe it is a great helping supplement.

Where are you, in the US?

Weird that they gave you bup’ for methamphetamine use.
Had they given you bup’ in any other form previously for methamphetamine use?

 

[plumbus-nine]

I got buprenorphine (subutex, the pills to use sublingually) for dissociative abuse and mental dependency, which I found to be a bit weird but I tried it and found it to be useless. Was on it a couple of months, didn't manage to stop the dissos and quit the 4mg bupe cold turkey, no symptoms. Interesting that it seems to help with meth dependency.

 

[Mimi Bordeaux]

Where are you, in the US?

Weird that they gave you bup’ for methamphetamine use.
Had they given you bup’ in any other form previously for methamphetamine use?

Yes. I used to pick up the film every day. It dissolves in your mouth. I preferred that method actually. It seemed to have more effect. The injection doesn't seem to do much though I am sure it's working underneath the surface. Btw I love in Melbourne Victoria Australia

 

[SpiralusSancti]

Bupe is viewed kinda as some kind of all-round antabus by some doctors. You can’t get high from opiods on it and ruins high of most other drugs. So it’s prescribed more and more for booze, coke, whatever in fact… At least where I am but it’s not localized here it seems from what you guys/girls write.

 

[Dropperneck]

I wonder if the shot is less toxic to the body/endocrinology. The low T epidemic is being fueled by substances like this among many other things.

 

[SpiralusSancti]

It might go either way. Might be less or more toxic via that roa. It’s possible that constant level of bupe leads to body dealing with it in a way that T levels are less affected because of bodies ability to get used to toxin but it’s also possible it makes it worse than taking bupe once a day (or every two days) by not allowing body a break from toxin and so allowing it to balance hormones better. Same could be true for all other toxic (side)effects of bupe.

It is surely a thing that should be investigated in depth.

 

[Mimi Bordeaux]

Where are you, in the US?

Weird that they gave you bup’ for methamphetamine use.
Had they given you bup’ in any other form previously for methamphetamine use?

I live in Melbourne Australia. Yes I used to pick it up every day and then it was the film not injection. I actually prefer the films to the injection. By film I mean the bit you put under your tongue. Yes that's it. So I first started because of heroin use but then I stopped by myself. I found this easy and no hassles. Then I took up ice and on the days off I would feel like shit. I couldn't move or go outside. It was like I was paralyzed. But when I was put on the Suboxone plan everything changed and I could get out of bed now and go outside and walk. It really changed my life. Thanks to my doctor who is doing the methadone treatment for people in Melbourne

 

[Mimi Bordeaux]

I actually think that is good. Suboxone can be a great healer. I have used it on and off for a few years and the last time was for meth but before that it was for heroin and depression. My doctor upped it and I ended up on a really high dose. I liked it then. The films unlike the injection. Anyway I already have spoken about this

 

[SpiralusSancti]

That sublocade thing seems to work pretty good at keeping people clean from other opiates. I wonder if it’s good for pain-relief in that form or patches are way to go for that application of bupe. Downside is some people seem to have very bad reactions at spot.