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Bupe Suboxone/Buprenorphine FAQ & Megathread v3; 2010 - 2022

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I will be in the same position in 4 months but I will have only been on subs for 6. Stupid insurence companies and medical bills.

Anyway it's probably best for you to quit snorting them before you taper. Not only will this stop the addict behavior it will also "lower" your dosage. This is just my opinion the other side is you might need less if you keep snorting it.

There is no easy cure for these things, you will have to go through some WD. That is just what we have to deal with all of us must pay the piper at some point.

I think the easiest way to deal with it is to lower your dosage every 1-3 days depending on how you feel. Obviously you want to be at the lowest dose you can be before coming off. You should see about prescription coverage or some kind of private insurence, maybe you can get that squared before you lose it.

Above all else you must prepare for it, the day is coming. At the very least you know the day, some people suddenly get cut off with no plan b imagine how terrible that must be.

Best of luck
 
Yes, like others have said... you will definitely experience withdrawal... the question now is how severe it will be.. and that can only be determined with how resilient you are with your tapering and what dose you finally jump off on. Most people don't have much trouble getting down to 4mg's, no matter how much they've been on... it's that transition to 4mg's to 1mg and below that is more difficult. You need to taper very slowly... You have 60 pills left...that's a lot, more than enough to make the kicking process as bearable as can be. Keep weening down slowly until you're at preferably less than 1mg. You will feel discomfort even coming off of that, but it will be much easier to deal with and will not be debilitating. OTC meds and just a positive attitude, coupled with vitamins, a healthy diet, and preferably exercise, will see you over the hurtle.
 
oh jesus, i'm sooooo not ready for this. i knew the day would come. yeah the whole reason i snort em is so that i dont have to use as much. if i snort one, its equal to me sublingualing 2. the way i figure it is that if i snort em, i can ration them off better. i'm worried that since i've been snortin em for so long, if i start to sublingual em, then i'mma need twice as much, or i'll wd. i think i'mma try to cut it down to snorting 1/2 at the end of this week, then keep it at that for 2 weeks or so, then drop it down to snorting 1/4 for another 2 weeks or so, by then i should be down to 30 pills or so, then i think i'll start taking them sublingually.
 
just get down to a low dose as quickly as you can, this should be fairly easy. From here you can start tapering from 1mg - .5mg - .25mg etc.
let you blood levels adjust and level out on these lower doses for about two weeks. You have more than enough bupe to do so.

good luck!
 
thank you all for your advice, help, and support. once again, bluelight has saved my ass. i swear to god i'd be dead if it werent for this site, and the helpful ppl on it. i've never really been thru a full blown wd before. i've had some shakes and BAD cravings back when i was usin, but i've definitely never had a full out wd. what should i expect? are there any remedies other than vitamins, diet, and exercise? just dont wanna walk into this blind.
 
I would get down to 2mg a day asap. I just went from 16mg a day to 4mg a day overnight amd had no w/d. The problems start at around 2mg usually, so if your trying to get off completely i would just start taking 2mg a day right now, then start taking smaller and smaller pieces. Then start skipping doses. If u take 2mg a day those 60 pills can last you like 4 months, plus youll be taking fewer.
 
I would get down to 2mg a day asap. I just went from 16mg a day to 4mg a day overnight amd had no w/d. The problems start at around 2mg usually, so if your trying to get off completely i would just start taking 2mg a day right now, then start taking smaller and smaller pieces. Then start skipping doses. If u take 2mg a day those 60 pills can last you like 4 months, plus youll be taking fewer.

but how long have you been takin em? and do you snort or sublingual?
 
I was writing my post when you submitted yours.

I ain't no copy cat %)





Great minds think alike :)

You're usually right on with your posts and I agree with a lot of what you write on here.
So I wasn't bothered by it in the least :p


Word ;3

Now, to add something on topic...
thank you all for your advice, help, and support. once again, bluelight has saved my ass. i swear to god i'd be dead if it werent for this site, and the helpful ppl on it. i've never really been thru a full blown wd before. i've had some shakes and BAD cravings back when i was usin, but i've definitely never had a full out wd. what should i expect? are there any remedies other than vitamins, diet, and exercise? just dont wanna walk into this blind.

Use the search engine. There are lots of great threads on tapering from opiates and making WD more comfortable.
If you can get benzos, they're going to be your new best friend when you get to the end of your taper. Just make sure you discontinue use as soon as they're not needed, you don't want to replace one addiction with another. Loperamide is another good one, it will help with the runs and it's also an (mild) opioid drug. The worst for me during WD is at night because of the RLS, insomnia, and anxiety. The benzos help, but I prefer sleeping pills at night and benzos during the day. But remember, never mix benzos with other CNS depressants.
Take a high quality multivitamin as well as omegas, antioxidants, 5HTP, L-Tyrosine and B vitamins will help with energy, and eat lots of fruit and veggies. Drink a lot of fluids to stay hydrated too, and choose something with electrolytes. For a complete list, search BL. You will find plenty of information.

If you can't get access to anything that requires a prescription like benzos and sleeping pills, I would go for natural vs. OTC sleeping pills. Melatonin and valerian are great for sleep, kava kava is good for anxiety. In a pinch though, advil or tylenol PM has knocked me out a few times.
 
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ha anxiety eh? fucking great. ya i have an EXTREME anxiety disorder. i get panic attacks so bad that i pass out and stop breathing. My doc decided it was a good idea to take me off of adivan, which was the only fucking med that really helped me, and stuck me wit fuckin klonopin, but like i said at the begining, i lost my insurance, so i'm pretty fucking low on the klonopin as it is, and i DESPERATELY need to ration those for my panic attacks. i actually have a bottle of melatonin, my fiance used to use it, but she said it gave her terrible nightmares.
 
I was a pill head for 3 years....been on sub for 7 months at 1mg a day sublingual.

On jan 1st I started to taper down to .5 that wasn't bad but I stayed at that dose for only 2 days...when I got to .25 that was a real killer. I started to experience RLS, no energy, hot/cold sweats, and very little sleep and waking up daily at 4 to 5am which I'm still experiencing. I stayed at .25 for 3 days and am on day 3 of taking nothing...I'm starting to finally feel better but I'm still getting hot/cold sweats (the worst in my opinion, my blankets are soaked when I wake up hourly in the night and I just feel all around gross) and still can't sleep past 5am.

Best of luck OP. keep your eye on the prize.
 
I see this new 12mg strip as pointless, but the 4mg strip might actually be a little useful, just for ease of dosing, not having to cut the 8mg strips/pills as much.

Anyway, I've been taking my suboxone differently lately and have noticed it's been more effective. I take 4mg/day.(I'm prescribed 8mg but it's unnecessary, I'm not going to tell the good doctor that though because it's nice to stock up some extra..) I break a 4mg piece in half, then place 2mg under my tongue, and the other 2mg between my gums and cheek either on the left or right side.

I've noticed my suboxone actually being more effective this way. I'm actually pretty sure it increases the BA at least a little. The reason for this is probably because there is more surface area for the sub to dissolve. Also, when it is between your cheek and gums its less likely to get over-saturated by saliva, which often ends up getting spit out or swallowed. Give it a try people it actually works quite nicely.

You could actually put the entire dose in between your cheek and gums if you wanted to. With this spot I've noticed i don't have to taste it quite as much as ia do when it is under my tongue as well, which is always a plus because it tastes like shit to me.

I recommend using 2 different spots in your mouth though. You can even experiment with different spots in your mouth, as it will be absorbed regardless of where you put it, possibly some placed better than others, though.
 
Honestly man the withdrawals aren't fun, but the best thing you can do is taper down to the lowest possible dose before you jump off. I'd recommend getting down to at least 0.25mg a day before you decide to stop taking it, the lower you can go, the better. Tapering down to 2mg will be easy as pie, and you will probably experience little to no discomfort if you pace yourself correctly.

Your going to w/d though. It's inevitable. When you're addicted to opiates there's no way to taper perfectly or anything that will for sure eliminate all withdrawal symptoms. The best you can do is try to make sure you have some comfort meds(maybe some benzos handy for sleep and such, immodium for diarrhea, Catepres, ect)

One thing that you can do is try Kratom. When i quit suboxone i tapered down to 0.25mg a day(i think i was even taking less than this my last 2 or 3 days) and got some kratom in the mail. At that low of a dose of sub, kratom actually works wonders. It wont work well if you're at a higher dose, and I'm guessing its probably worthless if you jump off of 2mg or higher.

Kratom works on the same receptors as many opiates, so essentially you'll end up still dependent if you keep taking it. Kratom withdrawals aren't bad though., and only last like 5 days, 7 max, whereas sub withdrawals can last anywhere from 2 weeks to a month, which is the worst part IMO. Honestly if i had to quit my sub right now and i was in a similar situation as you, I'd probably order some kratom, take it for 2 weeks after i stop taking the sub. I'd make sure i had at least 4 days off work once the 2 weeks are up to w/d from the kratom, afterwards you'd be good to go.

I'd MUCH rather deal with 4-7 days of kratom w/d than 14-30 days of sub withdrawal. The duration is what gets you, and personally I've been know to relapse after 2 weeks of feeling like ass, that or callin my doc up and trying to get more suboxone, and it wouldn't surprise me if many others have as well.



Of course if you go the kratom route you'd definitely not want to keep taking it, as you'd just end up trading one thing for another. That's why i say 2 weeks and that's it. After 2 weeks a good amount of the sub should be out of your system, as long as you've been taking a low dose for month or so prior.
 
i was told because of the veins under your tongue you get better BA, but on the other hand it seems to get irritated and perhaps minorly callused.
 
As your question has been pretty much answered, I'm going to just merge this into the megathread to further the overall discussion.
 
Yes, there are large veins under the tongue, but it's impossible for them to absorb all of the sub. The BA of takin sub under the tongue is like 30%. I have a feeling this may vary a little from person to person a little bit. Another factor is how long it is left in your mouth. If your not salivating a lot then it will probably absorb better than if you salivate a lot and end up with a pool of spit underneath your tongue.

I have a feeling this pooling hurts the BA because some gets dissolved and never gets a chance to enter the bloodsteam. Since bupe can be absorbed everywhere in you mouth in the mucus membranes, it seems to be beneficial to split your dose and put it in different parts of your mouth. This way you will lose less from it all pooling in one area.

I noticed putting it in between your gums and cheeks makes it dissolve a little slower, and as it starts dissolving it sits in the spot not being diluted by a bunch of saliva like it is when you put in under your tongue.


It wouldn't surprise me if the veins under the tongue absorb the sub more quickly and its probably pretty effective before a ton of saliva gets under there mixed with your bupe. Ideally, you should try to get the sub mixed with a small amount of saliva and swish it around sort of painting the whole inside of your mouth allowing all of the mucus membranes to at least absorb some of it.


The method I've come up with increases the amount of mucus membranes the sub comes into contact with, which from what tell from the experiences doing it it increases the absorption rate a bit, it has at least seemed that way the past couple days I've been doing it. I bet cutting your dose in half and putting it on either side of your tongue may help with the absorption a bit as well, but will have the saliva build up problem.

Anyway, that's just my 2 cents. I'd like it if some other sub users are who willing to try this tell me what their results are. Wouldn't hurt to give it a shot, it seems quite effective for me.
 
yes i always found the best way to take sub was going to bed slightly dehydrated, waking up around 6 am or 7 am, place the strip under my tongue, and fall back asleep for another hour. no saliva and just sits there. i can taste it when i wake up after an hour so i think that way works best for me.
 
all of the research i've done showed that the ba was far better (almost double) snorting compared to sublingual.
 
sorry, i was commenting on what OE was saying. i beleive that the ba with sublingual is around 40% while snorting is 60%. dont quote me on that, but i'm certain that its fairly accurate. either way, there is no god damn way that using subs sublingually has a better ba.
 
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