Buprenorphine double dosing.

Although I debated posting in OD I thought the experiences of Aus. users would benifit more. I am still on a Buprenorphine program due to frequent relaspes. I have tonight been given permission to recieve whats known as a 'double dose'. I attend my pharmacy daily to get a dose of 12mg of Subutex. After a while you are allowed to ingest double your prescribed dose and not have to attend tomorrow. So about an hour ago I was handed a mouthful of tablets totaling 24mg, which I thinks quite a big dose. While I don't have a specific question I am interested in others on the program who get double doses and their opinions.... Do you hang out or feel like you need a dose and the second day? etc..

i tried this Buprenorphine under the mistaken belief it would give one a high - i had less then 2mg - that is some powerful shit - mind you i didn't feel any need for opiates for a week....

An old neighbour of mine used to do that.
He'd be fine, he'd take twice the ammount he'd normally have and it seemed to keep him in good spirits for a few days.

I can't remember the dose he was on though.

This is one of the supposed benefits that users were sold on when bup programs were introduced; the trial results showed that some users could get down to 2nd day, or even 3-times a week dosing, rather than the need for daily 'done dosing.
It will be a purely individual case for you - many of my friends are fine double dosing (although, interestingly some chemists are trying to charge them per day, rather than per dose, which again was supposedly one of the whole advantages for bup, that it woiuld cost you heaps less over the week. If they try this shit, do not tolerate it and please contact you user org to let them know. it is against guidelines - methadone dosing is payment per day, bup is payment per dose); some still really need a single dose everyday. It is certainly unlikely that there will be any increased agonist effect however (ie unfortunately, you don't get more stoned) and OD is extremely unlikely (which you probable know by now as you've had your dose); or at least that's what the research, science, and everything i have heard anecdotally says.
BLers, please keep any info on bup coming in. Now that it is in full roll-out some interesting side-effects are appearing that weren't shown in the smaller clinical trials. User orgs can really make use of any reports of personal experiences that vary from what we were sold on. (One friend for example is having to use shitloads of speed to get any effect, same with alcohol. If others are having difficulty getting effects from non-opiates, that would be really interesting to hear.)

The ridiculous thing at my pharmacy is that they still charge two dispensing fees' even though there is only one visit at the chemist. So I pay $5 a day and if I get a double dose its $10....... I dont get it!! Is this common at anybodys chemist?8)

Yes - it is the same at my pharmacy. I guess you could say you are paying for the medicine itself as well as the dispensing fee, but then that doesn't really make sense, as someone on 0.4mg pays the same fee as someone on 16mg, y'know what I mean?

^^^It seems illogical and unfair. I'm lead to understand The fee of $5 we pay is supposed to be a dispensing fee, while the bup./methadone programs are a government funded service. Hence, they are paid for by the government.

yeah, that doesn't make sense, but at least you dont have to pay a couple hundred dollars a week for your maintenance. $10 a day would be a life saver for me.

^^ Got a point there.....

I have read some reports of people taking large doses of Buprenorphine and actually experiencing acute withdrawal symptoms! I will elaborate further tonight. If your that interested do a google on the subject.
You must remember these cases involve people taking many times their usual dose.

EDIT: OK, I did some research recently regarding buprenorphine as an effective treatment for opiate dependancy. From what I have read the belief seems to be that its a relatively 'safe' drug to give so called "drug abusers". This is due to the fact that large doses have been found to cause acute withdrawals instead of overdose. There are a number of documented cases where this has occurred. One Australian man took 11 times his normal dose in one go in an attempt to get high. He presented at a clinic with acute withdrawals, apparently he had panicked and taken some heroin to stop the undesirable effect. Obviously with no luck due to buprenorphines antagonist/agonist abilities. If your interested in this do a google Im very busy and need to study, hence cannot reference this correctly.
In short this effect is one of the reasons that Australia is really into bup. (one of the lesser reasons I think there aren't many documented cases of what I described above)