How long have you been on Suboxone for?

I've been on for around 2 months myself @ 16MG/day. A lot of people tell me it's a high dosage but I was also shooting 3 grams, so high dosage or not, its working great and it's the reason this thread is even being made.

My Dr. came to me the other day and asked if I wanted to go 6 or 12 months when it comes to getting off the Suboxone. The more I think about it, the more I feel I'd rather stay on Suboxone AS LONG AS POSSIBLE because it has completely killed the urge to use. Of course you have those people who say that Subox is an Opiate and that you should get off ASAP! where were those people when I was shooting dope every day for years? spending 100-200 daily. doing whacky shit to get that cash, etc. so for the $15/mo it cost to get my Subox, sometimes $30, I think I am cool spending as MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE USING!

I do trust myself at this point, even tho it's still very early; although, I do feel it has alot to do w/ the Subox. Over the last 2 months I think I was late on 1 dosage and sure, the idea of dope came to mind but I took Subox soon after and it was GONE! and that right there is exactly why I don't want to rush off this stuff just to start craving and god knows.. ya know!? I am finally living a "normal" life, so let's keep it that way, right? 6 months is nothing. even a year is NOTHING after coming off years and years of using. I'd rather go on a 3 years plan this was I am more accustomed to living this "new" lifestyle, getting away from the old lifestyle, and keep growing w/ this new lifestyle as time passes.

anyway.. how long have you been on? how long did it take you to wrap up? how was it coming off? did you use shortly after? urge still there? pretty sure you get the idea of what questions I want/need answered.

I've been on 8mg for 2 years. Was an opiate addict for 7ish years (daily PPT use, dabbler for many years before that). Been clean except for a couple slight relapses (benzos and amph). Suboxone saved me, plan to stay on for awhile.

exactly how I see/feel. I was always hard, hard user. i wish i dabbled but was too busy using. this is SAVING ME and changing me.. so i dont plan to get off soon. maybe i can make a cut down to 8MG over the course of 6 months or so. but I am def. NOT looking to get off the subox as a whole.

while on box I have taken a xanny once or twice; both were due to MRI's I had. I also smoke weed OFTEN. not daily, but almost daily. so although I say I am "sober". I guess I am not sober, sober.. but far from being that piece of shit dope fiend I once was. just thinking of that life makes me sick and I think to myself.. WHY!?

If you are doing things that make your life positive and reframing from things that extinguish your soul then who cares about the definition of sobriety.

If you get to a place where you feel getting off the maintenance will be a positive thing then do it. The quality and safety of a persons life I think is the most important part. We face such strong struggle that the last thing we need to ever focus on is the negative.. always the positive.. ALWAYS the positive.. We have crazy emotional response to everything, bad and GOOD.. so learn how to keep your thoughts POSITIVE all the time.. there is no point EVER in thinking negative.. it just makes us miserable.. that and I have found no reason ever to take ANYTHING seriously.. I have found it just makes me seriously miserable.. all we ever have is the journey.. learn to love it.. and slowly make adjustments in order to promote a path the fits your heart and soul.. don't get hung up in anything, especially terminology.. ever wonder why so many bad things happen?,, THEY DON"T so please quit making yourself miserable buy deciding they do..

Life is how we perceive it.. our perceptions are based on our thoughts.. we control our thoughts.. why aren't you choosing to have the time of your life?

Subs just kill my cock, desire to create, and my motivation. But if they work for you at this period in your recovery why mess with success?

^ it hasn't been good for my libido either. I've been in 12 mg a day for 8 years now, until around 2-3 years ago, I abused it by using IV subutex on top, those day are over now though.

Subs saved my life when i was dying of depression and dope addiction.
I keep taking it 5 years later because it works on depression.
it's not so much the cravings anymore.

well, good news.. my cock still works. I am def. way more cocky (get it?) than when I was using dope. It actually WORKS now and stuff even CUMS out (get it?). then again, I do have a NEW GF, so maybe it's just because it's a new girl and not the same girl.. over, and over, and over again. because let's face it, those type of woman get old whether on drugs or not, ha. but so far I havent had much problem w/ the sex drive. I have ALWAYS had a problem w/ the sex drive when using dope. sure, people can say "well and opiate is an opiate". I dont know what to tell ya.. I am just telling you that my dick works right now. will it continue to work the more I use subox? no idea. but for now a working dick and me staying clean is what's important. hell, MAYBE, just MAYBE, me staying clean is more important than the sex drive.

A year the first time around, and this time aprox 18 months or so.

Both times starting at 8mg and tapering to 1mg over the course of a few months.

bup- what a nightmare. After 20 years of opiates I tried bup for a year then I tied to get off!went to costa rica and found this place that used Ibogain. Its harder than methadone.. the docs take an n8 hour course and I have been in many detox facilities and any place that knows anything says buper is worse than methadone. No high, you don't have the junkie look but watch out. The most educated person I have ever listened to you can read about from
http://www.ibogahouse.com/24-hr-drug-detox/suboxonemethadone-detox/

the fda\dea is fucked up

6months first time

10 months this time

I started weaning yesterday, it's to expensive

and yes the wds are going to suck

Capt Quaalude said:

bup- what a nightmare. After 20 years of opiates I tried bup for a year then I tied to get off!went to costa rica and found this place that used Ibogain. Its harder than methadone.. the docs take an n8 hour course and I have been in many detox facilities and any place that knows anything says buper is worse than methadone. No high, you don't have the junkie look but watch out. The most educated person I have ever listened to you can read about from
http://www.ibogahouse.com/24-hr-drug-detox/suboxonemethadone-detox/

the fda\dea is fucked up

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i read about ibogain before.. nothing but great things. how is it for you?

youre saying i should be more worried about the subox? why? ill take it ever day for the rest of my life if i have to. its not hard. makes me feel normal as can be. and have no worries, no wonders, no nothing about the other shit. cant even imagine doing dope. the thought of it makes me sick. weird feelings towards its all and i have subox to thank. and under a doc i am sure i can get OFF easier than just sitting at home withdrawing from dope.

DrinksWithEvil said:

6months first time

10 months this time

I started weaning yesterday, it's to expensive

and yes the wds are going to suck

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You should see if your doc will let you get the generic subutex, it is ~$4 per pill, so its less than half the price of suboxone, and I believe it works much better for cravings and actual pain than suboxone. 30 of them will run you about $120-150, depending on where you fill them. Walmart has been the cheapest for me so far, at just a little over $4 per pill, where walgreens wanted over $5 per pill.

Suboxone is good if you're doing something that's really dangerous and you want to take a first step towards getting clean, I was doing whatever painkillers I could get my hands on until I found out about suboxone. It took me 2 years to finally kick that stuff and to me personally the withdrawals were worse than any withdrawals I went through while doing percs or oxys. Just be careful, I've only been clean since last month but I still think about it all the time. I believe suboxone does help people but I have also seen so many people get prescribed suboxone or get on a suboxone program and never get off the stuff. To truly be clean you have to remember that one day, when you're ready, you'll have to go through some hell but it's still better than doing something more dangerous.

but like I said, I am in NO RUSH to get off because they are helping me so much. I feel so need to get high; my life has changed completely. I am actually happy and getting things done w/ life. waking up every day thinking what to do, where the money is, how many needles left, etc. it makes me fucking sick thinking about it. i rather be on subox rest of my life than do what i did before and that was ruin my life and many of the people around me.

I've been on for 5 months this time around. In the past I was on and off for 3ish years.

This time around is different though, because I'm abstaining from ALL substances with potential for intoxication. Not just opiates. In the past I would get on subs but keep doing huge amounts of other drugs or drinking. It didn't ever work out. This time I'm on subs but totally sober, and it's going pretty damn well.

BostonBrownTown said:

but like I said, I am in NO RUSH to get off because they are helping me so much. I feel so need to get high; my life has changed completely. I am actually happy and getting things done w/ life. waking up every day thinking what to do, where the money is, how many needles left, etc. it makes me fucking sick thinking about it. i rather be on subox rest of my life than do what i did before and that was ruin my life and many of the people around me.

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you are on the right track with this thinking.subs can give you a life you never thought possible.

I'm not saying stop doing subs and go back to doing other hard stuff, I was just making the point that being addicted to suboxone for the rest of your life isn't exactly good either. You will do what you wish, do the suboxone for as long as you need to. I would just try to remember that at some point, you should think about quitting. Don't use it as a crutch.

10mg since 2 months...I might switch next month to a real opiate for the pain problem that got me here, but regulated this time by a neurologist, I saw him before but he'll have to know his topamax bullshit never helped

I was on Suboxone for about 6months, and then, I was switched to Subutex. Once you start with Subutex and refuse to take Suboxone and other opioids, you've pretty much set yourself up for failure. If you can find a doctor that actually knows the chemistry of Buprenorphine and so forth, you'll be ok, but that wasn't my case. I ended up having to constantly find a new doctor that would keep me on Subutex. Between all the inconsistency, I was on Buprenorphine for at least 4 1/2 years. It sucked. It seemed like I got my life back together and wasn't a zombie when I switched to Buprenorphine, but that went down hill when I started adding Alprazolam to the mix. I started out just using it as an aid for when I didn't have Subutex. I refused to use any other opioid than Buprenorphine, but the Xanax didn't stay just as an aid for long. My last year or two, I was combining ridiculous amounts of both on mirrors.. Some days I would be blowing through >20mg Alprazolam and 56 mg of Buprenorphine.. I guess it was really just for the sensation of putting something in my nose. I knew about the crossover from agonist to partial agonist effects, but I still did it. One day I went through 96mg of Buprenorphine.. I was too stupid to even be put on a scale of stupidity..

It took my girlfriend getting switched back to Suboxone, knowing I was soon to follow at the next appointment, only have 10-8mg pills left, and an intervention that sent me to rehab to get my shit together.. Funny how things work out. It turns out she got pregnant right before that intervention took place... Most holidays serve as an anniversary reminder for me. I went in to rehab on 12-30-12, but I snuck in something. I ended up having my first day of sobriety in 12+ years on 12-31-12.. so Halloween will be my 10 month mark.