Bupe Suboxone/Buprenorphine Mega Thread and FAQ v16.0

[Ian937]

Exactly. Ive been on it gor over 2 yrs. after awhile you start to realize that you are still numb. Not as bad as full agonists but your still numb. You are still on a very powerful narcotic when you take subs . And the paws from it is ridiculous..yeah i got a long journey ahead kickin this shit

 

[ellua]

Ziggy in my experience the people who've been on it for years usually just say it makes them feel normal, not high, and not terrible. If it made someone feel so awful I imagine they would want to get off of it asap, right? And the people I know who are on methadone have no intentions of ever quitting it ("lifers"), like you say, for life long maintenance. Bupe can work either way, as a long-term treatment or shorter time span to get you back on track.

And to the PP asking why the rush to get off-- I totally agree, if you have insurance and can afford the doc visits & meds, it's 100% a better idea to stay on it than try to get off of it. My insurance is through my job and I have a goal of being a stay-at-home mom, or working no more than 15 hours a week vs 45-50 for the next few years so I can see my babies grow up. My BF will cover our mortgage and other bills, but he has never liked the fact that I stayed on sub so long and I'd need to quit before reducing my work hours.

 

[Jabberwocky]

bupe gives me the ability to be more versitle; be more in charge of my OWN LIFE. done will have me in a clinic line EVERY FUCKING MORNING! it's like going to see my dealer but at 5AM. i dont want that type of life. i needed freedom and exposure; I want to step away from the life/misery I once led. I could not be happier w/ what is happening and I thank my Dr., my OD and my bupe.

untill you are on it and have found a steady path, dont critizie whats better/worse, or right/wrong, wait till you are happy and are acheiving what you have always wanted. PURE FREEDOM! although, my freedom comes in a plstic orange bottle, ha.

 

[ellua]

METH is NOT better than sub for life. come on, man. I even "thought about it". how do you figure? sure, we can all said we read and article, or that you've done both, blah blah. but I think the two drugs are NIGHT and DAY w/ the TYPE of people they draw and the way people act. who knows, maybe I am wrong. I know a few methadone guys who are normal as can be and then there are the others; same goes for subox. its all based on your commitment to treatment.

lol now that you mention it, the 3 people I know on 'done are all absolutely off. their. freakin. rockers.

 

[Jabberwocky]

meth are for people who want OFF dope but still want the buzz/feeling. at some point it ends but they keep their dose through the fucking roof. bupe is a drug that may give you a slight buzz some say at first, but other than that you actually feel like yourself and your mind does not have DOPE/HIGH/SICK/MONEY attached to it.

 

[JC83]

No i have been dosing 12 mg sub everyday for 2 years with no nausea

 

[Ziggy stardust]

METH is NOT better than sub for life. come on, man. I even "thought about it". how do you figure? .

I have done both...for decades, and IN MY OPINION methadone is a much better replacement opiate than suboxone. That's just my opinion, after being on both for yrs...

 

[Ziggy stardust]

Just for the record....I'm off sub and meth now. Off all opiates for the last seven months. But if I was going to be on opiate replacement for life, I'd choose methadone.
Sub was easier to get off than meth was...that's why I went on it. But it always made me feel bad. I felt better on meth..not high, but better.
Your statement that all people on meth want a buzz and raise their dose thru the roof, might be accurate for the people you know but it wasn't for me... I used all opiate replacement therapies responsibility.

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Suboxone simply doesn't work for a lot of people. If you've gone back and forth many times and have a high tolerance, one that is greater than what the bupe can overcome, than methadone is going to be a better option.

 

[Eveleivibe]

I've never had a 'buzz' off suboxone. I've only ever felt normal. At first I was on 8 mg (for around 5 montgs ). I could not hack the empty feeling n was self destructing fast, heavily drinking alcohol, obsession over spending money I didn't have, spending almost all my time on the internet, spiralling grades with my masters.
I've recent had my suboxone increased to 12 mg n things are MUCH BETTER as I said in another post on here. I don't feel empty anymore I'm planning things , have set goals, losing weight n exercising finding 'me' again.
I also had a kick up the backside the other day when I failed an assignment for my masters n had a threatening letter saying I basically better re-submit by the 6 Jan or They may discontinue my studies. I'm glad this happen because I am now learning again. I was working on an assignment until 2am n one day this week I never looked at my E-mail to see any notifications.
I've plucked up the courage n booked a tutorial with the lecturing who is extremely intelligent n I feel rather afraid of him lol n for the FIRST time in so long I feel clear headed n like I am on a mission to do whatever it takes to succeed.
I'm glad I don't feel buzzed because if I did I'd want more n would not want to give it up.

Long time goal fitness wise - lose weight get ripped - feel good - use hard work from losing weight nutrition/ exercise to motivate me on suboxone. Use hard work getting off suboxone + losing weight to get a job n sort my life out. Maybe get a mortgage, travel. Who knows.

 

[Not Again]

Ok , Today I'm at 4 mg. Since I got here almost seemlessly does this mean that my tolerance is down? Does it mean that if I went back to oxy I would need a lot less?

I can't wait to be clear of it all. But if I'm at 4mg and it hasn't really been noticeable then in my opinion sub works great as a taper drug. I couldn't for the life of me taper oxy at all. I feel like I have accomplished something just getting to 4 mg.

I know I won't feel anything from any drops and if I do I have adderall on hand to cover up anything that may happen. Adderall is a good mask to light to med WD symptoms . IMO.

I just wanted to be normal by Christmas, and it looks like I will. I also have to abroad in the next month and I didn't need the problems of worrying about my drugs. Are they legal there? Can I take them ? What if I get caught smuggling. lol anything could happen.

 

[RTrain]

To put any reasonable dent in your tolerance I think you gotta get much lower than 4 mg/day. Thats still around the ceiling dose so you aren't really dropping the tolerance much more than just doing any amount over 4 mg/day. I guess it kinda depends on what your tolerance was, though, if it was super high then it could be down a lot. You probably should at least assume it went down a lot because you don't want to OD.

I've gotten down to 2 mg or even a little less, then got back to oxy/H and my tolerance is down but it shoots back up really fast. Like the first night you will be wrecked off like 1/2 what you were doing when you stopped(if you waited long enough to get the Bupe out to avoid the blockade effect), but the next day its like 3/4 and in 2-3 more days you are practically doing the same as before you got on the Subs.

Maybe the longer you are on Subs the better to lower tolerance, but you still are not giving yourself a legitimate break from stimulating your opiate receptors with chemicals. Unless you do that or are using very small doses (<1 mg) then I think it will have not dropped substantially and be pretty quick to go back up.

 

[RTrain]

Just for the record....I'm off sub and meth now. Off all opiates for the last seven months. But if I was going to be on opiate replacement for life, I'd choose methadone.
Sub was easier to get off than meth was...that's why I went on it. But it always made me feel bad. I felt better on meth..not high, but better.
Your statement that all people on meth want a buzz and raise their dose thru the roof, might be accurate for the people you know but it wasn't for me... I used all opiate replacement therapies responsibility.

This may very well be true. I've considered it myself, but I can't see myself living a life where I had to visit the clinic every damn day. Even if they start eventually giving you take homes, it seems like such a hassle and only for "special occasions" anyhow. I do have a good friend who kicked a pretty bad oxycodone habit using methadone, so I definitely believe it can work and its not a life long thing. Too bad it might be a bit of an issue if they sent folks home with handfuls of methadone doses like they do with suboxone doses.

 

[Ziggy stardust]

This may very well be true. I've considered it myself, but I can't see myself living a life where I had to visit the clinic every damn day. Even if they start eventually giving you take homes, it seems like such a hassle and only for "special occasions" anyhow. I do have a good friend who kicked a pretty bad oxycodone habit using methadone, so I definitely believe it can work and its not a life long thing. Too bad it might be a bit of an issue if they sent folks home with handfuls of methadone doses like they do with suboxone doses.

Yes...I was on methadone for over a yr before I was allowed 29 take homes. Even picking up my meth once a month it interfered with travel and was one of the reasons I decided to get off maintenance all together. I was on meth for 12 yrs.
I do think the reason that sub didn't work so well for me was because of all the time on meth, even though I lowered my meth dose to 10 mg before switching over. In the long run, it was good that sub didn't work well for me. It was motivating for me to get off it...but even then it took two yrs!

 

[BlueHues]

^don't let me or anyone else convince you to come off Suboxone, or drop your dose....I personally think 16mgs is a lot, but if it's what keeps you away from the lifestyle, do it...

I've been over 2 years away from really using dope, and it is a fucking horrible way to live...I was getting high for 2 months at the beginning of the year, and I've been back on the subs since then...I found 60 two-mg strips at my mothers house and that should have been enough to detox, but now I'm stuck on these things...

Maintenance on Suboxone is easy in many way...I have what I need right here with me, I just took some...I took a two week trip with my gf to the west coast a few months ago without a problem...It's amazing how you're habit can be reduced to just putting a strip under you tongue...but I've been on and off maintenance enough times to know what I'm missing out on by being on it...

 

[RTrain]

Yes...I was on methadone for over a yr before I was allowed 29 take homes. Even picking up my meth once a month it interfered with travel and was one of the reasons I decided to get off maintenance all together. I was on meth for 12 yrs.
I do think the reason that sub didn't work so well for me was because of all the time on meth, even though I lowered my meth dose to 10 mg before switching over. In the long run, it was good that sub didn't work well for me. It was motivating for me to get off it...but even then it took two yrs!

What if you were to not pick up your dose everyday? Suppose you decided to supplement doses by your own means when you wanted to do things that prevented making it to the clinic, allowing you to go away on vacations at times. Would that be an issue, even if you passed the UAs and whatever else they expect of you?

 

[BlueHues]

Most methadone clnics have a policy of kicking you off if you miss three consecutive days...You could probably get re-admitted, but many methadone clinics only do that on a certain day of the week, and there could possibly be a fee just for admission, separate from the weekly fee...Where I'm from, I think 2 weeks is the highest they'll go for takehomes, and it takes 2 years of clean urines to qualify...29 take-homes after a year is great..

In certain states, like WA, methadone is completely administered by the state...It's free, but there's always a long waiting list to get on it...There's no private clinics...At least in the northeast, there's plenty of private clinics, but it's usually around $400 a month....

 

[Not Again]

Could someone explain why methadone is so tightly regulated and sub is not.

Why would someone prefer methadone? Seems like it's way to much of a hassle? Does it get you high?

 

[Jabberwocky]

I have done both...for decades, and IN MY OPINION methadone is a much better replacement opiate than suboxone. That's just my opinion, after being on both for yrs...

but how? meth has you on a DOG LEASH! it only let you travel so far. you have to wake up everyday and "meet your dealer". your days revolve around the done clinic. aside from money, why are you stopping doing dope? if you had free dope would you continue? because the methadone, esp. w/ the way some people are dosed, is just a free way to do heroin.

I am all for everyone trying to kick a bad habit. I lived a miserable life for a long time; but I want to move on and live ANOTHER LIFE NOW. I dont want to rely on this drug that has to be picked up in the AM and I cant travel w/o worrying about my dosage. you can say subox is similar but its at the palm of your hand at any time, any place. it also kills all feelings or NEED or URGE or THOUGHTS. but like all said, it works different in everybody. but I was a hardcore junkie and if it works for me I cant imagine NOT working for others.

 

[Ziggy stardust]

You don't have to go every day...
After showing responsible use (clean UAs, showing up) your granted "take homes". I went once a month for 11yrs. They start by giving you one take home on Sunday..then the weekend...then three days...and after a yr I had 29 days worth.
It's still a hassle...being tired to any drug is a hassle...that's why I quit all opiates...all addictive drugs.