Switching from methadone to Suboxone.

[Biggiesmalls88]

I have been attending a methadone clinic for 3 days in a row and took 35 mg each day. It makes me terribly sick and I feel worse than I do when I'm withdrawing with no medication. I'm not going back to the clinic. I tried a friends suboxone strip a few days before starting methadone and it work tremendously. I still have 2 more that he have me and want to go back to that for a couple days before quitting cold turkey. My question is how long do I need to wait from my last dose of 35mg of methadone before taking suboxone? I'm aware it's dangerous, should stay at clinic and follow doctors orders, etc. I'm just looking for someone that may be knowledgeable in this topic to help me out. (Reminder: only been on methadone for 3 days)
-Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Erikmen]

Why is it making you sick? Not enough to beat the withdrawal was my immediate thought but then you said it was worse than the withdrawal itself. How so? If you are in withdrawal can you distinguish the bad feelings all together?

Anyway, it doesn't matter now. Just make sure you are off of methadone for at least 36-48 hours before you take suboxone or else you may anticipate your withdrawal. Methadone takes a longer period of time to come out of your blood stream.

 

[opiatekrzy]

You need way more than 48 hours off of methadone. I taper down from 120 mg down to 20 mg and then instructed by my doctor for 48 hours took no methadone, after 48 hours I went in to take my suboxin and went into precipitated withdrawal and felt like I was going through mild withdrawal for weeks

 

[Erikmen]

Minimum of 48 hours, depending on how much you have taken. If you took 35 mg for 3 days, it believe it could work after 48 hours, but if you unsure wait for one more day.

 

[crazydiamondwoman]

go to the suboxone mobile clinic workit health instead
saved my sister's life.

 

[Erikmen]

^ Indeed. Or to a rehab clinic. I wonder how rehab clinics in States handle methadone withdrawals. Do they switch to subs? There's no way you come off of methadone in 28 days. The decreasing process itself takes months.

 

[keeping]

two days off of methadone is the minimum time you should do to avoid precipitated withdrawals and once you're on subs you should consider a rapid bupe detox - it can be as short as two weeks and with the support of additional comfort meds like ibuprofen, buscopan, Imodium, zolpidem and clonidine it shouldn't be too much of an ordeal

 

[Erikmen]

I second that. You don't need to be on suboxone for a long time. Same principle applies for methadone imo.

 

[O-pan-na]

Wait atleast 24-36 hours OR until you are in Extreme Withdrawal and crying like a little bitch in pain and agony then you know its time to dose lol.

 

[keeping]

you wanna try and drop down to somewhere like 25-30nnls max beforeyou make the switch

 

[Båtmannen]

If you've only been on methadone for 3 days, you won't even need 48 hours.

You need way more than 48 hours off of methadone. I taper down from 120 mg down to 20 mg and then instructed by my doctor for 48 hours took no methadone, after 48 hours I went in to take my suboxin and went into precipitated withdrawal and felt like I was going through mild withdrawal for weeks

Sorry, but no. There is just no way bupe forced you into withdrawal for "weeks", or even one week. That's not physically possible.

And secondly: did you miss that he has been taking it for THREE days, with 105 mg totally?

 

[opiatekrzy]

I never said Bupe forced me into withdrawal for weeks buddy boy, maybe I didn't specify good enough, but with the absent Methadone in my system, the Bupe was not saturating my receptors as good as Methadone did, leaving me feeling withdrawl symptoms for weeks. Please don't insult my intelligence , I have been using drugs for 17 years. I'm glad I can explain what I meant.

 

[opiatekrzy]

Sorry for the bump, I chose not to read the rest of your post due to your smart ass attitude.
I'm speaking simply in terms of the methadone to Bupe transition, as that it the title of this thread, so hopefully I can make a difference to the many thousands of bluelighters who read this thread, and hopefully they can read my post and remember that experience if they ever think about the transition as this IS a harm reduction board. So to remind you AGAIN, I went into PWD because I transitioned from methadone to Bupe TOO EARLY, even when my doctor said 48hrs I needed to be free from ALL OPIATES, more METHADONE in my situation, and due to the the Bupe not saturating my receptors as good as Methadone had been for years prior, I suffered withdrawal symptoms for weeks. My point is the TRANSITION IS HORRIBLE, even if i managed to bypass PWD, I still would of went thru the shitty withdrawls from Methadone despite me taking buprenorphine, it just was not cutting it in the beginning, until my tolerance went down.

 

[lucifersam666]

OP, Everyones body is different and can react to change a little differently. How much suboxone are u taking? what was your habit like before the methadones? Why is the methadone making you sick?

If no withdrawals, no worries. But the second I hit withdrawals, I would count down the hours until I crack n take my first dose of sub.
I also recommend rapid detox on the sub, as someone mentioned earlier.

 

[opiatekrzy]

What i mean is, I went through precip withdrawal from converting, and I was put on 24mgs , abx for three weeks, I could still feel mild withdrawl from the methadone despite being on 24mgs, so I believe all my receptors weren't being saturated as good as the methadone. I called my doctor and he said that is normal, feeling shitty for awhile, my point to the OP is it was not fun at all

 

[Bleaveinyourself]

To go from methadone to suboxone you first have to lower your methadone dose 30 at least anything under even better for transition... recommended to stop methadone 3 to 5 days before taking suboxone even at low dose.. methadone stays in your system for quite a bit