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Opioids Broke my arm. On bupe mantinence

served00

Bluelighter
Joined
Jan 16, 2009
Messages
119
I ask this bc we all know hydrocodone is a weaker opiate. Anyways I'm on bupe mantinance for 2 1/2 months and have been taking 8mg or less for the past 2 weeks. For the past couple days I took 2mg, 2mg then 6mg about 40 hours ago.

Anyways, I was playing around with my dog and fell and went to the walk in ER. Turns out I broke my wrist and was scripted 30 10mg hydrocodone and told to take nsaids.

Anyways I just got my script but havent taken any yet as I dont want to waste them if im not gonna feel them. Am I ok or should I wait longer? My wrist is killing me
 
As in 2mg on monday, 2mg on tuesday and 6mg at 4-5am on thurs morning (40 hrs ago)...just to clarify
 
I'm asking if I would feel 40-50mg hydrocodone...my usual starting dose with hydrocodone
 
After 40+ hours you will definitely feel it. Though it might not be 100%, it will still be at least 70-80%. This is just based on my personal experience and everyone is different so just remember that this isn't factual information by any means, but if I was in your shoes I would take it already. =D
 
Bro I hate to be the guy to rain on your parade, but your on bupe maintenance fora reason.

Throw the fucking things away.

Its not like you will ever get high off of hydros again, after being on bupe for so long it basically ruins opiates for you and "destroys" your receptors, permanently, in laymans terms.
 
If you are in pain, then taper down to 1mg or less (perhaps quit until this pain issue resolves itself) and take the hydro on top of that. I'm on bupe maintenance, only taking about 1mg a day (I've been on bupe for about 4 years) and I can feel even 1 10mg hydrocodone and it helps with pain. But if you think this may cause you to relapse, taking the nsaids with your normal dose of bupe may be the route to go. Also, I would consult your bupe doctor on the protocol. I did this with a surgical procedure I had about a month after starting bupe. I was on 16mg a day and my bupe doc switched me to percocet 10's until my issue was resolved and then I started back on the subs. It did take about 72 hours for 16mg of bupe to wash out of my system, though. Good luck, brother.

Edit: I see where you are wanting to take a large starting dose of 50mg. Sounds like you just want to get high and not use your medicine for pain relief. You should seriously reconsider this move which may lead you to relapse again. I'm not trying to sound holier than thou because I take bupe and I cheat a lot. But if you are dedicated to sobriety, don't take the hydro and call your bupe doctor. He may give you a script for Ultram (tramadol) to use for pain instead of the hydro.
 
tl;dr in the end as a pt if you require pain relief you will receive it! It probably wouldn't be an opiate which is what is first prescribe for moderate-sever pain however it's not the only drug! Don't be afraid to be completely honest with your GP! It will help them to provide their best treatments! :)


To begin with, as others have said, you are on maintenance for a reason! By - for what ever reason - allowing said drug of addiction to re-enter your body, it'll do absolutely nothing for any form of recovery!

Additionally to that, your bupe program - is it Subutex, Suboxone or a different formulation. Which ever, some preparations include Narcain which, even if you do does the hydro you will experience (if any) extreme diminished effects!

Tbh you should have at least told the ED doctor/nurses/etc who treated you about your situation, addiction and program! Not sure how common it is in other countries, but in Australia you receive and should carry a kind of medic-alert card which has information about your dosing, type of program (methadone or sub), your GP's details and the like - for emergence situations where one is physically unable to relay this info themselves!

Had the ED doctor known that, you would most definitely had not been prescribed any type of opiate analgesic! Having said this though it really is not to say you'd be left in pain and be told to deal! As with all medications, there always exists alternatives. I understand and have myself heard of pt's not wanting to mention that they are on a program for fear of stigma, judgements and thought as kin to "he's a druggy, he doesn't need pain relief". Now obviously all doctors/nurses/hospitals are different but it is highly unlikely this would happen. Doctors in those situations (eg, works rotations in hospitals) are usually well educated (my experience!).
 
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Its not like you will ever get high off of hydros again, after being on bupe for so long it basically ruins opiates for you and "destroys" your receptors, permanently, in laymans terms.

*sigh* evidence please. :) It has never been suggested that bupe causes any type of receptor damage. Happy to be proven wrong with support such as research papers, peer-review journals and the like.
 
If you are in pain, then taper down to 1mg or less (perhaps quit until this pain issue resolves itself) and take the hydro on top of that....

Hmm, I personally wouldn't advice messing with your bupe dosing. Programs - and one which are designed specifically around yourself - are all designed in the best/most efficient way (backed up by years of research, evidence, journals, experiences, etc) to maximise the success rate. Unless you yourself work as drug rehab consultants or in the addiction profession.....leave it to the experts maybe?

....taking the nsaids with your normal dose of bupe may be the route to go...

Agree, initially (as in now) if you can't do anything about the opiate situation, the use of OTC analgesics can be used with no worry of drug interactions or any deleterious results! In fact (although not suggestion regularly or continuously) if it gets bad you can quite comfortably and safely take both an NSAID (eg, Ibuprofen, Asprin) AND paracetamol (acetaminophen in the US) - again each drug has it's own, quite distinct, metabolic pathways of which will not cause problems.
 
You need to speak with your bupe doctor about how to use these for pain relief.

Based on my experience, I would say drop your bupe dose to 1mg and take the Hydrocodone as prescribed. It will work for pain, but I doubt even at higher doses that you would get much of a "high"... Pain relief and recreational euphoria are much different.
 
what did the doctor treating your broken arm say when you told him you were on bupe maintenance, ive heard that if your in say, a mangling car accident and on bupe they give ketamine instead. im suprised they even gave you hydro knowing your on bupe without advising you on how to work with it?
 
You need to speak with your bupe doctor about how to use these for pain relief.

Based on my experience, I would say drop your bupe dose to 1mg and take the Hydrocodone as prescribed. It will work for pain, but I doubt even at higher doses that you would get much of a "high"... Pain relief and recreational euphoria are much different.

Agreed.

1mg of bupe is not a blocking dose, but what you're dealing with at this point is an issue of tolerance. 1mg SL buprenorphine is ~ 10mg of IV morphine (and this is taking sublingual BA into account).
 
The amount of Bupe' you are using will not interfere with pain relief.
I use 2-4mg's of subutex everyday, If I wanted to abuse my prescribed oxycodone I could get floored, and my tolerance is wayyyy up there.
 
You should have told the doctors you were on bup and asked for soma, gabapentin, and other nonnarcotic painkillers
 
your an idiot bro..and to those of you wondering WHY a doc would give someone already on a narcotic a weaker narcotic it's because HE OBVIOUSLY DIDNT TELL THEM...your fucking with your recovery bro, and I love how you already said your going to take 50-60 mg of hydro, which I know for damn sure is NOT what they told you to take. So the whole "i'm taking them as prescribed so it's okay" rationality is just stupid. Flush them down the toilet if your smart, but I know you won't, just make sure to come post back in a month or so when you stopped taking your subs and are deep into addiction again.
 
@tyrael

Narcan. Or naloxone, in suboxone, only has a half life of 20/40 mins and would well be out of ur system after only a few hours. It's the bupe itself that's responsible for long term receptor blockage due to occupancy f the receptr by bupe, due to its high binding affinity, even higher than naloxones, rendering it quite inactive in redosing suboxone. Switching to subs the naloxone causes problems cuz its outcompetes most full agonists. So it and bupe together cause some righteous pwd.
So after 40 hours point being the narcan not doing shit.
Furthermore, if op is taking their subs sublingually the BA of naloxone in there is less than other roa's (sniff or shooting)
Also they do prescribe opiates to people on bupe maintenance if they need them. They just switch cuz its analgesia not maintenance that's required. Not saying its great for recovery and some doc'/ will chintz you, but most will prescribe something so one isn't left in pain

That being said, @OP
With that hi of a bupe tolerance I'm not sure that 40-50 Mg of hydro will do shit all to u.
Also, going up that high or higher, a lot of apap in them pills.

Good luck.
 
I broke two vertebrae in my back while on bupe and my doctor told me to take whatever pain meds I was scripted. I broke my back and had two surgeries while on bupe and never relapsed.

My doctor said that in his experience, more addicts end up relapsing when they break something and do not take anything for pain. Regardless, I would be careful and perhaps have a loved one dispense your meds so you aren't tempted to take more than prescribed.
 
As has been said, talking to your bupe doctor is probably the most honest and efficient way of getting some actual medication that is going to help your pain. If you do end up taking what you were originally rx'd you will probably have to dose higher than normal, and that becomes problematic with the amount of APAP.

If that does end up being the chosen route, I think a CWE is advisable.

Talk with your bupe doctor though, seriously. There are some fairly effective non narcotic options out there that could help a good deal without interfering with your bupe maintenance at all.
 
am i an odd ball since even if i only take a single 2mg dose of suboxone im unable to get a single effect from even strong opiates in high doses even via IV?
 
No not at all. I am in the same boat as you. 2.5mg of sub and a day or two later the high STILL wont be the same.

Everyone is different. Bupe affects everyone differently. For me 2-4mg is enough to block 90%+ of opiate effects for easily 2 days, for others they can take an entire 8mg strip one morning, do a shot later that night, and be feeling good (though probably not even close to how they would have felt without the suboxone). Many people I knew from group had no problems getting high on suboxone, but many more have those problems.

As for the proof that one guy was asking, I need only tell him to look a thread below this (at time of posting). My source: mine own half a year on suboxone program, as well as interacting/discussing this with dozens and dozens of other patients who have been on much higher doses for much longer than myself. Believe it or not; i really dont care either way whether or not you get verifiable scientific data. Heres my data: take 4-8mg of suboxone every single day at the same time for 6-12 months, quit taking it, then go out and try and get high, tell me how high you get.

And OP: i've broken my arm/wrist before too man, it blows. Thats how my addiction got REALLY BAD, i had dozens and dozens of bottles of vicoden every week. And honestly advil helped more than anything if i'm being real.
 
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