Hiya,
I had a codeine addiction, 900mg a day. I'm now on suboxone script. Was taking 8mg increased to 12 mg now slowing reducing and am on 10 mg.
So people with codeine addictions can have scripts. You see, a lot of people forget that an addiction is more often psychological than it is physical and thus people compare the potency of the drugs. So they'll say suboxone is a hell of a lot stronger than codeine thus a person with a codeine addiction should not be put onto it. I say it depends on the person. I've known people been on codeine for years and years and years not been able to get off it, risking kidney / liver failure. Yes one can argue about cold water extraction (CWE) and 'tis a valuable argument. HOWEVER, when a person is in addicted mind they are not thinking straight. So, for instance, I'd be thinking "I don't want to do CWE because it's wasting time, I want it in my now, and I won't get as much codeine as I'd get without doing it." So would rather take the paracetamol / iboprufen and risk kidney / liver damage than the idea of not having as much codeine. That's how addiction messes with a person's mind.
Of course a lot of you know this if in addiction, but, and I mean this with no disrespect, some of you may not realise it if you are currently in active addiction. I know I didn't. I thought it was everyone else who had the issue and what was wrong with what I was doing so long as it took all that emotional pain and anger away and made me feel mellow, calm and like all is well with the world. In this respect, it was better for me to go onto suboxone, take a tablet once a day, with no paracetamol or iboprufen and that was free, than risk my health or finances any further.
Of course, this thread is for people with codeine addictions and recovery from codeine or DHC. That's why I made it not to dictate whether or not a person should go on suboxone from a codeine addiction or not. It depends on the person and the situation. If the person can find OTHER MEANS FIRST like a short / long taper, cold turkey, britlix (not sure of spelling) then I would suggest to try and go with any of those methods first and ONLY USE suboxone as a LAST RESORT, if all else fails... Subs can have some not nice side affect and if anyone is planning on going onto suboxone, my advice would be to research, research, research before going on it. Most scripts at taken for quite a long time so it's not a decision to be made light.
Wishing you all well and please keep coming here for support. We're here for you.
Evey xxxx