Stopped H. Now on Subutex (buprenorphine) for 5 days.

[NullAndVoid]

Question. I was smoking up to a gram of H a day depending on strength. After pissing in a pot my doc has me on Subutex starting on day one on 4mg, day two 8mg, day three 12mg and now 16mg going forward. Day two on 8mg was actually the hardest day as H withdrawal was starting to kick in harder but the increased 12mg dose of Subutex seemed to stop the withdrawal from progressing and on 16mg I fell like normal.

I am now five days off of H and I'm kind of curious what would happen if I stopped taking the Subutex right now?

I've gone cold turkey off of this amount of H before and I spent days 2 - 5 crapping and vomiting in addition to some extreme anxiety and depression followed by three weeks of chronic fatigue. I'm kind of hoping that it might be an option to stop Subutex now, skip the worst of H withdrawal and avoid creating a new addiction to Subutex which after some research seems to be harder to give up than H itself.

 

[NullAndVoid]

Perhaps a more general question would be, can opioid withdrawal be treated by another opioid which can be stopped once the first opioid addiction has finished and before a new addiction is formed?

I would have thought that a new opioid would only extend the original addiction but I've read some posts arguing the contrary. I was hoping that someone with experience would be able to lend their knowledge.

 

[pinpoint]

Perhaps a more general question would be, can opioid withdrawal be treated by another opioid which can be stopped once the first opioid addiction has finished and before a new addiction is formed?

I would have thought that a new opioid would only extend the original addiction but I've read some posts arguing the contrary. I was hoping that someone with experience would be able to lend their knowledge.

You answered your own question with the sentence following your question. You are experiencing withdrawal due to decreased production of endogenous opioid ligands (re: endorphins) and resulting receptor changes. By continuing to provide your receptors with exogenous sources of opioids (re: buprenorphine) you are not going to break the physical dependence. If you were to stop the Suboxone now you'd still experience acute withdrawal. Opioid receptor agonism is opioid receptor agonism whether you accomplish this via morphine, heroin, kratom, codeine, buprenorphine it makes little difference.

 

[T. Calderone]

Moving to Basic Drug Discussion

 

[Rio Fantastic]

Don't quit the Subutex if you wanna stay off the H. Withdrawals from Buprenorphine (active ingredient of Subutex/Suboxone) are WORSE than H withdrawals.

Says who? Because I've heard precisely the opposite.

 

[NullAndVoid]

Thanks pinpoint, that is what I thought.

Don't quit the Subutex if you wanna stay off the H. Withdrawals from Buprenorphine (active ingredient of Subutex/Suboxone) are WORSE than H withdrawals. Just STAY on the Subutex and wean off slowly, over the course of years, with your doctor. Your research is partly right-- cold turkey from Subutex is worse than cold turkey from heroin. But a taper with Subutex is easier than a heroin taper. I've been on 24mg of Suboxone for about 3 and a half months, and plan to stay on it. I don't want heroin anymore-- it's strong enough to fill the gap that quitting heroin left. I plan to stay on it for the rest of my life, because it pretty much blocks out all anxiety, depression, cravings, and pain, both physical and mental. If you're lucky enough to get into a Subutex program, try to get onto maintenance. That's the way to get off heroin. Look at all the studies. People who use less than a month don't really stand a chance (like a 10% 1-year sobriety rate) compaired to those who stay on Buprenorphine/Suboxone/Subutex maintenance (50% 1-year sobriety rate, if you count being on it as sobriety).

TL;DR: The longer you stay on Subutex, the better off you are.

I'm basically on Subutex maintenance, I asked for a quick taper to which they told me to get real about my situation. I also use opioids to manage depression and anxiety and once back on them have wished for a practical way to stay on them, perhaps this is it.

Says who? Because I've heard precisely the opposite.

I've been looking into this. More people put Subutex as a worse withdrawal than heroin than not. On the label sort of thing Subutex is supposed to have milder withdrawal symptoms but the issue seems to be the longevity of the symptoms due to the long half life of the drug.