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A Quick Question about Heroin and Suboxone

D

derrrrr

Greenlighter
Joined
Apr 13, 2012
Messages
39
Hello everybody of bluelight :)
Im sorry if this is in the wrong section, there are a lot of sections here so it's hard to guess which one is the exact one for my question.


I recently had a two or three month stint with heroin. I messed up and relapsed and I was IV'ing about .2 grams a day. Spent way too much money on it and I have decided it is time to get clean. I invested in two 8mg suboxone strips for this detox.

Now usually I can cut maybe 1/5 of the strip off and use just 1/5 of the strip to ease my symptoms and make it bearable and that's what I plan on doing for the detox. I'm just waiting for withdrawal to fully kick in before I do. My question is, Will using the suboxone make it so basically the heroin withdrawals won't start until I'm done with suboxone? Or will it cover up the heroin withdrawals? I'm hoping that if I make the suboxone last me 4 days or 5 days, I would already be through the worst of the the withdrawal. But I read online elsewhere that is not the case. Hopefully they are incorrect as its hard to explain exactly how I am trying to use the suboxone other than saying to get through the first 4 or 5 days of withdrawal, cover it up with suboxone.

I appreciate everyone's input, thanks in advance!
 
Hey der in my experience the subs help the most with the intensity of the withdrawals
They never really shortened the length of my heroin withdrawals but they for Sure made them more bearable for the first few days
I never stayed on sub maintenance I always did the few days thing
For Sure stick to using as little as possible and for as short a time as possible
It helps a lot in my opinion if your gonna do the few day low doses is much better then suffering thru cold turkey
I'm not sure how bad your habit is but if it's not to bad maybe some Imodium and xanax at night might do the trick
All the best
 
totach said:
Hey der in my experience the subs help the most with the intensity of the withdrawals
They never really shortened the length of my heroin withdrawals but they for Sure made them more bearable for the first few days
I never stayed on sub maintenance I always did the few days thing
For Sure stick to using as little as possible and for as short a time as possible
It helps a lot in my opinion if your gonna do the few day low doses is much better then suffering thru cold turkey
I'm not sure how bad your habit is but if it's not to bad maybe some Imodium and xanax at night might do the trick
All the best
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Thanks for the reply! You seem like you use them like me but this time I am going completely off all opiates. I'm done. My plan is to use as little as possible each day, for as short amount of time as possible. No more than 5 days. Do you think that's a good plan? Or do you have any better ideas? Feel free to let me know suggestions to help better my situation. :) thanks!
 
I think 3-5 days is ideal you can't forget the long half life.
I also always tried to dose only once a day as opposed to twice I'm not really sure if it was a mental thing or not but I always felt like the jump was easier that way.
My biggest piece of advice would be to exercise as much as you can while still being able to
If you feel decent on the subs workout and eat healthy that will help so much for when you make the jump
If you smoke weed that helps a lot also I've bin off all opiates and Benzo for over 5 months now but I do smoke or drink socially
Just wanted to add that I've never tried supplements but I've read a lot of good stuff about them I'm sure they can also help a lot
Neversickanymore always posts all the good ones to take when batteling withdrawal or paws maybe you can look him up in the search
You got this it seems impossible but it is very possible hopefully you don't have to loose everything like I did to wake up
 
totach said:
I think 3-5 days is ideal you can't forget the long half life.
I also always tried to dose only once a day as opposed to twice I'm not really sure if it was a mental thing or not but I always felt like the jump was easier that way.
My biggest piece of advice would be to exercise as much as you can while still being able to
If you feel decent on the subs workout and eat healthy that will help so much for when you make the jump
If you smoke weed that helps a lot also I've bin off all opiates and Benzo for over 5 months now but I do smoke or drink socially
Just wanted to add that I've never tried supplements but I've read a lot of good stuff about them I'm sure they can also help a lot
Neversickanymore always posts all the good ones to take when batteling withdrawal or paws maybe you can look him up in the search
You got this it seems impossible but it is very possible hopefully you don't have to loose everything like I did to wake up
Click to expand...

Again man I really appreciate the advice. I will follow all your directions. Granted I was only using for two or three months yes, but I didn't lose a lot of shit in this past stint. I kissed my galaxy tablet goodbye, along with my real nice box mod vape. $160 mod and $400 tablet. Fml. Better to get out now than live live this forever though, for sure.
 
Suboxone won't "cover up" the withdrawals, it's a powerful opioid in it's own right and has severe withdrawals itself. It's useful in coming off heroin because it has a long half-life, meaning you only need to dose once daily, because it's not very euphoric and has a ceiling dose, so there's no temptation to just keep getting high on it instead, and because it blocks heroin use, so you have to wait a day or two from your last dose to shoot up, preventing spur of the moment relapses. Combined, this means that you can swap from H to the subs, stabilize on the subs, and then slowly lower the dose until you can jump off without feeling sick. If you just swap from H to a sub dose which makes you feel comfortable, then jump off that same sub dose without tapering it, you'll get just as sick as if you'd jump straight off the H (well, it will be less intense, but more drawn out, due to the long half life).

So in your case, you say 1/5 of a strip is usually enough to make the w/d's bearable (aka it's roughly equal to the amount of heroin you were using), so start with 1/5 of a strip on the first day or two, then slowly cut your 1/5 of a strip a little shorter each day over the course of a week or two. Of course I've never actually used subs in this fashion, so someone might have more precise advice than me.
 
Crankinit said:
Suboxone won't "cover up" the withdrawals, it's a powerful opioid in it's own right and has severe withdrawals itself. It's useful in coming off heroin because it has a long half-life, meaning you only need to dose once daily, because it's not very euphoric and has a ceiling dose, so there's no temptation to just keep getting high on it instead, and because it blocks heroin use, so you have to wait a day or two from your last dose to shoot up, preventing spur of the moment relapses. Combined, this means that you can swap from H to the subs, stabilize on the subs, and then slowly lower the dose until you can jump off without feeling sick. If you just swap from H to a sub dose which makes you feel comfortable, then jump off that same sub dose without tapering it, you'll get just as sick as if you'd jump straight off the H (well, it will be less intense, but more drawn out, due to the long half life).

So in your case, you say 1/5 of a strip is usually enough to make the w/d's bearable (aka it's roughly equal to the amount of heroin you were using), so start with 1/5 of a strip on the first day or two, then slowly cut your 1/5 of a strip a little shorter each day over the course of a week or two. Of course I've never actually used subs in this fashion, so someone might have more precise advice than me.
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So it just is prolonging the heroin withdrawals until after I run out of sub? Or what's happening there? My hope was that I could use suboxone to get through the worst part of the withdrawals or beyond. Maybe until like tomorrow, because I'm at the 72 hour mark with no H right now.
 
So it just is prolonging the heroin withdrawals until after I run out of sub?
Click to expand...

Effectively, yes, unless you start reducing the dose of suboxone gradually (tapering). If you just swap to a dose of subs then stay at that dose for a few days till you run out, you're just replacing your heroin habit for an equal sub habit and you'll experience the same level of withdrawals - it's no different to swapping from H to methadone or oxy or morphine or any other opiate. The withdrawals might be slightly more tolerable though, because suboxone has a longer half life, which means the withdrawals will be weaker but spread out over a longer period of time.
 
Crankinit said:
Effectively, yes, unless you start reducing the dose of suboxone gradually (tapering). If you just swap to a dose of subs then stay at that dose for a few days till you run out, you're just replacing your heroin habit for an equal sub habit and you'll experience the same level of withdrawals - it's no different to swapping from H to methadone or oxy or morphine or any other opiate. The withdrawals might be slightly more tolerable though, because suboxone has a longer half life, which means the withdrawals will be weaker but spread out over a longer period of time.
Click to expand...

Are you positive? I have read many success stories online of detoxes like the one I'm doing. Only using sub for a few days. Lots of people had posted that it is a good way to do it, but it doesn't help with the metal fight of doing dope.
 
Suboxone isn't some dopesickness cure-all, it's just replacing one opioid with another. The only difference is that it doesn't give much of a high, has a ceiling dose, a longer half life (meaning the withdrawals will be weaker in effect, but longer in duration) and blocks other opioids from working. Fast tapers can be done, but the actual tapering (ie. reducing each dose by a percentage) is essential if you want to avoid withdrawals. You can't just take suboxone at the same dose for a few days and stop taking it and magically be well - you'll still have all those empty opioid receptors in your brain screaming for stimulation, just as you would if you'd stopped H directly.

If the amount of suboxone is enough to prevent you feeling sick, then your habit is just as big as your H habit was, which means if you suddenly stop that suboxone you'll have to go through the same level of withdrawal to get back to normal (although it will be prolonged due to the longer half life of suboxone, and subsequently less severe).

Any success stories you've read are either people who did a rapid taper (ie. they started with say 4mg, then reduced by 1/2mg a day until they got down to zero) or people who had a small habit to begin with, took a low enough dose of sub that the swap alone tapered their habit, then went through the less intense but more prolonged suboxone withdrawal instead of the faster, more painful heroin withdrawal.
 
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Crankinit said:
Suboxone isn't some dopesickness cure-all, it's just replacing one opioid with another. The only difference is that it doesn't give much of a high, has a ceiling dose, a longer half life (meaning the withdrawals will be weaker in effect, but longer in duration) and blocks other opioids from working. Fast tapers can be done, but the actual tapering (ie. reducing each dose by a percentage) is essential if you want to avoid withdrawals. You can't just take suboxone at the same dose for a few days and stop taking it and magically be well - you'll still have all those empty opioid receptors in your brain screaming for stimulation, just as you would if you'd stopped H directly.

If the amount of suboxone is enough to prevent you feeling sick, then your habit is just as big as your H habit was, which means if you suddenly stop that suboxone you'll have to go through the same level of withdrawal to get back to normal (although it will be prolonged due to the longer half life of suboxone, and subsequently less severe).

Any success stories you've read are either people who did a rapid taper (ie. they started with say 4mg, then reduced by 1/2mg a day until they got down to zero) or people who had a small habit to begin with, took a low enough dose of sub that the swap alone tapered their habit, then went through the less intense but more prolonged suboxone withdrawal instead of the faster, more painful heroin withdrawal.
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Alright well I'm gonna try to keep a positive mindset about this even though that is gonna be hard now. I guess with the remainder of my suboxone I will only take enough neededor less from now on only when I absolutely need it. Does feel good to have all the H out of my system though. It's been over 96 hours.
 
Everyone has a different experience with suboxone
It's very possible you will feel no withdrawal after your rapid taper and there's a chance you will feel like shit
Keeping a positive mindset will help a lot that's for sure
Keep up the good work even when taking subs I was never really able to stop shooting dope
Have a good weekend!
 
totach said:
Everyone has a different experience with suboxone
It's very possible you will feel no withdrawal after your rapid taper and there's a chance you will feel like shit
Keeping a positive mindset will help a lot that's for sure
Keep up the good work even when taking subs I was never really able to stop shooting dope
Have a good weekend!
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Appreciate it a lot bro. I haven't taken any suboxone today (day 4) and I feel surprisingly good but that could be due to the half life. I'm just gonna roll with it as long as I can.
 
SWIM has been iv heroin for 2 years about 1.5 - 2 grams per day. SWIM got himself some suboxone. How long does SWIM have to wait to take the sub? If it means anything, SWIMs overweight and has a slow metabolism. SWIM wants to do anything he can to avoid precip wds. Please help. PS SWIM is new to the site. First post.
 
Do not take it until you start to get sick... like full on withdrawl if you don't want to have precip withdrawals.. I'm speaking from experience.. it's horrible.
 
Ecksteezy said:
Okay so I don't have to be in severe withdrawal? You think 24 hr is good?
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24hr SHOULD be okay but like previous person stated, wait until you're in full blown withdrawal to be safe.

Update on me: I only had to dose 1 time today, for the first time. Not sure why but im feeling extra good these past couple of days. Not nearly as easily irritable as when I was using dope. I actually have patients and it's weird! Lol
 
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