I read a pamphlet that talked about this. They say you may feel the urge to re-dose when it isn't necessary because the Suboxone feels like it's not working. They go on to say that you must avoid these urges because it's just the "addiction talking." The more you reward these urges, the more often you will feel them; the longer you avoid them, the less they will come around.
I'm not saying that it really isn't lasting more than 8 hours for you guys, I'm just bringing it up for something to think about. Could it be possible that you've rewarded these urges to take more so long that you are constantly feeling them now, requiring more doses, when you really don't need them?
I have thought about this, however I do have days where I only use 0.25mg twice or three times instead of four times, despite being awake and doing just as much stuff in a day, if not more, than the days I use it four times.
It didn't feel as if the Suboxone wasn't working - it was just that the peak was obviously over. The peak of Suboxone is what helps me to be stimulated, motivated, productive, efficient, etc - and what helps keep my cravings for opiates down.
If I was trying to sublingually dose once a day, I would've continued to get the cravings for heroin I had originally by doing it this way. By dosing more than once a day (but no more than four times a day for a whole 24 hour period, minus sleep), I have had virtually zero cravings for heroin, or any other opiates.
Sometimes, especially at night, if I know I need to wake up early in the morning, I will skip the last dose at night so I can get to sleep a bit easier, too.
I'm at a point now where even if I go 12 hours inbetween doses, I don't feel cravings for heroin. This is a significant step, since I still did when I first started using Suboxone. I think it tends to stem from the fact that I am keeping a more steady level of Suboxone.
Depending on how long a drug's half life is, and how long its duration of effects are, you can draw a curve up, peaking, then down. If you take a drug more frequently, the curves will build up on each other, so you're not starting from 0, you're starting a little higher, until you tend to get a peak level in the body.
Having a peak level of a drug in your body, and maintaining the level of that drug there, is what induces the medicinal efficacy of drugs. You want to keep the drug level in someone at a steady level - this is how drugs work most efficiently.
If you were to take an antibiotic once a day (a typical one you are supposed to take 4 to 6 times a day), there wouldn't be a constant presence of the antibiotic in your body; and consequentially, whatever bacteria are targeted by the antibiotics will actually gain a resistance from the drug you were trying to utilize.
Ideally, if I were sublingually using Suboxone once a day...I would probably end up taking a benzo every evening. I don't want to end up having to take a benzo every evening to stave off the anxiety of coming down, etc. I like taking benzos sparingly, so I think using Suboxone in smaller doses, but more frequently throughout the day, works for me better than it would others.
I understand where you're coming from - some people feel it isn't working so they keep taking more and more. I don't like to use Suboxone that way, and I always wait 3 hours minimum inbetween doses (not sublingual doses
). Even if I'm not 100% covered by the first dose, I will still wait a few hours.
Somehow I managed to get to a point in my life where I'm not bothered by mild withdrawal symptoms, and I'm not experiencing any cravings at all. This has made me really happy.
Some mornings when I wake up (i.e. the last time I had MDMA - 100mg, went to the club, met up with friends, had a fucking blast) I don't feel any WD symptoms at all, other than yawns and runny eyes/nose. And, that's not abnormal for me (I would yawn a lot and have runny eyes before I started using) - so I'm pretty sure it's not what you describe. However, it is a very possible reality for some people.
