Does Suboxone really help?

cire113

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I;m really debating whether giong back on suboxone or just quit cold turkey..

I obviously cant stay clean from opiates.... my history and prior experience i keep relapsing and cannot seem to stay clean

But my problem with suboxone is

A) its still an opiate addiction(no being on suboxone is NOT clean in my opinion; I dont want to start arguments not point of this thread)

B) its harder to quit than oxy, due to long half-life agonizing withdrawals

C) How long do i take suboxone for?(this is my biggest concern)

honestly its replacement therapy... Effective if i just take the suboxone...

I dont wanna take suboxone during the week and bang OCS on the weekend really

Im banging Oxy right now me taking suboxone would be a step in a very positive direction dont you think?

I mean fuck man........
 
I agree that it's kinda a limbo state between clean and addiction, and it's not the best thing in the world to be on, but it is much better than being a slave to oxy or dope and the withdrawals aren't as intense. Since getting on it at the end of September I had one 5 day period where I was in between prescriptions and the w/ds weren't bad at all. Way better than OC w/d, and I've never banged anything. So I'd imagine you'd be able to handle them easier as well.
It's a step in the right direction absolutely, but it's not for everyone, and no one should claim that it is.
For me I'm on it until I move out of my parents house, which is to say I'm on it until my life stabilizes dramatically. My parents being one of the main sources for my drugs in the early days of addiction.
It's different for every one. Some people are on it for the rest of their lives, some are only on it for around week while detoxing. It's up to you and your therapists.
The thing about suboxone is that it should be taken alongside additional forms of therapy and psychiatric care. Suboxone on it's own isn't the answer to the addiction as it's just a replacement chemical like you said.
 
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Some people want to ultimately be *completely clean* and thus not on Bupe, and I guess I get that.

For me though, I expect to be on Buprenorphine maintenance for the rest of my life, and I have absolutely no qualms with that. I need opioids to function as a normal human being. I suffer from fairly severe anxiety problems and OCD, and opioids are the only thing that has ever helped me. I needed them before I even took my first hydrocodone tablet, I just didn't know it.

Ultimately its just a personal decision you have to make, but yes I agree that at the very least it can be a step in the right direction.
 
Yes it has most likely saved my life. I expect to be on Bupe maintenance for at least two years. I go to meetings, stay clean off of all other drugs, have a sponsor etc. It is part of my program not the entirety.

If you are going to use it as a "not get sick medicine" then stay away. If you want to quit using then I would recommend talking to your doctor.


Feel free to PM me.
 
from research is seems that quick tapers are best for those who really want to quit; otherwise the PAWS makes it so difficult to come off.

i was on subs for 5 years and after fucking around w h, subs, methadone, and nmda antagonists, im off all opiates with no paws.

dr.s and addiction professionals will tell u to stay on suboxone or methadone for a long time bc imo they have been brainwashed by Reckit and Bannister and other big pharma.
 
Bupe has helped me in the sense that it's helped me get used to being "sober" everyday. Yes my opiate receptors are occupied but I don't feel high. And while you're getting used to feeling "sober" the blocking effect makes impulsive relapses pretty pointless. So I've been able to readjust to life without having the opiate high as a crutch to deal with my emotions.

Just be careful with the bupe doctors. Mine was a real A-hole and kicked me out of the program for having "small pupils," which he believed meant that I used. Which I didn't. I even had a negative UA, but this guy was so full of himself. He was an extreme example though.
 
Yeah Sub doctors can be just as sketchy as any other opiate dealer I've found. I have a funny ass private psychiatrist who lives and works inside a huge mountain of random books that you have to negotiate around as soon as you enter his office and he doesn't have a secretary and forgets appointments and shit all the time. He's one of those crazy "eccentric" genius" types but he kinda sucks at the same time, like I don't think he's much of a genius. He says he gives random drug tests but I've never been given one so that's good.
 
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With suboxone the big plus is you know that your next dose is coming and that you won't run out. Everyone knows the frustration of something going wrong and not getting anything then having to go out dopesick to get something. Either that or wait it out :\ . With suboxone you don't have to worry about that. It's the same principle as methadone. It is just another opioid your right about that but it's a little different from say oxycodone, hydromorphone, heroin, etc.
 
Bupe has helped me in the sense that it's helped me get used to being "sober" everyday. Yes my opiate receptors are occupied but I don't feel high. And while you're getting used to feeling "sober" the blocking effect makes impulsive relapses pretty pointless. So I've been able to readjust to life without having the opiate high as a crutch to deal with my emotions.

Just be careful with the bupe doctors. Mine was a real A-hole and kicked me out of the program for having "small pupils," which he believed meant that I used. Which I didn't. I even had a negative UA, but this guy was so full of himself. He was an extreme example though.

What an idiot. Suboxone gives me pinpoint pupils, worse than H actually...
 
If sobriety/abstinence is not a doable option... then Suboxone is like the best choice between the lesser of 2 evils... IMHO.

I don't view bupe as the lesser of two evils, personally. In fact I view it as a "good." I have no qualms with the idea of being on bupe for the rest of my life. I have no psychological desire to be completely off opiates. This is because bupe has done so much more for me than simple addiction maintenance. It completely snapped me out of a horribly depressive, anxious state that I was in many years ago, and has helped ever since. This is just my experience though, and I certainly understand that some folks don't want to take bupe forever. But to me, its not a lesser of evils.
 
You plan to be medicated for life? How old are you?

27. So, lots of years ahead of me.

"Medicated" is not necessarily a bad thing to me. I think it can be a good thing... it HAS been a good thing in fact. I need to be medicated. I've suffered from OCD and severe anxiety problems for as long as I can remember. Its why I started using opiates in the first place... SSRIS/SNRIS/Tricyclics didn't help... MAOIs helped some, but really opiates were the only thing that I ever felt truly well on.

So yeah, I expect (probably a better word to use than "plan," as who really knows what will happen down the road) to be taking bupe for life. I can't foresee ever wanting to stop taking it, nor can I see any benefits of doing so. I could be wrong I guess, but that's my expectation.
 
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to OP - if you are kicking a short acting opiate , using bupe for 4-6 days to kick will not leave you physically addicted. Then it's all about PAWS.
 
I thank god for sub, I think it's great for people who can't get off opiates. If it works for you stick with it for as long as you need to, it could very well save your life. It's not too bad to taper down to a smaller dose if you want to and for me it takes away cravings and balances me out. I've only relapsed when I've ran out and didn't get my script refilled quick enough, if I stay on it I have virtually zero cravings. Everyone reacts differently but I definitely think it's worth a shot.

People can argue about being on subs as cheating or not being clean but the fact is it saves lives, it saves addicts tons of money, it allows you to live a balanced life and start to work your way through the issues that got you started down this road in the first place so when you decide you want off you have a much better chance of staying off.
 
you could do a quick 1 to 2 week taper but they say sub is to get you out of the lifestyle then you are suppose to taper but certain clinics in big cities can only have so many people and they want you in and out as soon as possible like here in pittsburgh, i was out of it just with a 2 week script i tapered to .25 and only had a few days of aganizing wds then just mild ones i could deal with even at work so i stopped on friday and by monday i may have been tired from restlessness BUT was functional and now i will bang some H like twice a month and im content with not being totally clean because i like it but it dont mean i have to be addicted. Keep in mind it took me like 10 detoxes before i had enough first couple tries isnt really gona do it you have to wanna be off opiates to be able to do it. if you had enough and its doing harm to your relationships and work then thats when you had enough when you stop and analize the situation. Overall it sounds like its the thing for you!

GL, and BTW what is PAWS, i know its withdrawal but what does it exactly stand for?
 
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