Opioids Suboxone Hell, please help?

[nauseousnelly]

I know there’s a fair amount of Suboxone posts on here relating to different people’s experiences on how to get off it. But I am having trouble finding someone who can relate to my circumstances and I would love some knowledgeable insight in what I’m in for or how to proceed.

So, I did a solid 3 years on norcos and oxys. Got up to 20 10mg norks a day at one point and I think we all know the type of hell that creates. I still feel disgusted with the amount of money I swallowed to feel okay about my infertility and chronic diagnoses.

Eventually my dealer who was also quitting opiates got me on subs. They were a life saver and I am still grateful for the ways they have helped me stop popping pills but I’m already someone battling chronic nausea and migraines and subs have just crippled me. Sometimes I’m in bed for 10+ days just too nauseous to function. My husband is also on them but doesn’t struggle like I do. I was on 8-16mgs a day for a couple of years but got myself down to 2mg/day. The first time I tried to taper down from there I just couldn’t hack it. I’m consistently doing 1.75mgs a day now but man I’m sweaty every damn day. I have a zofran and a scopolomine scrip but those come with their own side effects that add to my daily challenges. I’m at a loss.

My husband thinks I should just quit cold turkey and be hella sick for a few days and then be done. His mindset is “I’m miserable on them so I might as well be a little more miserable for a short period of time so I can be less miserable forever”. He, however, has not spent any time reading about Suboxone withdrawal. I’m terrified of it and I don’t know how long it’ll last or if it will end up putting me in the fucking ER.

I’m 35, I’m athletic and I eat well and I’m fortunate to have financial stability. I am prematurely menopausal and I take HRT for that. I have stepkids that are here week on week off. I do NOT want my medical records to know about my addiction but that’s something I can get over if I have to.

Does anyone have experience similar to mine? Or knowledge to help me? I want my life back. I’m numb and depressed and so gosh darn dizzy!

Thank you for any insight or support you’re willing to share

 

[TheFunkeeJunkee]

Ondansetron is extremely well tolerated and is suitable for regular long term daily dosing.

I'm wondering what side effects you're having from Ondansetron? Is it effective at combating your nausea?

Could I suggest a long acting injection (LIA) of buperenorphine? The benefit of a LIA is that a single injection results in a very slow steady reduction in buperenorphine levels, essentially resulting in a multi month long single dose taper. It was painless and at no point did I experience any withdrawal symptoms. This is how I quit buperenorphine and I swear by it.

 

[nauseousnelly]

Ondansetron is extremely well tolerated and is suitable for regular long term daily dosing.

I'm wondering what side effects you're having from Ondansetron? Is it effective at combating your nausea?

Could I suggest a long acting injection (LIA) of buperenorphine? The benefit of a LIA is that a single injection results in a very slow steady reduction in buperenorphine levels, essentially resulting in a multi month long single dose taper. It was painless and at no point did I experience any withdrawal symptoms. This is how I quit buperenorphine and I swear by it.

Thanks for the response! I am just learning about LIA and it sounds like a very intriguing option. I need to look into options for getting it and and definitely do some research to see how it might interact with my medications.

I’ve tried odansetron many times and it helps very rarely. If I take it preemptively it’s most likely to be most effective but I don’t always know when my spells come on. I suffer pretty severe vestibular migraines and subs definitely seem to trigger them. But I also deal with gut issues that were made worse from all the opiates I did for years and I really struggle with constipation even from just one zofran! It’s awful. And I’ll take something to combat that but it’s a lot to manage.

I really really need to get off subs, that’s going to be a huge game changer for my daily quality of life, so I will be looking into LIA injection fo sho. It’s been about two weeks since stepping down to 1.75mgs a day and my body is still mad about it. I can’t imagine how long it would take to walk all the way off!!

 

[Painful One]

I looked in to those injections also but found you (and me) would be upping our dosage.
They’re a higher MG than what we have worked so hard to wean down to.
Just a thought.

 

[Delam]

Minimum daily dose for weekly LIA injection is 2mg. Minimum daily dose for monthly is 6--8mg. You could try 1 x weekly and see how you get on. It will naturally taper from your system but just not as slowly, Would save you quadrupling your current dose though.

 

[Slightly_Paranoid13]

It sounds like Suboxone isn't playing well with your body chemistry. I can relate. I have been on/off Suboxone pretty much since it came out. I recently switched to Methadone because I had never tried it and I suffer from chronic pain as well as addiction. I had to cold turkey Suboxone at 16mg a day for 3 days and then took my first Methadone dose. They are still titrating my dose up but man, I feel so much damn better. I didn't realize it, but Suboxone has a dirty "speedy" type of feeling associated with it but Methadone is much more chill. Plus it is killing my chronic pain!! I am thrilled. Also, Suboxone was giving me low key headaches and migraines like you. Now, I'm not saying to switch to Methadone as it sounds like you're trying to get off opiates. Things that helped me taper off of Suboxone were:

1) clonidine (Rx) - not a controlled substance and pretty much any doctor would be on board for prescribing this for withdrawal. It works.
2) gabapentinoids
3) SR-17018 (never tried it myself but other people have used this to detox from opiates). It's in a legal grey area like many research chemicals, but I highly doubt you'd get in trouble for trying to obtain.
4) Magnesium
5) Subutex - you could be sensitive to the naloxone in the Suboxone. Subutex is the buprenorphine only preparation without the naloxone.
6) Switch to name brand Suboxone. It is documented all over the internet about how crummy some of the Suboxone generics are and some symptoms generics give are migraines and headaches.

I didn't know that it was the Suboxone causing said symptoms until I came off of it. I have accepted the fact that I will probably need Methadone and somemthing for anxiety and ADHD until the day I die. I am okay with it. It sure as hell beats white knuckling sobriety.

 

[rplate81]

Minimum daily dose for weekly LIA injection is 2mg. Minimum daily dose for monthly is 6--8mg. You could try 1 x weekly and see how you get on. It will naturally taper from your system but just not as slowly, Would save you quadrupling your current dose though.

Is Andy Roy infiltrating bluelight??

 

[drewbocop]

Ondansetron is extremely well tolerated and is suitable for regular long term daily dosing.

I'm wondering what side effects you're having from Ondansetron? Is it effective at combating your nausea?

Could I suggest a long acting injection (LIA) of buperenorphine? The benefit of a LIA is that a single injection results in a very slow steady reduction in buperenorphine levels, essentially resulting in a multi month long single dose taper. It was painless and at no point did I experience any withdrawal symptoms. This is how I quit buperenorphine and I swear by it.

Not for me it's not. 1 single 4mg dose gives me 3 days of horrific constipation. Might not be the worst thing during opioid withdrawal, but still, if it goes in the opposite direction and your body is desperately trying to shit everything out that might get... painful. I HATE ondansetron but I had to use it religiously for a while.

 

[nauseousnelly]

Not for me it's not. 1 single 4mg dose gives me 3 days of horrific constipation. Might not be the worst thing during opioid withdrawal, but still, if it goes in the opposite direction and your body is desperately trying to shit everything out that might get... painful. I HATE ondansetron but I had to use it religiously for a while.

Dude same. And I thought I was crazy because how could one little thing stop my body so fast. But it does! Taking stool softeners help with reducing the pain when I finally have BM but it still constipates me.

 

[Ballu]

Sorry to hear about your situation. I've personally been on name brand Suboxone for about 12 years or so, I don't remember exactly when I first got on it, but I haven't stopped taking it since. I haven't experienced any of the negative effects that you're referring to on Suboxone, but when I tried Methadone I experienced some bad side affects.. like the sweaty skin.

While I'm not in any rush to get off Suboxone as it's been good to me, I have looked into how long it will take to get off it completely, and I've read everything from 30 days, to up to 6 months depending on how long you've been on it and how high the dosage is you're taking. There's the initial withdrawal, and then when you get passed that stage, there is like a long term withdrawal with mild side effects that one experiences. The thought of going thru that has prevented me from even thinking about getting off it for now. Maybe in the future if I really see a need to, but for now it's done a great job at keeping me off opiates, no cravings or anything, and truly thats what I want/need.

For your situation, I've read about another medication similar to Suboxone, that can help you get off Suboxone without the major withdrawal. I don't remember the name, but it started with Sub-something. It sounds similar to what that other user was talking about LIA, but I never heard of it referred to as LIA so not sure if it is the same thing.. just know the name I was told started with Sub-something and that it was an injection that helps get you off Suboxone without the major withdrawals that Suboxone comes with. As another user mentioned, if you're not on the name brand Suboxone and taking a generic, try getting the generic, as I heard the non generic comes with side effects that the name brand one doesn't.. that maybe what you're experiencing? Not sure, but wishing you luck with finding a solution.

 

[zeespiralout]

I looked in to those injections also but found you (and me) would be upping our dosage.
They’re a higher MG than what we have worked so hard to wean down to.
Just a thought.

That was my first thought. Knowing she was already on a really low dose, I feel like that would be a backslide.
I guess if it reduces it for you over time then going up a little bit at the beginning wouldn’t be the worst thing. Especially if she’s struggling to drop down again anyway.

 

[Obed1966]

I know there’s a fair amount of Suboxone posts on here relating to different people’s experiences on how to get off it. But I am having trouble finding someone who can relate to my circumstances and I would love some knowledgeable insight in what I’m in for or how to proceed.

So, I did a solid 3 years on norcos and oxys. Got up to 20 10mg norks a day at one point and I think we all know the type of hell that creates. I still feel disgusted with the amount of money I swallowed to feel okay about my infertility and chronic diagnoses.

Eventually my dealer who was also quitting opiates got me on subs. They were a life saver and I am still grateful for the ways they have helped me stop popping pills but I’m already someone battling chronic nausea and migraines and subs have just crippled me. Sometimes I’m in bed for 10+ days just too nauseous to function. My husband is also on them but doesn’t struggle like I do. I was on 8-16mgs a day for a couple of years but got myself down to 2mg/day. The first time I tried to taper down from there I just couldn’t hack it. I’m consistently doing 1.75mgs a day now but man I’m sweaty every damn day. I have a zofran and a scopolomine scrip but those come with their own side effects that add to my daily challenges. I’m at a loss.

My husband thinks I should just quit cold turkey and be hella sick for a few days and then be done. His mindset is “I’m miserable on them so I might as well be a little more miserable for a short period of time so I can be less miserable forever”. He, however, has not spent any time reading about Suboxone withdrawal. I’m terrified of it and I don’t know how long it’ll last or if it will end up putting me in the fucking ER.

I’m 35, I’m athletic and I eat well and I’m fortunate to have financial stability. I am prematurely menopausal and I take HRT for that. I have stepkids that are here week on week off. I do NOT want my medical records to know about my addiction but that’s something I can get over if I have to.

Does anyone have experience similar to mine? Or knowledge to help me? I want my life back. I’m numb and depressed and so gosh darn dizzy

Thank you for any insight or support you’re willing to share

Sounds like a really tough situation — you might get more support if you post in a recovery-focused community or reach out to a medical professional, especially for Suboxone-related withdrawal help.