Bupe Feel terrible on bupe

[qazw]

I've been on subs for 5 days now. I've been an opiate addict for 15 years, my entire adult life. Most recently before getting on subs I've been using pod tea. My tolerance is extreme. Tea lasts a very long time as everyone who has tried it knows, so to make sure to avoid PWD I waited 48 hours since last dose to induct. I ended up at 16mg which did almost nothing for my acute symptoms, but I'd sort of expected that given my tolerance. After 2-3 days I started getting better, no longer having diarrhea etc.


It's now 7 days since I quit the tea and I no longer am in withdrawal as far as I can tell. RLS is gone, digestion is good. Pod tea withdrawal lasts about 6 days for me. So now I'm just "on subuxone" but still experience major withdrawal-like symptoms. I feel cold and clammy 24/7 and my sleep is almost as bad as when I'm in full blown severe acute withdrawal; I can fall sleep no problem but I instantly wake up SOAKED in cold sweat, literally as if someone dumped a bucket of ice water on me. I'm getting goosebumps and chills constantly through the day. None of these symptoms appear to be improving at all and I'm kind of freaking out. I know from experience that i would be feeling much better at this stage if I'd just cold turkeyed the pod tea...


I take my 16mg dose in the morning as directed by my doctor. After taking it I feel nothing. Symptoms don't improve but they also do not worsen.


I've considered that maybe it's side effects from too high a dose, but I don't have any other symptoms of too much opioid. I'm not constipated, I'm not nauseated at all even after smoking, I don't feel drowsy or sedated, and my pupils are normal (pinned in day light and large at night in the dark).


After ruining my life for 15 years I finally agreed to go into treatment, and now it appears that it doesn't work for me. I feel trapped. I feel so terrible that I'm incapable of doing anything. It's taking all of my will power to not brew up a giant pot of tea and chug it, even though I've finally reached the point where I don't care about getting high anymore, I just want to feel normal. I thought subs would accomplish this, but apparently not...


Any advice? Has anyone here been in a similar situation?

 

[BadBoy377]

Hi,

I've never used bupe but used to consume a lot of tea.

It's only been a week since you stopped the pods. As you know the half life is insane and takes a while for everything to wear off. It sounds positive that most some of the withdrawal has settled like your GI symptoms, or the bupe is just holding it all together. Not sleeping is no fun, I know from years of intermittent chronic insomnia.

If you've been getting yourself messed up for 15 years then perhaps it is going to take a little longer than a week for things to settle. Credit to you for making the decision to get yourself sorted. Keep it up, I'm sure you'll get there. It sounds to me like it's just taking time for everything to settle and normalise. How long were you using the pod tea for and what sort of doses were you using?

Maybe set yourself a timeline then reassess how you're feeling. I'd suggest giving yourself a week. In the meantime just do what you need to to get through this next week. Smoke some weed, take some benzos and chill out on front of sofa and watch stream some films. You're doing really well to make it a week. Keep going and I'm sure you'll be starting to feel better in another week.

Feel free to PM if you want a chat or a vent.

Good luck,

BB

 

[qazw]

Hi,

I've never used bupe but used to consume a lot of tea.

It's only been a week since you stopped the pods. As you know the half life is insane and takes a while for everything to wear off. It sounds positive that most some of the withdrawal has settled like your GI symptoms, or the bupe is just holding it all together. Not sleeping is no fun, I know from years of intermittent chronic insomnia.

If you've been getting yourself messed up for 15 years then perhaps it is going to take a little longer than a week for things to settle. Credit to you for making the decision to get yourself sorted. Keep it up, I'm sure you'll get there. It sounds to me like it's just taking time for everything to settle and normalise. How long were you using the pod tea for and what sort of doses were you using?

Maybe set yourself a timeline then reassess how you're feeling. I'd suggest giving yourself a week. In the meantime just do what you need to to get through this next week. Smoke some weed, take some benzos and chill out on front of sofa and watch stream some films. You're doing really well to make it a week. Keep going and I'm sure you'll be starting to feel better in another week.

Feel free to PM if you want a chat or a vent.

Good luck,

BB

I've been on/off pods for the past 5 years. Started up again few months ago after being almost clean for a little while. Basically I was at the point where I was no longer doing any deliberate "doses". I'd just fill a cooking pot with as many crushed up pods as I could physically fit in it as my tolerance is at the point where OD is practically impossible. On a day where I got a new shipment I could easily use like 200-500 of the smallish, ping pong ball sized pods in a day.

 

[BadBoy377]

Fuck, that's some doses. I'm not surprised your still feeling shocking. That shit must've been building up in your body for ages.

Just stick it out, dude. You got some other comfort meds? Pregab is good.

But just keep going. Maybe you need more subs? Do you have a review with the prescriber?

But yeah, comfort meds and movies would be my recommendations and reach out via PM if you need to.

 

[qazw]

Update: I'm doing better and also had my dose upped to 20mg. This has me feeling pretty good now for about 10 hours. Then I start getting minor symptoms in the evening; yawning, teary eyes, feeling cold etc. Sleep like absolute shit and show up at the clinic for my dose as soon as they open. Doctor doesn't seem to really believe that I'm still experiencing WD symptoms at this dose but is still open to upping it even more provided I keep giving them clean urine, so whatever. I think I'll do better when I can finally start getting the tablets home with me and can split the dose throughout the day.

 

[BadBoy377]

Well done for persevering. Hope your sleep improves soon and everything settles ok.

 

[g0thedout]

sorry ur going through this right now. I've done it a million times. im not sure why it even addiction doctors in my high opioid use city cannot seem to agree on dosing for Suboxone or even sublocade. as a heavy fent user I;ve been terrified to start subs always. just because of how painful it is to get sick enough to dose, and then taking Suboxone and potentially precipitating withdrawal, or just not really getting better. So here's how the best doctors I have had for Suboxone (I have had many rotating every single time through opioid dependency program):

since you're drinking tea might just want to tough out these symptoms and skip yourself down to step 3 here, but since you're still getting sick at 20mg you might have a tolerance that just needs the full dose. 32mg is the maximum dose for a reason it's the ceiling dose, doesn't go any further from that it'll knock all other opioids off your receptors and totally occupy them relieving all withdrawal.

1) 16mg is not enough assuming you're using fentanyl or even just enough heroin, oxy or other long lasting opioids. I see you are using tea, but if you're still sick then you probably need more. Once you are sick enough to induct subxone then 32mg right off rip will strip all other opioids off your opioid receptors. buprenorphine has a very high affinity for opioid receptors, stronger than any other opioid you could be using, except maybe nitaznenes??? like just dose subxone 32mg when you're really sick enough and you'll be totally fine like back to normal fine in minutes.

2). 32mg right away, then daily 32 mg after that. but after your first 32mg dose you will very quickly feel better, totally ok. Like not sick at all. Only downside from here is that you are now on 32mg of Suboxone, which is pretty uncomfortable in terms of side effects as well as your tolerance will be so high. Which might be a good thing if you're trying to really kick it becasue your dope won't do shit to you anymore.. so you will hopefully taper off of that after you stabilize a bit.

3) your doc should be giving you clonidine, gabapentin, and possibly valium or clonazepam or your preferred benzodiazepine. at the least CLONIDINE is the #1 withdrawal comfort med (adjunct medication) out there just extremely effective at relieving your withdrawal. gabapentin is also super reasonable to get as well. if your doc is an actual addiction doc or at least has mercy a benzo on top of it all just while you are inducting the Suboxone. I even specifically ask for clonazepam because I like it the best.

4) consider sublocade if you want long term sobriety. this is really up to you obviously, but im just telling you from my experience and seeing many opioid users with the sublocade shot they just cannot overdose at all and would need massive amounts of dope to get high. just after a few months I stop thinking about fent at all.

hope you got this figured out by now anyway but just for others and future reference.

 

[Halif2]

I know from experience that i would be feeling much better at this stage if I'd just cold turkeyed the pod tea...

Really? I would still feel atrocious at just 7 days after stopping pod tea. That withdrawal just drags on and on and, in my experience/opinion, it doesn't have a clear transition from acute to post-acute withdrawal.

CLONIDINE is the #1 withdrawal comfort med

I feel so ripped off every time I hear this because clonidine has never done much for me in WDs. My system must be broken. Pregabalin has a much more noticeable alleviation of symptoms for me.

Anyway, pod tea (from 'good' pods) is strong as fuck and will give you an absolutely cracking withdrawal if you've used it for years. I find it much easier to go from (moderate) IV heroin dependency to Suboxone than to do pod tea to Subs.