• H&R Moderators: streaM Freak

Are there ANY benefits of methadone over suboxone??

Suboxone Pro's-Do not have to go to a clinic every month, hell sometimes you don't even have to go every month but every 2-3 months for your meds. This gives ya a little freedom say if you wanna have a few joints or something everynow and again and you don't have to deal with BS clinic Rules...
Suboxone Cons-It's really easy to stop taking suboxone and go back to your drug of choice then back to suboxone(i would not have this problem on of doing this if I was on methadone..

Methadone Pros-Just about everyone says it works bettter than subs for cravings that I have read...
Cons- You have to deal with bs clinic rules, NO fun drugs or you risk your takehomes, just methadone. You have to drive everyday...the driving everyday is what stopped me from going to the clinic,although now I wish I would have just done that,because I jsut stop taking my Subs for a few day a month and go on vacations...

So basically the only differnce in a nutshell is you have to drive to get your methadone everyday for a while and deal with some BS clinic rules. With Subs you have waaay more freedom. They are both hard to get off of, so if your at a clinic just taper slow. If your on Subs always keep xtra incase your doctor is a butt and doesn't listen to ya when ya say the taper is too fast...Plus it gives ya time to find another Sub doc in case something happens with the one your using..
 
Thanks all. The benefits of methadone definitely don't outweigh the cons for me so I'll stay on the subs.

I see my dr 4 times a year, pickup once a week from the chemist on the next street, have NEVER been drug tested etc etc.

I think my dr will be pretty lenient about how quickly I taper. I have been tapering the benzos for over a year now and sometimes he will leave it 3 months or more before dropping my dose again. He basically lets me lead the process.

I do think he has prescribed me way too much sub though at 32 a day.

Thanks all. I don't have time to go through the whole methadone process. With 5 kids and working 6 days a week (only have Tuesday's off which is hard enough to juggle my sub appts every three months as he only works Wednesday and is 4 hours away and I don't have any qualified staff to cover me at the moment). plus living miles from anywhere (except the chemist) it really isn't doable at all for me anyway.
 
Suboxone withdrawal is just as hellish. There is no free lunch

this. suboxone and methadone definitely have their place, but after coming off of suboxone after 15months of daily use, i recommend going cold turkey or doing a very rapid taper (i.e. 2-3 weeks) with either suboxone or methadone.

suboxone WD feels never ending. it is not sooooooper intense, but after a while of no sleep and complete anhedonia and anxiety and depression and ZERO energy, that shit gets to your head. it took me 3 times before completely coming off of suboxone. i would make it around day 20, then i would go back for another month on suboxone, then another ~20 days, etc.. for 3 times, until i finally ended up in jail and i couldnt get it anymore :(
 
At one point I was taking 400mg of oxy a day
I came off cold turkey
it was horrible but was nothing compared to..
Later on I tapered to 20mg methadone from 75mg for 9mos on the program
If you die and go to hell that is what it would feel like. I don't care what the drug is. There is no worse withdraw than methadone. Sub may be longer but no way on this earth could be worse. It was unequivalant torture and pain that you didn't know existed
 
If none of your doses are supervised - have you thought about lowering your daily dose to like 1-2mg over a week or two - then on a day you are craving / hanging out try a much higher dose - 16mg +

Now that Ive written that Im not even sure if that would work , ie , catch a buzz. Anyone tried this? Im in a very similar situation and curious.
 
So I've been on 28mg of suboxone for over a year now.....Is this normal practice there in Australia?

Seems crazy there is no need for that amount ever..
 
I'm actually on 32mg now. It's pretty common in Australia for them to prescribe higher doses. Was still getting lots of cravings so he just put it higher and higher and also I had pneumonia at one stage so increased it for pain relief (though it did nothing which is one of the frustating things about being on maintenance and hence questioning whether methadone would be a better option for me. I am also having a lot of pain issues, some explanable and some yet to be diagnosed.
 
Well, I'm on methadone and I don't have cravings at all on it. I was on it on previously and never craved then either.

I have never been on suboxone for maintenance so I can't comment on that. Used it for acute wd but didn't like the way I felt on it at all
 
If none of your doses are supervised - have you thought about lowering your daily dose to like 1-2mg over a week or two - then on a day you are craving / hanging out try a much higher dose - 16mg +

Now that Ive written that Im not even sure if that would work , ie , catch a buzz. Anyone tried this? Im in a very similar situation and curious.

Sorry, it's been ages since I've posted, wow, looks like over a year.

Still on 32 a day although we moved and I started working a 14 hour a day job (plus have 5 kids) and I started to notice that I didn't function as well at work having sub in the morning so I found most days I was just having my night time dose of 16mg. I found I was ok on 16 for 3-4 days before I'd start to feel withdrawals nipping at my heels so i would have 32 for a couple of nights and then back to 16. However, I got really sick and ended up in hospital and had to make the decision to leave work and im back on 32 everyday again. It does affect my quality of life. Im no longer considering methadone but will ask to have my dose reduced soon as from my experience, I don't think it will be too hard to get down to 16 or even less.

But I need to start doing meetings or something (if I can find somewhere suboxone friendly) or I will relapse.
 
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