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Buprenorphine effectiveness at stopping withdrawal symptoms

C

CluckinChuckin

Greenlighter
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Aug 29, 2014
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Hi I was just wondering if anyone could give me some information from a personal perspective on the effectiveness of buprenorphine at stopping opiate withdrawal symptoms, I know this is what it it is primarily used for so bit of a stupid question I know but the reason I ask is because I'm just about to start a detox from from Heroin and have some buprenorphine at hand for emergency purposes.
First off I've done a fair few detoxes from Heroin I managed to stay clean for about 8 years before however lately I only mange to stay clean about a week before slipping back into it, I think the big problem is I always have some Heroin on standby in case I need to bring myself out of withdrawals for any reason, however I usually end up doing it purely because its there, so this time, I have none left have given my debit and credit cards to a relative along with my cell phone sim card.
I do however have a strip off 2mg buprenorphine tablets, If say 48 hours from now when I'm suffering major withdrawal symptoms I was to take a couple of these would the withdrawals stop straight away allowing me to function normally?
Thanks in advance for any information.
 
like most things it just depends how much tolerance you have currently and how quick your body metabolizes H. I would think 48 hrs is good but you should go by the COWS scale instead, be sure to be in moderate to severe withdrawal and then take a small piece of subs as a test so like .5mg or less. I think it does a good job of covering w/d symptoms but it isn't going to be 100% effective on the induction day which is why you should try to wait until you are pretty sick. GL!
 
It always works pretty good for me, I usually take 2 mg but there's nothing wrong with starting off slow. It never fully covers me on the 1st day, the first time I ever did bupe I took 2 mg, felt better but not great, 2 more mg, felt a little better but still not great, and during the course of the day I ended up taking 8 mg - and it still didn't cover. I was like fuck, this stuff doesn't work that great. Woke up the next day took 2 mg and a couple hours later once it kicked in I was pretty much fine. The first day is always a little rough for most people, but it's still a million times better than cold turkey. Just keep in mind that you will feel a lot better on the 2nd day.
 
Thanks for the info.
Quick update for anyone who's interested, 24 hours in and feeling about 75% normal, prob because I woke up at 6 this morning in a right mess and ended up doing all 16mg of my buprenorphine, had a slight headache so took a couple paracetamol, sat watching T.V instead of curled up sweating it out in bed which is where I usually am at this stage, bit worried that I'm going to be back to stage one tomorrow morning when the buprenorphine wears off though.
 
Did I do the wrong thing taking the Buprenorphine?
Am I now going to have to detox from 16mg Buprenorphine?
What do people reckon?
Should I of just stuck it out with the H?
Thanks.
 
well you shouldn't have taken 16 mg in one day - no one needs that much, and that's why I made a point to say that I took 8 my first day but that that was a mistake. It would've made a lot more sense to take 2 or 4 mg yesterday, then 2 today and tomorrow, then 1 for a couple days, then .5 for a couple days, ect. I'm not sure why you took it all at once?

You aren't going to "detox from 16 mg bupe" - you haven't been on it long enough to be addicted to it - but you're going to detox from heroin, because right now you're still in heroin WD, it's just that the bupe is masking it.

YOu cant just cold turkey stop ANY opiate without feeling sick. Since you took all your bupe, I would just suggest going cold turkey now. What do you mean "stuck it out with the H"? You mean keep using? Or taper off H slowly?
 
Hi
I took it all because I felt better after the first 8mg but not 100% so figured why not do the rest, (I hadn't seen your reply on this thread at the time either) I also read buprenorphine withdrawls were pretty bad so didn't want to take it over a long period.
To be honest I have no self control when it comes to any substance hence the reason I'm where I am now.
By sticking it out with the H, I meant sticking it out with the withdrawl symptoms of that alone,
Yep I'm going cold turkey from here on in as have no choice now.
Thank you for your reply, I know exactly what to expect from Herion withdrawls, been down this road many times, just grateful the Bupe isn't going to cause me any problems.

I assumed there would be some cross tolerence issues, the Bupe replacing the Heroin on the opioid receptors, and then having to detox from the Bupe as opposed to the Heroin, but guess I don't understand the mechanism behind it all my mind has just been wondering all day.

I'm usually over the worst of H withdrawls after 48 hours and have still been experiencing, chills etc... which are beginning to subside now so hoping I've not simply wasted 24 hours doing the Bupe

Thanks once again you've been most helpful in aliviating my worries.
 
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