cocaine cravings while on opioid replacement therapy

[Shaun565Russell]

i have been on suboxone replacement therapy for a decade long iv heroin addiction and i get horrible gut wrenching cravings for cocaine and i really do not like cocaine. i usually win the battle but every now and then i lose out and use cocaine. i hate the feeling and myself afterwards then get terrible anxiety about getting booted from my sub program. ive found a bit of info online about sub patients craving coke or benzos. i was hoping some other members may have some experience with this and some advice. thanks

 

[KraziKat]

I've used subs intermittently several times over the past 6 years, and while using them, I am always drawn to cocaine or other stimulants or alcohol, or pretty much anything that can alter my mood. My feeling is that it's due to subs making me feel very much "normal" and not-high, so I find myself chasing something ? anything ? to take the edge off of sobriety. Why do I have to feel sobriety has an edge to it?

The fact is, I am learning, is that subs work very well, and we as addicts are so not used to feeling "normal" we just crave something, anything. I think we just need to be cool with feeling comfortable in our own sober skin, which is a challenge.

I don't even like amps or coke either, and I get so annoyed after the binge and feel like I've set myself back. It's just continuing the cycle of addiction.

 

[tathra]

i've been on bupe maintenance for a long time but i've never really had cravings for anything else, stimulant or otherwise, that i didnt have before.

The fact is, I am learning, is that subs work very well, and we as addicts are so not used to feeling "normal" we just crave something, anything. I think we just need to be cool with feeling comfortable in our own sober skin, which is a challenge.

this sounds about right. the biggest effect of bupe is keeping you out of withdrawal, other than that you just feel "normal", so its not unusual for people in substitution maintenence therapy to want to get high (thats why they're in substitution therapy in the first place).

be careful about beating yourself up when you give in though, denigrating yourself will feed into you getting high even more because "fuck it" and feelings of worthlessness, which will make you want to get high more, which will make you denigrate yourself more, and thus get high more, etc. its a vicious cycle. everyone slips up and makes mistakes, its part of being human. so long as you pull yourself back up, you havent lost - the only way to really lose is to give up.