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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Going from Methadone to Suboxone

JoshuaV

JoshuaV

Bluelighter
Joined
Aug 19, 2008
Messages
408
Location
Ontario, Canada
Hey guys,

I've been on methadone for about a year now. I've tapered from 40mg to 20mg in the past few months, and I'm wondering: Has anyone ever tried "downgrading" from methadone to suboxone?

Obviously I wouldn't want to do it until my methadone dose is quite low, <10mg. I'm thinking it's either a great idea or a horrid idea. Has anyone tried it?
 
Suboxone is mutch better for your health, but NOT take sub when you have taken metadon, thats make you sick.

You have to go at least 18 hours without metadon, then you can use suboxone without a problem, and it is no problem going off metadon when you use sub.

Better for your mind&body also.

Good luck, take care :)


JoshuaV said:
Hey guys,

I've been on methadone for about a year now. I've tapered from 40mg to 20mg in the past few months, and I'm wondering: Has anyone ever tried "downgrading" from methadone to suboxone?

Obviously I wouldn't want to do it until my methadone dose is quite low, <10mg. I'm thinking it's either a great idea or a horrid idea. Has anyone tried it?
Click to expand...
 
You need to wait at least 36 hours after your last dose of done before starting suboxone. Many people recomend buffering with a short acting opiate like oxycodone or heroin this means after quitting done switch to one of those drugs for a few days before starting suboxone. This is neccasery as done has such a long halflife that precipatated withdrawl is hard to avoid.
 
^ It varies greatly depending on the person's metabolism. I for one would surely have to wait more than 36 hours after my last dose of methadone.
More like -minimum- 96 hours, so maybe 5 or even 6 days, but that's just me.
So you see it's not that simple, but buffering with a short acting opiate is a good idea.
 
Interesting. I could definitely handle 36 hours without methadone. 96 is a completely different story. Maybe a stupid question, but is it really necessary to wait until the methadone is completely metabolized? Couldn't I just start with a small bit of suboxone? I'm pretty unfamiliar with the mechanics of how the two work.

If it helps, I wake up most mornings in mild WD, since I've been tapering 3mg every 2 weeks.

I'd rather avoid using any other opiates, if just for the psychological aspect of going back to my drugs of choice.
 
If you take any type of bupe and you still have other opiates attached to the receptors, you will get precipitated w/d. Since bupe has a higher affinity level, it basically rips off whatever opiates are attached to your receptors and then the bupe attaches. Hence why you should wait until you are in full w/d before taking subs. With methadones long half-life, 96hrs may indeed be appropriate.

ive had Precip w/d before, and while not fun, its never lasted more then a hour. So if you wanted to, you can dose prior to the methadone being out, and suck up the precip w/d for a hour or so, and then you will be fine. That may actually be even easier then waiting the days that it takes for methadone w/d to begin.

If you go into the Other Drugs forum, there are many many threads about this. Suboxone mega-thread, Methadone mega-thread, etc etc. Give it a look.
 
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