I posted this in another forum and didn't get any replies and think this is probably the right place for it so hopefully it's OK to post again...
For anyone that has used buprenorphine to get off opiates, you know the standard method is to stop opioids until in pretty severe withdrawals before taking the buprenorphine. If not, the buprenorphine will strip the opiates from your body and brain and cause precipitated withdrawals which can be even worse!
As someone that's had chronic pain and been on pretty crazy amounts of oxy for the last 15 years (360+ mg per day which I didn't feel at all), I wasn't strong enough to get far enough into withdrawals while waiting for the large amounts of long acting Oxy to get out of my system. It's literally physical and mental torture and as close to a hell that I can imagine, as I'm sure many know. I'm also a bit of a nerd and have always tried to understand how things work and after studying came up with what is essentially micro dosing buprenorphine over a few days that is slow enough to (mostly) prevent precipitated withdrawals until an equilibrium is met. Then the buprenorphine is increased while the opiate of choice is decreased over a few more days.
How to actually do this? Since everyone is different and on different things, none of this is written in stone but the process should work. And while I think these amounts will work for most, some may need to adjust the amounts up or down.
Micro dosing requires a very small and known amount which is basically what a compounding pharmacy does. Syringes will provide an accurate volume which will allow this. I found that a 12cc (or ml) and a 1cc syringe with caps/lid work well (and no needles). They can be reused but I suggest to wrap in tape or maybe paint the markings with clear nail polish, so that the marks don't rub off. Water can be used to make a solution with the pill or liquor can be used to make a tincture which should be absorbed a little faster. Vodka or maybe something with cinnamon will probably taste best.
Place a pill inside the big syringe and replace the plunger. Draw up 2 ml of water or liquor and purge all the air. Then draw up another 2 for a total of 4 ml with no air in the syringe and let it sit for a while to dissolve. I had 8mg pills so this results in a solution of 2 mg per ml or 1mg per 1/2 ml. Once the pill is dissolved place 1/2 ml of solution in the small syringe and then draw up more plain liquid for a total of 1ml. Using the above ratios there will now be 1mg in 1 ml of solution. You can now place the solution under your tongue and know exactly how much medicine you are getting. If you are worried about keeping it under your tongue for as long as possible before swallowing, you can use something like a small square of paper towel or coffee filter to saturate and this won't get washed away by spit as quickly. But I can tell you that you will get the medicine either way as long as you swallow all the liquid in your mouth.
Once you have the solution ready it's time to start! Keep taking your daily dose of opiate for the next 3 days while the buprenorphine slowly builds up to an equilibrium. On day 1, I started with 0.1ml which is 0.1mg and put under my tongue every other hour for 6 to 8 hours to gauge the response. If you feel ok, increase to every hour and try for a total of 1 to 2 mg by the end of the day. I had a few moments that felt like a hot flash where I got pretty sweaty but overall fairly mild. If it gets bad enough you can take your regular opiate which will counteract any mild symptoms that may happen.
On day two try for 3 to 4 mg of buprenorphine thru the entire day, and 5 to 8 mg on day 3. Try to take as much as you can tolerate without feeling bad. And if you do start to feel bad just wait a couple hours before you take it again and if you start feeling bad enough take your regular opiate. Some sweats and strong smells is the worst it ever got for me.
On day 4, depending on what and how much you were taking, some may be ready to stop all the regular opiate you're quitting and go straight to only the buprenorphine. But I kept taking 8 mg buprenorphine spread over the day anddropped to 75% of regular opiate in day 4, with 50% on day 5, 25% on day 6, and completely stop it on day 7. Once on only buprenorphine you should feel petty good but you may need to adjust the total amount. I was ok with 8 mg per day which is a lot less than the previous time I tried it when I waited for severe withdrawals to start. I think having it split up thru the day also let me take less instead of having to take an entire pill at a time.
That's it! Once transitioned to only Buprenorphine there is lots of information out there to get you going. I have some tips that helped me that I will try to add later.
I also want to say that some Doctors don't want you to do anything other than what they prescribe and some may drop you if they know you did something different! I suggest you bring this up or tell them what you want to do at the start, which they then can't hold against you. Doctor's in different places are different and some will drop you if they think you did anything wrong while others will allow mistakes. As long as you're trying to get better I don't think it matters but be aware of what you say!
I'm also not looking for a lot of praise but trying to help others as I know how impossible this can be no matter who you are! Wether you're trying to have fun and get high or just injured yourself and got a prescription, once your body develops a dependency it can hurt so bad trying to stop that it's basically impossible no matter who you are!
But once you are ready to stop, this can be a fairly painless way to move to something that you can taper off of slowly and easily if done right. I know I ramble a lot and this is way too long for most people to read! But if anyone tries and has success trying this I would love to hear about it! And if anyone can condense this down to something easier to read I encourage you to do so! All I ask is you either link to this thread or include my username so I can try to follow along. If it helps enough people maybe one day Doctors might even develop a process so no one has to hurt so bad trying to stop an opiate which has become an epidemic in recent times! I know I didn't stop for a long time because it was too hard and too painful.
If anyone has questions I will try to answer them, otherwise, good luck and if you want it, you can recover and heal and get your life back, you just have to want it first!!!
For anyone that has used buprenorphine to get off opiates, you know the standard method is to stop opioids until in pretty severe withdrawals before taking the buprenorphine. If not, the buprenorphine will strip the opiates from your body and brain and cause precipitated withdrawals which can be even worse!
As someone that's had chronic pain and been on pretty crazy amounts of oxy for the last 15 years (360+ mg per day which I didn't feel at all), I wasn't strong enough to get far enough into withdrawals while waiting for the large amounts of long acting Oxy to get out of my system. It's literally physical and mental torture and as close to a hell that I can imagine, as I'm sure many know. I'm also a bit of a nerd and have always tried to understand how things work and after studying came up with what is essentially micro dosing buprenorphine over a few days that is slow enough to (mostly) prevent precipitated withdrawals until an equilibrium is met. Then the buprenorphine is increased while the opiate of choice is decreased over a few more days.
How to actually do this? Since everyone is different and on different things, none of this is written in stone but the process should work. And while I think these amounts will work for most, some may need to adjust the amounts up or down.
Micro dosing requires a very small and known amount which is basically what a compounding pharmacy does. Syringes will provide an accurate volume which will allow this. I found that a 12cc (or ml) and a 1cc syringe with caps/lid work well (and no needles). They can be reused but I suggest to wrap in tape or maybe paint the markings with clear nail polish, so that the marks don't rub off. Water can be used to make a solution with the pill or liquor can be used to make a tincture which should be absorbed a little faster. Vodka or maybe something with cinnamon will probably taste best.
Place a pill inside the big syringe and replace the plunger. Draw up 2 ml of water or liquor and purge all the air. Then draw up another 2 for a total of 4 ml with no air in the syringe and let it sit for a while to dissolve. I had 8mg pills so this results in a solution of 2 mg per ml or 1mg per 1/2 ml. Once the pill is dissolved place 1/2 ml of solution in the small syringe and then draw up more plain liquid for a total of 1ml. Using the above ratios there will now be 1mg in 1 ml of solution. You can now place the solution under your tongue and know exactly how much medicine you are getting. If you are worried about keeping it under your tongue for as long as possible before swallowing, you can use something like a small square of paper towel or coffee filter to saturate and this won't get washed away by spit as quickly. But I can tell you that you will get the medicine either way as long as you swallow all the liquid in your mouth.
Once you have the solution ready it's time to start! Keep taking your daily dose of opiate for the next 3 days while the buprenorphine slowly builds up to an equilibrium. On day 1, I started with 0.1ml which is 0.1mg and put under my tongue every other hour for 6 to 8 hours to gauge the response. If you feel ok, increase to every hour and try for a total of 1 to 2 mg by the end of the day. I had a few moments that felt like a hot flash where I got pretty sweaty but overall fairly mild. If it gets bad enough you can take your regular opiate which will counteract any mild symptoms that may happen.
On day two try for 3 to 4 mg of buprenorphine thru the entire day, and 5 to 8 mg on day 3. Try to take as much as you can tolerate without feeling bad. And if you do start to feel bad just wait a couple hours before you take it again and if you start feeling bad enough take your regular opiate. Some sweats and strong smells is the worst it ever got for me.
On day 4, depending on what and how much you were taking, some may be ready to stop all the regular opiate you're quitting and go straight to only the buprenorphine. But I kept taking 8 mg buprenorphine spread over the day anddropped to 75% of regular opiate in day 4, with 50% on day 5, 25% on day 6, and completely stop it on day 7. Once on only buprenorphine you should feel petty good but you may need to adjust the total amount. I was ok with 8 mg per day which is a lot less than the previous time I tried it when I waited for severe withdrawals to start. I think having it split up thru the day also let me take less instead of having to take an entire pill at a time.
That's it! Once transitioned to only Buprenorphine there is lots of information out there to get you going. I have some tips that helped me that I will try to add later.
I also want to say that some Doctors don't want you to do anything other than what they prescribe and some may drop you if they know you did something different! I suggest you bring this up or tell them what you want to do at the start, which they then can't hold against you. Doctor's in different places are different and some will drop you if they think you did anything wrong while others will allow mistakes. As long as you're trying to get better I don't think it matters but be aware of what you say!
I'm also not looking for a lot of praise but trying to help others as I know how impossible this can be no matter who you are! Wether you're trying to have fun and get high or just injured yourself and got a prescription, once your body develops a dependency it can hurt so bad trying to stop that it's basically impossible no matter who you are!
But once you are ready to stop, this can be a fairly painless way to move to something that you can taper off of slowly and easily if done right. I know I ramble a lot and this is way too long for most people to read! But if anyone tries and has success trying this I would love to hear about it! And if anyone can condense this down to something easier to read I encourage you to do so! All I ask is you either link to this thread or include my username so I can try to follow along. If it helps enough people maybe one day Doctors might even develop a process so no one has to hurt so bad trying to stop an opiate which has become an epidemic in recent times! I know I didn't stop for a long time because it was too hard and too painful.
If anyone has questions I will try to answer them, otherwise, good luck and if you want it, you can recover and heal and get your life back, you just have to want it first!!!