Bupe HELP! How to make bupe tablets last?

[SydneyGal]

Hi all, I'm new around here and apologise in advance for not knowing all the rules yet, but need some advice urgently.

I'm a chronic pain patient, have been on Butrans continuously since 2009, plus amitriptyline, plus either oxycodone or bupe sublingual for breakthrough pain. To make a long story short, I've had a lot of difficulty finding a decent pain doctor I can see while traveling in the US, and have had to organise to get meds sent to me from Australia instead. In the meantime, I'm out of Butrans and have a limited supply of bupe tablets, 0.2mg and 0.4mg. And I'm slightly worried customs might intercept my meds, despite the package having the right customs forms and medical documentation.

So, can anyone share tips on OTC meds I can take, to make the effects of the bupe tablets stronger, and/or last longer?

I've heard cimetidine makes opioids clear from your bloodstream more slowly; has anyone tried this with bupe, and if so, did it work? Taking tablets less often would be really helpful in making what I have last longer.

I've also heard that mixing other meds can make the effects stronger (so I could maybe take a 0.2mg tablet and get the same effects as an 0.4mg?); does it make the pain relieving effects stronger, or just make you more out of it? (My aim is to make the pain go away enough that I can do normal stuff like work & housework & seeing friends, not feel high at all. Yes, I am a total square. )

Without adequate pain meds the inside of my abdominal cavity all feels like a big open wound (which it basically is) and I get referred pain right through both thighs and down both legs. Not fun. So, advice on mixing meds would be very much appreciated.

ETA: Oh, and has anyone tried crushing up and snorting bupe pills? Have read that they have higher bio-availability intranasally, but TBH have never snorted anything before, except accidentally inhaling cayenne pepper once. Oops.

 

[mrflowers00]

i don't suggest you IV it but that works great but most say plugging (using an oral syringe to but crushed pill mixed with water up your arse) gives great results

 

[epiks]

I'm a chronic pain patient, have been on Butrans continuously since 2009, plus amitriptyline, plus either oxycodone or bupe sublingual for breakthrough pain.

If you are on bupe/butrans its pointless to be on oxycodone. In fact it can make things a hell of a lot worse and put you in the worst WD of your life.

As far as OTC to make it better..Take Diphenhydramine (benadryl) its a antihistamine but it potentiates opiates (especially bupe!) If you have never combined the two id suggest 50-75mg but I wouldn't exceed 100mg thats for sure. It can be pretty uncomfortable.

 

[Fire&Water]

If you are on bupe/butrans its pointless to be on oxycodone. In fact it can make things a hell of a lot worse and put you in the worst WD of your life.

As far as OTC to make it better..Take Diphenhydramine (benadryl) its a antihistamine but it potentiates opiates (especially bupe!) If you have never combined the two id suggest 50-75mg but I wouldn't exceed 100mg thats for sure. It can be pretty uncomfortable.

Your first two sentences are completely misinforming...

 

[SydneyGal]

If you are on bupe/butrans its pointless to be on oxycodone. In fact it can make things a hell of a lot worse and put you in the worst WD of your life.

My pain specialist told me that they counteract each other somewhat and switched me to bupe tablets, which work 1000x better. Thankfully never had WD from combining the two, but was on low doses of both (5mg & 10mg oxy capsules as needed plus 20mcg/hr bupe).

Thanks for the advice re diphenhydramine; will give it a go.

 

[smokemctoke420]

id just use benadryl, cimetadine, and plug your dose

 

[laCster]

definitely buy some cimitidine (tagamet) it will GREATLY increase the duration of buprenorphine.

i am trying to do the same thing because suboxone costs alot of money, so what i do is snort .5-2mgs a day (usually .5-1mg) after waiting 45-60 minutes of taking tagamet

 

[SydneyGal]

OK, will definitely try cimetidine and diphenhydramine; thank you all for the advice.

Tried phenergan + bupe yesterday, and it made the pain relieving effects marginally better, but also put me to sleep for 5-6 hours during the day! Not quite what I was after. (It was recommended as a general opioid potentiator on this old thread, but maybe doesn't work as well with bupe as others?)

Previous experiments with alcohol + bupe and bupe + cannabis (medical, of course ) have been more successful; pity about hangovers, and not having access to medical cannabis where I am atm.

Also, if anyone's tried crushing & snorting bupe sublingual tablets, did you get stronger effects? I've heard the bioavailability is higher through intranasal ingestion, but do they put other stuff in the tablets to discourage people actually doing it?

 

[Znegative]

Yeah, sniffing pills is not recomended but there is nothing especially bad that is put in these pills to deter abuse. The main issue is that long term insufflation can cause irritation to the nasal passages and that pip
Binders will wind up in your lungs. I'd recomend plugging bupe, as the absorption is way higher than sublingual use, and about 4% higher than insufflated. The onset is fast and the duration is long.

 

[SydneyGal]

An update:

Tried cimetidine w my bupe tablets, and it's amazing! I got out of bed! I talked to people! I went for a swim! I ate proper food! (Yes, my life is pretty sad without adequate pain meds.) And I've had two proper nights' sleep in a row, without pain waking me up at all... and all on the same less-than-usual, must-ration-pain-meds dosage I've been taking since my patches ran out.

I'm guessing that since it's making the bupe clear from my bloodstream more slowly, my dosages are overlapping and there's more in my system at any time, so I'm getting much closer to the level of pain relief I actually need, so I'm not spending whole days curled up in a little ball in agony any more. Woohoo!

Thank you all so much for the advice; has been a huge help.

(And in case anyone's interested, according to the online package tracker thing, my meds have cleared customs and should arrive either tomorrow or Monday... will be so, so glad to get back on my patches, because as interesting as the pharmacological experimentation has been, I love the 'set and forget' thing where I only have to remember it once a week (instead of 4 times a day) to keep pain relief going so I can keep functioning. But will definitely use cimetidine again when I need extra for breakthrough pain; good to know there's an alternative to just loading up on more bupe every time my innards are playing up.)

 

[klonodonian]

If you are on bupe/butrans its pointless to be on oxycodone. In fact it can make things a hell of a lot worse and put you in the worst WD of your life.

As far as OTC to make it better..Take Diphenhydramine (benadryl) its a antihistamine but it potentiates opiates (especially bupe!) If you have never combined the two id suggest 50-75mg but I wouldn't exceed 100mg thats for sure. It can be pretty uncomfortable.

It is only Suboxone that cannot be mixed with other opiates/oids. SubuTEX does not contain naloxone, meaning if she was on bupe and bupe alone, eating an OC wouldn't send her into instant WD. However, it might do nothing at all, because if I remember correctly the point of bupe is to occupy all of your Mu and Kappa receptors, meaning other opiates/oids would not be able to "land" in your brain. BUT it sounds like she is on such a low does of bupe that the OC may actually make it through.

You were 100% correct about the benadryl though, that will absolutely potentiate her meds.

Also, you will have no problem clearing your meds through customs, provided you have proper documentation. I brought 14 bottles of methadone from San Diego to Toronto carry on, zero problems.

 

[NeighborhoodThreat]

^This is not entirely correct. Subutex will still cause participated withdrawals, as buprenorphine is a competitive agonist (actually more powerful of one than naloxone/Narcan).

You can, however, take a low dose of buprenorphine and then take a dose of a full-agonist opioid.

 

[Jabberwocky]

what about dxm? i'm talking super low doses. in the uk we now have these little "cough capsules" that are 2.5mg each. take two along with the bupe and it should be potentiated, but i believe its a dangerous combo.

 

[jones-in_J]

^This is not entirely correct. Subutex will still cause participated withdrawals, as buprenorphine is a competitive agonist (actually more powerful of one than naloxone/Narcan).

You can, however, take a low dose of buprenorphine and then take a dose of a full-agonist opioid.

Neighborhood threat speaks the truth

I was in rehab about a week and a half ago and got out like 4 days ago

When i first got there they wanted to give me subutex, only like 8 hours after my last shot of heroin. The knowledge i got on bluelight made me know better in the back of my head. But i took the 8mg subutex anyway... and went into preciptated withdrawals sooo fucking bad

They gave me another 8mg subutex 24 hours later. Ibwas scared itd get worse again but i got lucky and it got better

Anyway point being the absence of naloxone doesnt mean it cant push you into precipitated withdrawals. Ive experienced it.

 

[SydneyGal]

It is only Suboxone that cannot be mixed with other opiates/oids. SubuTEX does not contain naloxone, meaning if she was on bupe and bupe alone, eating an OC wouldn't send her into instant WD. However, it might do nothing at all, because if I remember correctly the point of bupe is to occupy all of your Mu and Kappa receptors, meaning other opiates/oids would not be able to "land" in your brain. BUT it sounds like she is on such a low does of bupe that the OC may actually make it through.

Yes, you're exactly right: oxy doesn't work nearly as well as it used to (when I was on oxy as my main pain med, no bupe) but taking some doesn't send me into instant WD either because I'm not on naloxone. It does give a tiny bit of additional pain relief, but not nearly as much as taking extra bupe does; most of the effects seem to be lost due to the interaction with the bupe.

Also, you will have no problem clearing your meds through customs, provided you have proper documentation. I brought 14 bottles of methadone from San Diego to Toronto carry on, zero problems.

Yes, have carried pain meds through customs in person all over the world, and always been fine. (Very first time, I took boxes and boxes of oxy into Thailand, where drug smuggling is ruthlessly punished... was sweating almost as much as if I'd had condoms of heroin up my butt, and they still didn't even check my meds. Funny story.) Finding docs to write prescriptions for me in different places is sometimes interesting though, esp. in the US where pain docs are so scared of the DEA.

I hadn't sent opioids through the post before and was a bit worried, but they arrived safely about an hour ago. Soooo relieved!

 

[martin33]

Diphenhydramine, also something like a muscle relaxer might intesify it, like Soma.

 

[SydneyGal]

When i first got there they wanted to give me subutex, only like 8 hours after my last shot of heroin. The knowledge i got on bluelight made me know better in the back of my head. But i took the 8mg subutex anyway... and went into preciptated withdrawals sooo fucking bad

They gave me another 8mg subutex 24 hours later. Ibwas scared itd get worse again but i got lucky and it got better

Anyway point being the absence of naloxone doesnt mean it cant push you into precipitated withdrawals. Ive experienced it.

Yes, when they first put me on the patches, they had me on oxy one day, bupe patch the next; horrible horrible horrible withdrawals. Didn't know that was why I was so sick, though. Bit mad when I read that switching over that way would cause withdrawals, since I told my doc "this ain't working, I feel rotten" and he said just to hang in there a bit longer; surely there's a gentler way to do the transition?

So yes, it can cause withdrawal, even in low doses, although it seems to only happen when the dosage of other opioids is high, maybe? (Little bit of bupe, little bit of oxy is fine for me; little bit of bupe, lots of oxy working out of my system was rough.)