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Bupe Methadone to suboxone help needed

DangerousD

Greenlighter
Joined
Aug 25, 2012
Messages
22
Location
US
Back in November I would take methadone once a week then I would tke it on Friday aNd Saturday. Then I started taking it every three days. Then every two. Right now I can take 50, 30 or 40 and not feel any discomfort for at least the 2 nd day without and it's slight discomfort. I'm afraid I may be slightly addicted or fully addicted. Not sure. So on Friday I took 50, Saturday took 40 and Sunday I took 20. Nothing since although I have taken some lortabs each day to make sure I wasn't in any discomfort. I took a few this morning and plan on taking 2mg of suboxone tomorrow morning. My plan is to not take suboxone longer than 14 days. Starting out on 2-4mg all depending on wht I feel my body needs. Is 14 days enough to be rid of methadone dependence if I have one?

I can't find a methadone to suboxone taper chart Nywhere. All I know is to not take subs until in wd for sure. I think that taking subs on day 4 without methadone is plenty. Any personal stories or advice is greatly appreciated.
 
Most people fuck up tapering from subs and methadone because they jump off at stupid doses. You could be on 100+mg of methadone for years and drop to 20mg/day w/o too much discomfort, try going from 20 to 0 and you will know a world of shit. same with subs. I dont know of any chart... from what Ive heard, most sub docs give you suboxone until the w/d stops. It might be 8 mg, it might be 32, maybe somewhere inbetween. Not sure why you want to go on subs vs methadone, a methdone taper is pretty easy if you go down in weekly amounts to 20, 15, 10, 7.5, 5, 2.5, 1.25mg, etc. Thats how I got off of it. That last 10mg pill lasted me 2 weeks, and I never did finish it. I jumped off methadone at microgram doses, and felt no discomfort. I also spent several months tapering from 20mg a day to 0. Subs are teh same way, you'd want to jump off at <1mg doses, even 250mcg doses (hard to measure that, especially with those small ass strips they sell now). Still, 4 days is not a lot of time with methadone, it has a long half life. and good plan with the subs, I only use them to get me thru the absolute worst of w/d, maybe 3 days tops, then ride out the rest.
 
Well, I took 4mg of suboxone this morning and I do feel better. No withdrawl feelings. A little lack of energy but that's expected. Not bad at all though. I think 2mg probably would have been enough but I didn't wait another hour to find out before dosing another 2mg. So tomorrow I will dose 2mg and see if that will work. After taking it every day for a week I will sart skipping days. Then every three days. Lowing the dose as I go. I will not go past 20 days of suboxone. I hope this will be enough to get past any methadone effects I will have if I have any. I don't really think I was on it that deeply. The subs will also keep me from using other opiates which is another reason I did want to go through this.

I have spent 3 years on and off taking stuff ad I just don't want to do it anymore. Reading the forums has helped me tremendously in being able to plan this as well as learn about my addiction. I would like to continue posting as I think it will help. My girlfriend has take home methadonia each week and is how I started taking it. I always thought it was evil which I do think it can help but only of you have a plan set forth to do so. The clinic people only made her fall deeper ini her addiction really. They have never once asked if se wanted to start lowering. Having her go from a street addiction of 50-100mg of methadone per day to a now 200mg dose is ridiculous. It is her fault for going up so many times but I wish her counselor would have counseled her more about what could happen and what she needs out of the mmt.
 
What are some best practices to stay away from taking drugs? I won't be doing the NA meetings for personal reasons. I would like some advice on a routine that someone has done to help stay sobor. My children are what drives me for success in this and is what has made my road more clear.
 
What are some best practices to stay away from taking drugs? I won't be doing the NA meetings for personal reasons. I would like some advice on a routine that someone has done to help stay sobor. My children are what drives me for success in this and is what has made my road more clear.

There are many ways people stay clean without meetings. Some people do it by simply adding positives to their life, like good relationships, a job, a hobby, etc. Some do it through religion, others through sheer force of will. Sounds like your kids will be a big motivation for you to stay clean.

Check out our new Sober Living forum. You'll find a lot of support and advice there.
 
I'm not surprised you didn't have much trouble switching to the Suboxone.. However I would start lowering your dosages faster. Buprenorphine has a maximum agonist effect that is equivalent to around 30-40mg of methadone (just like the dosages you had been taking prior to the suboxone)...While some folks say 32mg is where suboxone's ceiling effect occurs (the dose where all opiate effects-euphoria, shallowed breathing, etc.-plateau), I'm fairly certain that from my experience, and the experience of others, that the real ceiling effect is around 4-6mg. However people will feel more stable at a higher dose naturally as it will keep him/her out of withdrawal. But my point is, you don't want to raise your tolerance or to just switch to another opiate at a more or less equal dose. I would try and get down to 1mg as soon as possible, and then slowly taper yourself down into the microgram dosages. Buprenorphine is prescribed in parts of the world for pain under the name Temgesic, and they're also sublingual tablets containing the same drug, but at dosages under a mg (I believe the highest dose is .4mg or 400 micrograms or .2mg), so even when you're taking under a milligram a day, the drug is still very active.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck, sounds like you're doing good so far.
 
^ this is correct I was prescribed temgesic 0,4mg x10 daily (later lowered) for some years because I couldn't get any prescription for subutex due to stupid crap regulations in this country.

I switched myself from methadone to buprenorphine by tapering methadone slowly to 20mg then switching which was quite painless untill the last day when I managed to put myself in precipitated withdrawal using subutex too early (I am sure I waited 50+ hours at least but it still wasn't enough).
 
I feel no withdrawl today. I took 2mg. But I don't really have much energy. Other than that I feel fine. Any suggestions?
 
Timeframe until other folks have felt better. Paws or no paws. Really any experience would help. Just looking for help in staying on track.
 
Timeframe until other folks have felt better. Paws or no paws. Really any experience would help. Just looking for help in staying on track.

Unfortunately it'll take a few months most likely until you feel 100%. But hang in there man.. it's a few months for the rest of your life. Fair trade off if you ask me.

Stay motivated and strong, brother.
 
Sure is a good trade. My plan is simple. Stay the hell away from these short highs and live life. Sounds easy but it isn't. Chipping away with methadone was harmless when doing it once a week but that turned into every other day quick. I've been through the addiction before with short terms like oxy. Using suboxone was a snap to get off. Staying off was the not so easy part.
 
Actually felt high in a way yesterday after taking a total if 4mg. Took 2mg this morning an still feel fine. Will take 2mg once a day for the next 4 days. Then 1mg every other day. Then .5mg every other day 3 times then I should be good. My energy level seems I be picking up. This has been different than going from oxy to sub.
 
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