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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

need advice...Methadone vs. Suboxone??

spyhunter2

spyhunter2

Bluelighter
Joined
Jul 20, 2009
Messages
115
Location
colorado
Hey all you my Bluelight family, I need a little advice on a dificult decision I am torn on making. So help me out with your suggestions please! So I have been using H again, about a gram to 1 1.5 g's a day habit. I have decided it's time to call it quits...again. I am now forced with making the decision of quitting with the help of methadone or suboxone, and I am completely lost on which route to take. Here's the thing, I can start methadone as soon as friday,suboxone however I am going to have to wait untill mid october to start treatment. Now there's advantages and disadvantages for both. The advantages for the methadone are like I said before, I can start as soon as this Friday, the clinic is about half a mile from my house and that's about it. The disadvantages are it costs money, I will have to dose at the clinic everyday except sunday because they give you a takehome dose. Now the advantages for the suboxone are it's free with my insurance, I wont have to go everyday to dose because they give me a script I just fill at the pharmacy. Now the disadvantages include, it is about 4 miles or an hour bus ride from my house which I was told I have to attend a group a couple times a week and I will have to not use dope for at least 24 hours before my first dose, oh and I cant start till mid to late October. So this is an extremely difficult decision I am needing help with!!! What should I do? What would you do? By the way this will be my first time ever trying to quit with either of these tools,which I feel great I have the opportunity. I have quit countless times before all mostly cold turkey with the help sometimes with acquired "supplements" . So help me my friends, Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Thanks!!
 
Oh and btw I am fully commited to quitting for good this time, I want my life back and know It will be an uphill battle. Wish me luck!
 
Yea i am wanting to start the methadone until i get the sub prescription. I will just quit the methadone at that time. I am hoping that works. I will only be on the methadone for a couple of weeks.

I would much rather be on the subs too but i dont know if i can wait that long.lol.
 
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I've done both treatments and personally I would go with the subs if you are really serious about quitting.You can get clean a lot quicker,in as little as 6 weeks and that still gives you a nice,comfortable taper.With methadone it can be easy to just stay on the clinic for years,which is still a viable option and beats being strung out on dope IMO,but there is a reason people call it liquid handcuffs.Getting on treatment as soon as possible is a good thing just remember that it's much harder to switch from methadone to subs than from heroin to subs due to methadone's long half life.The hardest part about starting subs is that you have to wait until you are sick rather than preventing withdrawls like you can with methadone.Once you get on the subs though it really is the best way to go.At least I think so.That is what finally did the trick for me and it's less in the realm of trading one addiction for another.They are easier to taper off and you don't have to go to a clinic everyday.Given your situation I would do what you said and start methadone now and switch to subs when you can.Just be prepared for a tougher transition.
 
Spyhunter,

Agree. Best you actually start on Subox now. Not sure why you have to wait? Why do you have to wait to start the Suboxone? Also, It's most unlikely your insurance will pay for Suboxone without proof of drug rehab treatment. This too will cost you money.

If it were me? as you ask (I've never done H) If you can't get Suboxone until late October--I would take the Methadone now, knowing I was moving my way to the Suboxone
 
Hey, i have to wait for the subs because the doc that prescribe them here is on vacation or something, i have an appt set up for oct 7 to do the intake paperwork for the suboxone, the person i scheduled with also said i would need to provide a urine sample that must be free of benzos. Not a problem. But do u think if i start methadone for a couple of weeks till the sub doc is back it will be that hard to switch? I also am aware i have to be sick for a day before i start subs. I am so excited!
 
They already ran my insurance and it will cover treatment and meds. Lol and i like that metaphor about it being handcuffs, i am thinking fuck do i really want to go down to dose everyday.?? Well i get high everyday and a week of methadone costs as much as i could spend in a day on h. And yes downerhead i am serious about quitting.
 
Great to hear buddy.Heroin addiction fucking sucks!!!!There's always some kind of hoops to jump through getting on any treatment but IMHO anything beats jumping through the hoops for smack everyday.The methadone to suboxone switch won't be all that hard.I mean,you've been dopesick before right.Well,this time you only have to do it for a day knowing that you have those orange stop signs waiting in the wings for the withdrawl to fully set in.Its easy as that.As soon as you are good and sick put a sub under your tongue and let it dissolve.The hard part is gonna be watching that clock waiting for the methadone to wear off.Good luck.
 
I like the Sub idea for the fact that it seems to be taking you out of your comfort zone a bit. you HAVE to attend a meeting? That's good. I hate shit like that, but us addicts if we really want to kick we have to get used to shit we hate. Have to.
 
You're right about that VitamiN,Life is full of shit you don't want to do and this is especially true for addicts.Still though,I think Spyhunter is going to be a lot better off and a couple/few months down the road he/she will be soooo glad they did this.There's nothing like the feeling of getting your life back instead of just spinning your wheels as a junkie.Did that shit for way too long and the longer you're off dope the crazier it seems you ever let yourself get like that.Best of luck Spyhunter,we're all pulling for you and if you have any questions or need to talk about your treatment and recovery feel free to PM me.I've been there,done that many times for many years so I understand completely what you're going thru.

P.S.I hated going to group too.It's completely counter productive IMO to sit in a room with 20 other junkies and talk about dope for an hour.If I didn't want to use before I would usually want to by the time group was over lol.But it's part of the jumping through hoops I mentioned earlier.And besides,we've all put up with worse bullshit when we were out rippin' and runnin'.
 
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Totally agree, group meetings suck. I was mentioning this, because insurance companies usually--in their Prior Auth requests, want to make sure the patient is in some type of drug rehab treatment before they will pay for Suboxone. Trust me I know, I do over 30 of them a week. The PA will go through easily on the first script, because the insurance company feels it's best not to delay paying for the drug, and risking paying for detox. If it comes up a year from now, they want serious questions answered. lol

Let us know how you are doing Spyhunter!
 
I've personally been on both methadone and suboxone, I would try suboxone first. If subs will hold you and you feel ok stick with it. I would save methadone as a last resort. Personally I found subs made me feel as close to "normal" as possible. While methadone reminded me of oral morphine however, it completely drained my sex drive and had more side effects.
 
Spyhunter, I have also gone both routes. You're getting some excellent advice. I too feel subs for the reasons stated above and then some. Wish you the best. Keep us posted.

D.T.B .T.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys, so i just wanted to update you all! I started the methadone and it is working, however i am still at a low dose. I do plan on switching to subs so i am not tied to the clinic. I have my appointment on the 8th, i will let you know how it goes!!
 
Only dose up as high as you need to, for comfort from withdrawal. That will make the transition to subs go much smoother. Subs fall in line with you're long term objective much better than methadone. They call M/D liquid handcuffs for a reason. Stay the course my friend.

D.T.B.T.
 
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suboxone is also very addicting ive been on it for almost 2 years and am hooked to the high it gives me everyday. They are both handcuffs if you use them daily for extended periods. People always bad mouth methadone and praise suboxone but they are quite similar besides suboxone being slightly less harder on the body compared to methadone along with being easier to taper. I say go with what works for you not anyone else.
 
I feel like switching to methadone before getting on Subs just makes the process more difficult. That long ass wait you will have to make to transition from done to subs has got to be awful. I honestly haven't tried it, but I have read enough about the difficulty in it and the fact that it seems to raise the risk of precipitated withdrawal a lot.

I dont' know your methadone dose, but try to keep it around 20 mg a day and don't go over 30 or you'll make it way worse than it would've been just waiting 24 hours to get on Subs from H.
 
Hey everybody, so i missed my suboxone appointment yesterday because i had to work, i am planning on rescheduling it. I am told you cant be on 2 treatments at once because when i did my intake for methadone they checked a database to make sure i wasn't getting treatment at another clinic,not sure if the sub doc will check this?? Also i told my counselor at my clinic that i might switch to subs and she told me that i have to remain there for at least 3 months before i start treatment someware else...
As far as my dose goes they started me at 30mg and have been increasing it 5 everyday, but today it jumped 10mg and i am at 65. I told them i am feeling fine ,no wd,no cravings etc. They told me i needed to go up to this level based on my usage prior to. Treatment, because they want me at a level where if i try to use it wont do anything, like get me high or whatnot. I honestly don't want to go any higher than 65 so they are keeping me here till i see the counselor in 5 days. Anyway it looks like subs are out for now. I will keep you all posted. Peace and love ☺
 
So i wanted to update everyone... I am currently 3 months into my methadone treatment, and I am doing well. I found my stable dose which is 85 and i have had all clean ua's. I just started my first faze which allows an extra takehome dose every week. So now I dont have to come on saturday and sunday. I take the bus so that really helps. I will keep everyone posted .
 
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