"It boggles my mind at how most doctors prescribe an 8mg dose 3 to 4 times a day. It's just too much in my opinion. It's best to slowly taper off of it and remember, all you need is a small amount, don't over do it."
So true! I posted a reply about a week ago here in OD to someone new to bupe about how I would induct given a new chance to do it. In my opinion & from my experiences - start on as low a dose of bupe as needed to "hold" you and "get well" w/o getting high. Getting high may be impossible with bupe if your dope habit was big enough. But we're not trying to get high here, we're trying to get better which includes taking an opioid and not expecting to get high.
"Less IS more" - imo, should be motto for bupe prescribing physicians with a fucking clue.
Taken sublingually generally 4- to 6-mg/day is enough for even a serious dope habit. If it isn't I suggest, seriously... I suggest methadone for maybe a 28-day taper to nothing or to transition to a bupe dose that will hold you (thus using the methadone taper to lower tolerance, and then over to bupe for longer term maintenance.) If you're not going for maintenance and just want to do a taper to become opioid free than either methadone or bupe will work (if bupe holds you.) Hope that makes sense.
Best wishes, it ain't easy. Though I believe you'll be much happier as a couple and individually when you get stabilized on a prescribed, affordable opioid. If bupe isn't affordable, check with Reckitt for a patient assistance program to help pay for the meds. In the US with the passage of the ACA many states now have bupe on the medicaid formulary and you can now get it cheap if/when you find a physician that takes medicaid and prescribes bupe. In Denver, the city where I work in HR at a syringe access center, I know the wait can be long, but worth it. I've watched many homeless or otherwise marginalized dope addicts improve their lives immensely by going the medicaid/bupe route. Methadone too, but in the US methadone comes with so many restrictions that bupe is often preferred, not necessarily for it's medication properties but b/c it is a much simpler means to get what you need.
minor edits.