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Bupe Suboxone/Buprenorphine FAQ & Megathread v3; 2010 - 2022

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Suboxone is ball and chain...... it sucks but is keeping me alive no doubt

Suboxone Maint is horrible decision unless you have a real serious addiction and tried EVERYTHING else to quit...


Too many people end up on maintenance who really don't need it.. People taking 40mg of oxy a day or a few vikes. retarded...

What a lot of people don't understand is switching to Sub sometimes is WAY more powerful then what they were taking in the first place..

I used to know people that BUPE is their DOC no joke...

However Suboxone as a short term detox is the most amazing thing ever made
 
^That is true. Suboxone was the first opioid I caught a full on habit from. I had been using a small amount of heroin for about eight months or so, and I was in this outpatient and after a relapse, I was suggested to go on this "new and wonderful medication that is like methadone but not addictive". From a few bags of dope sniffed, to 24mg of suboxone. THAT was insane, but I didn't know any better at the time.
 
Disagree. Was on bupe maintenance for one year from a 2 bundle a day habit and stayed clean five years. Masses of people who WANT to get clean have had great success. No kidding it's a narcotic and has the potential to cause physical dependence but tapering right can avoid bad withdrawals and lead to eventual sobriety IF that is a persons desire. At least it is not a full opiate like methadone that causes worse withdrawals than the drug you are taking it to come off of.
 
While suboxone is a partial agonist, that does not mean that the withdrawals are necessarily any easier going than a full agonist. I've never been addicted to weaker full agonists like codeine or hydrocodone, but I would bet that cold turkey withdrawals from those drugs would be a lot easier than buprenorphine.

Remember, partial agonist or not, buprenorphine's peak opioid activity is equal to at least 30mg of methadone, and kicking that is not going tone easy.

But yes, I agree, you can definately lessen the severity of buprenorphine withdrawals with a good taper plan. I've yet to do it myself, but know quite a few people who have successfully. The key is taking your time.
 
And to have a doctor willing to taper you 2mgs at a time... My Dr does 4 or 8, which I think is just ridiculous. And to contribute to the above conversation, withdrawals from Suboxone ARE difficult, but the onset is delayed for about two days. I'd compare Suboxone withdrawals to the withdrawals I used to get when I was just addicted to vicodin and tramadol.
 
Tapering 4mg at a time is ludacris, if you cant have a correct taper to ease withdrawals as much as possible the whole maintenance plan loses purpose if you are left at the end with withdrawals. I am not saying you don't experience ANY, of course, you are coming off a narcotic it's not going to be pain free!

But to those who bitch and moan about how terrible the withdrawals are and that they compare to full agonists, I call bullshit. I tapered to fast once and got withdrawals, though not severe they were annoying. The time I was on bupe for a year I did such a long taper to where I was down to .25 a day and skipping a day in between. I took clonodine to ease the transition and honestly had no life affecting withdrawals.

I find it a hard pill to swallow that people complain until they are blue in the face about sub withdrawals, it is a narcotic, you knew that when you went on it which comes with the chance of withdrawals upon stopping. If you day withdrawals are comparable to full agonists why even be on sub in the first place?! People don't want to taper properly and think taking other rxbmeds (clonodine) and vitamins (l-tyrosine, niacin, multi) is bullcrap and dismiss the whole idea before even giving it a try. I tapered slowly until I was down to 1/4 a day every other day and then jumped off but also simultaneously took the RX and over the counter meds listed above. Yea I still had a few uncomfortable days and a couple sleepless nights but that was it, no long drawn out treachery of a methadone detox.

In my mind sub is the lesser of all evils and I know many people who tapered correctly and had similar results to myself. You can't just jump off at 2mg and not take any meds to ease the transition and expect not to feel lousy. But to say that because of the long half life bupe withdrawals are longer and more drawn out is some other bullshit. It may not start until 2 or 3 days post last dose, but it isn't lasting weeks and months, come on people get real and stop whining.


It ain't as bad as shitting yourself while simultaneously puking, covered in goose bumps, getting hot and cold flashed, restless legs/arms/body, insomnia and complete and utter depression that comes along with trying to kick a 3 bundle a day habit. Get real, when used correctly sub can be a life changer and many people have much gratitude about buprenorphine medication.

Just my two cents ? but I would like to add along with being an addict I have my degree in drug and alcohol counseling, and have worked in various rehabs and taken countless pharmacology classes. If you go into medical/peer review journals you can get a lot of REAL non-opinionated scientific info based on trials etc. Sub is a great drug WHEN USED PROPERLY, that's my story and I'm stickin to it! ✳
 
Yes, I take tramadol regularly for pain and it does also give me a huge mood lift while diminishing my anxiety.
 
Does anyone know exactly how diphenhydramine potentiates opioids, specifically buprenorphine? I admit I havn't looked too much, but what I've found seems to be conflicting.

The main reason I want to know is that I had been taking a rather large ammount of benadryl (oraly) for about three months. I quit a few weeks back, and had been consuming 350mg a night. Just to be clear I was not trying to get high off the benadryl, I had scabies and had been self medicating with anti-histamine's for months before being diagnosed, which is why my dosage got pretty high. Anyway I quit taking the stuff because I got the Premethrin cream and some topical lotion for the itching, and I felt super unhealthy consuming that much diph. in the first place.

However, upon stopping, I've been experiencing a lot of turmoil in my bowels to put it nicely. One day I'll be really constipated, the next I'll have diarhea. I am wondering if this has anything to do with the abrupt discontinuation of a potentiator, or if it's just a nasty side effect of taking an unhealthy ammount of benadryl. Any input would be appreciated.
 
For the simple fact not enough doctors who prescribe it let people know what they are getting into. They just give it out like candy regardless if the person has a serious addiction to pain killers or not. They don't tell you about PAWS when you come off of it. They don't tell you anything. People like me have to find this shit out the hard way. It's been 3 MONTHS and I still feel weak with the chills! Suboxone is fucking horrible. Anyone who thinks it's good only thinks that because they are still taking it and they haven't had to detox from it yet.
 
NativeAddiction said:
Tapering 4mg at a time is ludacris, if you cant have a correct taper to ease withdrawals as much as possible the whole maintenance plan loses purpose if you are left at the end with withdrawals. I am not saying you don't experience ANY, of course, you are coming off a narcotic it's not going to be pain free!

But to those who bitch and moan about how terrible the withdrawals are and that they compare to full agonists, I call bullshit. I tapered to fast once and got withdrawals, though not severe they were annoying. The time I was on bupe for a year I did such a long taper to where I was down to .25 a day and skipping a day in between. I took clonodine to ease the transition and honestly had no life affecting withdrawals.

I find it a hard pill to swallow that people complain until they are blue in the face about sub withdrawals, it is a narcotic, you knew that when you went on it which comes with the chance of withdrawals upon stopping. If you day withdrawals are comparable to full agonists why even be on sub in the first place?! People don't want to taper properly and think taking other rxbmeds (clonodine) and vitamins (l-tyrosine, niacin, multi) is bullcrap and dismiss the whole idea before even giving it a try. I tapered slowly until I was down to 1/4 a day every other day and then jumped off but also simultaneously took the RX and over the counter meds listed above. Yea I still had a few uncomfortable days and a couple sleepless nights but that was it, no long drawn out treachery of a methadone detox.

In my mind sub is the lesser of all evils and I know many people who tapered correctly and had similar results to myself. You can't just jump off at 2mg and not take any meds to ease the transition and expect not to feel lousy. But to say that because of the long half life bupe withdrawals are longer and more drawn out is some other bullshit. It may not start until 2 or 3 days post last dose, but it isn't lasting weeks and months, come on people get real and stop whining.


It ain't as bad as shitting yourself while simultaneously puking, covered in goose bumps, getting hot and cold flashed, restless legs/arms/body, insomnia and complete and utter depression that comes along with trying to kick a 3 bundle a day habit. Get real, when used correctly sub can be a life changer and many people have much gratitude about buprenorphine medication.

Just my two cents �� but I would like to add along with being an addict I have my degree in drug and alcohol counseling, and have worked in various rehabs and taken countless pharmacology classes. If you go into medical/peer review journals you can get a lot of REAL non-opinionated scientific info based on trials etc. Sub is a great drug WHEN USED PROPERLY, that's my story and I'm stickin to it! ✳
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Yea, but EVERYONE isn't like you. Other people out there, like me, take beta blockers making it IMPOSSIBLE to take clonidine. Just count yourself lucky.
 
xHippiexchildx said:
For the simple fact not enough doctors who prescribe it let people know what they are getting into. They just give it out like candy regardless if the person has a serious addiction to pain killers or not. They don't tell you about PAWS when you come off of it. They don't tell you anything. People like me have to find this shit out the hard way. It's been 3 MONTHS and I still feel weak with the chills! Suboxone is fucking horrible. Anyone who thinks it's good only thinks that because they are still taking it and they haven't had to detox from it yet.
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Did you properly taper off it?
 
xHippiexchildx said:
For the simple fact not enough doctors who prescribe it let people know what they are getting into. They just give it out like candy regardless if the person has a serious addiction to pain killers or not. They don't tell you about PAWS when you come off of it. They don't tell you anything. People like me have to find this shit out the hard way. It's been 3 MONTHS and I still feel weak with the chills! Suboxone is fucking horrible. Anyone who thinks it's good only thinks that because they are still taking it and they haven't had to detox from it yet.
Click to expand...

Either you are blind or just didn't read the above post. I was on it a year and tapered right and was uncomfortable for a few days and that was it. PAWS would come whether you stopped cold turkey or went on bupe then stopped bupe, it just happens later if u are on bupe. Not all doctors are like that either, and I am far from the only person who didn't have withdrawals upon detox from sub.
 
xHippiexchildx said:
Yea, but EVERYONE isn't like you. Other people out there, like me, take beta blockers making it IMPOSSIBLE to take clonidine. Just count yourself lucky.
Click to expand...

On a side note, I barely ever took the clonodine because it didn't really do shit, I was saying most people think it helps ease transition when detoxing. There are other meds you can take and over the counter and herbal that do make a difference, the biggest help I got was from NON RX meds when I tapered. Just because you are bitter about your experience doesn't mean that suboxone is crap, that's just ignorance talking. No doubt I feel bad you are going through it, but honestly you would have eventually gone through PAWS sub or not. Some people are prone to it others aren't. It happens when a long term opiate habit is stopped completely.


Your doctor should have informed you and tapered you right. If you are still feeling really bad you should look into those over the counter meds you can buy from a drug store or gnc, they could still provide some kind of relief or speed up the process.

PAWS is from long term opiate abuse, period. That said you could experience it whether or not you ever went on sub, it just depends on your body chemistry, history of abuse, etc. Some people get horrible PAWS others never even have to go through it.
 
^I agree, Clonodine doesn't do much for me at least, takes a little bit of the edge off but nothing too great.

xhippiechildx, I understand being "fooled" into suboxone dependency. I think the drug is offten prescribed in a fashion where the doctor will say something like "oh, there are no withdrawals", or "as long as you taper down to two mg, you can quit easily". However, with the very obvious emergence of tons of reports to the opposite, I think that kind of bullshit will eventually die out. However, just because you had a bad experience with the drug, does not mean it should be "banned". Suboxone helps a lot of people out, people like me, who otherwise would not even be typing this because I would have pawned this computer to shoot speedballs into my arm long ago.
 
? well said. I would have to agree that many of us would be homeless junkies or dead and gone if not for sub. It is shitty, of course, when doctors themselves are not even educated about the drug and don't know dick about what it actually does and how it actually works in the brain. Of course it is foolish for docs to prescribe it for short lasting pill habits, but ultimately we are all responsible for our own care and doing the research about the meds we take.
 
I've got crazy on clonazepam totalling up to 4mg, lost control of myself and total amnesia, too.

I only write this because I wanted to say that it seems that overdosing to death on bupe+benzos is harder than you guys say.

Let's clarify, I was on 4mg clonazepam, also 10mg diazepam, and there was one standard drink too (a hour before). Lost control, the next day I am told that I injected 1mg bupe together with 15mg midazolam. I don't remember any of this, but the person who saw that said that I became totally white then just went to sleep. I've slept for 30 hours. Woke up like if nothing happened, however the tiredness is up to even 4 days after.

Be careful with benzos guys. I'd never do such an irresponsible thing... Also, I've noticed 0.5mg insufflated bupe gets me where I want, which proves Captain.Heroin's point - I wouldn't want to IV more than 0.1mg of bupe. That makes bupe truly the cheapest drug around for me, maybe even cheaper than free lol
 
Lmao. Just because your personal experience with suboxone was great doesn't mean it's like that with other people. This argument can go both ways.
 
^I don't really agree with that statement. You said suboxone should be "banned". While you may not have gotten anything out of it, like you said other peoples experiences might be different. Suboxone should not be denied to others because you don't like it.

And to be truthful, my experience with suboxone has not always been a positive thing, sometimes I hate the idea that I'm still Dependant on opioids, but at the end of the day, I'd rather be taking bupe than heroin.
 
xHippiexchildx said:
Lmao. Just because your personal experience with suboxone was great doesn't mean it's like that with other people. This argument can go both ways.
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You need to take a look at what else might be causing your PAWS. Subs are a life saver and the WD is no where near as bad as H or oxy. Honestly when tapered correctly its very light. Just because you have had a bad time does not mean there is an issue with subs. Pharmacological its our best option at the moment, when you find something better get back to us. Until then, patients need to educate themselves and find physicians that know what their doing. People can always taper using their opioid of choice or give methadone a try but good luck with that.
 
Suboxone is an amazing drug. There is a reason why you can't just get it without being in opiate withdrawal.

If you get it without a doctor's approval and are complaining, you're the only one to blame here.
 
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