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

[Fire&Water]

The 0.3 mg. Buprenex ampules (IM) are by far the most efficient ROA to get the most from Buprenorphine.
Because it is derived from Thebaine, most opioid naive individuals are going to experience pain killing and mood elevating properties, but these benefits will diminish rapidly when used on a regular basis.

One can come close to these effects dissolving 1-3 mg's Subutex in a couple drops of liquor soaked into a Q-Tip cotton and used sublingual, (the longer it lies under the tongue the better) or plugging works just as well given the tiny amount of fluid used, that is water, not alcohol...besides the higher amounts prescribed for opioid abstinence maintenance, the current formulation of Suboxone, Subutex, Subsolv (sp?) are only beneficial in 2 mg (and under doses, or 0.3 IM Buprenex) if used on a very occasional basis.
no matter what you are using it for, or how your body utilizes it...

 

[runescape]

It worked best for me at 2mg, but my symptoms were probably PAWS related and that 2mg was enough to tickle my opioid receptors enough to take away the symptoms. When I got above the 2-3mg range I felt the drug too much, and I don't particularly like the feeling of a big dose of suboxone so I like to stay low. The 2mg was perfect for that since it took away the symptoms yet didn't really alter my mind at all aside from not feeling as shitty. Also no side effects at that dose, whereas I got a lot at higher doses (diminished sex drive, constipation, anxiety, head aches, and tired in the morning, wired at night).

I am trying 2mg doses recently instead of my usual 16-24mg doses (wish I went to this thread sooner so I didn't waste so much suboxone lol). I do find 2mg quite nice and gives me the least side effects. My constipation from 16-24mg was almost worse as my constipation on dope. I have noticed for the past 3 weeks I've been on subs I have had an extremely diminished sex drive also. I haven't had any release since I started it lol. I only get headaches when I swallow the spit, which I guess contains some naloxine.

 

[Fire&Water]

For anyone taking 16-32 mg. Bupe' doses for a few weeks in a row - it's going to take at least that long of basically abstaining from it to notice what the benefits are of a properly administered, sublingual 2 mg's ...

 

[BlueHues]

^Even if your doctor is using Suboxone off-label for depression and claims you need to be on it for eternity, why the fuck would he start you off at the absolute highest amount that can legally be prescribed? Wouldn't he want to find the lowest effective dose and go from there? Starting someone at 32mgs a day leaves no room to raise the dose, is completely unnecessary and won't do anything more than 12mgs will do for you other than increase the side-effect profile.

It's almost like this guy is using you as a guinea pig for his own untested theories of using suboxone for treating depression. Maybe he just likes the idea of your receptors being completely saturated because it just "sounds" like it should work better. I guess some doctors are such ego-maniacs that they don't take patient feedback into account when prescribing meds, they go exclusively off what they've studied about the drug.

There's some people out there that have been seeing doctors, getting prescribed meds and have been around other people on psych meds or pain killers for so long they could probably do a better job of prescribing meds than some of the doctors out there! Half of it's just trial and error anyway.... I guess a doctor should know what meds are contraindicated for certain conditions or when taken in combination with other drugs....allergies etc.

For half of us on BL we could probably do a pretty good job of prescribing meds to ourselves, the doctors appointments are just a nuisance half the time, a hoop you have to jump through. If all drugs were legalized that would be an interesting aspect of it that hasn't been discussed much; people just coming up with their own prescription regimens.

 

[runescape]

For anyone taking 16-32 mg. Bupe' doses for a few weeks in a row - it's going to take at least that long of basically abstaining from it to notice what the benefits are of a properly administered, sublingual 2 mg's ...

so are you saying I have to not touch bupe for 2-3 weeks...? won't i go into bad withdrawal... The first week I took 8mg everyday. Second week 16mg-24mg everyday. I only took 32mg once. I've been taking 8-12mg for the past 3-4 days

 

[runescape]

^Even if your doctor is using Suboxone off-label for depression and claims you need to be on it for eternity, why the fuck would he start you off at the absolute highest amount that can legally be prescribed? Wouldn't he want to find the lowest effective dose and go from there? Starting someone at 32mgs a day leaves no room to raise the dose, is completely unnecessary and won't do anything more than 12mgs will do for you other than increase the side-effect profile.

It's almost like this guy is using you as a guinea pig for his own untested theories of using suboxone for treating depression. Maybe he just likes the idea of your receptors being completely saturated because it just "sounds" like it should work better. I guess some doctors are such ego-maniacs that they don't take patient feedback into account when prescribing meds, they go exclusively off what they've studied about the drug.

There's some people out there that have been seeing doctors, getting prescribed meds and have been around other people on psych meds or pain killers for so long they could probably do a better job of prescribing meds than some of the doctors out there! Half of it's just trial and error anyway.... I guess a doctor should know what meds are contraindicated for certain conditions or when taken in combination with other drugs....allergies etc.

For half of us on BL we could probably do a pretty good job of prescribing meds to ourselves, the doctors appointments are just a nuisance half the time, a hoop you have to jump through. If all drugs were legalized that would be an interesting aspect of it that hasn't been discussed much; people just coming up with their own prescription regimens.

I have no idea :/ I am kind of worried that I followed my doctors advice. When I first met him I thought he had the best intentions for me. He is a very nice person and has great ratings. Although he was very pushy on asking me "do you feel like the best "runescape" or do you think you need more.."? I really had no idea how suboxone worked so I'd say okay I'll take more, in my mind "more of it is stronger". Guess I was wrong. I took 8mg first. The next day he calls me and tells me to raise it to 16mg if I want to. Then the next week 24mg. Then now up to 32mg. I think he thinks more is better or something...? I don't know why. But now I'm not in denial anymore and I believe that I could have been stable on doses less then 8mg if I didn't jump so high already...

I don't think he is prescribing so much suboxone maliciously. Maybe he is just clueless....

Whatever. I'm seeing him next weekend, I'm going to tell him I've been taking 24mgs when in reality I'm going to try to reduce my dose 8mgs. I'm just going to keep the leftover suboxone. My Dad who knows nothing about suboxone, only has been researching it until when I got prescribed, doesn't really know the dosing either. My doctor was trying to assure him that it was fine though at my dose.... -.- my Dad doesn't want me to use too much suboxone either and only wants me to use the needed amount. I'm telling him that I'm taking 3 films still though because I don't know how to address it with him plus my clueless doctor...

will it be a hard jump from 24mg to 2-4mg... :/ I can take 8mg comfortably throughout the day and not crave if I want to.

 

[BlueHues]

^I don't think anyone here is encouraging you to go lower than you're comfortable with, take as much as you feel you need, whatever that turns out to be...It's just that, anything over 16 is completely unnecessary. I don't know that being on that much would make it harder for you in the long run or what, but if nothing else it's a waste of drugs. saving it has been a godsend for me, I've ended up using what I saved or being able to help out others who really needed it.

 

[runescape]

^I don't think anyone here is encouraging you to go lower than you're comfortable with, take as much as you feel you need, whatever that turns out to be...It's just that, anything over 16 is completely unnecessary. I don't know that being on that much would make it harder for you in the long run or what, but if nothing else it's a waste of drugs. saving it has been a godsend for me, I've ended up using what I saved or being able to help out others who really needed it.

Okay. I think I'll try to keep it in the 4-12mg range. I just found out that my insurance doesn't cover more of my subxone. I am going to talk to my doctor and try and get subutex instead heard it is much cheaper

 

[Tommyboy]

so are you saying I have to not touch bupe for 2-3 weeks...? won't i go into bad withdrawal... The first week I took 8mg everyday. Second week 16mg-24mg everyday. I only took 32mg once. I've been taking 8-12mg for the past 3-4 days

More like whatever dose you lower down to will take a week or so for you to really be down to since there's a bunch of it built up in you in higher doses. And as far as dropping your dose, most people are fine with it until they get to like 2mg and below, but the short amount of time you have been on it will work in your favor when lowering down.

 

[Slum Survivor]

damnit! i hurt my lower back... ive been on about 6mg sub for a little over a month. last 4-5 days ive taken about 4mg. i havent taken my dose yet today so its been about 26 hours.

im in severe pain and have to do something. im considering going and grabbing a few bags but dont want to sit here and blast away my money with no gain.

would u all say im better off just taking my sub today like normal, and then maybe trying to take some tramadol afterwards? (since i hear the combo works sometimes)

already trying NSAID's not getting too far.

 

[runescape]

Can doctors who prescribe suboxone prescribe subutex also...? I have read some reports that some prefer the subutex then the suboxone. Probably because of the naloxone or whatever. Anyone have experience with both medications and noticed a difference? I spit out my suboxone btw after I read that it could cause more side effects if you swallow.

 

[Slum Survivor]

my dr wont give subutex out. my old dr would. they just dont understand the naloxone does nothing. im in the same boat bro. bout to go drop a ton of cash for my script.

 

[runescape]

my dr wont give subutex out. my old dr would. they just dont understand the naloxone does nothing. im in the same boat bro. bout to go drop a ton of cash for my script.

dang lol, I haven't talked to my doctor about it but hopefully he will be open to the idea. I don't understand why naloxone is even in there like you said, even if you IV suboxone I heard it doesn't put the user in precipitated w/ds anyways. I just want to see if subutex feels any different.

And if I were you I would stick with the suboxone and not the dope lol, I heard tramadol has some synergistic effects with suboxone but I haven't tried tramadol before.

you're going to drop cash for your suboxone script?

 

[THE_REAL_OBLIVION]

My meth/suboxone docs told me that if I got hurt I had to mention I am on suboxone because they'd have to use less used things like Demerol. Apparently, I could get high on demerol over suboxone, if only I could get some of the 50mg pills again...just kidding, but I liked Demerol a lot, I guess that's part of me being a weird patient. Oh also she said if it was an extreme injury then it would be fentanyl pops.

 

[aesthetics13]

I been searching for the answer to this question everywhere on the web with no results. If I ate 1 single 8 mg film over 5 days at 2, 2, 2, 1, 1. How long would the withdrawal be? I am at about 151 Hours now since my last 1mg.

 

[BlueHues]

^Are you looking for an exact answer based on thatexact amount?

If so, you're gonna have a hard time finding it! Nobody could give you one anyway though...The best way to tell is how you feel now. You're a week in. Things improve gradually with suboxone. IME, the worst of it is over in about 10 days or so.... The acute withdrawal period lasts longer than short-acting opiates though, so if it's been a week and you still feel like complete shit, relax....You're almost out of the woods!

I used heroin for a many years and I've been prescribed Suboxone for over 7, but the majority of those years I never even touched my script, so I'e only gotten off of Sub completely twice. If you were using it just as a detox med to taper off some other opiate for a week your WDs should be considerably shorted than someone coming off of buprenorphine itself. Of course, if you use suboxone for 10+ days the timetable of your detox will be on "suboxone time", not whatever other opiate you were coming off.

It gets complicated when you start factoring in the half-life of suboxone and your individual physiology, so nobody can tell you with absolute certainty how long your withdrawal symptoms will last. I can tell you that, with a week in....things should start improving drastically very soon...Hang in there!

 

[aesthetics13]

^Are you looking for an exact answer based on thatexact amount?

If so, you're gonna have a hard time finding it! Nobody could give you one anyway though...The best way to tell is how you feel now. You're a week in. Things improve gradually with suboxone. IME, the worst of it is over in about 10 days or so.... The acute withdrawal period lasts longer than short-acting opiates though, so if it's been a week and you still feel like complete shit, relax....You're almost out of the woods!

I used heroin for a many years and I've been prescribed Suboxone for over 7, but the majority of those years I never even touched my script, so I'e only gotten off of Sub completely twice. If you were using it just as a detox med to taper off some other opiate for a week your WDs should be considerably shorted than someone coming off of buprenorphine itself. Of course, if you use suboxone for 10+ days the timetable of your detox will be on "suboxone time", not whatever other opiate you were coming off.

It gets complicated when you start factoring in the half-life of suboxone and your individual physiology, so nobody can tell you with absolute certainty how long your withdrawal symptoms will last. I can tell you that, with a week in....things should start improving drastically very soon...Hang in there!

Thank you so much for your time to answer my question! I used H for about 2 months at 1-2 packs a day, then the sub was only one single 8 mg film that I split up in 5 days, I do still feel like shit but it comes in waves. I had to drink alcohol then take xanax to knock me out for a few of the nights, and last night I slept for 8 hours with the help of nothing. It's just seems like it's been so long, and these damn woods are dark, it's hard to see and I feel these demons are hunting down my well being I wanna get out and back into the light! I am hoping tomorrow morning I'm better, but I can only hope. I do have 2 more 2mg bars of Xanax left but I don't wanna risk withdrawal from the benzo's since I used them for a few days already...

 

[BlueHues]

^Man, what you're doing is hard, and nobody is gonna come along and give you a pat on the back! but those of us who've been there understand the guts and stamina it takes to ride it out! You're almost there, don't give up now or it will be all for nothing! If feels really good to be off opiates when the sickness fades and your self-esteem comes back, it's worth it! believe me!

There's this Steven Seagal movie from the '80s called "Hard to Kill"...basically he ends up getting put in a coma for seven years by some bad-ass criminals and wakes up 7 years later....He wants to get revenge, but after being in a coma for 7 years, he's all weak and fucked up...

There's this scene that shows Steven Seagal trying to build himself back up so that he can go get revenge on the people that put him in the coma...It shows him doing all kinds of different excercises and martial arts training...I always think of that scene when I'm kicking opiates and I feel like I can't stand it for another second! It's a fucking battle that takes a lot of mental toughness to get through!

 

[Ian937]

Hang in there aesthetics im rootin for ya! Plz keep us updated when you start to feel good
Myself i have been a 5+ yr H user and using subs 75% of the days in the last year.. I envy your situation trust me..
I recently got fkd over by my subclinic by their terriblr schedulingpractices and ended up back on H , i wanted to bedone with the subs so i ordered about 100grams of kratom from a reliable vendor, and unfortunatley i feel that ive done too much damage to my receptors for kratom to really be an option unless i can really get my tolerance down.. I didnt reallygive it a real shot though because i was so sick by day 2 i ran to the dope spot.. I do not want to be on buprenorphine for much longer but to be honest im not sure i can stay off dope as long asim in this state because the PAWS gets me everytime

I find it interesting how after an H run a few days on subs and I begin to get my sex drive back about.not 100% but still, i know bupe doesnt affect T like full agonists though, i also get my tasteformusic back, energy, overall better mood, i refer to this as a pink cloud but after about 45 days on bupe only i feel like my opiate receptors shut down and suffer crippling depression.. I wonder if thats the bupe or the naloxone.. When i go back to the sub clinic next month i am going to DEMAND Subutex!!

 

[Slum Survivor]

so im having a hard time finding good info on this so ill try asking in here...

i took a "vacation" from my suboxone dose of about 6mg for 30 hours in order to do some dope. i had been on subs at 6mg a day for 5 weeks, and 4mg but using alcohol to increase the BA the last week before the "vacation".

so i got pretty damn high shooting 3 bags of average dope. higher than i expected to get since it had only been 30 hours since my last sub dose.

18 hours after doing that shot of dope, i started to feel a couple w/d symptoms so i figured id be safe to go ahead and take my 4mg of sub(with vodka for BA)
5 mins after i placed the sub under my tongue with the vodka, like normal, i started to feel the effects of precipitated withdrawal coming on slowly. so i rushed and spit out the sub and rinsed out my mouth real good. that halted the PW's from getting any worse, and i took 1mg klonopin and a hot shower to feel a little better and go on with my day.

most people can go back to taking their sub again after taking a dope break without having to wait more than 12 hours, some less than that.

one well experienced person even told me they used to do this all the time, take a day off of sub to get high, and then take the sub again the next day before w/d starts and not experience any PW's

why the heck is the sub giving me PW's??
should i be okay to try a little bit(1-2mg) more and see how i feel since its been about 8 hours since i last tried to take that sub and had to spit it out?