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

[A4Anxiety]

hey all.. I had posted this in the bupe withdrawals thread but thought maybe this would be a better spot for it.. Mods feel free to delete the other post if needed..

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Hey all.. just thought I would chime in and offer my 2 cents..

My love affair with opiates started about 3 years ago when I tried vics for the first time.. The euphoria.. The warm fuzzy feeling.. the itching (lol) .. I loved it all.. After the vics became useless I switched to oxys.. all the same feelings of joy came back.. but after a shortwhile of abuse were also gone..

The habbit got expensive so I stopped using and started to feel withdrawal... So I got on suboxone.. I was on it for a couple of months.. and just realized I was substituting one pill for another (got to love the thought process of a dope addict eh?) lol.. So I relapsed.. and this time I relapsed on dope.. I had tried it before back in the day and loved it and since it was cheaper than oxys.. it became my drug of choice.. black tar heroin.. as it is the only kind you can find out here in LA.. Although I have never banged it I was smoking it everyday for the last 10 months.. about a half a gram a day habbit ($40 sack)..

again I got sick of beign dependant on the dope so again i switched to suboxone.. except this time I told myself.. fuck it.. no more maitenance program.. no more switching one pill for another.. Im going to use these subs for a quick week long detox.. I had a nice supply of subs at home so I didnt even have to go back to the doctor to get more..

my schedule:

day 1: took 6 mgs.. still sweating but most of the worse wd symptoms gone.
day 2: took 6 mgs.. still some sweating.
day 3: took 4 mgs.. still some sweating.. body aches.. tired as hell.. but no large wd symptoms
day 4: took 3 mgs.. still some sweating.. body aches.. tired.
day 5: took 1.5 mgs.. feel like i got run over by a truck.. mild sweating.

day 6 is tomorrow where I will take 1 mg or less.. day 7 will be 0.5.. then I jump off..

From what I have felt this passed 5 days the 7 days of detox will be enough to get the dope withdrawals out of me.. but not bring on the lingering long sub withdrawals.. This in my opinion is the best way to detox unless your on bupe for maitenance..

hope my post helps some people out.. this addiction is a mother fucker.. and the only way your truely going to kick it is when you wake up one day and say FUCK IT. Stay strong mentally.. keep yourself busy.. if you cant get out of bed watch movies.. surf the net.. read about other stories of people trying to get clean.. thats what I have been doing..

Good luck to all..

P.S. ... listen to every single word Captain.Heroin has to say.. I have read this board for years.. even before I signed up a couple years ago.. and this guy is full of knowledge.. all from his past experiences. This community is incredibly lucky to have him.. His advice has personally helped me very much to exercise the demons in my head.

Take care everyone.

 

[A4Anxiety]

Man I have been doing FUCKING OUTSTANDING on bupe.

FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY I can wake up and do all the shit I need. This last week I couldn't possibly explain how much better my life has already got on this medicine. I'm stable, working, doing exactly what i need and enjoying it.

Its pretty amazing that my family becomes more suspect of my behavoir when I'm doing good now. Its really weird. But I've been waking up 7am every morning, working 12 hour days between my internship and side work, and I think just due to how long I've been inactive and bouncing back and forth between wds, anytime I do good now they're like "wtf is wrong with him".

I'm just hoping I can keep this pace up and I honestly have no craving do anything but take my sub and get my life together.

Is there anyway to stop your eyes from dialating so much on bupe though? I mean when I take 2-4mg my eyes usually turn the size of needles. And honestly it makes me turn my face away from people when I'm talking to them. People definitely notice shit like that a lot more than you would think. I caught my internship director locking in on my pupils, and I turned my head so quickly she didn't say anything. And you might ask "how do you know she was even looking at them"? Its because people will look at your face in a casual way, and will glance back and forth like in a normal conversation. But when they notice your pupils it seems they will stare directly at your eyes, and not flinch for 3-4 seconds. Its like a weird "lock in" they do on the center of your eyes.

I feel like everyones staring at them now and I wish there was a way to "undialate" your pupils.

This is a double edge sword my friend.. your internship director might think your a quack for having small pupils.. but if you have some exotic eye color like blue or green or hazel or something like that then everytime you look a woman in the eyes theyll get real weak in the knees.. and youve got yourself a new friend.

 

[Pegasus]

How do you know that your director was giving you the glances due to your pupils? Maybe you were just obviously nervous and the tension made him/ her uneasy, hence uneasy glances. Just a thought.

 

[PurpleLibra]

I wanted to check in and say hello to my fellow Bupers. I've been all over the place lately, playing catch up with life now that I'm not friends with that fucking Roxi anymore. Bitch stole nearly three of my life and now I'm making up for lost time.

Anyhoo... I started on 12mgs (or was it 16?? Can't remember) of Bupe back in October. I have found an AMAZING doctor who is dropping me at my own pace and she doesn't charge an arm and a leg. Additionally, she gives me 4mgs of Xanax a day, which is awesome. Doc thinks that I am down to 4 mgs a day of the Bupe, but I've dropped a lot more than that. I've managed to hoard about 40, 8mg pills since I decided to fake my need for more Bupe about three months ago. I don't know what I'm down to. I snort them, and I crush a pill in my handy pill crusher/carrier about every three to four days, so I'm down to 2 to 3 mgs a day.

I have found Bupe to be a lifesaver. I'm getting things done... and getting them done effectively and efficiently. The judge I work for was transferred to a strictly criminal division, and that's my forté, so I'm totally digging it. Prior to becoming a Judicial Assistant, I was a paralegal for a criminal defense firm that specialized in homicides and sex crimes. Lovely!

However, even though I worked as a paralegal and my title was paralegal, I was never registered as a paralegal because I was always too bombed on Roxi's to ever study and take the fucking test which is about as hard as taking the bar. I FINALLY got that taken care of and I'm certified and a member of the Florida Bar, now! Additionally, being in criminal and working for a judge, I NEED access to certain databases to which I need to be certified to use, so next Thursday is my test for NCIC and the FBI's database and on Friday I'm taking the test to get certified in DAVID which is a driver's license database of everyone in all 50 states. So, I have been extremely busy, studying like a college student for the love of all things holy.

So, back to the Suboxone..... when I first got on the Bupe, I got it filled at Doc's office because I know my local pharmacists. I didn't want them to know... However, I have since realized that it's just STUPID to pay $9 a pill when my insurance will cover it. So, I headed into my local CVS and handed the scripts over to the pharmacist, whom I know by name. She sorta looked at me funny.... surprised like... And I simply said, "Suboxone has saved my life....." She smiled and simply said, "Good. I'm really glad." Now when I go in and she notices that I've gone down in my intake, she's very supportive. I wish more people understood the benefits of Suboxone.

I tell you... There's a website out there that completely RIPS Suboxone a new asshole anytime anyone brings it up. I'm sorry, but I'd rather be on Suboxone and be sober and able to live my life normally.... NOT taking 10 Roxi's a day and so bombed I couldn't answer a friggin' phone at work. Not to mention the money I'm saving. And I won't even go into the amount of work I missed because I ran out of Roxi's and I can't work while detoxing..... or freaking out about where I'm getting my next fix from. Dear GOD that was no way to live. I can't believe I did it for as long as I did. Had I known the true benefits of Suboxone, I would have gone on it a long time ago.

So... Ramble ramble! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to write a novella, but I just did a little bump of some kick ass coke and I'm chatty as all hell. Hee!


I need to shout out to Captain Heroin! How you doing? I know this isn't a social thread, but I just had to add that!

 

[BlueberryfishY]

I just started suboxone film 8mg 2 days ago, and i have never felt this good since befor i ever got into opiates.

Thank you suboxone, and thank you to my doctor who is really cool about everything.


I have my life back!!!

just an unrelated followup to my use of the Butrans 20mcg/hr transdermal 7-day patch:

abandoned ship after 6 days. the 20mcg/hr just wasn't enough to have the analgesic effect i needed. it was virtually immediately effective in relieving some strangely serious Nucynta withdrawal effects I was experiencing.

I switched back to the sublingual Suboxone strips. Only change was that my Dr upped my dosage rather abruptly to one 8mg strip 4x/day for a total of 32mg of Suboxone daily- which i believe is also considered to be the ceiling dose.

still 32mg of suboxone a day... i need this drug for medium term (couple of months) pain relief, not for addiction treatment. will I not build a tolerance? or does suboxone resist that?

i guess i could always throw a couple of nucynta on top of all that for the most euphoria-free mega-high anyone has ever not felt.

sad, kinda.

32mg of Sub a day? that is ridiculously high and uncalled for.

try 16mg a day, take one 8mg in the AM and one 8mg in the PM and see how that works, you are waaay over prescribed on the suboxone.

 

[cire113]

I tell you... There's a website out there that completely RIPS Suboxone a new asshole anytime anyone brings it up. I'm sorry, but I'd rather be on Suboxone and be sober and able to live my life normally....

UM yes man..!!!! Suboxone rules... Im considering staying on it atleast a few yrs considering my history and past... I feel stable on sub after about a month now... and shit i love it..

It absolutely makes me feel like i did before my addiction.... There is no shame in taking it for me... no reason to taper off it either... hell no ... I have no side effects, i feel 100% normal... i take about 2mgs 2x a day... dont feel high which is great... My receptors are fully saturated i don't think about opiates..

More time that goes by the better its getting...


I used to feel guilty taking it or should i take it... Its just opiate for opiate... but compared to taking oxy and shits its totally different it is a unique opiate for sure...

Much cleaner than methadone too

 

[PurpleLibra]

I just started suboxone film 8mg 2 days ago, and i have never felt this good since befor i ever got into opiates.

Thank you suboxone, and thank you to my doctor who is really cool about everything.


I have my life back!!!

It only gets better, Blueberry! It's easy to drop the amount you're taking, too. I swear, sometimes I think when I take less, I feel more of a little buzz. It's weird.

What's super awesome is waking up and not craving a pill! Going hours without even thinking about a pill!

 

[Bojangles69]

I love how one sub user tells another sub user their dose is too high (a 16mg user telling a 32mg user) because I definitely think 16mg a day is too high lol. I only take 2-4mg a day and theres likely someone under me who thinks my dose is too high.

But honestly I think anything above 8mg a day is too high. I was taking a truckload of pods along with 500mg a tram a day and going to 4mg was perfect for me.

Anyway I'm sure it will be different for people but 16mg still seems like overkill no matter how badass your habit was.

This marks the end of my first week on sub, and its the best week I've had in years. That is no bs. Not only have I made more money, worked more hours, gone to the gym, ate healthy, and got all my uni work done for graduation... but I also hooked up with the first chick I've hooked up with in about 2 years. And even more wound up getting another girls number.

I not only have a sex drive on sub, but a very potent seductive prowess on it. Its NOTHING like full agonists that murder not only my sex drive but empathy for females in general. Out of nowhere apparently I have "game" again. And along with everything else I am now officially in no hurry to get off this stuff. I'll still taper slowly but theres no point fixing something that isn't broke. Sub has gone beyond stablizing my life at this point, I feel like I'm actually getting my life back.

Anyway, quick question. The films are too damn expensive although I can afford them I'd like to get something cheaper. I'm going in to see my dr tommorow is there a such thing as generic film yet?

If not, should I ask him for sub tabs instead? I heard they're $x cheaper each w/out insurance ($x for film which I already pay and $x for tabs) but maybe I should ask for the generic tabs instead?
Those have to be even cheaper I would assume.

If anyone knows I'd appreciate it. Want to ask him tommorow, thanks.

-Bo

 

[villian]

glad to here you are doing well bo

i would ask him to switch you to the tabs for sure. i paid $8/each in 2004 so i would think the price would of went down at least a bit 7 years later. call around to different pharmacies the prices varies a bit from place to place.

if he will write you subutex it is available as generic..you can't get generic film and I'm 90% sure you can't get generic suboxone yet either

 

[cire113]

All you can get is generic subutex im pretty sure....

Also just to let you know sub is addictive and coming off it is just as hard any opiate imo... So unless you plan to stay on it a while i would use caution because it is an addiction albeit way healthier than any other opiate no comparison....just fyi

Sub is def a miracle drug

 

[A4Anxiety]

I love how one sub user tells another sub user their dose is too high (a 16mg user telling a 32mg user) because I definitely think 16mg a day is too high lol. I only take 2-4mg a day and theres likely someone under me who thinks my dose is too high.

But honestly I think anything above 8mg a day is too high. I was taking a truckload of pods along with 500mg a tram a day and going to 4mg was perfect for me.

Anyway I'm sure it will be different for people but 16mg still seems like overkill no matter how badass your habit was.

This marks the end of my first week on sub, and its the best week I've had in years. That is no bs. Not only have I made more money, worked more hours, gone to the gym, ate healthy, and got all my uni work done for graduation... but I also hooked up with the first chick I've hooked up with in about 2 years. And even more wound up getting another girls number.

I not only have a sex drive on sub, but a very potent seductive prowess on it. Its NOTHING like full agonists that murder not only my sex drive but empathy for females in general. Out of nowhere apparently I have "game" again. And along with everything else I am now officially in no hurry to get off this stuff. I'll still taper slowly but theres no point fixing something that isn't broke. Sub has gone beyond stablizing my life at this point, I feel like I'm actually getting my life back.

Anyway, quick question. The films are too damn expensive although I can afford them I'd like to get something cheaper. I'm going in to see my dr tommorow is there a such thing as generic film yet?

If not, should I ask him for sub tabs instead? I heard they're $x cheaper each w/out insurance ($x for film which I already pay and $x for tabs) but maybe I should ask for the generic tabs instead?
Those have to be even cheaper I would assume.

If anyone knows I'd appreciate it. Want to ask him tommorow, thanks.

-Bo

lol.. I completely know what you mean by the first part of your post when sub users tell other sub users that theyre dose is too high.. I can definitely relate... im in the camp that believes that suboxone shouldnt be used for more than a week for a detox.. Using bupe longer just means that sooner or later you have to deal with its own withdrawals which are much longer.. but depending on how slow your taper is and how low of a dose your on when you quit it could be near painless..

Although I dont condone it myself I completely understand why people use it for maitenance and Im happy for anyone whos found a new way of life by being on bupe..

as to your question about if you should get pills, films, generics, etc.. When my doc was prescribing them to me I only had a choice between the 8 mg and 2mb suboxone pills.. and they were the same price so I went with the 8 mg.. I would go with the same because you can always water measure when you taper down to very low doses.. and Ive heard the film eats away at your under tongue area over time..

Good luck to you man.. I hope you have a safe and happy life on bupe.. for whatever duration you choose.

 

[Bojangles69]

/\ Thanks man. As far as maintenance goes I don't understand why people take bupe for a fast detox. Theres no point whatsoever as all you effectively do is delay wds, drop off the sub, and here they come again. I can understand tapering another opiate, then taking one dose of sub as the last dose to dilute the wds over the course of a few days (which I've seen done before successfully) but as powerful as sub is, its not "detoxing" you off anything. If you do a fast taper, then you're merely tapering off an opiate. And in that case why even jump off your original opiate in the first place?

Unless you prefer the lack of compulsiveness with sub, but in terms of helping you wds I don't see a reason.
As far as sub maintenance goes my question is WHY would anyone want to maintain an oxy habit or morphine habit? You wind up in wds every 4-6 hours of your day. Drastic mood/energy changes several times daily, it turns your life into a nightmare. Still, tons of people maintain oxy/dope habits.

Sub gives you a steady and consistent supply all day long. No ups and downs.
As far as wds go, I've came off pods and for ME, pod wds were about 100xs worse than what sub did to me. In fact, when I came off .25mg sub I had >>>0<<< physical wds whatsoever. All I got was paws.

You maintain on sub so you can first straighten your life out, start eating right, working/working out, so when it comes time to stop opiates you'll be happier, healthier, more positive, and the wd syndrome will effect less then if you're smoking 5 packs a day and eating 1 meal a week.
Also, every single person I see complaining about how "evil" sub wds are people who royally fucked up what they like to call a "taper". They say "oh no!!! I jumped off .5mg and got the most evil wds ever!! horrendous!! this med is shit!!! drs are pill pushers and the world is corrupt!!!!!!! blah blah"

Then you find out their taper was 32mg > 16mg > 8mg > 2 mg > .5mg off. No wonder the wds killed you.
My point is I had to go through a lot of on/off bullshit figuring out how to taper off sub. And the key (for me) is staying on .25mg for a minimum of 3 weeks at the end and jumping off. Thats my foolproof tapering strategy for sub which worked great.

And the whole fact that I value tapering as much as I do, and consider it one of the most important things to do to get off opiates, really only makes that much more sense for me to be on sub. Its really the perfect opiate for tapering. I'm not even talking a 1-2 month taper. That type of shit is for ssris. For something like sub you need a 3month minimum taper, 4-5 months even better, and like I said towards the end you need to be superlow and be at that point for several weeks. I tried a 3 month taper with pods, got down to less to 4gms, and wds from that were worse than what I felt like when I was on 1mg sub.

I really think people who think that just don't see the larger picture. Sub is a great maintenance drug, as well as once of the easiest opiates to stop IF YOU do it the right way. All I know is it works for me, I have no fear coming off it because I had to go through a lot of bullshit just to figure my own sweet spot for jumping off sub. And I'm not sure how long I'll be on it, but I was planning on staying on for the summer so I can start a career and start saving some cash. Once I have money in my bank and feel stable, and have created enough of a gap from my previous "get high every minute" lifestyle, then I'll taper.

Thanks for the good wishes though, very appreciated.
And no the dr wouldn't prescribe subutex... although oddly he allows me to smoke pot which is weird lol (I realize a good share of drs are just idiots) but he did give me a $45 off voucher for when I fill my next 30, so I was happy about that.

 

[Bojangles69]

Also as a seperate unrelated note about constipation. I haven't shit in 2 days and for the most part have been shitting once a day on sub. So theres definitely some back up going on down there (I realize 2 days is nothing to some of the other once a week shitters in here).

But I'm trying to find the "magic" amount of mineral oil I need daily to shit at least twice a day. I just took 6 tablespoons like an hour ago so if a shit I'll report back lol. I tried a bit of metamucil yesterday and it didn't do anything, so we'll see. Someone in here recommended activia, but I just couldn't see that working. Either way I may have to give it a shot if this plan fails too.

 

[A4Anxiety]

some liquid magnesium should help with constipation if needed.. it did wonders for me when I was on high doses of H and sub as well..

Although I agree with mostly everything you said about bupe being a miracle drug for maitenance I think you are a bit misinformed with how a quick sub detox works.. Your not delaying wd's in anyway... you take the sub for a short enough period to take away the wds from your drug of choice but not bring on the lingering withdrawals of long term sub use.. most inpatient rehab/detox clinics will do a 3-7 day taper using sub or methadone.. although you dont feel 10000% at the end the majority of the severe withdrawal symptoms are gone and your pretty much entering paws.. and its a hell of alot better than going cold turkey.. I can completely vouch for this as I just did this myself over 7 days and the physical symptoms are gone... the mental symptoms however.. thats a whole different animal ... and thats where longer term maitenance will defintely do a better job at..

also agree with people who talk shit about sub after doin ga 32mg -> 16mg ->8mg ->2mg .. etc taper .... what can you do.. some people are just tards. lol

once again Bo.. i couldnt be happier for you man.. Keep up the excellent work.

 

[Bojangles69]

Ok I see. If you say you've done it I definitely can't argue with that.
I must have seen at least 20-30 threads on here about fast sub tapers although I'm yet to see one actually end as the original posters always dissappear before updating and I assume thats because most just go back to using.
If you're saying it doesn't just delay wds from your first opiate of choice then thats pretty fucking cool imo. I may actually have to give it a shot myself one day. Maybe I'll use a short acting opiate to do a rapid detox off the sub. But in all honesty like you said about the mental symptoms, thats what I care about the most. Its never the physical wds that break me but the PAWs. And thats even more reason I think to do a very slow and drawn out taper to get as low as possible.

Thanks again though I've never actually heard anyone say rapid detoxes work, so thats pretty motivating to hear. I remember I did a rapid detox in detox (or pretty close to one) and they gave me tons of darvocet the whole time (600mg a day) and although darvs are weak as shit it did definitely seem to moderate the wds down a bit. And when I stopped the darvs had no more physical wds. So I don't see why I was assuming that honestly. I think it was just the sheer strength of sub. that made me think it.

I appreciate the feedback and I'm going to pick up a bottle of that liquid magnesium tommorow. For some reason I always though that was for heartburn but if it makes you shit I definitely need it. Its been about 2 hours now since I downed the mineral oil and still no shitting. So I'll do magnesium tommorow and if that fails ativia as a last resort lol.

peace and love to all my fellow opiate users - Bo (starting to sound like a hippy on this shit lol)

 

[A4Anxiety]

the liquid magnesium is just loaded with SUGAR.. its as if you took a jar of sugar and started downing it .. its real strong.. and if it doesnt produce a bowel movement right away.. dont be alarmed.. because it will definitely bring it in the next day or 2.. youll know because the next day youll have the strong urge to take a dump and it will be a mix of solid and liquid diaharreaish almost.. if your so backed up that it wont come out right away its definitely sitting inside you just pushing and pushing and much as it can till it finally comes out.. you will feel SO MUCH better after you take a nice shit.. in my case after i would down the bottle of magnesium it would always produce about 3 good bowel movements for me without pain.. then i would load up on another bottle when needed.

..they gave you darvs in detox? no shit huh? ive never heard about a clinic doing that but man.. thats a hell of a great idea! was it pretty painless? and how many days was it?

 

[Pegasus]

IMO Darvocet is way down on the list of drugs to give someone trying to quit opiates. It's better than nothing I'm sure but if it's a clinic giving the medicine, they should use the medicines better suited for this... Too bad kratom isn't patentable I guess.

 

[cire113]

I find that the constipation with Sub is much less than with other opiates...

Also the whole thing about sub used for detox or maintence really depends on the individual....
It is the shit for rapid detox though...
most drs either believe in one or the other though its weird... lol

 

[A4Anxiety]

cire.. I think that some doctors who believe in long term maitenance could also be in it for the money.. The more a patient comes back.. the more money the doc makes of course.. Although doctors are only allowed to have 30 suboxone patients at one time due to policy so you would think that they wouldnt want to keep some patients around forever so they can make room for new ones.. The crooked doctors probably dont follow this policy anyway.. There were times I would go to my doctors office in the late afternoon and there were already well over 30 names on the sign in sheet.. and seeing how most of her patients were there for bupe treatment.. and to estimate the ones who would even come after me during that day.. it would be safe to say my doc didnt give 2 shits about the 1:30 ratio allowed lol.. and im sure the same could be said for the other docs who think money first.. I bet its easy as hell for them to make things look nice and pretty for an audit.. then resume business as usual.. Cant say I blame them.. Id probalby do the same thing in their shoes... If you can treat 30 patients at once.. you can treat 100 at once as well... anyway..

my vote is definitely sub for rapid detox.. my doc wanted to keep me on it forever too... I just bs'd about how much I was taking to make her happy.. stock piled the rest of the left over pills.. they definitely came in handy.. I used them to detox off my latest 10 month love affair with heroin.. 7 days on sub.. first 2 days were the worst as my body adjusted.. from there on it was a breeze in comparison to cold turkey... still got a whole bunch of sub left.. the only thing that worries me is i might think of them as a safety net to relapse again and say.. "got plenty left for another rapid detox.. so why not have some more fun" ... and thats the double edged sword I speak of.. if I was on maitenance.. relapse wouldnt be a worry.. without it.. its up to me.. and me alone to fight the mental war against my demons. Wish me luck fellas.

 

[SubDude]

^First off good luck!

I believe the regs changed [in the us] and subs dr's can treat 100 patients now. Of course individual states can overide feds on something like this but doubt they would bother. I had a situation where i lived near a state line separated by a river... while on methadone maint. One state only allowed a maximum of 2 weeks takehomes and the other allowed monthly once you qualified.

Yes some dr's are in it for the money due to the large fees they charge verses others. You can see the differences in the posts here regarding costs. Some pay very little or nothing depending on dr and/or circumstances. I personally pay nothing due getting it thru VA health care treatment. They even reimberse my milage to and from. I could even get a VA van to pick me up and take home if I didn't have car or couldn't drive. Not saying it's right but thats how the system works. The VA dr's aren't in it for the money because their salary is about $110,000 unless they do contract and consulting.

If you're doing a quick bupe detox [from opiates] cost wouldn't seem to matter that much in the long term. Unfortunately a lot of people need long term maintenence after learning their behavioral patterns and what happens when they get off. Many variables involved.