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

[Mr.Scagnattie]

See, the bupe never helped me "not want" to use. All it did was keep me from getting sick. It evened me out so I could function, but the desire to stop taking it and go and get high was always there. Maybe I'm just not done taking the abuse, hah. But, let's not get into that topic. That's for more of dark side thread. And yeah, NYC is the shit. These days, with the massive influx of heroin from the middle east, it's super hard to stay straight haha. There is just dope everywhere. The market is flooded with it and prices are way down. Some good quality shit as dealers are feeling the competition and in turn are selling stronger shit for less money. Hard to stay sober when it seems like the streets are coated in H up to my knees.

 

[Swain]

I really think going back to dope is not the right decision. Think about if someone was asking you for advice, I think you would advice against it. But dope will do that to you, that shit gets in your head so bad it will make you find any reason be it rational or not to use it.

There is absolutely no reason dope needs to be in the picture. If the withdrawals from stopping the bupe are too intense, taper slower. Keep titrating down to seriously a spec of dust, start skppping as many days as you can, if you really get it low you will not have bad withdrawals. My friend was on it for a few years and gor REALLY low using the water measuring method..and he didnt even miss a days work when he detoxed. He literally walked off it.. it got to the point where every 4 days he was taking such a small amount that he eventually had to just tell him self, I dont need this anymore.

If you start doing dope, a full agonist, a compulsive drug, you are playing with fire. You are going to be transitioning back and forth from a full agonist to a partial..which is not as pleasant and easy as it may seem on paper. It's an excuse to use. It's the addiction darkness in your crying out, trying to take over, but fight that shit man. Where you are at took a lot fo hard work. Being at 1mg buprenorphine and not having any problems constantly using dope is something to be very proud of.

That being said.. taper taper taper, and don't rush it. You need to get REALLY low dosage wise, and you need to level out there.

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

You're right. God, hah..It's so selfish right, to just.. almost be willing to deal with all the potential fall out from a relapse, all just to feel that feeling again. Like..I want to feel high so bad that, I'm ready to just say.. cool, I'll except whatever the negative condequces are, the detox, all of that shit.. because I selfishly, just want to be high. And people wonder why they call it a disease...hah. We're fucked in the head.

Anyway, I took a little extra bupe just now to get me through today.. and maybe I'll hit up a meeting tonight even though I hate that shit.

 

[Swain]

Man I totally feel you.. like 2 years ago I had 30 days clean off all drugs.. and it was like clock work.. I was doing great then bam my "disease" fuckin kindled up or something. I was keeping a journal and seriously I went from positve posts for 30 days to just falling off hard. I essentially ended up planning my relapse. I should have handled it differently..

The insanity of it was that I only planned to use one day to get it out of my system..I actually convinced my self that that may work and was logical. When history told me what the results would be. The insanity of addiction was expecting different results.. like this time I would be able to use just that one time, or chip, or wwhatever. It;s all fucking lies. My one day turned into 3 years. Man do I wish I could be at that 30 day point, fully detoxed almost through paws. I am at such a worse point now and it was WAY harder for me to get detoxed etc.. than it as back then.

I will tell you this.. it will be much easier to stay the current course you are on mr scagnatti, than it will be to recover from a relapse. If you are anythign like me.. as soon as you get that full agonist in you, it's off to the races and god only knows if and when you'll make it back.

 

[A Weird Glow]

I'm quitting a 60 - 90 mg daily oxy habit tomorrow that has been going on for 3 months. I have 12 mg of subs. Should I just go cold turkey or should I use the subs? If I use the subs, when should I start and how should I dose it?

 

[Znegative]

^merging with the suboxone/buprenorphine megathread.

what dose are you on? High dosages tend to cause more side effects.

 

[Mr. Meowfish]

I have ABSOLUTELY had this experience....I was on Suboxone from AUG/SEPT of 2011 until DEC. 28th 2011.......I can give the exact date because I can remember my life completely changing. I was sick and fucking tired of my sub doctor, I was FUCKING DONE paying No prices for my prescription every month PLUS the $250 a month the doc charges......so I went in for my appointment and told the Dr. that I was sick of Suboxone, sick of throwing away my $$$ every month just to feel irritable, miserable, depressed, and still having AWFUL urges to use.
The naloxone DOES NOT help you want dope any less, for me it just made me feel like shit and be a pissed off bum who just lays on the couch all day. My life DID NOT improve while on Suboxone, it only SLIGHTLY stabilized, and by that I simply mean I wasn't running around every day chasing.........but I was by NO MEANS any better at all!
So I go to my doc on the 28th, tell him I want Subutex or I'm fucking out of the program. I refuse to pay No prices a month out of my pocket when I can get the "same" medication in a generic form for LESS THAN HALF THE PRICE. I mainly did it at the time to save money more than anything else........but then I started taking the Subutex instead. After 2-3 days, all of the nasty Suboxone feeling gone, no more foggy head, no more inability to get up, actual mood stability, I don't sleep all day, every now and then I even feel......dare I say it......a little bit HAPPY. I am SO THANKFUL that I made the switch. If you're having feelings similar to what I was having, maybe try and get your doctor to let you switch over. You will save a lot of money and hassle.
I have since had to take Suboxone 1 time a couple of months ago, I had to move my appointment back and I ran out of meds a couple of days early.........I figured "Hey everybody says that this shit is EXACTLY the same as Subutex, why should I have to be sick just because I haven't made it to my appointment yet." NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!! The Naloxone in the meds made me SO MUCH FUCKING SICKER THAN I WAS IN THE FIRST PLACE.........Thus I came to found out, the problem all along was that I am ALLERGIC to naloxone. This may be your problem as well, do some research on Naloxone/Naltrexone............It is NOT APPROVED for daily use. It is completely UNWANTED and UNNEEDED in Buprenorphine. If you can make the switch, do it. Fuck EVIL doctors getting massive kickbacks off of MY addiction. FUCK YOU SUB DOCS. TAKE YOUR BILLIONS AND RUN!! Us junkies don't matter a bit, we're just human beings too.

 

[phactor]

I'm not depressed or anything just slightly irritable sometimes. I'm only on 2mgs I meant to clarify just slipped my mind. I've been on suboxone back a year ago but when I went to treatment decided to get off because I wanted to be completely clean. I was on 16mg back then only for a short time when I was waiting to go away to treatment but not using dope. I've had slight relapse problems so while originally apprehensive about suboxone I've decided for now it will be best. Everything else has been going great going to school got a job...just was wondering bout that slight irritability and its a real chemical induced one like I said I feel it pulling on my eyes kinda thing. And its not all the time like I said everything's really great I just love feedback from bluelight and although its not a huge problem I like putting it out there for brainstorming. Thanks everyone you are a great crowd.

All opiates can make people become pretty fucking irritable. Suboxone however, probably effected me the least. I am just getting off of it now, I have been on it for 1 1/2 years. It really helped me out and the WD have not been bad because of my taper.

Suboxone did start to make me very lazy, especially when I got into the lower dosage range. I actually was doing chores yesterday and getting things done instead of waiting for the last minute.

 

[brokenpinky]

taper

All opiates can make people become pretty fucking irritable. Suboxone however, probably effected me the least. I am just getting off of it now, I have been on it for 1 1/2 years. It really helped me out and the WD have not been bad because of my taper.

Suboxone did start to make me very lazy, especially when I got into the lower dosage range. I actually was doing chores yesterday and getting things done instead of waiting for the last minute.

If you don't mind me asking?
How did you do your taper? I'm doing one now from Subs. I started subs near the end of January of this year. I started at about 12mg then have tapered down to 1.5mg a day, that's what i'm on now I just dropped to that dose yesterday I feel pretty good. I went from 2mg to 1.5.

I"m just a little miffed how I should go about it from here. I'm doing 1mg in the morning and .5mg about 8 to 10hours later in the afternoon. I was wondering if I should just start taking it once a day or keep splitting my dose?
I imagine there will be a time when I have to take it just once a day and would like to know about when I should do that in my taper.

Oh by the way.. Way to go with getting off these Subs, hope things work out for you from here on out.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Hey bluelighters,
Been reading posts on here for awhile, always been real helpful. I post some questions more often now too...you guys are a great crowd. Anyway I was wondering if any of you guys feel a little bit chemically induced irritability while on Suboxone. It kind of starts with a pulling on the eyes and just a sense of irritability and its pretty discomforting. Anyway kind of in a rush just seeing if you guys can relate and have any advice.

When I was first IVing buprenorphine, if I did too much, I would get super, super irritable/irritated.

Try a lower dosage!

 

[DerekPetrino]

Hell all. I'm hoping somebody can help me out with an answer here - I've been on Sub for the last 5 weeks and have tapered from starting at 4mgs/day down to .5 mgs/day for the last 5 days. Over the next couple days I plan on going down to .25mg/day.

My problem/question - I may have to take a work related drug test in the next day or two and I know it includes a bupe panel. It's not a fancy test just a 12-panel positive or negative test, but like I said it does include BUPE. My sub doctor says my dose is so low at .05 mg/day (and maybe .25/day by the time I take the test) that it won't show as positive on a simple pos/neg panel test. Can anyone confirm this or share their experience?

Thank you!!!!

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

I was down to 1mg a day...then stupidly went out and got high for three days, not even doing that much dope..and today I had to take 4mg to get well.. now my taper is all fucked up. Sometimes I think I'll never be off of either heroin or suboxone. I don't even remember what it feels like to be totally "sober", to feel normal without having to take anything. Now I have to call my doc and get another script when last month was supposed to be it..fuck me.

 

[SubDude]

Hell all. I'm hoping somebody can help me out with an answer here - I've been on Sub for the last 5 weeks and have tapered from starting at 4mgs/day down to .5 mgs/day for the last 5 days. Over the next couple days I plan on going down to .25mg/day.

My problem/question - I may have to take a work related drug test in the next day or two and I know it includes a bupe panel. It's not a fancy test just a 12-panel positive or negative test, but like I said it does include BUPE. My sub doctor says my dose is so low at .05 mg/day (and maybe .25/day by the time I take the test) that it won't show as positive on a simple pos/neg panel test. Can anyone confirm this or share their experience?

Thank you!!!!

I don't think it will show up. When I was down at 1/2 MG sublingual they kept accusing me of not taking my dose. I'm tested on a monthly basis. In fact I even had problems of it showing at 1mg. So now I take 2mg for 2-3 days prior to test. These are Govt [VA] screens and are sophisticated enough to tell them if your taking more than one benzo and can identify them. 99% it won't show and if it does... maybe you can get your dr to tell them it's prescribed for pain.

 

[DerekPetrino]

I don't think it will show up. When I was down at 1/2 MG sublingual they kept accusing me of not taking my dose. I'm tested on a monthly basis. In fact I even had problems of it showing at 1mg. So now I take 2mg for 2-3 days prior to test. These are Govt [VA] screens and are sophisticated enough to tell them if your taking more than one benzo and can identify them. 99% it won't show and if it does... maybe you can get your dr to tell them it's prescribed for pain.

thanks, dude! I was down to 1mg on a former suboxne stint and got tested at my dr. a few times and it didn't test as positive for BUP. He was cool with it too b/c he said usually when people get down to 1mg or less (some people even at 2mgs) it usually doesn't show on a test. I just don't trust these guys sometimes and wanted to make sure others have had the same experience.

I've also done some research and found that all "panel" tests use the same cut-off concentration of 10 ng/mL for bupe. That seems to be pretty consistent across the board. With all that said, I think I'll be fine. Even if I do come up positive, which I doubt I will, I don't think it will be that big of a deal as my DR. will vouch for me and say it's for pain. I just don't want to have to deal with it if I don't have to.

thanks again.

 

[phactor]

If you don't mind me asking?
How did you do your taper? I'm doing one now from Subs. I started subs near the end of January of this year. I started at about 12mg then have tapered down to 1.5mg a day, that's what i'm on now I just dropped to that dose yesterday I feel pretty good. I went from 2mg to 1.5.

I"m just a little miffed how I should go about it from here. I'm doing 1mg in the morning and .5mg about 8 to 10hours later in the afternoon. I was wondering if I should just start taking it once a day or keep splitting my dose?
I imagine there will be a time when I have to take it just once a day and would like to know about when I should do that in my taper.

Oh by the way.. Way to go with getting off these Subs, hope things work out for you from here on out.

I was started on a 8 a day. So I stayed on 8 for a few months, until I got my shit sorted and felt that my body and mind had done alot of healing. I was completely sober at the time (I only have a few beers once in awhile nowdays). Eventually I decided that I wanted to get off. Reduced it by a milligram a month.

Once I got too .75 I did start splitting into twice a day. I have an extremely fast metabolism, so even with twice a day dosing I was still waking up slightly sick. When I got too .25 I just took it once later in the day and put up with some WD symptoms (that seemed to go away as the day went on). Once you start getting this low (below 1 mg) you are going to feel some withdrawal. You have to fight through it and stay on the doses for at least a week. I am still getting some symptoms when I try to sleep, and its diffcult to fall asleep, however during the day I feel totally fine. I'd say two days were "rough" but nothing I couldn't handle. Nowhere near as bad as full agonist withdrawal.

Thanks for the well wishes, if I can do it you can too. You just have to set your mind too it, prepare, get comfort meds if possible and do it. Also, LISTEN TO WHAT YOUR BODY TELLS YOU! It will let you know when you are ready to drop.

 

[sonic]

I've been able to quit sub before, but this last round of addiction and recovery was harder on me. I was doing opiates to nod and not just get high which required lots of opiates and money.
At the time I got on sub to save money and I didn't even have insurance. Now I'm finding it hard to taper. There isn't much of an incentive right now for me to taper. It'd be nice to have some stored just in case, but that'd be the only reason I'd lower my dose right now.
Any little adjustment in my dosing makes it hard to sleep, gives me headaches, sweating, etc.
I was on tablets for a while, then I moved and found a new doctor who only gave out the film. I like the film more. I'm somewhat forced to take it sublingually instead of snorting it and the film is very effective sublingually. I'm still at 16mg/day. I take ~6mg in the morning, ~6mg around 6pm, and another 6 before I go to bed. I guess I should weigh the film with an mg scale and try to cut rectangles so I can accurately do 4-5mg doses to start tapering. I know that a few years ago it was very easy to go from 12mg/day to 8mg and then the jump to 4mg/day wasn't so bad. This time I'm just feeling more side effects and I have a somewhat stressful and busy life but that's no real excuse.
I don't know how I'm going to be able to get off sub this time. I need motivation. I'll probably be forced to eventually quit for whatever reason and I'll cope as necessary. I can always take kratom, tramadol, etc. to keep myself out of full blown withdrawal so I can maintain a semi-normal life.
The only advice I have about sub is to get on it if you can, it's a much better option than being on oxy/dope and you're much less likely to OD. As for quitting that's the tricky part but it can be done slowly.

 

[tricomb]

It's much easier than methadone to taper, but once you get to like, the 2mg/day part, that's when it is most difficult. 16mg a day is a lot, but what works for you, works.

If I were you, I'd be happy if I got down to 8mg/day for long-term maintenance, like 4mg morning, 4mg night. Remember that since you have the films, you can still make an aqueous solution for use with other ROA's, which can be useful when you get to submilligram dosing.

The lower, the better, to an extent, with buprenorphine

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Yeah for real..getting off of 1-2mg's is a bitch. Cutting down to it wasn't really a problem..granted I did it very gradually. However, after using for a few days this past week..I ended up needing 4-6mg to get well instead of the 1mg I was taking prior to relapsing..but that was yesterday. Today, I was able to get back to like 1.5mg..so I'm going to see if I can do 1mg tomorrow, .5 the next day, .25 the day after, and then 2 days at .025 and maybe one more at .0125 and jump off. Should be pretty painless then, yeah? I fucking hate this shit..

 

[Tommyboy]

^ You should be fine cutting down after a few days at the higher dose due to your relapse. You have to keep in mind that bupe has a long half-life, which is part of the reason why it gets more effective with each consecutive day you dose. If you take 4mg one day, and then even 2mg the next day, you should have pretty close to the same dose in you on day two, due to the build up.

 

[Swain]

Also keep in mind that your first few days on or back on suboxone often times is a transitional period. YOu may feel like you need 6mg or more but chances are its more time you need than anything.

I know for me, no matter how long I wait to dose my bupe, while I don't get PW's I don't get instant full releif. If I take 2mg and don't feel much releif, but don't feel worse, I know that taking extra will not have any affect on me. Soem people just keep stacking it on onyl to tell themselfs "sub doesn't work for me"