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

[Sweetsomniferum]

Your experience w/ depression, craving, and euphoric recollection sounds very familiar, in my 2 periods of abstinence (<1yr each) since 1996, the sudden absence of daily opiate use caused similar feelings. I missed Her (Opium) intensely and constantly. Returning to Her felt like a joyful reunion with a loved one.
I'm quickly detoxing from methadone to prepare for Suboxone induction. Can you please share a liitle about how you deal with the intense craving for the opiate high? Also, is Suboxone working for you?

 

[Angelz87]

Toronto has clinics in Canada, go to the hospital theyl set u up

 

[SubDude]

Thank you for your responses. My clinic refused to give me clonidine due to some mumbo jumbo that, reduced to its essence, was "no". My BP is consistenly high, even when not in w/drawal. I do not take BP meds nor any drug other than methadone. I had intended to ask about benzodiazepINES but, after the ixnay on the clonidines, decided against looking like a drug-seeking fool (which I certainly am, I just didn't feel like looking like one). Without the good fortune of a supply of Ativan or Klonopin (Klonipin?), are there any meds that can help?

First off is your MM clinic switching you? If so they should have a plan in place to keep you in very minimal WD's. Thats their job. If not, have you tried going to your family dr and open up to him/her and ask for help? If you don't have one, try some kind of "Immediate Care Clinic" ask one of your MMT coharts for direction on which would be the best.

Other wise switch over to some kind of short acting [low dose] opiate after methadone WD kick in to bad. If they urine test before switch... consider the following.

Here's a quick list to choose from:

Klonapin/Valium - sleep/anxiety
Loperimide- Immodium AD
Tramadol/Ultram
Soma- Sleep
Neurontin or Gabapentin- RLS
Requip- RLS
Phenegren
Aleve
Kratom
Kava Kava
Chicken Soup
Warm Clothes
Hot-tub/Hot baths
Ensure/Gatorade/water
exercise

SLEEPING MEDS:
Seroquel
Ambien
Risperdal
Trazadone
Sominex

If they're going to induce you 48 hrs [many wait as long as 72 hrs] after your last methadone dose... hopefully they will have you down to 20-30mg before switching. The first 24-36 hrs should not be a big problem so you may surprise yourself and get thru this with over the counter and hot baths. If you can find something to help you sleep... that will get you thru it pretty easy. Normally they induction starts after they "measure" the severity of your WD's while in the office/clinic.

I've never tried it but several here say Kratom and/or a little weed is good for WD's. Google Kratom if you aren't familiar. The bottom line is... I don't think you're gonna have as much discomfort as you anticipate as long as you don't switch to quickly.... and if you're staying with the same clinic, they shouldn't allow you to suffer WD's anymore than absolutely necessary.

 

[kanyeknievel]

Thursday will be the one month mark of me being clean and on suboxone my question is... is it reasonable at this time to try to get a higher dose? I definitely don't feel as much as I did in the beggining, meaning slighty more craving to use... is a month long enough to increase my dose? I go to my phsyc doctor on friday so I would like to know if trying to get a higher dose is likely yet. I don't always use 8mg, as i like to have extra just to have extra cause for some reason i dont want to use all 8mg a day, but id like to which is why i want a higher dose so i can take 8mg a day and have extra.

I do need more than I did in the beggining definitely to help stop cravings, so I dont see this being troublesome. But I figure I'd ask here if a month is a reasonable amount of time for me to ask for increase in my doseage. Im pretty sure if I say that im getting more cravings, a higher dose would be prescribed.. no?

 

[caseface99]

Most bupe doctors (in my experience) will be happy to increase your dose at any time after starting if you say your still having cravings. Eventually once you stabilize they might grow weary if you constantly ask to increase, but anyway yes your doctor will almost certainly raise your dose if you want right now.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Thursday will be the one month mark of me being clean and on suboxone my question is... is it reasonable at this time to try to get a higher dose? I definitely don't feel as much as I did in the beggining, meaning slighty more craving to use... is a month long enough to increase my dose? I go to my phsyc doctor on friday so I would like to know if trying to get a higher dose is likely yet. I don't always use 8mg, as i like to have extra just to have extra cause for some reason i dont want to use all 8mg a day, but id like to which is why i want a higher dose so i can take 8mg a day and have extra.

I do need more than I did in the beggining definitely to help stop cravings, so I dont see this being troublesome. But I figure I'd ask here if a month is a reasonable amount of time for me to ask for increase in my doseage. Im pretty sure if I say that im getting more cravings, a higher dose would be prescribed.. no?

I would try lowering your dosage - this typically does more good than raising it.

If you have had cravings the entire time on buprenorphine so far - yes, go ahead and raise it.

If you had at least several days where you didn't have cravings, or they were drastically reduced, but they're starting to come back, then I would try a lower dosage.

If you keep increasing buprenorphine - it'll eventually not work as well as it once did, then you will get agitated from the antagonist properties of buprenorphine (which kick in at a high dosage), and it won't be fun.

You could also try going longer in-between Suboxone dosages, so that the next time you get your dose in, it'll feel very rewarding and relieving, and it'll be more effective. That might also help.

 

[C_mc1]

Sorry for double posting, I posted this in the suboxone Film mega thread the other day and havent received a response yet. Nor have a found and answer from searching. Anyone with any insight would be greatly appreciated....


I just got 5 of the 8mg films. If I want to break these into smaller doses to do a quick taper how long does it take for them to start degrating?

For the first few days I plan on takin 4mg then 2mg for awhile then 1mg ect ect. So towards the end of my taper the package will have been opened for awhile before I am using the last of that film.

I am putting remaining doses back in the original packaging and placing it in a ziplock bag. Will this be sufficient?

 

[Larson0]

im wondering about a tapering schedule. i just got my ninth month supply of strips which the doctor cut me down to 2mg twice a day. i've been taking that amount for probably 7 months now but decided i should cut it down more. would dropping .5 mg at a time be painless and have no ill effects? or should i try to do less then that? or would going to 1 mg once and 2 mg once a day be better? the drop from 8 to 4 to 2 was all painless but i've always thought anything over 2 mg was pointless.

im not sure if i am ready to completely come off suboxone yet. even at 1 strip every 2 days it is still somewhat expensive with no insurance. i would rather be down to 1 mg or even .5 to save money and if i decide to make the jump it will be much easier because i've been riding 2 mgs twice for quite some time.

 

[Pegasus]

Sorry for double posting, I posted this in the suboxone Film mega thread the other day and havent received a response yet. Nor have a found and answer from searching. Anyone with any insight would be greatly appreciated....


I just got 5 of the 8mg films. If I want to break these into smaller doses to do a quick taper how long does it take for them to start degrating?

For the first few days I plan on takin 4mg then 2mg for awhile then 1mg ect ect. So towards the end of my taper the package will have been opened for awhile before I am using the last of that film.

I am putting remaining doses back in the original packaging and placing it in a ziplock bag. Will this be sufficient?

That will be fine... The strips do get a bit more crispy over time but still work.

 

[Pegasus]

im wondering about a tapering schedule. i just got my ninth month supply of strips which the doctor cut me down to 2mg twice a day. i've been taking that amount for probably 7 months now but decided i should cut it down more. would dropping .5 mg at a time be painless and have no ill effects? or should i try to do less then that? or would going to 1 mg once and 2 mg once a day be better? the drop from 8 to 4 to 2 was all painless but i've always thought anything over 2 mg was pointless.

im not sure if i am ready to completely come off suboxone yet. even at 1 strip every 2 days it is still somewhat expensive with no insurance. i would rather be down to 1 mg or even .5 to save money and if i decide to make the jump it will be much easier because i've been riding 2 mgs twice for quite some time.

Go at whatever rate is comfortable for you. When under 2mg, dropping 0.5mg is a huge amount and you may need to drop in smaller intervals. As a general rule of thumb, the lower the dose, the smaller the decrease should be. I'd maintain the same ratio of dose drop the entire time regardless of dose. Good luck!

 

[AnnArbor]

well damn.. I was thinking about maybe going the Suboxone path to recovery but that is way expensive.. way more expensive than my habit (if you include doctors visits and all that). This will be my first attempt at detoxing (2 year habit, have went 1 or 2 days before with no intention of quitting..just couldn't get any). I guess I'll find another method.. all I know is it will include a ton of Immodium. The diarrhea is the worst part for me.. it automatically puts me in a shitty (pun intended) mood even if i'm not detoxing. Can anybody link me some of the best detoxing methods? As in, what type of medicines (over the counter)/vitamins/activities to keep your mind off of things/food and drinks/ etc. I've seen thousands online but is there a unanimous one that most people swear by? Thank you.

 

[Larson0]

well damn.. I was thinking about maybe going the Suboxone path to recovery but that is way expensive.. way more expensive than my habit (if you include doctors visits and all that). This will be my first attempt at detoxing (2 year habit, have went 1 or 2 days before with no intention of quitting..just couldn't get any). I guess I'll find another method.. all I know is it will include a ton of Immodium. The diarrhea is the worst part for me.. it automatically puts me in a shitty (pun intended) mood even if i'm not detoxing. Can anybody link me some of the best detoxing methods? As in, what type of medicines (over the counter)/vitamins/activities to keep your mind off of things/food and drinks/ etc. I've seen thousands online but is there a unanimous one that most people swear by? Thank you.

i avoided suboxone for some time because of price. i detoxed at home myself quite a few times but always ended up relapsing after just a week or 2 -3 months. i decided to get on suboxone so i could maintain and hopefully have long term sobriety. i've been clean for 9 months now and to me the price makes it worth it. at first it was very expensive, with my initial induction fee and the high price of the medicine, but now it has leveled off and is fairly cheap. i would still rather have that money and it leaves me strapped sometimes but i never ever worry about getting my stuff or being sick or anything.

it can still cost me a good amount a month with a urinalysis and buying the strips but to me its worth it. after repeated failure detoxing myself and all the pain i put myself in for weeks at a time the money seems like a good trade off. not to mention the dissapointment when nobody would have anything, the hassle, and all the bs that comes along with addiction

 

[SkagKush]

^ depending on your daily dose, and what your actually taking......you can maintain for a very long time for "free".........

i think i could go for about three years right now........

 

[Larson0]

^ depending on your daily dose, and what your actually taking......you can maintain for a very long time for "free".........

i think i could go for about three years right now........

this is true. at this point i have so many extra subs plus many paper scripts in my wallet i haven't filled. anyone know how long you can keep a script before the pharmacy refuses to fill it?

 

[BrokedownPalace]

I am not 100 percent sure if it is a national thing or not, but here in New Jersey the pharmacy WILL NOT fill a paper script after 30 days past the date on the script.

Refills on the bottle are usually around a year.. the bottles will say "x amount of refills, by x.xx.2011" or whatever.

 

[caseface99]

^^ I definitely filled a New Jersey scrip over a month after it was written, *but* i filled it in Illinois, they didn't care that it was out of state. Not that this is relevant, just sayin' if you wanna fill an NJ scrip past 30 days then go out of state.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

this is true. at this point i have so many extra subs plus many paper scripts in my wallet i haven't filled. anyone know how long you can keep a script before the pharmacy refuses to fill it?

It depends on what state you live in. Just call the pharmacy and ask them.

I am not 100 percent sure if it is a national thing or not, but here in New Jersey the pharmacy WILL NOT fill a paper script after 30 days past the date on the script.

Refills on the bottle are usually around a year.. the bottles will say "x amount of refills, by x.xx.2011" or whatever.

It depends on what state you live in. In some states they may never expire (in which case it's the pharmacist's discretion) and in other states it expires much quicker.

 

[BanginMyLifeAway]

i been totally clean for 2 months give or take a few days thanks to subs but my friend hasnt been able to come off none lately so i been w/d'n off these ...its been like 4 days now and its gettin better and the worst part for me is just not bein able to sleep but i think ima just fight it and not take nothing at all..how long should i expect this..oh and xanax been helpin me sleep some...but i was taking a 8mg strip and cutting it in 3 = pieces

 

[Captain.Heroin]

i been totally clean for 2 months give or take a few days thanks to subs but my friend hasnt been able to come off none lately so i been w/d'n off these ...its been like 4 days now and its gettin better and the worst part for me is just not bein able to sleep but i think ima just fight it and not take nothing at all..how long should i expect this..oh and xanax been helpin me sleep some...but i was taking a 8mg strip and cutting it in 3 = pieces

I'd say by the end of 2-3 weeks you'll feel a lot better.

 

[BanginMyLifeAway]

I'd say by the end of 2-3 weeks you'll feel a lot better.

thanks for replying u always helpful