Bupe Suboxone/Buprenorphine Mega Thread v. 19

[yakchick]

I have been prescribed to take alternating 16/20. However I have been taking 32mg in the morning. I take them by mouth. I have been doing this sense Dec. I want to get back on track with my prescribed dose. However my buzz CRAVINGS are strong! I go 4-5 days before getting a refill & I don't have any w/d except anxiety.
Any tips would be greatfuly appreciated ! The Doc with be dropping me to 16mg daily anytime now. TYA

 

[bonomoopiojo55]

^Yak you have been taking 32mg a day for almost a month? Can I ask why such a high dose?

 

[yakchick]

^Yak you have been taking 32mg a day for almost a month? Can I ask why such a high dose?

Well I was doing great and never abused it for almost a year. I was almost off and then I decided to take one more extra because I was in a stressful situation and my addiction with pills overcame with my Suboxone. And I found that it does the same thing an opiate did for me just on the lower level so that's when I started abusing. Pretty soon it was just one extra then 2 & now 4. I've never had Suboxone withdrawals and so I don't know how to cut back quickly.

 

[Zerwas]

What was your habit like before you got on Bupe? Because if you were not doing multiple bags of H per IV or using Fentanyl patches per day 32mg is just way too much.

Buprenorphine is very potent (~30-40 times stronger than morphine) but it is generally very easy to cut down from such unnecessary high doses.
The drop to 24 and 16 mg should theoretically be no problem. Maybe even down to 8mg. Everything after that gets harder but you don't want to be on 32mg (!) for a longer time or the WD will be much harder than from a short acting full agonist like Heroin for example.

Just for perspective: I am satisfied with 0,4-0,8mg per day but then I was never addicted to H or other higher potent opioids. Only Tramadol, Tilidine, Codeine, DHC, Kratom etc.

€: At lower doses, the Metabolite Norbuprenorphine comes to play and it is a full agonist and even causes a better effect then higher doses. So less is more with Bupe!
I'd recommend to cut down to the 16 your doc suggested and then further to 8mg and take it slowly from there.

 

[yakchick]

I was use oxy or vic's by mouth, 70mgs a day. For two years.
when I drop down how long do I wait to drop down again. Thank btw for helping me!

 

[poloblue]

^^^ the above is very good info. Plz don't stay on 32 much longer. He is right u should be able to get down to 8 w/ relatively little problems if any. For reference I was sniffing 1-3 buns a day (10-30) bags depending on if it was a "good" day or not. & they recommended I take 16mg. I knew less was more w/ sub so Told them I think I'll b cool on 8mg....after the initial induction I was fine only taking 4mg....now on 1/2mg & that holds me.

 

[poloblue]

have you been taking 32mgs a while? If it was only a week or so personally I would prob go down 4mg at a time. Maybe another 4 in couple days to week. Honestly whenever I lowered it was wat I felt comfortable doing. Never been on that high dose tho so hopefully someone else can answer who has exp that high. I'm super sensitive to w/d tho so me saying 4 would be being cautious. I kind of think one would b ok even dropping to 24mg from 32 just because ur still getting 24mg n that is more than anyone I've met needs of subs. Once @ 8mg tho I wouldn't taper more than 1mg at a time but again I'm sensitive to w/d.

 

[bonomoopiojo55]

Suboxone has a half life of around 36 hours, so being on such a high dose you have alot stacked up in your system Yak. You can probably drop to 8mg fairly quickly without to much physical sx. Honestly, the cravings will be with you no matter what, I'm not sure if any dose completely gets rid of them. Once you get down on your dose, the longer and slower the taper, the less withdrawl symptoms you will have, for example when get down to 4mg, try stay there for a week or so until your body adjusts before cutting dose again. I've seen people get down to like .5mg for few days then .25mg, then go days between doses, to taper off with less withdrawl sx.

 

[yakchick]

Thank you that information help me a lot. I have been on that higher dose probably a month.

 

[yakchick]

Suboxone has a half life of around 36 hours, so being on such a high dose you have alot stacked up in your system Yak. You can probably drop to 8mg fairly quickly without to much physical sx. Honestly, the cravings will be with you no matter what, I'm not sure if any dose completely gets rid of them. Once you get down on your dose, the longer and slower the taper, the less withdrawl symptoms you will have, for example when get down to 4mg, try stay there for a week or so until your body adjusts before cutting dose again. I've seen people get down to like .5mg for few days then .25mg, then go days between doses, to taper off with less withdrawl sx.

thank you that helps me know how fast go down with this kind a high dose. I was almost completely off in October they had me on two tablets once a day when I started back in July. For insurance reasons I knew I had to be off by the end of October. It was a very fast taper , that's when I went downhill from there. Now this time around I have more time to deal with this. I just feel like because of what I've been doing I can't be honest with my counseling group or my doctor.��
So I think that I understand and I'm ready to do this. Soon as I get my refill on Wednesday I'm going to put myself down!

 

[yakchick]

have you been taking 32mgs a while? If it was only a week or so personally I would prob go down 4mg at a time. Maybe another 4 in couple days to week. Honestly whenever I lowered it was wat I felt comfortable doing. Never been on that high dose tho so hopefully someone else can answer who has exp that high. I'm super sensitive to w/d tho so me saying 4 would be being cautious. I kind of think one would b ok even dropping to 24mg from 32 just because ur still getting 24mg n that is more than anyone I've met needs of subs. Once @ 8mg tho I wouldn't taper more than 1mg at a time but again I'm sensitive to w/d.

I have been taking it for probably a month. Thank you that info helps me!

 

[Jabberwocky]

so I have not posted in about 2 months; most people would probably assume I feel off track and went on a bender.. well, kinda the opposite way around. I've been doing so well that I kinda got "sick" of talking about drugs/recovery because it was just coming somewhat "easy" to me.

I've been somewhat "sober" since August; I have fucked up 4 times in the last 6.5 months, which is a FUCKING MIRACLE TO ME, man! I was shooting 1-2G's a day for close to 4 years.. at the very least. then one day I had enough. well, at least thats what I tell myself. I also OD'd a million and one times over those 4 years of going hardcore. it was a 10yr addiction but 4 years of HARD, HARD running, man.

just wanted to check back in and say HELLO! and say I am still alive. I am still taking bupe; down to 8MG/day rather than 16/MG which is what I had when I first started. the 8MG is what makes my dick work compared to the 16/MG which I was originally taken.

one problem is my brain tumor has grown back a SLIGHT BIT; so I have to go through another 6 month chemo treatment; I have been getting super anxious over it so I just recently been scripted 1MG Xanax at bed time; at first my Dr. was a bit nervous to script since I am on bupe during the day and taking a benzo at night but he realizes I was a junkie for years and this, to me, is really nothing out of the ordinary. but ill tell you now the 1MG Xanny at night HELPS A FUCKING TON! all I need is .5-1MG MAX and I am asleep like a MOFO!

how long does it take to pick up an addiction to benzos again? I've been there, done that, and def. DONT want it to happen again. so, I've been using them ONLY when sleep is needed but I just dont want it to get taken too often, ya know!? cant play that game again. so there are times ill go 2-3 nights in a row and then take a night or two off. you think that is working or what? realize that I have seizures due to my tumor already, so I do not want to fuck around much w/ this tumor/xanny. I take Keppra and Gabapentin for seizures already; the Xanny I am scripted to SLEEP, not for anti-seizure. if anything, they MAY cause the seizure due to withdrawal. do you think this is safe or what? I will start my own thread here.

 

[bonomoopiojo55]

Good to see you back BBT. Sorry to hear about the tumor though, wow. Will chemo get rid of it or they talking surgery. I remember when I first started subs and I had read thru all these threads, and what you have been through, you are a strong one, hang in there. Glad you are still on subs, once I get insurance straightened out I am going back up on my dose, most days I am on 2mg but when I find my mind wandering I go up to 4mg, 8mg a day would seriously help my cravings but I don't want to run short just yet, anyhow. I cant do benzos so i cant say what to do there. Once ended up in rehab after overdosing and had taken so much xanax, not remembering, that i was so sick for like 12 hours, throwing up, b/p so low, then another time i got dui cause i was in a blackout, so needless to say i cant do benzos. hang in there, do what you need to do to get thru this time, hopefully the docs will taper you when time comes. bono

 

[Zerwas]

I was use oxy or vic's by mouth, 70mgs a day. For two years.

Well 32mg of Subs is waaaaayyyyy too much for that kind of habit. Holy shit. You would have probably been totally fine with even only 4mg. What an incompetent bastard recommended that dose, WTF?
That equals roughly 960mg of Morphine while your previous habit equals ~ 150mg of morphine. Basically you are way more addicted now and your tolerance is sky high, I am sorry but that doc had no clue what he was doing.

 

[poloblue]

It's insane zerwas, reason #1 I seek personal exp on here as opposed to those quacks spewing out their "training". Recommended me 16mg & was completely content only taking 4mg. I really think what these places r doing is a crime. We come to them seeking relief / a better & productive life & they just want to see how many strips they can Scribe.

BBT I also err on the side of caution ( is that the correct use of that term, idk) when it comes to benzos. Was prob addicted b4 I knew what w/d's really were so I got through it w/ RLS & General shittiness but now hyper aware of w/d's n don't need another addiction w/ my ope addiction. There's some weeks in my prior life I have no recollection of . I just make sure not to take mine unless I absolutely need them I.e panic attacks or if I've been floppin in bed for a while can't sleep or ope w/d's. Easier said than done I just try to stay away from the recreation aspect or back2back days. Don't need my addict mind getting used to them at all

 

[Runtoparadise]

I had a huge oxy habit, prescribed 200mg daily but was self medicating double or triple after four yrs on that dose.

I have chronic pain & subs do help.

I can't believe the morphine equivalent!! I'm on 36mg & jumping through hoops & being played like a puppet as my sub dr says,- staying in PM.

She wants me on full agonists again, but I've gotta bide my time & play by their rules. I'm definitely not going the 'done route, but I do worry about my tolerance rising even more.

That said, subs work well for my pain so for now I'm happy to be on this dosage.

Rtp

 

[Jabberwocky]

Good to see you back BBT. Sorry to hear about the tumor though, wow. Will chemo get rid of it or they talking surgery. I remember when I first started subs and I had read thru all these threads, and what you have been through, you are a strong one, hang in there. Glad you are still on subs, once I get insurance straightened out I am going back up on my dose, most days I am on 2mg but when I find my mind wandering I go up to 4mg, 8mg a day would seriously help my cravings but I don't want to run short just yet, anyhow. I cant do benzos so i cant say what to do there. Once ended up in rehab after overdosing and had taken so much xanax, not remembering, that i was so sick for like 12 hours, throwing up, b/p so low, then another time i got dui cause i was in a blackout, so needless to say i cant do benzos. hang in there, do what you need to do to get thru this time, hopefully the docs will taper you when time comes. bono

thanks, brotha. I went through a lesser form of chemo back in 2012 but fucked up the treatment because I OD'd halfway through and the chemo was cut early and then I went back on later in the year, so they say thay MAY be part of a reason why its grown back so slightly. who knows, maybe its true, maybe not, but now they throw me on a stronger form of chemo so it will knock me on my ass a bit more. we'll see, tho. I never had that much of a struggle w/ the first; then again, I was on dope, and there were days I thought I was dope sick but maybe I wasnt and vice versa, so we will surly see what happens this go round.

I sometimes forget how lucky I am to live in Mass and have the insurance we do around here; its so damn easy to get scripted subs, get GREAT insurance, and never have to worry about a dollar, man. although, I see a private Dr. for my subs so I pay a little over $100/mo to see him but only around $3 for the script itself, so basically next to nothing compared to what I was spending on dope.

you blacked out that bad on benzos, huh? they dont get me high; they just knock me out at night and put me to sleep. I just sit there and take one around 11 and will be asleep at 12 and up by 7 w/o a problem. before I was waking up ever 2 hours w/ the mind racing, heart beating fast, etc. it was becoming a major problem w/ my thoughts and it was ruining my day/nights/sleep, everything.

even w/ this shit coming up I still have no urge to use; things been so damn good on the bupe I dont want to fuck it up; but I dont want to speak too soon. early in the recovery I fucked up in Sept/Oct but been "good" since.

 

[Lucidmonster22]

So i just got put on sub maintenance fianaly!! im 13 days clean and am starting to feel like a contributing citizen of this world again. I've read alot of threads on suboxon and i found this one to be very helpful and therapeutic. Its kinda like a n/a meeting but you can say whatever you want and not be judged by some old dopefeind. 13 days ago i was ready to give up on life i had had enough of my addiction. I had burned every bridge ive ever built burned all my money ive ever made ruined every relationship ive ever had and found my self getting ready to load my final shot to end my existence. Some how some way a old friend called to see how i was doing and i told her what was going on. She probrally saved my life she picked me up and took me to a detox facility she had previously ben to (shes 1 year sober) for the first time in my life i didnt try to deny going to try to get some help. Turned out they used bupe to help with wd's and got me set up with a doctor to get on the maintenance program. When i left the 10 day program. im now taking 16mg a day. I know people are saying thats a high dose but my tolerance was so high from fentanyl and bt most opies wouldn't touch my tolerance levels. I plan on going down to 8 mg in a month or so depending on how i feel. Im stoked there are threads like this out there keeps me busy and thinking positive

 

[Runtoparadise]

Good for you!!

Yes, there's certainly a note of judgement with taking high sub doses, I think I've made a record high with being on 36mg, but I also had/have a super high tolerance.

Feel no pressure to drop your dose within a set period,- it's in your hands.

Good luck,

Rtp

 

[Lucidmonster22]

I just got back from my doc and he actually insisted on upping my dose to 24mg. I said ok just because i can allways save the subs i dont use in my script. But i think the doctor's dont really know what there doing prescribing that much after only being on them for 4 days. Im sticking to 16mg a day still tho i dont need the whole 24mg. I have friends who can use my left overs if they really want to try and get there shit together.