Opioids Suboxone Doctors... Will they prescribe other meds to come off Subs?

[EyeOfHorrus]

Just a quick question for anybody who has come off of a legit, long term prescription of Suboxone with a Doctor. I've been prescribed Suboxone for four years now. I started on 16 mgs, and have successfully tapered now to 1mg / daily. I want off, and with a legit taper plan, I would be required to switch to 2 mg films and basically taper down from that the same I did with the 8 mg films. This would take too long for me. Recently my doctor started ordering every urinalysis to the lab so that is an extra $100 per monthly visit and I already have no insurance, so this is simply costing too much.

My question is: Has anybody who's been taken off Subs by their doctor been prescribed anything else to help with the withdrawals? IE: Gabapentin, Clonidine, Valium/Klon, etc. If so, what were they given? and were these the idea of the Doctor or did you request?

I'm particularly interested in a combination of Gabapentin and Clonidine. And in an ideal universe maybe a muscle relaxer such as Baclofen. But I go in to see my doctor tomorrow and understand that we don't live in an ideal universe so I'm not quite sure what to expect and how the doctor will react to my requests, even though none of what I'm requesting have any recreational value except for maybe the Gaba.

Also would like to note that coming off of 1mg daily will cause withdrawals, as I've tried to stop completely unsuccessfully.

 

[Kittycat5]

Indeed stopping 1mg will cause wd in many. I did a short taper and got down to 0.5mg and even then I had terrible wd. I cant imagine what a long term Suboxone user must go through.

Sure doctors prescribe such drugs when patients are beginning wd from any opioid. I personally see more of the comfort drugs when patients are starting buprenorphine therapy to ease them through the day or so they must go cold turkey before starting or if the dose is wrong but my patients (Im a pharmacist) tend to stay on Subs for awhile.

To be clear, we cannot tell you what to say to your doctor (youre not asking this, I know. Just emphazing this rule). But most of those drugs save the benzos, arent controlled and are known by addiction specialists to help. I wouldnt say give me clonidine but speak more broadly and see what happens. Kinda broke the rule, huh? Its ok, Im painting with a wide brush here.

 

[bingey]

in france they will happily script clonidine and benzos

 

[Hodor]

Asking for Clonidine and Gabapentin will probably signal that you're serious about quitting and not just a drug seeker, whereas immediately asking for benzos may come across as suspicious. Once your doc believes that you are legitimately trying to quit, they might be more inclined to script you some Klonopin (like .5, maybe 1.0 mg/day) on top of the Clonidine/Gabapentin to help you through the early stages of withdrawal (which is a perfectly reasonable request).

 

[EyeOfHorrus]

Thanks all, lots of solid info here. I'm going to see my doctor today at 1:45pm EST and I'll post results in case anyone is ever interested in an outcome. I haven't seen any other posts on any other forums anywhere including Bluelight that cover this. Only what should or should not be taken. I just ordered some Kratom for backup and will order phenibut if I can't get Gabapentin. I'm not worried about becoming addicted to the Kratom as the last day to order is Tuesday and I can hardly tolerate the ingestion process.

I will also speak more broadly, thank you for the advice :D My only hope is that the doctors are aware of the benefits of these other prescriptions.

Truth be told, when trying to jump from 1mg to 0mg Subs I stocked up on some Valium. When I finally came to, two days later and 150mg later I ended up waking to an officer knocking on my window outside a 711 parking lot. But thank god this had to be the most shady officer in my town who I knew to be selling Weed and being in the moonshine business, not to mention sleeping with one of my coworkers (he's married). So needless to say, Benzo's aren't really an option for me. Afterwards I ended up reviewing my Genetics testing my doctor once ordered in 2014 and saw that the only safe benzo for me to take was Klonipin as Valium/Xanax/etc overly depress my CNS. But in any case, I don't think I will need the Klon. with Gapapentin and Clonidine. Never been too much of a fan of the benzos honestly, but as soon as I take one I can't stop myself from taking the rest.

Anyone have any insight on taking Gabapentin with Phenibut? I wonder if this is overkill. I'm waiting to hear from the doc before ordering the phenibut because if I happen to get both, I will probably end up taking both.

Edit: I'm currently at 250grams Kratom (currently being shipped). Does anyone think I will or will not need more than this to taper? It is a standard Bali powder.

Edit#2: I just realized that even though I only requested Kratom vendors privately (via PM method) that I will soon be privately requesting sources of an illegal substance (breaking BLUA), so therefore have edited that request down.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

I'm guessing your doc will urge you to stay on subixone....a dose that is absurdly high also as most docs give.....why would your doctor want you to quit? Bad for business....he doesn't care about your life or well being

 

[EyeOfHorrus]

I'm guessing your doc will urge you to stay on subixone....a dose that is absurdly high also as most docs give.....why would your doctor want you to quit? Bad for business....he doesn't care about your life or well being

I've heard of doctor's like these, but I have an approaching five year relationship with mine. While mine (I have three Dr's at my office) don't force you off Suboxone, they do encourage it and are generally supportive, which is how I've managed to go from 16mg to 1mg.

Suboxone doctor's have their limits for the amount of patients they can have at any given time and the more patients they treat, and bring back into society and successfully take off Suboxone, well I can imagine this looks better on them and also that my number on their limit is easily replaceable. I don't think that my Suboxone Doctor cares a great deal for me on a personal level, but I don't think they will stand in the way of my recovery either. These are just my feelings towards my own Doctors and I understand that many are different.

 

[belfort]

ive only seen doctors write their patients scripts for Clonidine aand a sleep med like Trazadone..ive never heard of a doctor prescribing benzos to patients going through subuxone withdrawals..in fact if a doctor gave his addict a script for benzos then id have to really question his reasoning

 

[Screaming_Skull]

I have been in it for 3 years. I started at 16mg, took that in the. Beginning but mostly took 8mg. When I was on 16mg my doctor was always asking me if I was ready to come down, the only reason I said yes was because I had failed so many drug test for weed and thot this would help me look good, as I was also suppose to be coming every 2 months but would always reschedule my appointment a month later so I was going every 3 months, I'm surprised the doctor never mentioned that. Now my insurance I'm using thru wrk is going to stop covering my Syb in January. No way I can afford it without insurance(wish I never went down to 8mg, would have a GREAT stockpile!) I did have an extra 40 put back but they got stolen. NEwAy, my point is if I were u i would just stay on the higher dose and cut them up yrself and taper, if for sum reason in the future u need them again. I want to ask to go up to the 12mg ones next time I go( I only take 4mg) I want to get all I can b4 my insurance stops. I would be able to afford it if the doctor wrote Subtext, I've never asked. It's ridiculous there is an affordable version of the med that docs want prescribe because they think it can be abused.. I mean both can be abused no matter what! If yr on it for maintaince neither one is gonna feel ne different no matter how you take it.

 

[EyeOfHorrus]

ive only seen doctors write their patients scripts for Clonidine aand a sleep med like Trazadone..ive never heard of a doctor prescribing benzos to patients going through subuxone withdrawals..in fact if a doctor gave his addict a script for benzos then id have to really question his reasoning

I'm actually not looking for my doctor to prescribe a benzo, and in fact it would be a bad idea... For ME. Also, not every person going through a Suboxone doctor was an opiate abuser. So to eliminate a possible 3-5 day prescription of a benzo just because they're in a Suboxone program to me would show an obvious lack of empathy in your field and is unreasonable. I think that simply the benzo should be prescribed based on a case-to-case basis. Has this patient ever in the four years treated tested positive for a benzo? If not, what would be the problem of prescribing a 3-5 day dose of benzo to help ease withdrawals for a patient who will be successfully coming off Suboxone? I've even seen Suboxone doctor's prescribe Dilaudid for 2-3 days because of how fast acting it is, and then immediately put the patient on Suboxone. All in order to skip any withdrawals required before coming onto Suboxone.

I have been in it for 3 years. I started at 16mg, took that in the. Beginning but mostly took 8mg. When I was on 16mg my doctor was always asking me if I was ready to come down, the only reason I said yes was because I had failed so many drug test for weed and thot this would help me look good, as I was also suppose to be coming every 2 months but would always reschedule my appointment a month later so I was going every 3 months, I'm surprised the doctor never mentioned that. Now my insurance I'm using thru wrk is going to stop covering my Syb in January. No way I can afford it without insurance(wish I never went down to 8mg, would have a GREAT stockpile!) I did have an extra 40 put back but they got stolen. NEwAy, my point is if I were u i would just stay on the higher dose and cut them up yrself and taper, if for sum reason in the future u need them again. I want to ask to go up to the 12mg ones next time I go( I only take 4mg) I want to get all I can b4 my insurance stops. I would be able to afford it if the doctor wrote Subtext, I've never asked. It's ridiculous there is an affordable version of the med that docs want prescribe because they think it can be abused.. I mean both can be abused no matter what! If yr on it for maintaince neither one is gonna feel ne different no matter how you take it.

Stockpiling is smart, but no longer an option for me as I do not have insurance, similar to your situation. Besides I would largely take a script for clonidine and gabapentin over a longer taper regime. And your doctor sounds lenient, so here you should be fine... BUT for me, the drug testing is so accurate that they're able to see exactly how much Bupe is in my system. Everyone absorbs differently so if I'm taking less this should not be an issue. The only issue I could see for this is if my levels are very inconsistant. IE: One month before the test I have x amount of bupe in my system. Next month I have a dramatically different x of bupe in my system that is inconsistent with a 1mg decrease in prescription, etc.


Anyway, thank you everyone for your replies. I saw the Dr. today and we discussed my predicament. She's taking me down to .75 mg daily for one month. And the next time I come in, she will write me a script for Clonidine and Gabapentin as well as Ativan OR a muscle relaxer. So everything went well, I just have to decide which I feel would be appropriate for me.

 

[Screaming_Skull]

Ya my doc had been lenient with me thankfully I've failed like 6 test but only for weed. I actually was prescribed gabapentin for nerve pain but never went back to the doctor. It really helps BUT my sub doctor will not write anything but the Subs. Said it was ok for me to take. But I would have to get it from another doctor and I really dnt want to have to pay for another's doctor visit(200 a month to see sub doctor) so I usually just trade a few strips and get GABA that way...it's annoying the doc will not write it 4 me.

 

[CruelBri]

Guys may the power be with you to get off this life saving drug.

been on subs for 3 years now, i take 4 mg's a day. was at 1 mg a day then started going up *For some reason*

anyways I wish you the best of luck and i am sending a prayer your way for an easy WD.

 

[EyeOfHorrus]

Ya my doc had been lenient with me thankfully I've failed like 6 test but only for weed. I actually was prescribed gabapentin for nerve pain but never went back to the doctor. It really helps BUT my sub doctor will not write anything but the Subs. Said it was ok for me to take. But I would have to get it from another doctor and I really dnt want to have to pay for another's doctor visit(200 a month to see sub doctor) so I usually just trade a few strips and get GABA that way...it's annoying the doc will not write it 4 me.

Yeah my doctor is only slightly more lenient in this regard, as to avoid the cost of a second doctor she actually also prescribes my Celexa, but only have just switched it to Zoloft.

Sorry about you losing your insurance. My costs are similar, $175/mo plus cost of sub prescription. But now they've tacked on an xtra $100 lab fee for urinalysis. This wouldn't even be too terrible except that they didn't have my accurate address and bill separately so by the time I received my first bill, it had accumulated to $1100.

I'm sure if you were to talk to your doctor on your last appointment that they might be able to work with you rather than losing you. I would just try to not test pos for marijuana on that last appointment. You use the Suboxone coupon right? Another option for you is to do a significant drop in the amount you take so you can at least save on the amount of films. When I first started on Sub I was getting 60 films @ 10 a pop. This was the main reason why I've cut myself down so much.

 

[EyeOfHorrus]

Guys may the power be with you to get off this life saving drug.

been on subs for 3 years now, i take 4 mg's a day. was at 1 mg a day then started going up *For some reason*

anyways I wish you the best of luck and i am sending a prayer your way for an easy WD.

Thank you... and you as well I am optimistic and ready though. If I had been forced into this position a year ago, I would not have survived. But this is my idea and my decision and for whatever reason, I know I'm ready now when I wasn't then... hard to describe. But it's hard to think you'll ever be off Sub.

Edit: Thank you for calling Suboxone a life saving drug. It is and for me has been. Without subs I know where I would be now... and it's only through subs that I could have ever come off of H. But now I'm addicted to Subs, which is fine. Sub gets a bad rap because people think they're saved and then get angry when they have to do any work to get off. Subs for me is just a great inbetween of addicted to H and being completely non-dependant on a substance(?) -If that makes sense.

 

[CruelBri]

Of course and your right. Being able to live a normal life without heroin has allowed me to become an assistant manager at a restaurant and in my third year for electrical apprentice program, finally making 15$ an hour which still sucks, but better then some. Take it slow, keep lowering your dose and then jump and dont look back. I was shooting subs for a while and for some reason allowed me to go all the way down to basically 1 mg a day. *I was Using all HR resources* Still not a good idea, but anyways bro let us know how your doing. I think you will be fine, be strong; you know where you have been, and you know where you want to be. you can do it. Let us know :D

 

[Screaming_Skull]

Ya, I wish insurance didn't put a limit on the amount of time they cover it. My 1st insurance was CRAZY. For them to cover my appointment I had to pay another 200 for it being for drug abuse, that would have been 400 a month plus the med(they covered that it was 100 a month) somehow I got away with payin 25 for every visit so I owe that clinic a lot of money, they dnt hassle me tho and I just pay 5 bucks a month on it. Also owe the drug testing place but called them and they said it was a mistake, but I'm still getting bills from them with my new insurance. my new insurance dsnt cover any of my visit so I pay $175, it would be $50 for the strips but I just pay $25 cuz of the coupon. I'm back to going every 2 months which helps, they took it away cuz of the weed, and gave it back...that's happened more than once, lol. Gets on my nerves because the doctor said pot was ok it's just cuz it's illegal, but the doctor is the only one who sees the test so I dnt get the deal with that. I dnt regret going on Subs but I did it to soon, I've wasted so much money relapsing I honestly didn't start TRYING to stay away from other opiates till a year ago. Was doing good till may/June then fucked up. I've already decided if I get the urge to use I kno it's gonna happen but I'm just gonna get pods any stay away from pills, the ones that can be shot up anyway, just too pricey. But maybe my doctor will do the Subtext, I never told them I shot up.

 

[CruelBri]

my sub doctor is so fucking cool, give me however many subs i want 60 being the max and adderall lol


lets me smoke on ity tooo


hes so fucking cool if yor in SOuth florida in WPB area lmk

 

[belfort]

my sub doctor is so fucking cool, give me however many subs i want 60 being the max and adderall lol


lets me smoke on ity tooo


hes so fucking cool if yor in SOuth florida in WPB area lmk

ehh not a 'cool' doctor imo..i mean do you want to get clean from all drugs besides subuxone?

 

[CruelBri]

No, i have been taking adderall my whole life. so no , no i dont, and he is infact cool because most doctors only prescribe subutex or suboxone which is bullshit if you have been prescribed other shit your whole life.

 

[SS373dOH]

Sub doctors have the power to write you a script for whatever, but its up to their disgression, so you may get something, you may not...