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Opioids Switching from Methadone to Suboxone?

dougieinmysnuggie

dougieinmysnuggie

Greenlighter
Joined
Jun 5, 2011
Messages
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I've been on methadone (35mg) for 2 years and no slip ups. My insurance is screwing with me and now I have to switch to suboxone. I've been on it before and have done well. The sub doctor said that I just have to be in withdrawal when I see him and that I should skip one day of dosing. I'm worried I'll go into instant withdrawal, as I've heard horror stories... should I skip two days of my methadone dose just to be safe? Also, when I was on suboxone before I never gained any weight. I gained almost 80 lbs on methadone. Will this weight by any chance drop down? Some of my friends who have gotten off it have reported that they lost all their methadone weight. Thanks guys!
 
Better safe than sorry, but at 35mg and 24-36 hours of no use I'd think you should be fine, but more time is always better.

I've never taken methadone or suboxone for maintenance so I can't comment on the weight issue.
 
So, I haven't been on methadone, but I was a very well fed heroin addict=D. That is, I lived with a family member and did all our grocery shopping and was never in a situation where I was spending my food money on dope. Thus, I was probably one of the only heroin addicts in the history of heroin addicts to gain weight during my time using.

The reason for explaining myself in the above paragraph is because I imagine a lot of heroin users gain weight during MMT because their lives become much more stable and they finally have money to spend on food. I've had friends who have gained weight during MMT and believe it is for this reason...and it makes sense to me. Also, during MMT one has so much more time on their hands to actually eat and do other things because the need to spend all day every day procuring dope to support one's habit is alleviated. Of course, this problem also happens when taking subs, but I can speak from personal experience that subs have taken away my appetite like crazy...I never feel hungry. I have actually lost a considerable amount of weight since going on the subs. So I wouldn't be a damn bit surprised if this happens to you. Also, I have crazy energy and have been walking and running more than I ever. Well, of course I wasn't exercising while using...my idea of exercise then was moving from the bathroom to my bedroom (and that was only if I didn't nod out on the John;)).

Good luck!
 
I've been a heroin addict for the last 3 years ( clean now ). I was on methadose treatment for 2 years at 35mg per day but recently switched to subs cause of one of my meds interacted poorly with the methadone. For me I staved off methadone for 3 days and then went on subs. Methadone has an extremely long half life so really the withdrawals you have to go into it for switching aren't that bad and the sub will get rid of any ill feeling within a half hour of taking it ( Im on 8mg ). I gotta say subs are where its at they work far better, you can't screw around with them as easily and overall they just make me feel better. Ive had no weight gain issues since switching a month or so ago and I think Ive actually lost weight,
 
For what it's worth I'm in the process of swapping from 90mg of methadone to Suboxone. I was on methadone for 6-7 years and wanted to stop because it was making me stupid and I wasn't doing as good at work. I didn't tapper, dosed my last dose of methadone on a Sunday and 1st dose of Suboxone on Thursday. I was scared as hell but it didn't make me feel any worse. I've been taking 2-3mg a day and it took until the 5th day for it to make me feel ok. It wasn't horrible or anything like I expected. I know this was stupid and should have made me sick but I dodged a bullet I guess. I'm not suggesting anyone do that. Just letting you know what happens with me.
 
Just make sure you are as sick as you can be. If it takes longer than 24 hours, than so be it.

Also, just remember that even coming from a lower dose like 30mg's of methadone, and waiting enough time to prevent PW's, the transition to bupe can still be a bit rough. It's normal to feel a bit sick for a few days until you stabilize on the bupe.
 
OP how did it turn out?

Edit:

I cut off a sliver of suboxone earlier to see if it really would block loperamide and put me in PWDs, but I got wiser and spit it out after swishing around water. I'll have a full agonist opioid tomorrow (not lope) so I hope it didn't absorb enough, but I'm curious if the 1.8 mg I have left would leave me in instant withdrawal? Any comments?
 
Nah, buprenorphine is so damn potent, it would more than compensate for lope at receptors. Remember that PWD is initiated at the CNS, so with lope only mildly stimulating Mu receptors in the brain, they're would be no real feat of PWD, since it is caused by buprenorphine not having enough intrinsic activity at Mu receptors to compensate for HIGH DOSES of other full agonist opioids.

It would be interesting however, to see what would happen to someone taking very high doses of lope on a daily basis, though I still doubt you'd ever go into PWD.

(BTW, buprenorphine's binding affinity is, roughly 10x higher than loperamide's. however, you may very shit after the bupe(especially if it was IV bupe) since it would knock lope off of receptors, but be less effective at causing constipation than lope itself!!!!)
 
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