RCs Suboxone, Diazepam (Valium) and Cimetidine

And Yes before i start, I did use the fucking search engine. Now....

So i've been on Bupe Maintence for a nice little while now. Recently they put me onto Diazepam 5mgs twice a day after trying numerous SSRI drugs and not having any or much of an effect for my Anxiedy/Panic disorder. Now the Problem...

Valium Works amaingly. After trying everything possible to no avail, my suboxone dr and addiction therapist got together and suggested Valium to see if i was intrested in trying it because it has worked in the past. After fighting them for a couple weeks i gave in. It does work amazingly. The Problem im having here is that it doesnt last long enough. While it does last, Everythings fine. I couldn't have imagined it would have worked this good.

Now i remeberd from before that cimetidine and other potentiators worked for opiates and benzo's. My problem here is im not sure how or if it is possible to potentiate the Valium simply for duration. Now if i cannot, i could possibly drop the dose to equal out the difference. Does anyone know the exact or close to how much it would potentiate it, and how much longer it would actually last with it. Also while reading over threads since i have not been on here in the last couple years saw that people say WGFJ and cimetidine may actually potentiate my suboxone, this also lies the problem as i do not want to reach a stronger high for my suboxone, just duration for my valium. The reason i ask is sometimes to addiction therapist saying or asking for a third dose a day can look really bad and maby have them cut me all together which would blow because valium really does work amazing while it last.

Thanks in advance.

-B

No One?

BUMP. No one though, Seriously?

Im not sure how one would potentiate the length of valiums effects. Tagamet will make it a bit more powerful, but i dont know if it will extend the drugs metabolism. Tagamet does wonders for potentiating suboxone tho!

Cimetidine does in fact increase the serum half-life of diazepam.

White grapefruit juice would do the same.

Valium builds up in your system after a few days, so maybe you need to give it some more time. What I sometimes did was take 3/4 of the dose in the morning, and then the other 1/4 at night. What dose of suboxone are you on? I have found higher doses to increase my anxiety, so maybe you are having the same issue.

Currently i am on 12mgs of Bupe. Yeah i have had friends and other people say that higher doses of sub make them anxious. I Have always had this anxiedy/panic disorder though. It kinda sucks because i've been doing so good, almost 2 years clean from iv dope and now they got me taking valiums so i was really iffy. But it was a last resort, luckily it works very well and hasn't yet had me craving drugs. I only worried about doing something for potentiation because i don't want to awaken un-wanted H cravings but Diazepam potentiation only for duration would have been amazing.

I Guess i'll give that a try and maby if it comes down to it, i guess i have no other choice but to say something to my DR's. Which kind of blows. Especially them being both my addiction therapist and my suboxone DR. I was just really affraid me saying yeah well it wears off i need a third dose or possibly a higher dose. Know what i mean? I Always have this problem though i feel like they want to catch me in something even when im not trying to get over on them. Anxiedy Disorders Blow.

Well Thank you to everyone for answering and offering your help. If you's have anything else that could possibly help or just want to continue the conversation get back at me.

Thanks again,
B

Is there any chance that you can lower your suboxone dose to see if it helps? I have anxiety issues as well, and when I take suboxone now, my anxiety gets worse unless I take a low dose. 8mgs of suboxone made my anxiety pretty bad, so now I only take 1-2mg when I take it.

12mg of suboxone is a high dose, and a lot of people report experienced more pronounced negative side effects without any real benefit or positive effects at higher doses like that. When I was prescribed suboxone I was taking a similar dose as you, but I have been off of it for several years now. I started hearing people saying that they found lower doses to be a lot more benficial than higher doses, so when I came across suboxone after that I decided to experiment. I found that 2mg gave me the same benfits as 8mg, and I didn't experience as much anxiety at 2mg as I did at 8mg.

For someone that has been on that higher dose for a while now, it may seem like 2mg is nothing. That is how I had felt for the almost 2 years I was on it, but now I view it very differently. Tapering down the suboxone isn't that bad, especially when you are still taking higher doses so still have a lot in you even at the lowered dose. I found tapering to be very easy until I got down to doses below about 2mg. There may be a few uncomfortable days while tapering, but once you stabilize at the lower dose and your body adjusts to it, the lower dose feels pretty much the same as the previous higher dose, only now the negative side effects aren't as pronounced.

I've actually been wanting to totally kick suboxone or atleast drop the dose to the lowest possibly needed. It's to the point now where i feel like i've been clean long enough away from H that all i need is something to take care of this anxiedy and other mental issues and i can finally be a normal functioning human being with a job and a life. How many MG's at a time did you drop your sub? and in what intervals? I know everyone says i BEAT IT or thinks they did. I know opiate/oid addiciton is forever, meaning i could never recreationally use drugs again but i feel comfortable enough now to drop sub and just take care of these mental issues and finally be normal again.

I was on it for 18+ months at around 16mg daily. I didn't exactly get to taper off properly though. I thought that I was going to be able to see a doctor for it when I moved, and it turned out that I was unable to due to their long waiting list. I hadn't really tapered and ended up lowering my dose rapidly over the course of 3 weeks and just stopping at like 1-2mg. Anyway, hell ensued for a week after that, but I was a lot better after a week. Days 3-5 after the last dose were the worst. This was only because I didn't taper since I was younger and naive back then, and didn't know much about all this.

If you do decide to taper off, I think you should try to reduce the dose as much as possible at first. I was actually relatively comfortable in my freak taper until I had like 3 or 4 pills left. You would probably be fine reducing by 1mg a week, and then making it biweekly once you get down to 2mg, and instead of dropping by 1mg at that point, drop by .5mg. Once you get down to .5mg you could continue to taper tiny doses until you are on a dose that is barely visible.

You know what thank you very much for your imput on taking the dose in that way ( the 3/4s then at night the 1/4) I Actually really did notice the differnce. Maby it was that, or maby it was the Diaz building up.None the less i definitely feel it working more positively. I went to my Dr's today, and the way they reacted to me was crazy. To the point where the whole office was blown away at the progress valium has had on me ( in a positive light ). They actually scripted me another script for acouple extra pills for days to where i feel it wearing off ( Only if serously needed though you know like feeling a definite panic attack building or a panic attack in general even though i said it has not been happening anymore but always nice to know they care) It's almost funny that i was so affraid to let them give it to me. i ended up leaving the script with a close non addict friend Which i don't think i needed to but wanted to be safe incase i got any stupid idea's and get my dip on. Even though i havn't had any idea's of doing such, just you never know what can happen But back to the point.... It's working amazingly. So thank you for taking the time out to help.

Now for the suboxone issue, im debating on when to exactly start my taper. Now that this is working out so postively i kind of want to wait a week or maby 2 before starting it. This is seriously the first time i've felt so normal since honestly ever and i kind of want to enjoy it for a little while before starting a taper and feeling not real bad but bad you know. Do you mind if i PM you when i decide to go through with it?

Thank you so much again for taking the time out for me,
B

^ Yea man, feel free to PM me whenever. I'm glad that my suggestion worked out for you. There is no need to rush into tapering off of the suboxone, and it's understandable for you to want to feel good for a while with your current med dosages.

Yeah i definitely will get to you when i decide to start my taper. I had my own views on tapers, i thought i knew everything about these kinds of things from reading on here for years but once i got into dope i basicially stopped paying attention to anything besides dope and stoped comming on here so over the years some things have changed an having someone who for sure knows how i can make it more comfy would be ideal. I was just thinking too, i said today about the dr's. I meant yesterday. It's funny when you dont sleep how days run together but whatever im sure you got what i meant. Thanks again for being open to help me.

Talk to you then,
B