Bupe 4MG vs 2MG bupe dosage!? any difference? should I shoot for the 2MG or stick w/ the 4

[IMtrying]

well, made the drop from 16MG down to 4MG. in no rush to get off and see no reason in the future to even attempt to get off, but have dropped the dosage over time for my own self and to better my life all around - esp. the sex life.

anyway, I know so many say less is more when it comes to Suboxone; I've been using Suboxone for many, many years now and do not necessarily agree people tend to say the 2MG mark is where you want to be. well, as of now, its a bit tough to stick out 2MG for the day; I wake up with no motivation to get out of bed. however, at 4MG, I wake up fine in the AM.

do you people feel I should try to make that jump for the other 2MG and actually feel a difference? I am at 4MG now and I get through the day, feel great, able to "perform" w' the woman again, and able to stay away from dope and not complain/think/want 24/7. not saying I never slipped up but things have been great on this end as well and I am not worried about it.

I am coming off a killer habit w/ fent and shooting about 1-2G's/day going back 6-12 months ago and have been great w/ the bupe over this period (with slips, yes, but still great) and looking to find that perfect dose that makes me feel great, live throughout the day w/o a struggle, and just has its maximum value.

so, do you people feel there truly is a difference between the 2MG and 4MG mark? I've done it before but it was a few years ago and I truly forget; I also wasnt a clean then and would just use a day or two after anyway, so it never stuck w/ me.

 

[Jetthecaf]

When I was on those doses I didn't notice much difference, you should stay at the lowest dose you can without feeling discomfort. Try taking 3mg for a few days then drop to 2, if 2mg is uncomfortable go back to 3mg for a few days then try again

 

[Rio Fantastic]

2mg is actually the optimum dose for positive bupe effects, like mood/energy lift etc.

 

[kleinerkiffer]

With buprenorphine less is more, so try taking just 2mg, that will allow the main metabolite norbuprenorphine, a full agonist, to bind to more receptors.
http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/624211-suboxone-is-less-really-more

 

[Znegative]

Yeah, I would slowly taper down as low as you can if you're trying to get any mildly 'euphoric' effects out of suboxone. I can say that I definitely got the most effects when I was at .5mg 2xday (taken sublingually-the lowest I got IV was .15mg). The first thing (if you want to do this) I would do if I was you though would be to split my 4mg dose into two dosages of 2mg, and get used to that, then lower it to 1.5 2xday, then 1mg 2xday. Under 4mg I found it almost impossible to make it through 24 hours without feeling incredibly uncomfortable, so dosing twice was a must for me. What happens is that you get below that ceiling level, so there's a spike every time you take a dose, but in order for there to be that spike, there's got to be a period where you come down if you follow me.

For some people I think it's probably best to find some kind of medium, being on too low of a dose can be a shitty thing because although the few hours after you take it you feel pretty decent, you also have to suffer through a shitty period of the day to maintain that. I found for me 2mg was a good dose, 1mg was a bit too low (to maintain on) with my metabolism.

 

[WARDMAN3]

Just to add my experience.... I have battled an oxycodone habit for over 16 years..For the times I used it I was up to about 200mgs a day for a long times... I have been on suboxone 4 times... First in 2010, again in 2011, then in 2012 and now since Monday... Here has what I have done all three EXCEPT the first time.. Day 1-3, I never needed more than 8mgs a day any time I started. In a period of one week to ten days, I tapered down to 2 mgs, and by 14-17 days, I would be at 1mg... Personally, I never had one issue ever getting myself stable at 1mg...So to err on a longer taper side, lets say I did that over 3 weeks.. I was content on 1mg... The first time I was on it, I still needed only 8mgs. but I only tapered down to 2mgs and jumped from there after week 2 because I was all gung ho and feeling fine. I was fine without till day 3 and then the withdrawals came in 36 hours later on a Friday. I went to ER on Sunday nght because I had not slept and was uncomfortable...That Monday I was able to see a suboxone doctor and got back on.... Looking back at my experience, the first time I was just a newbie basking in the after glow of being treated in a very nice detox program at my local hospital.. I COULD have rode out the withdrawals because they were not as extreme as what I would suffer cold turkey from the oxy, but I was just mentally discouraged and let it bother me.... So as I said, I am back on it now.. today was day 3 and took 7mgs... I experienced my first precipitated withdrawal on Tuesday when I dosed too soon... Thats in another thread... I am planning to get down to 1mg as soon as I feel it possible and this time I am just going to stay there, rebuild my life and not rush the cessation... I know I do not want to be on a long time but I am not going to even think about it... Hopefully when I am ready I will cut to ,5mgs and then every other day... etc etc.... I am aware there will be withdrawals but I do not want that to deter the excellent results I have had withs subs before.... I know i have relapsed but while on subs I finally feel clear and start to do things again.... I know this was a little long but to summarize, I personally never had any issues cutting down to 1mg all the times I did.

 

[IMtrying]

Just to add my experience.... I have battled an oxycodone habit for over 16 years..For the times I used it I was up to about 200mgs a day for a long times... I have been on suboxone 4 times... First in 2010, again in 2011, then in 2012 and now since Monday... Here has what I have done all three EXCEPT the first time.. Day 1-3, I never needed more than 8mgs a day any time I started. In a period of one week to ten days, I tapered down to 2 mgs, and by 14-17 days, I would be at 1mg... Personally, I never had one issue ever getting myself stable at 1mg...So to err on a longer taper side, lets say I did that over 3 weeks.. I was content on 1mg... The first time I was on it, I still needed only 8mgs. but I only tapered down to 2mgs and jumped from there after week 2 because I was all gung ho and feeling fine. I was fine without till day 3 and then the withdrawals came in 36 hours later on a Friday. I went to ER on Sunday nght because I had not slept and was uncomfortable...That Monday I was able to see a suboxone doctor and got back on.... Looking back at my experience, the first time I was just a newbie basking in the after glow of being treated in a very nice detox program at my local hospital.. I COULD have rode out the withdrawals because they were not as extreme as what I would suffer cold turkey from the oxy, but I was just mentally discouraged and let it bother me.... So as I said, I am back on it now.. today was day 3 and took 7mgs... I experienced my first precipitated withdrawal on Tuesday when I dosed too soon... Thats in another thread... I am planning to get down to 1mg as soon as I feel it possible and this time I am just going to stay there, rebuild my life and not rush the cessation... I know I do not want to be on a long time but I am not going to even think about it... Hopefully when I am ready I will cut to ,5mgs and then every other day... etc etc.... I am aware there will be withdrawals but I do not want that to deter the excellent results I have had withs subs before.... I know i have relapsed but while on subs I finally feel clear and start to do things again.... I know this was a little long but to summarize, I personally never had any issues cutting down to 1mg all the times I did.

for someone who had a 16yr habit why are you in a rush to cut your Suboxone? lol. doesnt make much sense.

as people mentioned, when you play w/ lower doses they tend to wear off a bit faster, so you get that urge to use. I've been through it a million times; so never really a need to rush the dose down to only end up back on the original opiate.

 

[SKL]

Less is often more. Doctors often overprescribe suboxone doses. 2-4mg can often hold you even for quite a heavy habit after a difficult first few days. The last few fractions of a milligram are the hardest.

 

[WARDMAN3]

for someone who had a 16yr habit why are you in a rush to cut your Suboxone? lol. doesnt make much sense.

as people mentioned, when you play w/ lower doses they tend to wear off a bit faster, so you get that urge to use. I've been through it a million times; so never really a need to rush the dose down to only end up back on the original opiate.

I know now, That's what I said... It was all a mind game to me..I would say to myself I am not truly clean and healthy if I a still on the suboxone.... But now I get it and I will stay at 1mg for as long as I need to...In hindsight, I was stupid to want to rush off it... It has been nothing but a godsend to me..It clears my mind... I go to work ( I travel for my job) and I dont have to call in sick sometimes because I may run out of oxys on my trip...etc etc etc.... For me the 1mg has worked before for me so well. I am in a different life situation now, I have lost everythng except my job and need to rebuild my life from nothing... I will not make the mistake of jumping off the subxone again... I know there is a lot of info in my posts abut my story that went off on a tangent but it helps me to type it out.... The main point was to let the OP know in my one person experience, I have never had any withdrawal issues or problems making cuts to my dosing and I was able to get down to 1mg without one single issue.. I am just one person but I hope my experience at least gives someone hope.

 

[Znegative]

The difference though, between your situation(s) and the OP's (and correct me if I'm wrong OP), is that it sounds like the OP had been stabilized on a higher dosage for a long period of time, where as you started off at 8mg and rapidly tapered down to 1-2 mg. It's a lot easier to do that if you haven't been on 8-16mg for quite a few months. IME, when I took .5mg 2x day, there was a period of time between the dosages which would start to feel increasingly more uncomfortable, and while I know I could have toughed it out for a full 24 hours and dosed once a day, I never really saw the point of making myself feel crappy for the majority of the day just so I could have one big spike in the morning. Also, different people metabolize buprenorphine at different rates, so all of our experiences are going to be different. I'm sure for some people it's totally possible to taper down to 1mg dosed once a day, or even lower, and feel fine all day, but I know there are at least as many people that find that very difficult.

I'm not trying to start an argument or anything, I just think that when your on maintenance, it's important to be on not too high of a dose that will make it so much harder to get off of, but it's also important to not be on too low of a dose that you don't feel stabilized.

 

[WARDMAN3]

I apologize, it was late night and I missed the OPs remark of being on it many years... My bad.. And I am the first to tell people "Reading is Fundamental"! LOL So I defer to those who have been on a long maintenance to weigh in..... If someone has been on a shorter duration and maintenance period, my experience is stated above.... My apologies Znegative!

 

[Znegative]

Na, no problem man, I was just clarifying that so it didn't seem like I was being a dick, because I agree with you, the best thing to do when inducted is to stabilize and then try to get your dose down as low as possible (unless someone feels they need the security of a blocking effect) because it's within those first two or three weeks after stabilizing that you get a rare opportunity to easily taper down like that.