Need suboxone advice...

  • Thread starter Thread starter hppygr8ful
  • Start date Start date
Philly,
Congrats for making a decision. Now you can relax and try not to worry for the next 3 days. My only concern would be that 12 hours may not be enough time between your last dose of oxy and the suboxone induction. I think you need 16 hrs at minimum and 24 or more is ideal. I wouldn't want you to be kicked into immediate w/d's just because you didn't wait long enough.
The induction itself is no big deal. She will just have you sit there and she'll make sure you are at least in mild w/d then give you probably half of an 8mg tablet to put under your tongue, maybe an 8mg, I don't know how your doc will do it. My doc told me to put half, 4mg, under my tongue and when that was dissolved asked me how I felt. I said I was still a bit nauseas and shaky. he told me to put the other half under and when it dissolved asked how I felt and at that point I felt better. He said I'd feel better as the day went on and I did. He said to take the other 8mg around 6pm (my first was at about 7:30am). He said if I had to I could take another 4mg as early as noon that day and I did as I started to feel kind of sick to my stomach around 2pm. That dose worked great to stop the nausea. I then took the other 8mg around 6pm. So, my 1st day I took 20mg then I've been taking 16mg ever since.
I see my doc tonight so I'll let you know if he makes any changes.

good luck to you!
kewood
 
hppygr8ful, emsmom and Lovemydegus thank you for your replies. My questions are what (if any) ill effects have you had since being on sub. The Dr. I'm going to also prescribes clonidine and a sleeping pill if neccessary. All thoughts are really appreciated...really

Thanks.
 
Hey, Phillybro! Glad you stopped by with an update :).

I'm so glad you've got a doc who's willing to work with you. I think that can make all the difference in the world, especially if it's a doc who's willing to listen and really hear you.

I haven't gotten to that low a dose yet, so I don't have any experience with the symptoms that may show up at a low dose, but it does seem like you went fairly quickly. Are you going to go back to 4 for a week like the doc suggested? Did you still have the morning tiredness and weird leg feelings at that dose?

I think, as your doc said, that our brains need to do a lot of healing after being chemically altered for so long. I'm glad you're enjoying life without the Oxy, that's quite an accomplishment, and you should be so proud of yourself! :D

Keep us updated, please...love to hear how you're getting along. Good thoughts going out to you!

rose
 
Hello,
I think that you might be going TOO fast with the taper. It takes our brain & body up to 1 YEAR for it to fully recover and go back to normal. It does depend on how much of the drug you were doing and how long but this is pretty much the norm and what they tell you in drug treatment(Rehab). Plus, the withdrawal feeling are not constant, say they will be there for 2 weeks and then you don't experience any. That is absolutely false. They wil go up and down for the full year. There may be times when you feel some withdrawal symptoms and think to yourself (I have been clean for 3 months, why am I feeling these symptoms?) Well, they are called post acute withdrawal symptoms and will occur over the 1 year of absolutely no opiate medications. So, once you get off the Suboxone your brain will continue to heal for up to 1 year.

There will also be times or occasions where you feel "high" or feel like you did when you were on the oxycodone. This is because there are some levels stored in your brain and body that are released over time and the reason that you feel these weird symptoms is due to this reason. It is perfectly normal but will probably trigger you so just be careful.

Recovery is NOT A RACE TO THE FINISH, it is a journey. You don't want to slip in your recovery and end up back on the oxycodone so take it slow with the Suboxone. I'm sure you don't want to end up repeating this ever again.

brian
 
Hey Philly

Okay, Buddy, a plan is in the making. Good for you. Please remeraber that all plans also need a segment for support in helping the thinking change permanently. N/A, counselors, whatever you choose, but please do choose. Need to take care of the mind as well as the body to be successful.

As I wrote before, I am with you whatever course chosen and I mean that. I wish you positive change and good health in the journey to restoration. Stay strong, stay determined, keep gaining knowledge.

Hugs
reach
 
Hi, Philly, good to meet you. I'm new, too, so I'm not as knowledgeable as some here, but I've been on sub for 11 months, so I can tell you my experience.

For about the first week after I started sub, I had mild nausea off and on, like a mild case of the flu that cleared up toward the end of the week.

The only lasting side-effect I have now is dry mouth and sinuses. For the dry mouth, I'm using Biotene Dry Mouth products (I hope it's ok to mention specific companies; I don't work for them and am not promoting these products). There are toothpastes, mouth washes, and a product that comes in a tube and is a gel, which helps a lot with the dryness and also freshens breath. Sorry I can't remeraber the name of it. I'm sure there are many other dry-mouth products on the market, also. I drink lots of water for the dry mouth, too.

I have several anxiety issues, including horrible panic attacks, sometimes, but I haven't noticed an increase while on sub. Actually, my general anxiety seems to have decreased, and I haven't had one full-blown panic attack. I generally feel a bit more calm, and I think for me, it's because I'm not worried about getting my next prescription, how long it would last, etc. Have also noticed my depression (I'm bipolar) has decreased a bit, and my hypomanic episodes have decreased in length and intensity, too.

Philly, I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but: try to lose the shame. I understand it, and I still have some, too, but I'm learning to let it go. If I keep it around my shoulders like an itchy blanket, it just keeps me from doing the healthy things I should be doing for myself and others. Maybe it's too early in your treatment, but at some point, it would be great if you could just lose that shame.

Also, I'll echo what others said - find some support groups (AA, NA) and commit yourself to going to them on a regular basis. There's nothing like being with people who "know" you, if you get what I mean. It's such a big help, and people who are in our shoes need all the support we can get.

Sorry for the novel, I tend to run off at the mouth, and also the fingers. :o

rose

PS: Philly, please let us know how you're doing, and keep us up to date if you can, ok?
 
Hi Phillybro, its been a while since I have been on here. I took vicodin for about 10 years at 50 pills a day, then started SUBOXONE in 2004 at 32mg a day and for 4 years that doctor kept me on 32mg. I then started to see a new doctor and he said I am getting you off this stuff. It took 2 years and my last dose was March 2009 BUT he stopped me at 2mg which was kind of still a high dose if you ask me ( and from what others have told me) he should have gone down to 1mg then .75mg then .50mg you get the idea. So after being on Vicodin for 10 years and SUBOXONE for 5 years my body was about to get a BIG wake up call. I am NOT saying suboxone is a bad thing, it saved my life. BUT I want to tell you what I went through. I had 31 days of withdrawals, leg and arm twitches kept me up for days at a time, I could not sleep, lost 40 pounRAB from going to the bathroom so much. Very achy, no energy, had to have my friend come over and wash my hair because I had no strenght to do it and it had been weeks!!! Again 2mg was kind of steep to stop me at. Here I am today at over 140 days sober and its been a rough road. But if you tapper real real slow you should be fine! I was told in the very begining that suboxone is not for long term use and that was coming straight from the nurse at the suboxone hotline. She told me there is NO WAY you should have been on it that long ( which I find out is NOT TRUE) I was told NOW people can stay on a maintenance for life! Of course a low dose that is but see how many different opinions there are out there? It can get confusing! Stay strong keep your head up and you will be just fine. Just go slow! And you can always get back on it, I have heard there is nothing wrong with getting back on it if you need to. Good luck !! :)
 
Well last nite at 630pm I had my first appt. with the Dr. for my suboxone induction. I took my last dose of 30mg oxycodone IR at 1am. So I had waited 17 hrs. to withdrawal. I had a bit of a hard time during the day with anxiety and restless legs and arms but I made it. My withdrawal had actually subsided quite a bit when I got to the Dr. office and I started my first dose of sub (4mg) at 7pm. For the first hour or so I felt absolutely no change and I was very worried. What if I'm the exception and this doesn't work???! I was released from the Drs office with instructions to take another 4mg around 830pm. She also gave me some clonidine and trazodone if I needed them for sleep. So I took my second dose at 830pm and in 20 mins I was feeling fine. Pretty good actually. Relief! As the nite went on I felt better and better. I was SHOCKED at how good I felt. Not high...just good. Last nite I slept very well on 8mg of sub and nothing else. I woke up around 8am and took my first full 8mg pill. Today I am feeling quite normal and very happy to not have to worry about taking oxy. I told my Dr. that I want to take sub very conservatively and try to wean off asap. She said she is willing to help me do this and if I have any problems we can slow it down. I am to take 12mg on days 2 and 3, 10mg on days 4 and 5 and 8mg on days 6 and 7. My next appt. is Wed 6/17.

I am so thankful to all on this site who supported and encouraged me...reach, denon, kewood, PaulyC and WildIrishRose. Thank you all so much. This is my first BIG step in breaking free of the prison of addiction. Next I will go to an AA/NA meeting. I am on my way!

If anyone has any questions or further thoughts or suggestions for me...I'm ALL ears.

God bless...
 
thanks for what you said. I was just reading other people's posts and you really helped another recovering addict! It's the little things we don't realize sometimes that can have a profound effect on another. :)
 
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