Can't stand my sub doctor

[JENN5]

Hello too all :)  I've been sick so today finally feeling better (strep throat).

Anyway had my doctor appt yesterday.  My sub doctor.  Dont get into see my pain doctor til Jan 9th and it cant come soon enough - I"m having a lot of very bad pain days and it's worse then ever.  But there are good days too just more bad now.

Anyway, I go there and after waiting and hour and a half (cuz he chit chats with the nurse and is slow - very slow) so after waiting an hour and a half with crazy people in the waiting room (judging you say?  No there was a lady starting fights with people, another lady who throw paper at me! etc)

Anyway I go in talk to the med asst and she asks questions etc.  He comes in and says ok how is it going.  I say ok with the meds but I dont take a whole pill at a time. (he wants me to take 2 8mg a day - I found that it gives me a headache and makes me more tired if I do - so I take in quarters or halves and I dont take 16 a day I take 8 or 10 and that's better) but noooooo he says to me no dont do that you take 2 pills a day as a whole only patients that take this for pain management take in lower doses and you are NOT using this for pain management.  (screw you just cuz I wanted off the other pills does not mean I dont NEED THIS FOR PAIN a hole! cuz I do I can barely move!) I tell him I do NEED this for pain and start trying to explain yet again all that is wrong with me - he just cuts me off and says if your sore take a motrin.

HUH?  DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT PAIN I AM IN YOU JERK.  No you dont and you dont give a ****.  He gave me a script for another 30 days and walked out.  Obviously I cannot use him for anything BUT the sub and he looks down on me for it and doesn't think or care that any thing is really wrong with me.  He dont care a bit.  (he is actaully a doc for older people and something inside the body not exactly a GP but still he should know the basics).  

So I have to wait til Jan 9th to see my pain doc and sit and suffer without any meds for my back and my leg.  

ANd question:  Since he's obivious a sucky doctor - how often do you guys see him for sub?  Is it every month normal or am I just getting stuck going every month cuz they want to bill me once a month for a 2 second rude and uncomfortable visit?

Also 16mg still from when I started?  I thought he would have started tapering me or talked about tapering me down :(

[wait2long]

does the sub even really help your pain??  really just curious on this...it did nothing and still does nothing for my pain...even when i was at 32 mgs daily it didnt help...does anyone here get releif from their pain from the sub?  if so how much relief?

[GA Guy]

I've been on Sub for 5 days now. I really don't think I know enough about this to comment very much yet. I do know that I divide my dose into 2 doses. I never thought about it "feeding" my addictive behavior. I'm just trying to do a quick taper..and, I don't want to take more than I need for the day. Maybe it is me self medicating..I dunno. I'd follow what the doc says about dosing schedules..but, I agree that you should take the dose you're comfortable at and a dose that doesn't make you sick. Also, like others said, I'd find another doctor. Many people don't understand that these people work FOR YOU. Not the other way around. If you're getting less than stellar service, find another doc. There ARE some great Sub docs out there. I know I found one. My doc is a psychiatrist..I was wary at first, but I think psychiatrists are very sensitive and understanding towards addicts. Maybe try that route? especially now that you have a full script. It's also time to start talking about a long term taper and eventually getting off the Sub...God bless..

[Gobig]

I saw my doc every 4-5 days or so throughout my entire detox.  Keep your eye on the prize - taper, and be clean - you'll be done with your doc in no time, and this process will be history :-)

[MICHAEL_777]

It will definitely help, but remember to take it easy.  Light weights and ease into the cardio.  If you do too much in the beginning you'll burn out, and if detoxing you'll get a huge adrenaline surge that almost makes you sick.  Love and Strength!!

[JENN5]

Hey sorry for some reason your post didn't show up til now.  Thanks for the advice.  I know what you mean about doctors not getting on the phone when you are in horrendous pain!  I am planning on going back to the gym next week to strengthen my body and hopefully it helps me :)

[FLaddict]

Don't worry Jenn its easy to confuse people here with how fast the board moves. And new people coming every day by the 10's.

[JENN5]

You must be thiking of someone else?  I take less then what I was told to take.  I take 8mg not 16mg and I dont even have a husband nor am I suicidal :(

[notmenow!]

I am on suboxone for pain management the same PM MD that had me on all the oxycontin and norco. It was after the spinal infusion that we decided to give suboxone a try but I take sub in combination with Lyrical for nerve pain 300mg 3x per day and 8mgs sub every6hrs a day, At first I experienced the headaches that do go away. If your looking for a drug to replace the effects of a full opiate agonist suboxone is not for you, You have already said that your over take your pain meds or use your husbands pain meds, What if he had cancer and realy depended on his pain meds what would you do then, The fact is suboxone does have an analgesic effect on pain but only last about 5-6 hrs that why divided doses are required along with the Lyrical, You should have picked a PM MD  that can write for suboxone if need be, Sounds like you have many issues that you need to deal with some of which are phycological, I am however glad to hear you are currently not suicidal as you have mentioned in your numerouse previous posts. I think you would benefit by seeing a mental health professional. I am not trying to cause a meltdown for you. I just feel as though you need additional help. How many days total have you been on the suboxone?----------------NOAH

[FLaddict]

Start looking for a new doctor while you have a full script.  If he treats you this way then there is no question.. just find another doctor. Maybe everything happens for a reason.. you may find the best doc ever out of this experience.

[imanaddict]

That sounds like a good plan, just do exactly what you feel is right for you. He doesn't know what your body is telling you to do, so just do whatever works for you because you are the one who has to live with it, not him.

Have a great Thanksgiving!!

[JENN5]

That's what I think too that 16 is too much for me.  I tried talking to him the 3 times I've been in there.  I tried telling him yesterday that I'm going for surgery in January but he cut me off telling me about taking a motrin :|  He doesn't listen to me one bit.  Do you know that when I went there last month first on it that I typed up a schedule chart in excel putting down how much I took when and how I felt and my questions/comments/etc.  Because I was and am determined to make this work.  Well he didn't even read it.  Glanced at it said I must have a lot of time on my hand and asked me if I even had a job.  (which I already told him earlier I had a good job down the street from his office where he knows).  He just talks so down to me and doens't want to hear me.  And my most important things is getting off the pills to but my pain is getting mroe severe and now my nerve down my right leg is affected (used to be just me left) and I'm terrified of more major stuff having to be done instead of just the outpatient surgery coming up.  But I can't get a word in with this guy.  When I first went in there he gave me no guidelines on any of this of what to take or anything - told me different things - I really felt he is not knowledgeable with sub.

[JENN5]

ANd plus now that I"m thinking back....when I was on more sub twice a day I came on the boards here and the other board I'm on crying saying it's not working for me etc and was so depressed and hurting.  Once I lessened it to 8-10 and broke it up I"m ok.  So I feel this is what is right for me and it's not cuz I want to take it more times during the day.  As a matter of face I almost 'forget' to take it during the day.

[FLaddict]

I think you should take 8mgs per day if that is what you feel best at. I do disagree with your doctor there. 16mgs is a pretty high dose in my eyes.  If you feel good at 8mgs then that is where you should be. Just take it on the Sub schedule.  As far as needing it for pain. When you first went in to the doc for Sub did you talk to him about that?  
I took Sub for 10 days in June and started on 6mgs a day. I have chronic pain.  I took other things to help me through. The most important thing was getting off the pills.

[MICHAEL_777]

I had a similar thing happen to me yesterday.  I'm going cold turkey off of 25-30 hydrocodone and 10-15 Loricets a day.  I don't know anything about the sub, but I know alot about back pain.  I've made up my mind that I'm going to find a solution for the problem and not a temporary bandaid, which is what these pain pills are.  Look into spinal decompression.  That's the route I'm taking and have luckily scored an appointment today with a clinic that performs the procedure.  I'll let you know what I find out.  I'm sick of being in pian, but I'm also sick of taking pills and having them control me.  My old Dr. wouldn't even get on the phone to speak with me yesterday when I was so much pain I could hardly move.  They just said to come in for another MRI and we'll go from there.  Screw that and you too doc.  He's nothing more than a licensed drug dealer to me now.  Instead of trying to fix the problem he throws some pills at it, I get hooked so I have to keep coming back and paying for office visits for refills.  It's a vicious circle with the Dr. and the meds.  When I run out of my prescribed dosage, which was normally within a few days, I was scrambling around buying up whatever I could off the street or going to shady clinics for scripts.  I'm finally putting a stop to all of it and am on about my 3rd day of detox.  Try the wet and dry saunas at a gym and see if they help at all with the pain.  Most gyms will give you 1-2 weeks free to try them out.  Love and Strength to you!!

[JENN5]

That's what I mean.  That I am on too high of a dose if I take the 16mg twice a day like he said.  If I stick to half of that throughout the day like I am doing that I'm great.  I feel normal now and get things done and am even thinking about going to finish my degree next year.  So I dont see why I would take more to stop me from functioning properly?

[JENN5]

by the way I DID try that for two weeks and I had to tell my boss that the side affects of just starting it out was making me tired.  So now that I do it this way I dont have to worry cuz I'm fine.  Here at work including all my loved ones have commented all positive on me when I got my dose to what I felt was right.  So I just dont see how doubling up and taking less times making me sick and not helping pain can be good for me just cuz soem think it's the addictive behavior kicking in.  If it were addictive behavior for me like I thought it was the first few days then I would want to take more not less even if it were fewer times throughout the day.

[IBKleen]

Have you considered that you are either having a reaction to the Sub or you are on too high of a dose. If they are causing migranes and you are falling asleep, something is wrong.

[JENN5]

especially when i DO need it for pain too?

[JENN5]

So you guys think that I'm better off taking 16mg a day instead of 8mg and I should walk around with a migraine and risk my job sleeping at my desk?  NOT being smart at all guys dont mean it like that...but just saying - How can that be BETTER for me?

[FLaddict]

i agree with wait2long on the dose times. It was intended for once per day or every other day dosing. Due to the long half life that makes it possible. Taking it throughout the day is reliving your addictive behaviors.

[JENN5]

but if I do take in 8mg and then 8mg that would be double then what I take in a day by splitting up.  Not only that but if I take a whole one it gives me a migraine and I fall asleep sitting up at work literally.  I just dont think it's harmful to me and I dont think it's the addictive behavior I think it's just what helps me feel more healthy and functioning and also supposed to help with the pain more.  And I would do as you and he said but then I can't function sick and tired :(

[JENN5]

Yeah he says that for people using sub to get off the pills you can only take once of twice a day max.  That ONLY people starting on it for pain control can take it more.  Even though I have pain I'm using it to get off pill too therefore I can't use it more than once or twice.  (bull **** huh!)  So I just agree to what he says and will do my own thing.  If something makes me sick why should I do it that way cuz HE tells me too when he knows jack about it.  Screw him.  I'm sticking with the 8-10 mg a day and splitting up as I want.  JERK. (sorry so annoyed at him today).......How I wish I could scream at him....

[wait2long]

i see my sub doc monthly also...i cant answer the dose question you have, only you know that...BUT i would recommend taking your dose at once and not in bits and peices throughout the day...that is still an addictive behavoir...i did that at first also i was dosing 2-3 times daily, and my sub doctor says that is still  addictive thinking or an addictive pattern...your supposed to take your dose 1 time per day , that way your not always thinking about that next dose, clock watching, etc...just a suggestion ....it did work for me, in my case my sub doc was right on...i dose just once and dont have to think about it again...

[imanaddict]

yeah, I completely understand!

How long have you been going and on sub now? My dr. office says they want their patients to be on sub for a full year. I guess that's because it usually takes about a year to undo all the damage? That's perfectly fine with me though because it helps with my back pain better than the Norco ever did. I'm on 12mg a day and he says I can take however I want to. He writes it for 3-2mg pills in the morning, and 3 at night, but I spread it out throughout the day.


The more I think about it, the more your dr. makes me mad! You should be able to take your meds however you feel like you should since you aren't trying to abuse them! Want me to call him and yell at him for you?? LOL! I've been dying to scream at someone after the day I had at work yesterday..hehehehe