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Is suboxon the answer?

Started suboxon today at age 66. Is this the right move coming off pill addiction?
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Avatar universal
I started on Suboxone about your age also, I am 75 now and this is the only time in my life I did not jump back on alcohol or drugs. I have maintained  at 6mg per day, I wish I had started sooner.
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Hi Rene1945.  That's great.  Have you used for a very long time?  Would love to talk more.  I like inspirational stories. How did you make the decision to try Suboxone?
Avatar universal
I wish I could see a conversion chart for suboxone.  The most I could find was aprox. 1mg subs =30mg of hydrocodone but also read you can't really convert Subs because they're different for everyone?! Don't doctors use some kind of standard? none of this makes sense.
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It all seems weird to me. This is a clinic with tons of people going. The one who runs this place has 4 or 5 jobs I'm told so I don't know how she keeps up with anything.  I am now taking 1/2 strip twice daily and it seems to be working. I didn't tell her that just incase I need more which is not my plan. I want to get off suboxone asap.
Avatar universal
This is such a new experience for me. I took pain pills at random. Some days I would keep a count just not to run out. Suboxone is different as I am taking to avoid withdrawal. Everyone reacts different I guess. Some say it gives you a high,others say energy. Since I am beginning I am trying to regulate my body and mind. When I took my first dose (a whole strip) about 2 hours later I felt dizziness, cold sweating and like I was going to vomit. My next dose 1/2 strip same reaction but not as bad. Taking 1/4 feels much better. I'll do the 8 hour thing taking another 1/4. Thanks for being there!  
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4 Comments
Good plan.  Listen to your body. If you can do a quarter (which I think you can) you're so much better off!!
Agreed..........if your ok point is a 1/4 of a 2mg strip....STAY THERE!  Tne nausea, dizzy, etc....tells me that 2mg is too high.....Because your dr has over prescribed you!
I think she's taking a quarter of an 8 mg strip (the 8/2 bup/naloxone) but this is still MUCH better than 24mg a day or 3 8mg strips.
ahhhh...
Avatar universal
Here is a good questions. When should you take your next dose of suboxone?  Should you wait until you start feeling bad or what? This morning at 6am I did 1/2 a strip. I  am really considering my next dose 1/4 of a strip.  What do you all think?  Thanks so much for the help and input!
Helpful - 0
2 Comments
We can't give specific medical advice but I can say most drs say dose in the morning and then about 8 hrs later.
There were times I would forget to take it and I would start yawning and feeling achy and then I would remember. yawning was always my sign it was time to dose again but everyone's different. For me it always started working in about 30 minutes so don't get scared and feel like you need to take it sooner out of fear of feeling awful.  Just my experience.
Avatar universal
There is one dr. Who actually used subs who wrote a long detailed article on suboxone. It's the best info I've read.  Not sure if I can share the web address on here but you can find it by Google: pbod detoxing from suboxone - fear is caused by a lack of knowledge by Steven Scanlon M.D. its not really promoting or discouraging subs but is more telling what drs are doing wrong and how he tapers ppl with success.
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2 Comments
My decision to quit cold turkey was mainly due to the following....
24mg of subs per day for 7 years. At that dose, to taper properly, would have taken 2 1/2 - 3 years....YEARS, not weeks, or months!
I know that's true. A yr. Ago I started tapering 'properly' from 4mg And am just now finishing and still have months of paws to go through. Its awful they gave you that much for that long. The dr. In the article doesn't keep ppl. On it over 6 weeks IF he's the one to start it.  If you have time you should read it. It's the best info I've found and even though you're done with it I think you'd appreciate it. Did you know in Europe they make a .3 mg dose?
What scares me is he still says even at that super low dose you need to take 10-14 days off work. I can't. This is my busy season and that scares me - not because I think I'll use but because it's going to be hell. If I can't do it I'm going to have to wait even longer to jump and I too really want to get this over with sooner than later. If it's going to be a month before I'm better how is this better than quitting pain pills cold turkey? It's not - its a temporary fix - it's for those who don't have the will power when it comes to pain pills (understandably) but IF I'd known then what I know now about subs it would have given me the willpower! Sometimes we just have to see for ourselves and learn the hard way.
7163794 tn?1457366813
COMMUNITY LEADER
IMO..............Subs are probably NOT the route you should have gone.  The w/d would have been less had you just come off of the pills themselves.  Possibly, if taken for a very short period of time, at a very low dose, then the subs could ward off some of the opiates w/d effects. However, staying on the subs any length of time comes with it's own nightmares.  My drug of choice was opiates and then I turned to subs.  However, my dose was high and my length of time I stayed on them was long.  The sub w/d was waaayyy longer than the opiate w/d would have been and waaayyy worse.  5/7 days of being home sick off of opiates vs over 30 of pure hell with the subs.  

Possibly talk to your dr to keeping it short and low dose!  Very important!
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1 Comments
I agree 100%
Avatar universal
I sent you a private message kitty
Helpful - 0
7163794 tn?1457366813
COMMUNITY LEADER
Come on back Kitty907...............  what did you move to suboxone from?  How many were you taking?

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I was taking Vicodin 10-325. Proscribed 4 a day was taking up to seven some days. Nightmare. Sick of the chase.
495284 tn?1333894042
COMMUNITY LEADER
What pills were you taking and how much?  Is the sub from a doctor?  What mg's?
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7 Comments
Vicodin 10-325 sometimes 7 daily. Yes suboxon proscribed 8-2mg 3 daily
That's so much to be taking after only 7 Vicodin per day  :-(
It's overkill...........it'll take you forever to get off that much sub!
Did the doctor talk to you about tapering down on the vicodin?  Sub is so much stronger and trying to come off that stuff is hell.  How long have you been taking sub now?
I don't know why doctors do that! I was never on more than 8mg a day and never needed more - if that. Luckily kitty is smart. I talked with her.  Being on subs is easy but Sarah is right - coming off is hell.
Maybe one day the doctors will get a better dosing system down...?
I remember when Sub came out.  It was all over the news how wonderful this drug would be to addicts.  It was the answer to everyone's prayers so we thought.  They failed to mention that it was also addicting and hell to get off.  It's a money game for so many.
Yes $$$! Even the good drs I think get caught up in it because the manufacture/ pharm reps probably recommend those high doses.  And if it's not about $ then why do the 2 mg strips cost the same as 8 and they don't make less than 2mg and the packaging says not to cut them. There's no way I could have jumped at 2mg. It really is like they want you to be on them for life all too often.  Sorry I'm venting.  I will say this though, subs are easier to taper in some ways because there's not a desire to do more - it's the physical part that's harder unless you've started at a low dose and been on them a short period (like motye51 suggested).
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