Please help, problems with suboxone after methadone???

[GreenButterfly906]

hi there, finally someone who has been on both, i just switched to subs from 10 years of methadone, 2 years clean in between, stupid? but it has been a week and my head hurts, leg spasm, digestive system, pelvis running to knees pain, also back pain, feels like every organ in pain still! while i dont feel like i am in withdrawal in other manners, why is this i have no relief? I do have back problems, etc. But it was not like this on done, or the two day withdrawal to get on subs, is it the drug, withdrawal. i think a bit of alcohol withdrawal too! But i am ready to give up suboxone at 12 mgs, i think, is this high enough to not feel the pain, as with methadone i could take codeine, this blocks it, my dr. lied to me! And how do i taper like you did, what did u do exactly, please help!

[EvolverU]

Hi! I'd just like to second my friend Digger76 above & also all the other posters. You sound like you're a bit scattered at the moment. Definitely, look into another doctor. You will not feel the Codeine or any other opiate through the Suboxone. Also, unless you're pregnant, the Naloxone will make no difference as it is the Subs that has the stronger receptor- binding affinity -- (meaning it's the Beprenorphine itself that is blocking other opiates.)

To tell you the truth, most responsible Drs. wouldn't prescribe Benzos, sleep meds (?) & Subs at the same time. The Naloxone is the last thing I'd be worried about re; your symptoms. Just so you know, you might actually be on too high a dose of Suboxone. That might very well explain the discomfort & some of your symptoms. (A higher dose doesn't relieve more pain it just exacerbates the side effects. Suboxone has a 'ceiling dose'.) I Hope you get a decent doctor, sort this out & get properly stabilized on either Subs or Methadone. Are you in any form of counseling at present? Best of Luck To You.

[digger1976]

I have just read your new thread, If you have a question you should just write down at the bottom of this thread, then you will have your full story on one page for reference when you need it. You should be swallowing the whole dose after it has fully dissolved under your tongue, spit nothing out, can't understand how you came about the idea of spitting it out in the first place. Could I ask you how much Valium you are taking at the moment, its just I was taking valium whilst I was on subs and had to stop because it was making me hyper with crazy mood swings. I was buying my valium on the street though but its still the same effect. Just be careful is all I'm saying, you seem to be in spin and you need to take it so much slower and calm down. Everything will level off soon enough if your taking your subs correctly?. Take care of yourself. I think you need to find a new Dr by the way, the one you have sound useless. Unless it is you asking for to much from him, that will scare any Dr into submission. Forget the Codine..

[GreenButterfly906]

sorry not 7 weeks, 11 months to feel motivated with subs or without methadone and subs! Because i feel highly unmotivated right now and while on methadone unless i am forced to do something, like work, lol! But the pain and the unmotivation was way worse still after 2 years clean off methadone! It's like, when will this end, I dont have years and years to lie around and feel better! And how, in which way did they make you feel "weird"

[GreenButterfly906]

If you read the 70 different side effects of suboxone, which are scary and 1 1/2 pages long, I experiencing 1/3, and 1/3 i don't understand! Then it says bupenorphine alone, and side effects are 1 little paragraph, so I say it must be the naloxone! I am on thyroid meds, sleep meds, and Valium as needed! I am not anxious, though I was feeling so sick and withdrawal at 1st my mind can't think straight! I do feel much better on Subs, non of the brutal effects which is methadone now that I have been on 12ms subs for 2 weeks now!

[GreenButterfly906]

Did you mean that it took you 7 weeks off everything or 7 weeks while on subs for methadone to dissapate? I dont know if you are suppost to swallow the stuff that keeps building up in your mouth or spit it out also?I am actually trained in CBT, I do tons of meditation and spiritual work! Sorry all about the confusion as I just wanted to get everything in there. OK I started taking methadone around 10 yrs ago. About 5 years in i quit cold turkey at 120mg. I went crawling back! So then after a year i tapered down to 10mg, and quit for 2 years. After 2 years of nothing, but excessive alcohol intake to numb the pain i had, lack of motivation, etc. I decided maybe i will never be able to get off of methadone, so i went back, which was stupid, because I felt the same due to underlying medical problems. Afrter 1 year back in, my drug plan now covered suboxone, due to the side effects and what i heard about subs, i switched now i am on 12 mgs of subs. At first i felt great, now the feeling is wearing off! My messages were linked together via the medhelp.org, as they deemed it easier, so that is why it is confusing as they were all suppost to be different posts! The law suit was different but linked in by them, as I have a great case, but nonetheless, clarified i hope!

[weaver71]

You have to take subs 1-3 weeks to stabilize. 12 mg should be plenty. You had no precipitated withdrawal, so you are in transition from a full agonist to a partial agonist. I went from 200mg of methadone to 8mg of subs, I had to reduce to 6 mgs after a week. They made me feel weird. They build up in your system over the first 21 days, so you have more than 12mg in your system. Also, it is the buprenorphine that blocks the other opiates, Subutex will be no different. Your doctor sounds uneducated, but there is little you can do, if he follows protocol, which is pretty lose with subs. I was given wrong info about subs also, but ignorance is not a crime. I would not focus on the doctor and legal help. Focus on healing and try to relax. I know, easier said than done. I will say, methadone did make my pain worse, in the long run. It made me push myself as well, not good for a person with life long pain. Mine started at 11, that's when I started drugs. Your anxiety seems through the roof, that makes all the side effects worse. If you are not an addict, you are real close to becoming one. It took a 10-11 months to feel motivated after methadone, and it's still improving after a year. What else do you do for pain, besides pills? Physical therapy, cognative therapy, church?