I have been on Subutex for over 5 years at a high dose. I am scheduled to have a high tibial osteotomy in 4 days. My sub doc said I should stop the Subutex several days before so the pain meds will work. I plan on not going back on the Subs after the surgery, I will be taking a narcotic for a short time as this is a very painful procedure. I have been wanting to get off the subs for awhile but can't take the withdrawals. I am scared to death to not take my Subs, if I take a dose in the morning by the afternoon I start having symptoms of withdrawals. I know the half-life is at least 37 hrs but this is how it's always been for me. I had arthroscopic knee surgery a yr & a half ago. I took my prescribed 32mgs as I usually would. The surgery went fine & I was prescribed Tramadol for post-op. The 1st dose I took I actually felt the effects of that med but then I took a Sub & after that never felt anything. I guess my question is do I absolutely have to stop my Subutex or can I just take it as usual but just not take any after surgery? Maybe lower my dose for the last 2 days? Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!
Do I have to stop Subutex before surgery?
- Posted:
- 28 Jan 2012 by kleen4life
- Topics:
- subutex, pain, surgery
Answers (1)
Nik.Nikita29 Jan 2012
Kleen4life, wow!! 32mg a day is a very high dose of Subutex. Most doctors won't prescribe more than 16mg. A day. Subutex doesn't have the narcotic agonist in it, only the Bupenorphine drug. Which basically means that it doesn't have the combination drug in it that prevents the opiate drugs from being affective. Subutex has the opiate binder Bupenorphine in it which is what prevents you from going into withdrawals when stopping pain meds. Since everybody responds differently to drugs, I can only tell you about my own experience. I've been on Suboxone 8mg. Tabs twice daily for over two years now. It is not a cure for the addiction, it just keeps withdrawals at bay sort of like being in remission. If I stop taking the Suboxone then I go into withdrawals. However, having said that I will tell you about a time when I too needed surgery. My Suboxone doctor told me to take a Suboxone vacation for three days prior to surgery and I did.
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Thanks Nik.Nikita. I have had surgery before while on it & I did fine as well. I know I am on an extremely high dose & that's one of the reasons I want to get off them. It seems the the more I get, the more I want which is obviously part of my own addiction. I am one of those "all or nothing" people so my thoughts are to rid my life completely of them. I am hoping to just take what they prescribe for the pain & wean off that. I think my problem with weaning off Subs is the super long half-life, scares the crap out of me. Once again, thanks for responding!
Kleen4life, good luck with getting off of the Subutex!! I thought that Suboxone was going to be the answer to my prayers but later found out that it just feels like I've traded one medication for another. It does have a lot more really good effects for me other than taking narcotic pain meds did. I had taken pain meds for so long at such a high dose that they quit working for me. When the veil of euphoria finally lifted I started to remember a lot of things that I did and said while on the pain meds. It was really awful to realize what kind of person I had changed into. NA and 12 steps etc.. Never worked for me. I'm just not the kind of person who can get up in front of a bunch of strangers and tell them about what an ass I've been for the past ten years or so Ha!Ha! Anyhow, it works for some people so whatever works!!i don't get high, I don't feel good or get a buzz from the Suboxone it just keeps me level.
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I can function normally without the desire to ever go back! But the cloud is always over my head whispering to me"you have to take this med, you have to drive for six hours every month for your 5minute appointment with your Suboxone doctor in order to continue living like this. But I guess it's just the cross I have to carry in order to continue on this way. I've read so many horror stories about how it's so much harder to get off of Suboxone than it is t get off of narcotics. And. Then of course there are those days when I get so frustrated because I've failed yet another drug test showing positive for a drug that I've never even taken in my entire life, knowing that I'm innocent and yet there it is, a positive test. But what can I do? I've been a nurse for 27 years now and I don't have any idea why I keep testing positive when I'm not using!! There is a person named Robert something on this site that has some kind of withdrawal formula which others swear by? Supposedly it has helped a lot of people to finally get off of Suboxone or Subutex. Most doctors don't like to prescribe just the Subutex because it doesn't contain the drug in it that prevents a person from using other narcotics. Subutex is used to prevent withdrawals of opiates, but how does it do that? It does that because it is giving you a small dose of a narcotic which is preventing your withdrawals. I put myself into a detox unit for an excrutiatingly long ten days!!! What a dumbass I was!! I realize that there are some really nice places out there that actually do care about their patients. But this wasn't one of them!! They were there to make money!! I witnessed a man being discharged after only three days because he couldn't pay to stay any longer and didn't have any insurance. This man had shot up for a week on a bus ride to get to this facility and they discharged him after only three days. I was kept the longest because I have such good insurance they were making a killing off of me!! Now I know what it feels like to be on the other side of the nurses station and believe me, I do not ever want to be the patient again!! It's ironic but I just recently applied for a nursing position there!Ha!Ha! Who knows better than an addict how to treat an addict? Anyhow, PQ me if you like and I'll try and help you through this!! The blind leading the blindHa!Ha! But there really are some good people here who are willing to help you if you reach out and ask!! Lately I've been thinking that "why should I continue to take Suboxone , which doesn't make me feel good, when I keep testing positive anyhow on their test?? Oh yeah, because narcotics turn me into a jerk and I don't want to ever get back into that cycle. But I dread the day when I have to finally get off of the Suboxone for whatever reason. Maybe this doctor will decide to move or maybe my insurance will decide they aren't going to pay for it any longer I don't know. I just hate feeling like that day could come and then what am I going to do? I used to get excruciatingly painful migraines about every other day. They would hook me up to an IV of Dilaudid on top of all the pills I had at home!! Until one day they refused to treat me!! It was all down hill from there. But after starting the Suboxone I've only had about four headaches that I would really classify as a migraine in the past two years. When I stopped taking all of the prescription pain meds my migraines came to almost a complete halt!! I must have been having rebound headaches from them. Anyhow, let me know how things are going O.K.? NIK
You are wrong about the Subutex. The drug info printout from the pharmacy plainly says it is a narcotic agonist. It WILL block opiates for 14-21 days after you go off it. I don't care what anyone says; you're dreaming if you think you can stop Subutex and get pain control from an opiate in 3 days. I recently had serious gum surgery and my Sub dr was no help at all. She seems to think you could have a leg amputated and only need Subutex for pain. I stopped my Sub 2 weeks before the surgery and it helped a LOT. I was able to get the benefit of the opiates I was prescribed and then go back on Sub. However, stopping is hard, or it was for me. I was very depressed and jittery. You put yourself in a corner when you start this drug.