What should I expect at a Suboxone clinic?

23 Jul 2008

Elise ... suboxone should work great for you. You read a lot of horror stories about suboxone because you only hear from the ones still having problems. Most of the people who used suboxone successfully have moved on. There are a few of us who have stuck around that had good experiences. Main thing is to use it properly. Don't start on too high of a dose and don't use it any longer than you need it to get past the opiate w/d. Seldom is it necessary to use suboxone any longer than a few months, usually only a month or so is plenty.

I never got any kind of a feeling with suboxone like I would with Oxy or other opiates. Buprenorphine which is the medication in suboxone is an opiate but it doesn't get me high. The main thing it did for me was simply make me feel normal. I stopped the old behaviors almost immediately. Just relax and don't go off the w/ds you are doing now. It's very important to start out the right way. Keep us posted. Good luck.

24 Jul 2008

Rob is right. Sub works very well. No high to it. The most important thing I found is drink fluids and stay on the lowest dose you can that keeps you out of withdrawal. I had a bad experience with the doc that I chose but now that I am on track I am doing great. (thanks to Rob) More Sub does not make you feel better it will just give you more side effect. I started at 40 that was soooo unnecessary. Now ween down to 16mg today and feel absolutely wonderful. I was having sweats and no sleep. Now very few sweats and beginning to regain the ability to sleep. Good luck and God Bless. :)

24 Jul 2008

It definitely works. I can't say enough about suboxone. I'm currently on a 4 week program and this week will be my last. This was probably the single most important decision I've made and I am so happy I did. If you have any questions just ask.
And Sisterwin2 is right, Robert_325 is such a big help. When I first started I was nervous, not knowing what to expect and Robert answered all my ques. and even worked out a taper plan that was much more useful then the one my Dr. had me on.
You can trust his advice. Good Luck.

24 Jul 2008

Hang in there! Robert_325 has been the biggest help for me. He is so right. Suboxone will work if you take it properly. I had a 6 roxy 30's a day habit (snorting them) Unfortunately, I took too little during my induction (2 mg every 12 hrs). DO NOT go that route. You will feel worse. I'm 68 hours on suboxone and increased my dosage another 6 mg (that's 8 mg today so far) and I can honestly tell you, I am feeling better for having done that. There are a lot of people including my close friend who swear by it. I am feeling an improvement (I'm 68 hrs into it so far). If your Dr. prescribes you clonidine, as Robert_325 told me, it's blood pressure medication. Not a good idea. Best wishes ;)

24 Jul 2008

Remember that I said we have to be careful with the clonidine. Not that it isn't a good idea. Lots of drs recommend clonidine for help with opiate detox. I used it too the first time I detoxed from opiates. I simply suggested that we really watch it self-medicating with blood pressure medication as it can become dangerous. Just be careful .. know your blood pressure if you use it so you don't take your BP too low. Take care.

24 Jul 2008

Thank you everyone for your kind words & support. I started at 8mg this AM with the option to go up to 12mg I think, tomorrow. I feel ok right now but sort of "could be better" feeling. All the staff at the clinic were really amazing, I didn't get the usual sigh and eye-roll when I told them I'm a nurse dealing with these issues. I'm of course taking some time off right now to get stable & actually contemplating a change of career. But that's a matter for another message board, right? ;)
I did actually take clonidine when I was on methadone (8+ years ago) and it dropped my normally low BP to a really low level (60/40 anyone?) and didn't really help much with the w/drawal.
Again, thanks for your support, especially Robert_325!! Will update after my dose increase tomorrow.

24 Jul 2008

I stand corrected, Robert_325. Thank you for clarifying using clonidine. :) I've been taking it since late Sunday evening. I was instructed to take 1 pill every 12 hours, but I noticed that I've been dizzy upon standing up and I know it has something to do with it decreasing your blood pressure. Anyway, you should be feeling better in the next couple of days. Good luck!!

24 Jul 2008

I am not trying to get in the way of what the dr said. But if he told you to take 12mg tomorrow anyway and you are still feeling questionable today I would take the other 4mg now if it were me. That would get you feeling right for sure and you would be stable and that much farther along in the process now rather than tomorrow. That is exactly what I took initially. I stayed at 12mg for three days then reduced to 8mg for between two and three weeks. Then I tapered off over a couple more weeks.

Your experience with the clonidine is obviously exactly what I was talking about. 60/40 is not a healthy BP. :eek: Same thing with greaties73 talking about getting dizzy standing up. We can't take blood pressure meds like we took opiates. We would all be dead for sure. Clonidine was like a standard in treating opiate addiction before Opiate Replacement Therapy using buprenorphine or methadone. So it is a good medication. Just really shouldn't be necessary with suboxone since we are not suffering w/ds.

24 Jul 2008

I wish I could go up in dose right now, but this clinic is also a methadone clinic, so your first week is just like methadone - daily, in-person dosing. I am actually pretty cool with that, since I know how the addict way of thinking "if one is good, five is better" can be counter-productive with Sub. After the first week, the dosing is take-home.
TTY tomorrow!! Thank you so much again!

25 Jul 2008

leopard, I have had a wonderful experience with suboxone (so far - 2 full days in). I was on methadone, 20 mgs. but for a very very long time. I had to go 3 days with nothing and then started the sub. I am taking 6 2 mg. pills a day and i feel absolutely fine. Going to go down to 4 pills a day after my 3rd day. It's actually amazing. My sister is a nurse also with a drug problem. She started taking suboxone for an addiction to buying methadone on the street. It worked well for her also. She started on 8 mgs. a day and is now down to 1/2 of a 2 mg. pill a day and getting off when her perscription runs out. I actually think its a miracle drug.

26 Jul 2008

I have a question for Robert, the all knowing one on this website :). You have answered my posts so you know my story. Long long time methadone user, switched to sub, now on day 3 and feeling great. No withdrawal, just feel normal and I am happy as could be but I have one problem and the doc says its not from the sub but I think it must be. I am unable to sleep at night. I'm not sick or in withdrawal, just in a very very light sleep and waking up alot. I went to bed at 1 a.m. last night, finally got out of bed at 4:30 because I just kept waking up. Stayed awake on the computer til 7 a.m. then slept til 9 and up since then. Same thing happened the night before, my 1st day on sub. Is this a common side effect of suboxone? Thanks.

26 Jul 2008

Well I have gone up to 16mg today due to still feeling... not right. Will be at 16 until next Dr. appt on Weds. I actually feel quite terrible, anxious, irritable, cravings etc. Sorry, I don't want to whine about it. Maybe this is not the drug for me? I don't know. Luckily the naloxone part of the med will keep me off any other opiates until I get this sorted - that's a big reason I chose the Sub over the methadone.
Sigh.

26 Jul 2008

Hope you feel better at 16mg. Hate to see you go up any more than that. If you don't feel any better at 16mg I would almost start to wonder if you are at too high of a dose. Some of the "symptoms" you are describing might be side effects instead. Usually 16mg is more than enough. I have seen a few people do better with subutex than suboxone. I am curious to see how you do over the weekend.

The only thing that naloxone in suboxone actually does is put us into precipitated withdrawl if we inject the suboxone. That is all it does. It has nothing to do with keeping us off other opiates. It's the buprenorphine in both meds that helps to keep us off the opiates by affecting our receptors as a partial agonist. That is why my dr put me on subutex. I didn't need the naloxone.

Let us know how you do over the weekend. Hope you smooth out at the 16mg dose. Good luck.

26 Jul 2008

bev49 ... I remember your story, I don't recall the dose of subutex you are taking. Some people have complained of sleep problems when they were at too high of a dose. More common is people who take the subutex at bedtime. I always suggest taking it in the morning and in the afternoon. That is what I did. I only suggest an afternoon dose as it is easier to taper off eventually working with two doses. If you are at too high of a dose and taking it at night then that would probably be the reason I would think. I wouldn't change my dose until I change or omit the late dose. What dose are you at now??

26 Jul 2008

I am stable at 16 mgs. and sticking with that for the nexst few days. I was taking 2 mg. tabs up til nightime. Doc just switched me to 8 mg. tabs and told me to break them in half. I will do as you say and take 8 in the a.m. and 8 in the afternoon, and then in 2 days will go to 8 in the am and 4 in the afternoon. My intention is then to go to 4 and 4 and see how I'm feeling. Thank you so much for your advise.