Just started Suboxone maintence, questions.

[jpl788]

I've been an opiate addict for a couple years now and went to see a Dr. for Suboxone treatment. She prescribed me 8mg twice a day which seems fair enough.

-I've been to an inpatient treatment before where they treated me with 4mg Suboxone 3 times daily for 4 days(Just to get me through the worst part of w/d I suppose) and it really is a miracle how well it works. Anyways the treatment facility wanted to put me on suboxone maintenance and I turned it down because originally I didn't want to just replace one drug with another. I ended up relapsing and now realize that I should have done the suboxone treatment so it could give me time to re-train myself to live without getting high.

Anyway the point of this thread is I don't really know this Dr. and don't know how much I should trust her I don't want to be on Sub for years. So I'm asking for some experienced advice (I hear Robert is the guy here to talk to) on how to administer Sub to myself. How long should I stay on the 8mg twice a day? I'm pretty sure I could do 4mg twice a day which I will probably try after 5-6 days but I'm not quite sure. I would like to say that I will be completely off Sub in 90 or so days however we will see.

[Robert_325]

You should definitely lower the dose. Drop to 12mg for two days, then to 10mg for four days. Then go to 8mg for one week. After that begin tapering by 25% every four days as long as there are no w/d symptoms. I refer you to my suboxone/subutex therapy post in Featured Drugs ...

http://www.drugs.com/forum/featured-...apy-50887.html

This process has proven to be effective for lots of people. Follow the suggestions closely and if you have any questions feel free to ask. God bless.

[jpl788]

You should definitely lower the dose. Drop to 12mg for two days, then to 10mg for four days. Then go to 8mg for one week. After that begin tapering by 25% every four days as long as there are no w/d symptoms. I refer you to my suboxone/subutex therapy post in Featured Drugs ...

http://www.drugs.com/forum/featured-...apy-50887.html

This process has proven to be effective for lots of people. Follow the suggestions closely and if you have any questions feel free to ask. God bless.

Thank you very much, sounds about right to me, didn't feel that 16mg was necessary when 12mg did the job back then. I feel that 3x 4mg doses are better anyways that way I feel better in the middle of the day.

[Robert_325]

Thank you very much, sounds about right to me, didn't feel that 16mg was necessary when 12mg did the job back then. I feel that 3x 4mg doses are better anyways that way I feel better in the middle of the day.

I also suggest taking your medication in two equal doses rather than three. Subs have a very long half life and three doses just aren't necessary. Also as addicts we get in the habit of popping something into our mouths throughout the day. You're better off taking a dose when you get up and one dose the same time each day in the late afternoon. It's also easier doing it like this later on as you taper down. Trust me you don't need three doses each day. God bless.