[pattycakes]

Have been taking Suboxone for 1&1/2 years for pain mgmt. Had tapered down to 1mg 2X daily until 8/12. Took 1mg @ 11:00 a.m. on 8/11/09 due to having surgery the next day, 8/12. Was starting withdrawal @ surgery time & they gave me IV narcotics, then 4mg hydromorphine every 4-6 hours as needed. Pain is better & feel ready to start weaning again.
Since I have not had suboxone for 4 days, should I try to wean off of the hydromorphine once my pain decreases? So happy not to be taking the Suboxone, but can definitely tell when 4-6 hours has gone by with the hydromorphine. Should I start cutting down from 4mgs to 2mgs (hydromorphine), then keep tapering?
I respect & value any & all imput. I don't want to go backwards after everything I have gone through.

Sincerely,

Patty M.

[Robert_325]

Patty .. if you start agressively cutting back the hydromorphone immediately you won't have any problems getting back on the subs. You won't have to be re-inducted or anything close. Just get off the dilaudid asap. God bless.

[pattycakes]

Went back on 1mg of suboxone after being on dilaudid for 3 & 1/2 days after surgery. Waited till I started getting the arm & leg creepy crawlies. So far - so good. My pain mgmnt. DR prescribed the dilaudid for 15 days. I had never taken dilaudid before, & have to say I did not like the foggy feeling, however it did work for the postop pain. I have a follow up appt with the pain dr soon.

I have to admit I was freaked out the day before surgery knowing I couldn't take my suboxone, & was scared to death that when they did the general anesthesia, that it wouldn't work & I would feel the surgery, or go into severe withdrawal. Thank God all worked out fine. I was uncomfortable when the aneshtesiologist asked me what Suboxone was. Everybody out there needs to make sure they stay on top of & educated on their own health issues. You must be your own patient advocate, because no-one cares about you the way you should care about yourself! After several discussions with the surgeon prior to the surgery regarding the suboxone, he still handed me a prescription for Vicodin upon my hospital discharge, unbelievable! Thank God I have a suboxone edcucated & supportive husband. I have to turn the script in to the pain dr so I don't get kicked out of the pain mgmnt clinic.

I am hoping to follow Robert's protocol for tapering off. Bless you Robert. I do see a pain psychologist regularly & he is actually going to start looking at this forum for some insite. Once again, thank you Robert and I hope everyone is having a good day.

Just FYI, I do take suboxone for pain management. I know some say this isn't what the subs are for, but it helps me tremendously. We are all so different & unique.

Patty

[Robert_325]

Patty .... if you are going to use subs for pain management then you need to STOP the suboxone and use subutex. It's pure buprenorphine and the naloxone in suboxone isn't necessary AT ALL for pain management. In fact it can affect you adversely in this application.

Don't take over about 2mg of subutex for pain management. It's not necessary. Higher doses don't help like you would think they would. In Europe the drs presribe .2mg and .4mg doses and they work great, have been for some time now.

Of course here in the USA with our money-hungry drug companies they're instructing drs to prescribe 16mg and more. Makes a lot of sense doesn't it? What a wonderful healthcare system we have. Sounds like someone needs to go back to school to learn just a little more about what they're doing.

Let me know how it works for you. God bless.