hubby and i was on methadone 4 yrs... the last few months we been shooting fent and taking m done sometimes... anyways we get on subs... the doc wants to give me 8mg then 8mg i argue so i get 2 and 2 nd hubby gets 8 and 8... the first 8 hubby goes into sever pcip wd.. so they make him take another 8mg... i take my 4mg and we r told go home come back tomorro... we go back the next day the doc says u (me) take 8mg a day and gives my husband 20mg we get to the pharmacy where i say there is no way in heck he is taking that so we settle with 12mg... we both still feel sick tho i dont get it... my back hurts so badly and i was nautious most of the day.. thats gone now but my back hurts so bad... will i ever feel normal?? will we ever feel normal?
Day 3 suboxone and still feel like crap please help!?
Question posted by chance4reallife on 17 Aug 2011
Last updated on 19 August 2011 by Anonymous
3 Answers
Hi chance4reallife,
This may sound a bit odd, OK really odd!! But I need to friend you and would you PLEASE friend me back???
It is of paramount importance that we have a private conversation.
Thank you... and you just may thank ME after we talk.
Gosh, i hope you see this and you and hubby feel much better today. I am telling you Girl, the walking works if you can do it, I know you may not want to, but if you can do a gentle walk 10 to 15 minutes twice a day, and increase it just a bit every few days, it will help tremendously. Oddly, the person who gave me this tip is not Robert, but a guy from Toronto who used to answer here all the time, and he was a methadone patient, called mpvt. He was right as rain and I have tried to pq him several times to thank him, he never responded. He may be on the forum/discussion boards, so, if you can do the forum ( i am assuming you did to talk to Robert) try and look him up. Helpful smart nice guy and he is Canadian and in the GTA. Anyway, I did want to check on you, and hope you are feeling much better. When you get to 20 minutes total walking, you can just drop it to once a day. I swear it works to stabilize opiate withdrawal and the switch to the replacement.
I am not an athlete, I am a 50 year old woman who HATES physical exercise and hates being outside in the hot sun here and all the humidity. It runs in the upper 90's here for at least 5 months per year and we are in the time most likely for a hurricane to hit us right now, the last 2 weeks of Aug and the first 2 weeks of September is statistically the most hot, humid and hurricane/tropical storm prone time, and I got out there last year when tapering off subs, and I was surpised at how much better I did in my taper and stabilizing than at least 3 other people on here who were at the same taper point and we were all trying to get subfree. Now onto the next subject, sadly, I know exactly what you are talking about when some members of support groups like AA and NA snot up at methadone and suboxone patients and sneer and under their breath ( or maybe not so much) say, that person is not really sober. Bull-SHIRT!!! You really are sober, they are full of it. You are on a medication that keeps you from getting sick, so you can recover, it is maintenance therapy and recovery therapy and you are indeed sober. My counselors, who both hold high degrees in addiction said subs patients are sober unless of course they are drinking heavily. Dr. Jeff Junig, SuboxDoc, has a video on this on Youtube, I can't remember the exact title but he deals with it, and he is a Md and a PhD specializing in addiction. It is named something like what to tell people who say I am not sober, he has another one dealing with how you tell people you are on suboxone and what to say when they say, well, hey you just switched one addiction for another. Even if a person needs to remain on suboxone for life, they really are sober as it does NOT get you high, it is simply sitting on a receptor site keeping you from withdrawal and pain. I may catch some flack for my agreeing with Dr. Jeff and both my counselors, but they hold degrees and it is their job to judge when someone is dependent on opiates, addicted to opiates, sober and in recovery, they actually would be the authorities to ask, they say yes, I agree. Hang in there Cannucks, and seek out mpvt and please tell him I said thank you for his help when I needed it. Please also work on forgiving yourselves, it is important and will help your recovery. Please stay here for support, good to see you back. Patti
hey patti
i walked thats for sure for 8 friggen hours at work... i was so friggen tired! not sleeping much at all although last night i took xanax and slept 5 hours and slept great. hubby still feels like crap and he only has eaten a few bites since monday!! i have a sore throt which has been there a while really, at least my back pain has subsided. so tired!!!
Tell hubby to stay hydrate and not to eat anything that is temp wise too hot or cold. I had trouble eating the first few weeks. I ate fruit ( i thought I hated fruit too) and yogurt and cereal. Light stuff seemed more appealing, not heavy food like spaghetti or just anything heavy. I know he probably doesn't want to walk, but try to get him too and to eat something light that isn't too hot or too cold. It will get better, hang in there. Patti
you will have a longer adjustment period switching from fentanyl/methadone because they are both long acting opiates. With short actiong opiates, they not only leave the brain receptor sites faster but they are smaller so to speak and don't cover the whole receptor site like long acting opiates. First of all, you should have both been started on subutex, as it does Not Have the naloxone that suboxone does. Please hang in there, I know you have been waiting a long time to get on suboxone, keep hydrated and start with as small a dose as you can, you had the right idea to take less. That methadone takes a while to vacate those sites, the suboxone has to have enough room to "sit down" and there is likely still methadone on your sites, the in fighting between the 2 or 3 long acting meds cause None of them to be able to sit down and calm all wd. Please try 2 mgs 3 times a day instead of 12 mgs, once that mdone is gone completely you will start feeling better.
Keep hydrated and hang in there. Keep us updated. Ask for some clonidine and methacarbomal from your (misinformed) suboxone dr, will help with anxiety, muscle cramps, spasms, tummy issues and insomnia. The correct way to switch from methadone to SUBUTEX, is to taper down to 30 mgs or less and wait 3 full days (72 hours) before starting on SUBUTEX. hope you feel better soon patti
patti ty so much for your comment... im on 8mg now and hubby on 12mg now hubby last took 25mg methadone last wed we started the switch monday. and i hnostly cant remember the last time i took done at LEAST A MONTH and never more than 20mg... ne ways he went into the wd and i felt like crap but not that bad... its now the back pain that is getting to me i cant take it!! i have clonidine and xanx which im trying not to rely on... i will take a xanax to sleep tonight... i will take a clonadine now... also patti i am in canada subutex is not avail here as far as i know and if it is they keep it hush hush!
ps patti if i keep takin the 8mg a day will i adventually feel normal better?
Yes, you will it is just a more difficult switch. I know you probably feel awful, both of you, but if you can get out and do some walking, it will help stabilize you, and get your metabolism up a bit maybe, exercise is the only real way to do it. Just do some simple walking, 10 minutes twice per day, 15 at the most and don't go crazy and climb hills or anything, just a nice steady walk. Stay hydrated, and are you on the films, more people complain about aches and pains starting subs if they are on the films, have no idea why, but they do. You can take some advil or tylenol to help with the pain. It took me about 2 weeks before I felt completely normal after I started subs, i was started on 8 mgs but moved to 12, I had no idea I was over medicated. I had just gotten up to 4 to 6 lortab or perc 10s for fibro, but became dependent and needed to stop, I should have been started on 2 or 4 mgs for my level of use. With subs, less is more.
We are seeing here on the site more drs and clinics throwing people into precip, mostly methadone patients. Even tho you were on the low amount you were, it takes a while to get out of the brain and fat deposits ( i am not saying you are fat, we all have fat all in our tissue) the brain is mostly fat. Benzos and pot also embed in the fat and that is why you will pop positive on a drug test for them. I hate they don't have subutex up there, you would have felt much better more quickly. Try taking less subs and the walking and staying hydrated, and give yourself some time to adjust. When you get the urge to clean your whole house, you are thru the adjustment period. I am glad you finally made it to suboxone, I know you have been wanting to do it for at least a year. Hang in there and also watch some funny movies or videos, endorphins also will sit as substitute on the opiate receptors, my favorite YouTube.com video features Ms. Swan of MadTV and it is the long version of her going thru Customs at the airport, maybe you and hubby can watch and laugh and feel better, it is about 6 or 7 minutes long, there is a short version, it is funny too, but cuts out the funniest part. Congrats, hang in there, hope ya feel better. Patti
and there is a guy on YouTube known as SuboxDoc, he is a real live suboxonepsychiatristformeraddictsuboxoneuser, sorry I just had to get that all in there and he has a Phd. Go to YouTube.com and look at his fantastic, but easy to understand video on how suboxone works in the brain. He has many videos and works at Fon Du Lac Psychiatry in Fon Du Lac Wisconsin, his name is Dr. Jeffrey Junig in real life. He is a subs expert, if you google him, you can find ways to ask him quesions too, you can tell him pattishan61 sent ya, I don't know him, but I send people to him and have emailed him before, he is great.
hi patti
ive been talking with robert too.. i woke up this morning at 6am have not been getting much sleep. anyways i felt so bad i took my sub and once it kicked in i am feeling WAYYYY better for now. it is funny u mentioned about feeling like i want to cleaning the whole house cuz i cant wait to go to work and see how i do.. it will be my first day back... hubby might be taking an extra day he is still not 100 percent but is feeling much better.. he only took 4mg today as aposed to 12mg im sitting here waiting for the other shoe to drop because the last couple days i feel ok then not ok then ok then take hot bath then feel ok then not ok so i am waiting to feel not ok again but im feeling a little hyper lol my hubby is super emotional he was crying not long ago his mom died 11 years ago from a drug overdose after being clean 17 years.. we r lucky to be alive...
my best friend died last month and from drugs i think he got from me so that is something i have to live with for the rest of my life!! i try not to think about it but its the truth, i wish he was here because he was my only friend besides my husbnd and even that is not going the best lately... everyone i love leaves so i struggle with that...
our doc is an idiot and should be sued for malpractice he could of killed my hubby by making him take more subs after going into pwd.
im all over the place right now lol just glad im feeling better i cant wait to be drug free and go back to meetings... i stopped bc people here in na dont take kindly to people using methadone ure not clean its a crutch blah blah blah but its ok for some people to hit 6 meetings a day and thats not a crutch?? im really to the point where i dont give a crap what people think im there to help my self and get the support I need to stay clean and if im getting what i need and not worryign bout what others think im ok and thats what matters... i struggle with the people there and i cant o to aa because a lady that lives in my nursing home where i work goes to aa meetings and no one where i work knows about me its too bad too cuz i like aa better o well
Related topics
suboxone, opiate dependence, opiate withdrawal, methadone
Further information
Similar questions
Search for questions
Still looking for answers? Try searching for what you seek or ask your own question.