I've been on suboxone/subutex now for 3 years. I've been trying to ween off of it for the past year. I feel sick on it and sicker without it but I usually feel good when I first wake up and take it (1mg.) and then I usually get tired about 4-5 hours later and need a nap and when I wake up I feel like I'm starting to withdrawal again (no matter what the dose) so I take another mg. and here I am feeling so nauseous and sweating. I think I need to go away for help but honestly I feel like the doctor's don't even understand how bad the withdrawal is. This never happened to me until last year around this time when I was put into the hospital for a cold turkey detox. I suffered for 11 days not even getting out of bed. They sent me home and expected me to attend a class everyday for depression and anxiety. I was the only one there going through detox. I could barely participate. I recently read that it takes about 8 weeks to start feeling better. Why didn't they tell me that in the hospital? They didn't know. The woman who was my room mate was taking 30-50 norco's per day for 5 years and they gave her some neurontin for her restless leg syndrome and I believe clonodine and she didn't feel very well but she was able to get out of bed and talk to people and she even left before me. I wish I knew how she was doing but I can't seem to get a hold of her. I honestly never had an opiate addiction. Yes, I liked hydrocodone and was given some when I had severe headaches and also took my Dad's script because he didn't like using them but I never abused them. I was having a lot of anxiety and depression and going to the same psychiatrist for years and when I told him that the hydrocodone made me feel better (normal), he said he finally figured out my problem. He said my opiate receptor's were not working correctly and he had just the thing. He said it was safe and not addicting and that I could take it for the rest of my life. My family was very upset when they read about it and begged me not to take it and I got off of it once after being on it for about 8 months. I just cut the pills in half every 3-4 days and I was fine. Now I'm in trouble because what they did to me in that hospital scared the pants off of me and I haven't been the same since. I don't know what to do anymore and I don't know anyone who feels like this except for some stories I've read online. Right now I am burning up and so nauseous. I can barely do anything. If someone in that hospital told me that it would be at least 8 weeks before I felt better and if they would have let me rest instead of sending me somewhere I didn't belong I may have made it but now the thought of going through that again. I just can't do it. I guess I'm weak. Suboxone has ruined my life. I can't feel anything, no joy, excitement, etc... I just dread everytime it's a b-day or holiday that I have to go to like tomorrow night we are having dinner at our daughter's for my husbands b-day. I'm so afraid I'm going to be sick. This is not me. I was always a people person and loved going out and loved excitement. I miss the old me even though she was depressed and had anxiety she was still participating and enjoying life. Has anyone ever felt like this or gone somewhere good that really helped them? Thank you. Larsy
Why do I get sick after my second dose of suboxone?
Question posted by Larsy1966 on 11 Feb 2012
Last updated on 18 February 2012 by skefauver
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3 Answers
hey there. I've been in the same situation. I've been on suboxone strips for the past year and the pills for the other two and I've recently started noticing the same symptoms. I think what is going on is that maybe your dose is too high. whenever i take too much i get really nauseous and sweaty, the same feeling as I got from being on opiates. I take my 1mg in the morning and go back to bed. I've noticed that it puts me right back to sleep and lets me get a good couple of hours in and when I wake up I feel great and dont get that tired feeling later in the day. when I wake up i still usually have some of the medicine in my mouth so sometimes it stays in there for two hours. but the longer i leave it in, the longer in the day I can go without. Sometimes I even wake up with that dizzy feeling if I took even the tiniest more than I usually do. But I completely get what you're going through. I want nothing more to be off of this stuff.
Hi Larsy,
I was addicted to Hydracodone / Oxycontin for several years. At the height, I was up to 440 mgs. of Oxycontin daily. After detoxing in a medically supervised facility for 7 days I couldn't wait to get out of that place because the Suboxone they gave me was way too little and much to short.
After starting back on Suboxone I felt so much better.
I am 64 and have been on suboxone for 5 years. I take 1-8 mg daily but i could get by with half that amount I think. I skip days occasionally and do not feel too bad.
My thoughts are this : First off, if you never had an addiction problem to opiods, you never should have started on Suboxone. If you took your father's Hydrocodone for any reason then you did / do have an addiction problem to opiods. You don't take Hydrocodone for anxiety & depression.
You need to find a doctor who knows what he / she is doing. Start taking the proper medication for anxiety & depression and start decreasing your Suboxone dosage. Your burning up and nauseousness should not be coming from Suboxone unless the amount you are taking is much much more than you need or much, much less than what you need. I think that your problem is the dosage but you haven't told us what amount you are taking.
My feelings are that you need to find a new good doctor who can evaluate your history and your current meds and make the adjustments needed.
Thank you so much Jack. I am sorry I haven't commented but I hope you read the comment I left for Chrissy. I am in a hurry now to go to my daughter's for dinner but I will respond to you and thank you so much again. I appreciate all the advice! Laura :)
Hi Larsy,
I just read your post and I have a few questions if you dont mind. What was the reason you were admitted to the hospital? Did they give you ANYTHING ( meds wise ) while you were in there? Did u stop the suboxone cold turkey for those 11 days and then start again when you got out and how long have you been out and also, are you on anything now?
I am sure I can answer lots of your questions because I have been on suboxone now for almost 8 yrs and have tried to quit and couldnt and have felt EXACTLY what and how you are feeling right this min. If you read my post or go to my FB page and read my note I wrote about my suboxone journey I said almost word for word your last paragraph of the post you just made. So, if you can help fill me in so I am a little more clear on the path you took to get you where you are right now, i KNOW I can help. I also know how u feel because there was a time when it was me writing a post in this forum for the same reason you just did. I felt hopeless, helpless, alone, scared, frusterated and pissed off but I felt most of all like I was ALONE and NO ONE understood. I do understand and If I can help I will do my best.
Chrissie...
Hi Chrissie,
I've been out of the hospital since Nov. 2010, so over a year ago but feels like not too long ago. I went to a rehab place in Rockford, IL. before I went to the hospital and was there for 5 days. They were weening me slowly off of 4 or 8 mgs. (I can't remember now) but never weened me all the way down and put me into instay rehab which I was very upset about because you had to be up at 6 am with your bed made and could not lay down all day and I wasn't feeling well. I begged the doctor to put me back in detox but he wouldn't so I left. The reason I say 4-8 mgs. is because I take the 2 mgs. pills and the most I ever took was 2 in the morning and 2 in the late afternoon. Everyone in my family was mad at me for not sticking it out so I stayed with my Mom and found a highly recommended addiction psychiatrist. I had to wait for my appt. so while at my Mom's I was able to just take the 2 mgs.
Hi Again,
I'm not sure how to read your post or how to get to you fb page. Laura :)
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suboxone, subutex, opiate dependence
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