I've been taking 1 mg. of suboxone every morning about 9 am but by 3 or 4 pm notice that I feel like I'm running out of energy and getting very anxious so I have been taking 1/2 mg. of suboxone or sometimes a full mg. at around 3 or 4 pm. Do you think if I took 2 mgs. of suboxone in the morning that I wouldn't feel like this around 3 or 4. I don't like taking it so late in the afternoon because it affects my sleep then and I can't fall asleep until 3 or 4 am even with 50 mgs. of benadryl and 400 mgs of neurontin and sometimes even 1 mg of xanax. Does anyone else get wired from suboxone and have trouble sleeping if you take it too late during the day? My goal is to get off this stuff completely but I just can't do it. I've been trying since the middle of Oct. of last year and I just can't do it anymore. I want to get off this stuff so bad and would do anything but I can't keep suffering. I've had enough and just think I need a break for now and then I will try again. I don't think I could handle starting cold turkey again right now. I really messed myself up by staying on suboxone for 2 years. That was way too long and if I knew this was going to happen I would have never stayed on it so long. If I ever get off this stuff completely I will never touch it again. It's a great tool if used properly but my dr. and most dr.'s think it's ok to stay on it for long periods and my dr. thinks there should be no withdrawal when coming off of it. He's so wrong. Does anyone think that I'm not taking enough and that's why I'm having trouble sleeping? Does anyone else feel wired but good after taking it? I appreciate any advice. Thank you so much! Larsy1966
Why do I need to take suboxone/subutex twice a day?
Question posted by Larsy1966 on 6 March 2011
Last updated on 9 March 2011
4 Answers
Thank you all so much for your responses! I am so mixed up and scared. I just can't seem to get off this stuff. It's like I'm living in a viscious cycle that I can not break. I'm going to try to take 1-1/2 mgs. now and see how my day goes. Maybe I'm one of the one's who will never be able to get off this stuff. I am so angry with myself for not checking this out before I took it for 2 years. I called the psychiatrist who put me on this and he said that he thinks I need to be on this for life and to make an appt. with him or another psychiatrist because he know's my husband will go through the roof if he knew I was seeing him again. He also told me to pay in cash for my visit and for the medication so my husband doesn't know. He seems to be the only dr. that thinks I need this because my receptor's are not working correctly.
The addiction specialist is the one who put me in the hospital for 11 days and I never want to go through that again but I want off of this med. What a mess. Thank you again everyone for your support!!! Laura xxxxxxxxx
Hey Larsy, I am so sorry you are going thru all this. My boyfriend kept telling me I had switched one addiction for another and he just ragged me all the time. It stressed me out BIG TIME. You are under the same stress and could use some major support. It even sounds like your psychiatrist and addiction specialist are stressing you AND giving you conflicting answers. If your husband is not on board with you and you fear his reaction, this is MAJOR stress and really not supportive at all. I often think that the support I received here and at group really made a difference in my treatment with suboxone and my ability to get off of it.
I do NOT live with my boyfriend and he did NOT even pay for one suboxone for me to take yet he constantly made critical remarks (after initially being supportive, even going to group counseling family night several times), my main motivation to get off of it came from the financial end of the spectrum and having at least 3 other people say they had tapered off and it wasn't too bad. I can't tell you it is a walk in the park, but, the stress, non support and fear can NOT be helping. We can at least support you. Have you tried any group meetings, I really think if you were in a group of you peers, you would at least feel a bit better. Dear, you are in my Prayers, I do so hope that you can find a therapist who will talk to you and your husband to let him know he is actually derailing your efforts with a negative outlook and pressure. Let us know if we can help you. Patti
Hang in there Laura,
You will overcome this. If need be get another opinion from another psychiatrist that prescribes suboxone, but don't settle for a life of being miserable. I support you all the way, hon.
Please keep praying, it really will help!!
Pattishan and Laurie,
Thank you so very very much for your support!!! I know that by me keeping this a secret is causing me so much guilt and adding to my anxiety. I just can't tell him now. I've been to many NA meetings but they don't seem to help either. I think if I felt better I could get something out of the meetings but the last time I went to one all I could think about was how sick I felt and couldn't wait till the meeting was over. I thought about getting up and leaving but didn't want to be rude. I just don't feel like I fit in there. Yes, I am addicted or dependent on this suboxone/subutex but I never had a problem with drugs.
I had taken hydrocodone many times for migraines which helped a lot and then I told my psychiatrist that the hydrocodone made me feel normal and because we had tried almost every antidepressant he thanked me for telling him about how the hydrocodone made me feel normal because that to him was an indicator that my opiate receptors were not working properly. I have never heard of anyone taking opiates for this reason. I wish I would have never tried the suboxone. I feel so dumb. I did take a mg and a half around 10:30 this morning and felt so much better but now I'm starting to feel anxious again so I just took a mg. of xanax. I hope it doesn't make me too tired because I have to look like I did something today. All I did was load the dishwasher and sit on here playing silly games on fb. Even though I did feel relief and still do I just don't feel like doing anything. I keep smoking cigarette after cigarette because that's what the suboxone makes me crave. It's disgusting! I never smoked like that before the suboxone. I only smoked if I was drinking. I go out in the garage to smoke. I'm probably killing myself. I have to get something done around here so my husband doesn't think I've been laying around all day. I just wonder if I had access to some hydrocodone that might help me get off of this suboxone. I really do not think the doctor's know how to get anyone who has been on this stuff for too long off of it. They just give you more drugs like clonodine, neurontin and benzo's and this new dr. I'm seeing gives me 60 xanax (.5 mgs) and tells me that I can take up to 4 pills if I need to but then gets mad when I use them all. He said I can take a mg. in the morning, a mg. in the afternoon and 1 and 1/2 mgs. before bedtime but only if needed. I'm trying so hard not to take them too much. I think I need a new psychiatrist. I did find one that was rated #1 in my area but I'm not sure if he deals with suboxone. I'm just so tired of this whole mess and this can't keep going on. I wish I could deal with the withdrawals but I'm just too tired to keep up the fight. This has been going on for 5 months now. Maybe if they would have kept me in the hospital for a few months I might have been better now but I was only in there for 11 days and when I got home I just couldn't handle my life and by day 17 ended up taking a 2 mg. suboxone pill and slowly started taking 1/2 mg. to get me through and now I'm almost back to where I started when they put me in the hospital at 2 mgs. They took me off cold turkey and I thought I was going to die but I also thought that I would be better in a couple of weeks. I attended a day program for 2 months for depression/anxiety and found myself having to take 1/2 mg of suboxone sometimes just to make it there. It was so hard to sit there feeling so sick. My addiction psychiatrist tried seroquel with me (which puts most people to sleep and relieves their anxiety but it made my heart race). I kept telling her that if she would give me xanax or more clonzepam that might help me and then we could deal with lowering my dose when I felt better but she didn't want to give me anymore. I excercised for weeks (30 minutes of fast walking on the treadmill) but that didn't feel like it helped either and it was so depressing to not get a natural high after trying so hard to keep my heart rate up. My body and brain must be so out of whack. I think I should just keep taking the minimum until I feel like I'm ready to try weening down again. I have no fight left in me but I do not want to be on this forever. I really do appreciate you both listening to me and trying to help me. I will let you know how I'm doing as soon as I can. I'm just hoping I will not have to take more suboxone today and that I can sleep tonight and start my day off tomorrow better by being more productive. When you both were weening down what were your worst symptoms like? Thank you again for all your support!!! Laura xo
Hey Laura,
You have been through alot and are almost through the mess you feel like you are in. Please stay at 1 and 1/2 once a day and fight any urge to take more. You can do this, honest. If you need to take the xanax, do so, no more than the prescribed amount preferably less, but you may need the help with the anxiety. I know that the treadmill didn't seem to help much but I bet it will if you will just stick with it. Even 20 minutes of walking is better than nothing.
Maybe if you can, call that other psychiatrist and see if he deals with subs and make an appointment to interview him/her. You don't have to change psychiatrists, yet, just investigate the possibilites. I only suggest this because you seem to not trust your present psychiatrist, if you think you can continue to work with him then leave the situation alone.
We are here for you dear. I'll keep you in my prayers and you keep saying your prayers too.
Laurie
Thank you Laurie. I will keep trying. Your support means so much to me. Tonight is movie night. I used to go with a bunch of real sweet girls and one of my very best friends started this. I even got my next door neighbor who has turned out to be another dear friend to me to go also. I haven't gone in months but I'm going to try tonight. They are seeing in Bad Company or something. I will let you know. The only problem is that the movie starts at 7:50 and sometimes I go to bed at 8:00. If I'm real tired I will pass but I'm going to get myself in the shower and try to put a little makeup on. Maybe that will make me feel better. I really should try to call another psychiatrist that will give me another opinion. This new dr. is a family dr. who can prescribe suboxone. He just doesn't understand what I'm going through. I wish I had enough xanax so that I don't have to worry about taking it. He gave me 60 pills and the insurance co. will only fill that once a month. 1 mg. of xanax is not enough for a day. Thank you again Laurie! xxxxxooooo
Hope you have a woderful time Larsy. It is very important to have fun and relax with friends when you can. So have a blast!!
Thank you Laurie :) xo
Hey Larsy,
I don't think you need to take the sub twice a day. Try it once a day in the am and see what happens. Hopefully you will get a better nights sleep that way.
My doctor who is an addiction's specialist says that there is no need to be on the suboxone more then 3 - 6 months. That it is a way for the manufacturer to make money saying that people need to be on it for years. Just thought I would share that with ya.
I think that since you have been on it for so long that you are taking plenty. In fact, it maybe time to take less since you are going to go to once a day. Just my thought, hun. Maybe you could try 1 1/2 mg and see what happens. I want you off this stuff too, so I am just trying to encourage you.
I'll be praying for ya girl,
Laurie
You can try taking the full 2 mgs in the a.m. and it very probably will let you be more comfortable for longer. At doses of 8 mg or more per day, it stays on the receptor sites for 3 to 5 days, so, even if you had to skip a dose, you would be fine. At 1 mg per day, you likely will feel it wear off, so to speak. When I got to .25, i felt it wear off, but it was more like at the 37 hour mark. It will keep you up if you take it too late. You don't have to split the dose, it works for some people, others say it doesn't work for them that way. I did NOT even know a person should try to taper off until I had been on it for over a year and a half, but when I came here, I realized I should try to taper off of it. The reason most doctors are not trying to get more people off of it is the logic of, hey, they aren't on opiates anymore, just suboxone. A few people probably do need to stay on it for life, but most people don't.
When I felt wired from the subs, I took it as one of the signs that I was on too much. I know everyone is different, but , the 3 major things that told me I needed to taper were 1) i nodded off any and all times I sat for more than 5 minutes 2) I had difficulty and hesitancy when I tried to pee 3) I "felt" my suboxone as soon as I put it under my tongue instead of it gradually taking full effect over a 2 hour time frame. I do think it is what is keeping you up at night.
I get the same feelings!
I take mine twice a day too! I've tried to take more in the morning, but it didn't work for me. Just made me feel worse actually.
I have only been on suboxone a bit more than a year, but the inability to get to sleep some nights, and the anxiety... fierce! Because of this I've pushed myself to go down from 3-8mg tabs to literally 2 crumbs per day. Hang in there! I have been given an rx for valium, so in really tough times I take 1/2 a pill. That usually helps take the edge off... well enough to keep pushing thru.
As far as the inability to sleep well... when I have difficulty getting to sleep I eat a banana and the potassium usually is able to put me out for the night. There are some nights that I really cannot sleep and on those rare nights I just sit and work on the computer.
Hope this helps a bit. Keep working towards you goals! Best wishes!!
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suboxone, subutex, opiate dependence
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