Just Started Suboxone... Have Some Questions!

I just started a Suboxone treatment. I can't even tell you what a relief it is! I guess I didn't believe there was really something that could make that need for pain killers really go away! My Dr told me how much better I would feel, he was right! Here is my concern, I don't want to be on this stuff for an extended period of time. My Dr prescribed 1/2 of an 8mg film 3 times a day. But told me that I could take as little as I felt I needed. My question is this how long does 1 dose last? I want to take as little as possible.... So how do I do that?

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Hi newly sober, the amount of suboxone that you'll need really depends on the level of addiction/opiate tolerance you have but IMO you could take 4mgs twice a day and be fine. If not less. Suboxone is a powerful opiate with a very long half life. When I started taking it for a pretty severe pain killer addiction I could take 4mgs once a day and be fine physically but always mentally thought I needed more. To put in perspective how strong of an opiate it really is, I have been told by a Dr that 2mgs is equivalent to 40-50 mgs of oxycodone and I believe that's true. I had my wisdom teeth pulled last winter and stopped taking the subs to take my prescribed vicodin ES, every 4 hours and I went through some pretty bad withdrawal even on that much vicodin. I eventually stopped the vicodin and went back to suboxone and just dealt with the pain over the withdrawal. Suboxone can be a life saver but try to stay as low as possible on your doses and get off of it as soon as possible. I was on it for 3 years and after I had weened down to about 1/8 of a pill a day I jumped and the WDs were pure hell. I didn't think it would be bad because of such a low dose and my Dr told me they would be minimal and short lived. WRONG! I've been clean from subs for almost 2 months now and still deal with lingering WDs. The acute wd stage lasted 2 full weeks. Wd from regular opiates in my opinion was much easier and much shorter than the sub WDs. I'm not trying to scare you, just want you to know that it is a powerful opiate. After the first few days you won't feel the high anymore and it's very easy to forget or not realize that it is still potent and still affecting you. It can be a life saver if you take it as prescribed, follow a taper schedule, stick to it and ween down as low as humanly possible before stopping because when its not used correctly and tapered properly, it can be worse than the drugs that you're taking it to get away from. Congrats on taking the first step to sobriety and good luck! If you have any questions or comments don't hesitate to ask. I'm pretty well versed with suboxone after having been on it for so long. There's isn't much I haven't experienced with it!

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OMG thank you! So I started it on Thursday they had me take 4mg 3 times. Well the next day I felt fine, so I only took 2 and yesterday I only took 1. I figured tonight I'll take a little less than that? I was taking a lot of pills for about 5 yrs. But This stuff made it disappear from my mind INSTANTLY! I could give a crap less about getting high! Seriously... I'm so damn relived to have my life back it's a friggen dream come true! BUT with that said.... I damn well don't want to swap one evil for another! I don't want to be on this crap for any extended period of time!

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Well you seem to be in the right state of mind for success! I first took suboxone back in 08 for 2 months and quit cold turkey with barely any withdrawal and I stayed clean for over 2 years. In 2010 I relapsed on pain killers and went back on suboxone because of my previous success and I was naive about it being just as hard to quit. I should've never stayed on it for 3 years! I think a short duration is key. It works great for a few weeks to a couple months to break the mental habits of taking pills and stop cravings/drug seeking habits, but any longer than that is just perpetuating opiate addiction. That's something my Dr didn't tell me. Ask your Dr alot of questions and be proactive in your treatment. Knowledge is power! Being free from addiction is something we can all experience and life can be great without the opiate colored glasses that we've been seeing the world through for so long. Once you get down to less than 2mgs a day you'll notice your senses and emotions coming back and it can be pretty cool. I've begun to enjoy food and music again like I did before as well as remember my dreams, which I hadn't done for several years! I'm starting to discover myself again and I couldn't be happier. You'll be there soon I'm sure. I wish you all the best!

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Take as much as you feel like you need! Im not sure how long the dose last either, ive been prescribed it for a month now at 2 8mg film a day. People say if you dont take your dose at the same time then it does not help if you do more through out the day, idk. If you want to do less start with a quarter of a film , another 4 _6 hours if you feel sick do another quarter, find what helps you , just try to not take more and more cause this is an addiction to and you will lead yourself up to a higher dose! Good luck!

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Re: Pitt fan (# 1)

Hi Pitt fan. I am in a holding pattern dealing with 7 years of a percocet 10/325 dependance which started with multiple surgeries and my father passing. I started out on only a few a day and escalated to between 6 and 8 pills a day. I had a counterfeit pill in Mexico on Dec 30th and felt like I was going to die. Prior to the start of this I never picked up a drug or even alcohol in my life. That was my wake up call. It got to a point where I didn’t even feel good from the pills anymore and just needed them for energy and to prevent WD. I’ve known all along I had to stop but what happened in Mexico woke me up. I told my husband and mom who were with me and my two amazing kids on our trip. I reduced my dose after 24 hours of taking that counterfeit pill to start a taper because serious WD’s had started. Every rotten symptom in the book. I am down to 2 or 2.5 pills and day split into pieces through the day since Dec 30th (which I took 8 pills). I am starting an outpatient program at a hospital tomorrow and all the docs have said the best course is Suboxone for a short period (maybe a couple week) then taper me off from that until I am finally clean. I am hoping for your advice. I am afraid of subs. I have never even smoked mmj in my life. I just got hooked on these devil pills. I have been coping with the WD’s from 8 to 2 pills in a very short period (even though it’s been tough). Do you think I should trust the docs and my family who want me to go the Suboxone route and then taper off that ASAP? Or just beg to keep my percocet taper going?

I know therapy is a must so I will go 4 or 5 mornings a week for half day at the hospital regardless. Will the WD’s from the subs be as bad as the Perc WD’s? I am scared to go through this again. Sweating through 3 sets of clothes. Chills. Runs insomnia. Etc I know sub is a much stronger drug then Perc from all that I have read. I have also read about horrible WD’s after subs. I know my husband and mom are so scared as well. I was always the good girl. Never ever did drugs or alcohol. I am a devoted mom and run several businesses and give so much to others. Maybe too much and that’s part of what got me here. I know it will be a long road to recovery and I did this to myself so I have to suck it up and get through it but my family is telling me to stop trying to be my own doc and listen to the experts. If they think short stint in subs and then taper is best for me to follow their instructions. What are your thoughts? Also, I used to be a ballet dancer and I am still very athletic but very slim, even more so since dealing with the WD’s from Perc. I am afraid that if I continue the taper on Percocet I will lose even more weight but I have been forcing myself to eat extremely well during this very rapid taper even though my stomach is in knots and I have the runs. Any advice would be so appreciated. I start outpatient tomorrow and then they will get me with the doctor to assess whether to start me on the subs which the intake person told me is probably the course they will recommend. Thanks for listening and bless you.

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