Methadone Detox - Waiting To Take Suboxone (Page 2)
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Okay, so I've gone through a lot on this site and nothing is really helping me with my question. I started taking methadone almost two years ago. I got up to 70mgs and stabilized for awhile then my counselor and I decided with all the positive changes I've made that tapering down would be a good option for me. I have been tapering very slow since last May "2016". By January I got to 30mgs of methadone and once I got to 26mgs I asked to be taken back up to 30mgs. I stayed on 30mgs for another month and then realized I was moving to Florida very soon. Problem is I have the state insurance and Florida programs will not accept the insurance I currently have. So, my methadone dr put me on a rapid detox which was 2mg a day. My last does was 16mgs on Saturday April 8, 2017. I went to my PCP and was given klonopin to help ease the anxiety while I went through the withdrawal phase. I have 5 Suboxone strips (8mg) and I really don't know when the time starts for when I can take a sub to help ease my withdrawal.

I think the klonopin is throwing me off cause my anxiety isn't "as" bad as it should be and I'm not sweaty yet but I am clammy. I'm starting to shake a bit and throughout the day I'll have sneezing fits. Not to be too personal but the loose BM's have also begun but it isn't an every hour type of thing. My eyes are watering occasionally and I do yawn more than usual. I am so scared to put myself through awful p-wd's and again I don't know when the clock really began for me or what hour I'm actually on.

Saturday I took 16mg of methadone at the program I was going to. I dumped my Sunday dose because I was done with taking it.

I have only taken klonopin since my last dose of methadone and it's now Monday afternoon.

Any insight will be appreciated. I figured starting fresh in FL would be good for me. I'm just trying to make this as easy as possible for my family and myself before the move which is this Wednesday.

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Good morning 1719timesInOR,

Thank you for the support and confidence in me. That means a lot. I'm off the methadone now but due to the pain and the post scute wd's my new dr put me on oxycodone 5/325 4x a day. Since the time it takes to fully recover from methadone is so long he wants to manage my pain with the bare minimum then in a few months slowly taper me off of the oxycodone. He said it will be much easier this way and prevent me from giving up and going back into a program. So far I've been better but I'm very disappointed in myself for ending up back on an opiate. Occasionally, I have the urge to dbl dose but I know that is only be hurting myself if I did that. I'm hoping that by this time next year I will be 100% medicine free.

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Hi! OK, so after 19 surgeries I pretty much know everything about being a pain med pain management patient. 600mg oxy a day, tried to come off, p-Wd from subs, methadone, everything. But in the end I figured out the narcotics only hurt, they exacerbate the pain, the addiction and constipation and the emotional blanket where I was numb all just sucked. I got off everything and yes while there may be some 'pain' it can be managed. Getting off all the meds is the goal. Subs are evil and very difficult to get off. Methadone is terrible for you and bone leeching etc. Methadone has like a 6 month withdrawal or more. But you can do it, just keep going and it will get better. See if you can get to zero. Hell, I think it's easier to get off oxy than methadone or subs. I might go to only oxy, and taper that. What are you taking currently? Don't give up. You can do it if you want to! I believe in you.

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Azula, I've been on Suboxone for about 16 months , I know it's a long time but my Dr is using it to control my chronic pain issues also for my addiction. I built up my tolerance over the years starting when I was 15 with darvocet then progressing to roxicodone Dilaudid and others very high doses I now have 2artificial hips and am awaiting a knee replacement on my last hip surgery I got absolutely no pain relief they were afraid to overdose me to get relief that's when I went to Suboxone I've actually had carple tunnel surgery on it it wasn't bad . I also use alternately mobic and naproxen for additional relief now that might help the mobic is actually pretty good for the arthritis and inflammation pain , it's a sad time for those of us who suffer chronic pain and addiction troubles , I to had problems differentiating between real pain and the pain from building a tolerance to opiates I wish you luck and am also glad to know I'm not alone in this issue
Best of luck I'll look for more information and suggestions for you

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You have to be narcotic free for 48 hours before using the suboxone. From my own experience I caution you not to take suboxone any longer than you absolutely have to. Withdrawal from subs is very different than your average narcotic and hard to describe. I experienced months of such bad mental malfunction that I could barely move. Best of luck to you.

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Thanks James,

I went to see my doctor yesterday to try and talk to him about how his "bare minimum" solution is only causing me more pain since I've been on such strong medicines not too long ago. He immediately assumed I was trying to get something more which wasn't the case at all. Then- he calmly tried to explain to me that I will never be 100% pain free and that it's unfortunate how doctors prescribe young people these strong medicines to where we literally have no other choice but to take them if we want any type of relief since the weaker medications won't work. I thought he was mocking me actually and, I never got to even express my thoughts about suboxone even though he did actually mention it the first appointment I had with him a cpl weeks ago.

To read what you've been told is actually a bit comforting. Knowing I'm not the only one being told this stuff. Had I known the rabbit hole I was going into when my first doctor put me on Percocet I would have declined. Now I'm literally fighting to have just a normal life without being controlled by a pill.

What gets me is, I thought I was so close just a couple weeks ago. I got off the methadone and was on nothing shy of 4 weeks. But the pain in my back was so bad and not knowing what to do put me right back at the beginning. I even questioned if maybe since I got out of MD and I'm not around the people who were partially enabling when I tried to do better would help. With a lot of reading though I think it's all more physiological than it is physical. I mean, don't get me wrong- we do suffer from chronic pain. But, earlier today I came across an article about how taking pain meds can actually cause more pain rather than relieve it. That's the addiction. That's how I know the only chance I have at a semi-normal life is by going on suboxone. And luckily, I have a doctor who is able to prescribe that.

How long have you been taking suboxone? And are there other medications your doctor prescribed that works well with relieving pain while on suboxone?

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Azula. Wow I kinda got the same treatment I tried for years to find a solution to my opiate crisis. I found relief in Suboxone it doesn't stop the pain it makes it tolerable and enables me to live a productive life , it might work for you . I've had the same things said to me new drs ridiculing my previous and doing the same , I've even been told ....Deal with it you will always have this pain just deal with it ....I was mortified. It's just ridiculous how real chronic pain sufferers get treated now days . Best of luck to you don't give up

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It sounds like you're ready. With 8mg suboxane I take a 3rd. Of a strip 3× a day. So, take out the strip, cut what looks like a third to you, and put it under your tongue as instructed. I've read a couple different nuances on how to maximize the dosage, but make sure that all the surface area of the strip is attached to the bottom of the underside of your tongue and let it dissolves all the way and use the saliva that built up to swish the drug all over your mouth for full absorption. Something about surface area.

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I was in the same boat. I was on methadone for 6 years and detoxed in 3 days with Subutex not Suboxone. Subutex does not have naxolone and Suboxone does which will throw you straight into dts. Seems as if you should give yourself a pat on the back! But if you will ask your doctor about Subutex you won't want to be back on Methadone! Good Luck and I hope it helps.

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it is suitable 24-72 hrs after your last dose of methadone in the UK it's subitex but it's the same transition in mediacation just that in different countries around the world use.similar names as a friend of a addict I can give you this information as a.friend as done detox herself

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I went through bulging disc several times in my 25 plus years of spine injuries. You ask what options you have. Go get a neurologist to prescribe a NERVE BLOCK INJ. In the area of the bulging disc having it done under an x-ray is a more precise method. This is commonly called steroid inj. They use a drug called Dopar instead of cortisone that relieves all INFLAMMATION IN THE AREA. This can last a month to 6 months to a life time depending on how you recover. After the nerve block starts to work ..typically 48 to 72 hours after the inj. you will feel like a new spine was installed on you. I did this for 18 years along with my opiates because i had several fused vertebrae early on from my injury. It beat pounding pain medication daily and gave wonderful relief. It may take 3 inj's. to get the right spot to work but once it kicks in you will be almost back to normal. As with any injury the older you get the worse movement gets and if arthritis prone as i am it's a life time dealing with the spine related joints that hurt etc. Glad we could all help.

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Thank you for the info and best wishes. So, I waited 32 hours before taking a suboxone and I didn't experience and precipitated withdrawals but the month ahead of me was absolutely awful. I got over the worst of the worst (so I thought). Three weeks of pure hell after my last suboxone. I wasn't sleeping, I was experiencing the worst pain imaginable and had a severe case of RLS. The xanax my doctor perscribed me before we left for Florida didn't help whatsoever. It wactually made me more anxious and it didn't make me drowsy or relaxed to where I had to go to the hospital. The hospitals down here are amazing. I was very honest and upfront with them. They asked me if I needed anything to help with the pain I've been having and to help me sleep and I declined. They prescribed me baclofen and something that starts with a D that is used for inflammation. Needless to say neither of those helped. So it's been over a month now and honestly I'm kinda right back where I started. I was referred to a doctor since I needed to see one anyways due to a back injury that happened April of 2016. I told him everything. From being on pain meds for a long time to going in methadone and to tapering off of the methadone only a month ago so I could live more of a Normal life. He heard me and sent me for X-rays and MRI. I found out that I have degenerative disk disease and my c4, c5 & c6 are bulging (caused from the accident I was in last year most likely). He was extremely honest with explaining how the doctors I had in the beginning shouldn't have prescribed me narcotics as the first route to recovering from an injury and that the problem is I have been on methadone which is so strong it's basically kept me "numb" from being able to feel what my body has been going through. He said that he wanted to start from scratch and told me to trust him but to have patience because it's going to take at least 6 months to get the right plan... during my appt I was still exhausted and in so much pain I just agreed and cried because I knew where he was going with what he was saying. He prescribed me a low dose of Percocet! And after leaving the office I waited for two days trying to figure out what to do about this since this (everything opiate based medication) is what I was trying to "free" myself from. I tried getting ahold of my old counselor from the methadone program to see what I should do to calling a hospital down here to get their advice. I never got to talk to my old counselor but the hospital said almost the same thing as my doctor which is being on such strong pain killers has put me in a place of not having as many options as someone who wasn't in pain meds for an extended period of time. I called my drs office again and expressed my concerns that there had to be another option and he told me to take the "bare minimum" and have patience. So- I decided to listen and I'm now once again back at the beginning. Really, the criticism he put on my drs up north is kinda hypocrisy since he did the same thing. The "bare minimum" isn't enough when you're use to much stronger medications. So... now I'm considering a suboxone program as I clearly need more help than I originally thought. The only thing my dr did for me in regards to putting me back on a pain management was stop the depression you typically experience and the anxiety that comes with being clean for the first time in a long time. I really should have just thrown the script in the trash but when you're desperate for relieve and confused at the same time, you want to believe your doctor has your best interest. Like, I have the desires to be a different person. I just wasn't fully prepared for the issues that came with not being on something to help relieve the pain after being off of medicine.

Sooo.... here I am. Although it was still far, I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel and now I'm back at square one and trying to figure out what to do. Again.

Thank you again for your reply and your best wishes. It really means a lot when you get that from someone you don't know that cares. Enjoy your weekend!

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Hello, I hope you're doing better. I too have done this, it's a very delicate switch to the bupe. It will put you into the worse withdrawal ever if taken too soon. It took me 3 months to get over it. I'm not trying to scare you. Methadone didn't work for me but the Suboxone did and has continued to. You must, and I stress this you must be in withdrawal before you take the Suboxone. It's a tough call on how long it takes to be passed out of your system. You will get replies of 12hrs all the way to a week. If you are experiencing the sneezes, you're getting close to a safe switching level. You can go to the actual Suboxone site and scroll to the bottom to where it says contact us and do just that, ask a professional. Precipitated withdrawal is nothing to gamble on. It propels you past all that slow stepping to full blown all out withdrawal. Best of luck to you. Please tread lightly with the switch as it will be worth it in the end.

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I'm 48 and have been thru outpatient treatment 5x here with suboxone and it does work if u want it to bad enough. U take it when u start to feel sick. Methadone will keep u feeling okay but it's a terrible withdrawal n ur not really "clean." I hope u stay on subs, give it a chance because u sound young, maybe ur not: But try to have peaceful n healthy lifestyle.

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Has anyone had the experience of getting the oxymorphone 10mg ir made by aurolife LLC with imprint u86 on it? Any input would be appreciated !

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Just DO NOT take the suboxone too early. If it mixes with your methadone I hear it gets pretty nasty. This is kinda of off but kinda on this thread topic - can anyone tell me how many days you have to be methadone free till you can feel the effects of other opiates (hydrocodone, oxycodone, etc...)? And good luck in Florida!

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Repost to my original... Every individual is different on the amount of time a detox works. It may take 30 days 60 days 90 days to detox. The effects of not having the medicine of any or all types also varies per individual. In my first post on this matter, I was on morphine time released & oxycodone. A combined total of 240mg per 24 hour period. That 240mg total was 25 years of upping the dosage to relieve my pain along with the TOLERANCE any body builds while on opiates.

After the detox does the medicine leave your system? Yes it does but each individual can be short or long period depending how your body metabolizes the medicine. HAVING THE MEDICINE LEAVE YOUR BODY DOES NOT MEAN THE EFFECTS THAT YOUR BODY GOES THROUGH MAY NOT CONTINUE FOR WEEKS OR MONTHS. I myself took 14 months to regain bowel regularity. My smell and taste were all affected.

Along with males on long term opiate use, for MOST MEN it kills the testosterone output from the pituitary gland in the brain. So one's libido had to be treated with testosterone replacement gel. As i mentioned common sense!!!

Whatever you put into your body for whatever reason, you will have side effects of some kind. It's a trade off for being out of pain in our cases. Hope this clarifies a detox or continued use.

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You need to ask your dr but what I have read that methadone takes @ least a week to be removed from your system, & of course I don't want you to go through the nasty withdrawals that will come if you take the suboxone. Get more specific information. Tx God for clonipin!

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I detoxed may of 2016 for a 40 day period of tapering off 240mg of combined opiates morphine oxycodone etc. plus detoxed from 4mg xanax per day. All meds were stopped at about 35th day. I never sweat ..i did get chills my anxiety stopped. My bowels however were in a uproar. I was off all medicines that i took for 25 plus years. My detox dr. Was young and not experienced. But i was at his mercy. It took me almost 12 months to regain regular bowel function. A new pain specialist came into play after the detox. He was in his 60s as i am. This Dr. said you use common sense. You can pump a body full if medicine for 25 years without drastic changes in all health. He put me back on oxycodone 80mg a day and xanax 2mg a day. My brain has been recalibrated for pain. i do not need the 240mg a day of pain medicine i once used. But that took 25 years to go from 30mg a day to the 240mg a day. Im 60 years old now i will as all create a tollerance to opiuts as i once had. But from all the expert pain hospitals i have been to in the US. Pain management is NOT TO REMOVE ALL PAIN, but make it tolerable... the least amount of pain medicine should always be used for as long as you can tolerate.

In your case ?? You may need a small amount on a daily basis ?? As every human body brakes down the opiate used at a different rate. Plus all opiates are habit forming if we chose to accept it or not. Its what you and your care giver can give YOU QUALITY OF LIFE. the new goverment regs on pain medicine opiates was never geared to a individual persons pain dilema. Its designed for a blanket to cover all humans etc. Drs need more training and understand that each persons body excepts or rejects medicine different. Thats why there are so many pain medicines to chose from .what works for you or me could be totaly different. Good luck on your Fl. Move i wish you luck in finding a understanding Dr. Who may work with you on your problem. common sense always is best that long term use of any medicine if stopped will cause trouble. Even as simple as the daily cup of coffee or caffeine, soda if removed will cause anyone stomach disorders plus pain or a detox feeling in headaches etc. Best to you.

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