Warning About Suboxone!
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WE are all trying to kick that nasty opiate addiction. We are killing ourselves w oxy, H, etc. But all my online research shows that longterm sub use is HELL ON EARTH! Its great for 4-5 days to wd. Id like to use it twice a week, for maintenance, which hopefully i can do. But it has crazy side effects and wd is almost impossible. Im trying exercise, nutrition, and Church. Wish me luck! But if anyone can avoid this, plz do. Same with any benzodiazepines like valium and xanax, HELL TO GET OFF OF, if u even can. Sub can b used at times. But never daily! Just sharing. God bless! Speaking of, God completely healed me of alcoholism in a supernatural healing. I stupidly took up opiates. If you want to quit drugs, cry out to Jesus. Im not joking! He may just heal you. Google, "jesus drugs testimony" ...read stories of freedom. Its very cool! Anyhow...later

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Suboxone, more specifically Buprenorphine hcl/Naloxone hcl was never intended for chronic use or maintenance purposes. I am on the board of directors of a substance abuse treatment organization in upstate New York. We have several facilities at all stages of the continuum of care. Here is New York state, as in many states throughout the country, there is a consistent, persistent rise in clients requiring treatment for Suboxone dependency and Suboxone addiction. When used in its intended manner, which is for supervised medical detoxification only Suboxone presents very little risk of inducing drug seeking behavior, and only a mild risk of tolerance and dependency. It is to be used only in progressed opiate dependency and intended to be started 24-48 hours after the last agonist dose, and a structured tapper of Suboxone over a 5 to 10 day period. When taken for an extended period of time, much like methadone, Suboxone has the same likelihood of physiological dependency as opiates such as Oxycodone, oxymorphone, hydromorphone, hydrocodone, or morphine. The physical withdrawal from buprenorphine is far more severe do to the efficiency of the binding action of the substance and its ability increase action potential in multiple areas of the brain. Physical withdrawal can easily last 30 days. Opiate addicts who "successfully" complete treatment of at least 90 days and do not use a drug replacement therapy (suboxone) relapse in the first year 3 out of 5 times, return to treatment in the first year 5 out of 10 times. 8.5 out of 10 relapse in the first 5 years. 8 out of 10 will return to treatment at some point in their lives.

Although Suboxone has slightly better outcomes in the first 6 months following treatment, all extensive research shows no improvement in outcomes at the one year mark and beyond. Clients who are still using drug replacement therapy upon their discharge and as part of their aftercare are actually more likely to require treatment after the 1 year mark. Many report multiple single occasion relapses in that first year and suboxone only seems to prolong the cycle and enables clients to use and postpone the inevitable return to treatment. OASAS shows the number of clients in treatment with a diagnosis of substance abuse disorder and list suboxone as their primary substance of abuse has tripled every year over the past 4 years and now is greater than clients who cite coke/crack as primary substance of abuse. The industry crack down on frivolously prescribing suboxone docs has already begun. Their lack of understanding of the substance and the nature of addiction has lead to a disservice to addicts who have been given suboxone for longer use than it was intended. This is a negative side of harm reduction, clients may overcome their dependency to opiates but acquire a dependency to suboxone, a more socially acceptable substance. We haven't reduced the harm to clients, we've reduced the harm to ourselves, we feel safer and better about people being dependent on suboxone. And if the trend keeps up, the same misguided professionals who pushed suboxone will need to find another drug to get people off the drug they gave people to get off of drugs

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@flower,

Happy to hear you found your way out of opiate addiction. I too have heard that withdrawals from long term suboxone use were pretty terrible to say the least. Although, exercise & proper nutrition as you mentioned, also play a very important role in maintaining a positive mental/emotional balance during this rough time. And while I don't think it is in everyone's best interest to cry out for Jesus... the idea of feeling spiritually grounded, whether it be through church, meditation, prayer, or whatever practice you partake in, can have a tremendous impact on your psyche in my opinion. To each their own, I like to say.

On that note, I'd encourage anyone contemplating the use of suboxone to take your time weighing out the pros and cons so you can be comfortable making whatever decision you make. When it comes time to quit it, know that there is help out there from many sources.

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