Great Results For Me!

I have had great experiences with this medication. Suboxone is not only used to treat narcotic addiction--there are other reasons. It is so new, many doctors dont understand the full potentional of this medication. Addiction is currently what the FDA has approved it for. In my own personal situation, I was on high doses of oxycodone for several years due to severe chronic pain. It was so bad that i had to stop working for the last year--ps i am only 28. I truly believe there is a difference between narcotic addiction and narcotic dependence. My body was very used to the narcotic, as it would be with taking high doses of any medication. I was not addicted to the meds. I was not emotionally seeking the high, but desperately seeking some sort of pain relief. I finally found a new pain doctor who suggested I switch to suboxone- not only to allow my body to get off the oxycodone, but to continue to treat the chronic pain in a more managable way. Suboxone can be used for patients who have built a high tolerance to the usual pain meds (which might i add has become nearly impossible to obtain any more anyway since the fear of abuse is such a problem with doctors and the government). Since switching to suboxone, I have gone from taking an average of 16 oxycodone a day with no quality of life and still experiencing intermittent sever pain, to taking 2 suboxone a day. It has made the world of a diference to me. There was no withdrawal once I switched, which was a big concern for me. And more importantly, my pain is more under control than it has ever been!! I dont have to worry about living a life being controlled by taking pills all day that provide up and down relief. For the first time, I dont feel like my pain is ruling me-- I am controlling it! It is certainly worth a shot for those who fit-- do some research and talk to a doctor who specializes in pain management and undertands exactly what suboxone can be used for !

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REPORT

You are correct, there is a very large difference between addiction and dependence.

Addiction results when someone takes a drug because they enjoy the effects they get from it, the energy boost or the high feeling that most people get from Narcotics, Since this is really just a side effect that wears off once your body adjusts to the medication, they must keep taking more and more of the substance to continue getting these effects that they enjoy.

Dependence results just because you have been putting something into your body for a long period of time and your body has simply gotten used to relying on that substance. Dependence can result from anything you put in your body on a regular basis for a long period of time, whether it is your morning coffee, your daily dose of Aspirin, or prescription drugs, even if you only use them exactly as prescribed and never abuse them.

Thus, when someone needs to stop taking a drug, if they have only been suffering from dependence on it, then it is much easier to help them over the initial mild withdrawal period and help them become entirely drug free.

As to Suboxone, it is currently only available from doctors or clinics who have taken a special training course in its use and effects, so your regular family doctor cannot prescribe it, if they have not been trained to do so. So you have to see one of these specialty doctors in order to be able to use it.

That said, I am very glad it has worked so well and helped you so much.

It has proven much more beneficial than traditional addiction or dependence treatment with Methadone, because people actually get drug free with the Suboxone, while most who took Methadone ended up addicted to it and having to stay on a maintenance dose for life.

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Girlfriend tried it. Cost me several thousand since no one here will prescribe 1 month for less than $300 for the pills and 300 for visit. And now the great government has decided that it should be banned along with almost all pain pills, clinics, doctors. She got off the methadone which doesn't get you high after the first few weeks but it didn't take care of her pain so back on methadone. One thing when you start-make sure everything is out of your system otherwise you will be SICK and we are talking scared to move, want to die sick.

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16 oxycontin a day is an addiction. Plain and simple. It sounds like you are trying to justify your pill use. Dependence will turn into addiction , no matter what you try to tell yourself.

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Cheermom- sorry for your ignorance. Oxycontin and oxycodone are 2 different meds - educate yourself before you speak. You know nothing about my situation except for the small blub I wrote in an attempt to help people looking for personal experiences with this medication. I have no need to tell myself or anyone else anything. I know my body and I know what it is like to live in chronic pain everyday- clearly you do not. Hate to break it to you, but there is a difference between addiction and dependance. Talk to any educated person ..including the many doctors who have been treating me for pain for years ...and you will know that there is a difference.

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Jodi, i noticed your first posting was in 2007, are you still on the Suboxone? I strongly agree with you when you say that doctors do not know all there is to know about this partial agonist. It's got a phenomenal half-life and binds strongly to all three receptors beautifully. i have been on it for an oc addiction which was short lived, around 3 months. I researched, tons, found a Dr. who was a Family Practitioner and taking pt.for suboxone but charged 600 for the first visit and150 for additional. HE WOULDNT TAKE MY INSURANCE FOR SUBOXONE THERAPY, CASH ONLY.???? I was desperate to quit, so i started with 4mg. and had an aweful time, it was my fault for not waiting long enough between doses, but within five days i felt great!!! He said i will be on subs for a year and a half. Thats an awefully long time to be on any kind of opiate, an accepted one, or not. These doctors dont know how difficult it is to detox from suboxone, they dont know the long term effects long term use may present later in life. You were right, THEY DONT KNOW!!! what they DO know is all the full paid vacations and huge bonus' from the Suboxone Pharm. I now have a psychiatrist who deals with all my medications and she does take my insurance. But, you said you use Suboxone for pain, right? I'd like to know how thats working out for you as well. I was diagnosed with Sarcoidosis yesterday after two weeks of swollen joints, painful, painful...after 5 or 6 blood tests, 3 specialists, and xrays...im 37 with Sarcoidosos. If youre not familiar google it, it's pretty nasty. But, the pain is unbearable andall they will give me are NSAIDS, and Tylenol. Doesnt even touch it.I was only taking 2mg daily, weening myself off as quickly as possible because the truth is...after 20-30 days you become addicted to the Suboxone, which has a longer half life and it 30+ times more potent than morphine. The half life just makes the withdrawals last almost twice as long as a regular narcotic agonist. Don't be fooled when you Dr.s tell you it's mild to detox, or that it's ok to stay on it for as long as you like. Suboxone has been used in Europe for over 15 before it came to the states and was relabeled from narcotic pain killer for moderate pain to miracle drug for the addicts of America to blindly pay and follow. Now, I am in pain, the worst of my life, and what are my choices?

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Hi there Holladay…sorry for the delayed response. I am sorry to hear that you have had such a difficult time and are in such pain..I totally understand. In terms of choices..I am in a similar perdicament and wish I had some other options for myself and for you. I have been meaning to follow up with a post for a while now as I have recently come off the suboxone and wanted to share my experiences.

I was on suboxone for chronic pain and severe low back pain for just under 2 years. I started taking the medication in August 2007 when I moved to FLA due to illness-- my pain was so out off control and the major amounts of Percocet I was taking was just not helping at all. I found a doctor down here who suggested suboxone for better pain control and so I started taking 2 (8mg) pills a day. The suboxone worked well for a quick switch off the Percocet and for better pain control. Although I did have some breakthrough pain in my lower back, I have to say that the suboxone has provided the best pain relief of anything that I have tried. My plan when I went on the suboxone was that I did not want it to be a long term solution- I really do not want to live on medication. At the beginning of this year, I started thinking that I wanted to begin to come off the suboxone and see exactly where my pain was. From what I was reading, I was a bit nervous that I had been on it so long (although my doctor wanted me to stay on it) and didn’t like the fact that I was on a med that I had to count on to always be there. I knew if the doctor stopped practicing or if I moved, I would have a hard time finding someone else to fill it and did not want to get stuck being very sick from not being able to get the meds. The doctor did not seem to think that coming off the suboxone would be difficult- but let me tell you it was! ...but… I SLOWLY cut down and I did do it… I did my taper slowly over several months. It was very easy to get anxious and want to just get it over with…but I suffered every time I tried that. I had taken one 8mg pill and cut it into 6 pieces…I stayed on 1/6 of a pill a day for several weeks. I attempted to come off from that amount, but even at that it was still too much of a jump. I literally took a pill and cut crumbs off of it with a nail clipper. I stayed on the crumb for around 10 days or so and even though I felt some effects on the crumb it did help take the edge off…and then I came off. Even at that low amount it was difficult and I did suffer withdrawal but I put my mind to it and made myself believe that the withdrawal would have to eventually stop. I think the mental part was the most difficult- especially knowing that there will be several days of misery. I have to say that days 3-6 were the worse for me. I had terrible chills, lost 12 pounds, severe diarrhea, and couldn’t sleep a wink..and had an overall feeling of crawling in my skin and not knowing what to do with myself. The only thing that helped a bit was taking a shower- I don’t know why but when I was standing in the shower, I felt nothing! SO…I took around 4 showers a day and spent a lot of time in the pool floating around trying to pass the time. Imodium also helped with the diarrhea- but I needed to take one a day for the entire duration to keep it under control. I have to say that around day 10 was finally the point where I felt somewhat human again. I have been off the suboxone since May 30- so that is about 32 days now. I was off of everything for around 2 ½ weeks and then it rained. I was in so much pain I thought I was going to need to go to the ER. I called my doctor who was out of the office for the week with no one covering (!@*$) and I had to make the decision to take a Percocet again to get through the few days of rain. The Percocet worked as it had before I started taking anything (very strong)…so as some others have shared their concerns about pain meds no longer working for them- my pain receptors were not affected and the ½ of perc that I took did the trick. Unfortunately it has been raining for the past 3 weeks... so I have needed to continue with the Percocet to get by right now. I feel that I am in a predicament because I don’t want to go back to the suboxone, I don’t want to stay on the Percocet…but I don’t want to be in pain and I am in severe pain. I found a new pain doctor this past week who did some more tests and just started me on savella ( a new med for fibromyalgia). I’ve only been on it for 3 days so I cant tell how it is working yet..and until I get some relief I am continuing with what I am doing. My goal is to get off any and all narcotics..but it is hard and the pain is the worst its been in a while. I am waiting for the MRI test results and then I will go from there. I just wanted to let all know that it is possible to come off the suboxone! It was hard, but I did it. I was a bit overwhelmed and scared from reading all the difficult stories, so I really wanted to share that the withdrawal does eventually get better and you just have to take it one day at a time-I know easier said then done! In the middle of the withdrawal process, I thought that it would never end. Everyone’s body reacts differently, but it was possible for me and I was on it for a long time.

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