Suboxone Abuse (Page 7)

My son has been on suboxone for over 1 year now. He was a herion addict for over 12 years. Been clean off and on during that time. I have seen a personality change in him which is almost intolerable. It is like he is fine one minute and then goes off the wall the next. Has anyone who has been on suboxon or knows someone who has been seen a personality change.

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REPORT

My experience with Percipitated Withdraws is as follows:

Oxycodone takes 12 hours to get out of my system . I wait 12 hours after taking a dose .....then take suboxone and have never had an issue . The 72 hour wait period is one of the MANY lies the " addiction " doctor tried to pass off as fact .

The one drug that stays in your system longer than expected is Fentanyl . My experience with the synthetic pain killlers leads me to believe a longer wait is neccessary .....24 hours at least . I stick with Oxycodone . I was on Fentanyl for a few months and did experience percipitated withdraw and that was the last time I ever took " the patch " .

IMHO the reason people keep taking narcs is because they don't wanna withdraw . If everybody could get Suboxone folks could stop taking narcs .

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MY HUSBAND IS AN ADDICT ( PILLS), NOT MYSELF. i am not judging ... just questioning.
why would you all not want to be free and clear of all of this>?? all drugs, subs, meths, etc? i guess what i mean is... why not taper down? some of you ( i read all 121 comments) have been taaking the suboxone for YEARS .... is there a method to this madness?
my husband has no personality left... no feelings, no happy place. it hurts me and it has to hurt him.
i want him back and i want to hear from someone that actually QUIT taking everything and how they are doing.

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Inkmaster,
You're not an addict. You don't have that dreaded, rotten gene that causes addiction. You're lucky. Addiction is a disease- sometimes you have to look at the consequences of NOT treating your disease. If a pill (or film) per day keeps a person out of active addiction what's so bad about that?

If a person had cholesterol, or high blood pressure, you wouldn't question why they took a pill everyday would you? Same concept for some addicts. Addiction is a disease (this isn't opinion, it's been proven as a fact already) and sometimes it needs to be treated that way- medically.

If your husband is having side effects maybe he should consult with his dr. As with any medication a certain % of people will have side effects & need to adjust their dose accordingly. I was on suboxone for exactly 4 months & tapered off. I've been off completely since march but if I were to have severe cravings, or felt my sobriety was in jeopardy, I'd have no problem going back on suboxone. I've lived the alternative & I won't take that chance again by not treating my disease.

Did that answer your question? I hope it makes a little more sense to you now. I know it can seem strange to non-addicts. I respect that.

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nogroovin
i agree with you to an extent. taking something "less addictive" , for a small period of time, to get through the worst of things is completely understandable. you did 4 months and worked you way down. that sounds, to me, completely normal and logical. (you HAVE to feel amazingly proud of yourself right now.... and YOU SHOULD !!!!)
i , also, agree with ......if you begin to crave, want, need whatever you have been addicted to ..... return to the suboxone, for another short period of time.
but ............i am terribly confused on how you would ever KNOW if you can make it with out the suboxone, if you never TRY ?? it is scary ... for the addict, BUT also for the FAMILY/FRIENDS. I have tried my hardest to be as supportive as possibe, and am trying to gain the knowledge needed to find a clear path to clean living after the massive destrction caused in our home .
i do not want to force ANYTHING at this point.
how did YOU, PERSONALLY , know that after 4 months you were ready to get off the suboxone? was it your choice or the way your medical provider prescribes??
thank you for answering me and taking me as "concerned" , not "mean".

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Inkmaster (cool name),

I decided it was time to try to taper because I had spent time working on my recovery (rebuilding relationships, undoing some of the damage I did while in active addiction etc etc) and was seeing the positive results from that work. I began not only feeling normal, but actually forgetting to take my subs at times. That's a good thing. When you go from living to take pills and get high to forgetting its time to take your meds that means they're working.

They're really is no downside to long term suboxone use. The side effects are minimal when the dose is correct (same as any other opioid- constipation, initial drowsiness etc etc), and there's been no evidence of long term effects. The upside is the addict gets to work on their recovery, put their life back together etc etc.

Yes, people on suboxone are absolutely dependent on it and they WILL suffer withdrawals if they stop too quickly. But that's no different than any anti depressant or beta blocker, or any other med taken daily over a period of time. But there is a huge difference between dependent & addicted. Addicted is when you're risking your livelihood, freedom, relationships, home and so on.

Suboxone helps many people and I honestly would have no issue if either myself, or another family member of mine, tried to go without the suboxone and decided the risk of relapse were too high and went with long term suboxone treatment.

Thanks for the nice words- I am proud- staying sober is going to be a challenge but I think I'm up for it. :-).

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Nogroovin
thank you so very much for taking the time to answer my questions and helping to figure out some of the answers to my my crazy life. ; ) you have helped me out more than you know.
i have a million more questions and hopefully they will get answered over time tooooo !!
i truly wish you the best in your recovery process.......you are only as strong as YOU believe yourself to be .much luck and good ju ju to you.

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Ink,

If there's any other questions you have feel free to ask and I'll try to answer. Subs are just one of many tools your husband will use in his road to recovery. Coming off subs completely is definitely a good goal. Addiction is tough on everyone involved- ESPECIALLY spouses. I'm sorry you're going thru this.

Just keep doing what you're doing- ask questions and get as much knowledge as you can. One thing about addicts is we're pretty good at bulls***ting the ones we love. I can honestly say that NOW, I appreciate my wife getting involved even though at the time I didn't.

Hang in there. :-)

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My wife has been taking sub (under the tongue) for almost 2years now. She was addicted to Morphine which was prescribed for rhuematoid arthritis in her neck. I'm trying now to find a way to get her off it. Our insurance refuses to cover it and it is costing me over $500/mo, which is more than our mortgage payment!
On top of that, I have now become disabled and must wait 5-7 months to see if social security will accept and pay me my due...fingers crossed but in the meantime, must live off savings and the cost of the sub is killing it.
Anyone, any thoughts please?

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Bill,

At your wife's next dr appt ask your dr if he has any room left on the Patient Assistance Program. Each dr is allowed 3 patients. It will pay for the medication for a full year. Google it if you want to get a head start on the paperwork. Good luck with it.

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I am enrolled in a new suboxone trial starting Mon. 8/13/2011. Does anyone know what I might expect; such as the medication itself; testing of blood etc. Also any information would be helpful. I am now on the strips and have been on subs for about two months

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Thanks so much for your reply. We will give it a try...YT

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Im 19 years old and started smoking weed recreationally in 9th grade my parents are pretty much clueless so me dropping out,getting me GED and always with people double my age didn't raise to much constervacy untill I found myself shooting up anything I could find and losein 40 pounds and all my friends in 4 years wondering how did this all happen..I've been buying subs off the street for 6+ months and it has changed nothing..I still can't get away from the needle and im watching myself decay slowly in the mirror..I come from a good family with no worries I just stopped careing and now im wondering if life is even worth it and can't even buy alcohol...Whatever you do,stop your children asap and turn them in to jail or they will be posting a sob story online just like me for advice because they've became so good at hiding it and noone knows anything except im extremely moody.suboxone will just prolong your addiction not stop it...Hope I will be replying soon but who knows.My Prayers go out to allall addicts.I feel your misery

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You have to want to be clean before ANYTHING will work!!! If you don't want to be sober than you never will be. I was taking 15 - 18 oxycodone 15mg a day and just didn't want to live my life addicted anymore. My Dr. put me on suboxone (at first I thought the same, one drug for another) but I wanted to be clean so badly I did it the RIGHT way, not my way and it worked. I took it for about 4 months and I haven't felt this good for 11 years!!!!! If you or someone you know says their dr. LETS them stay on it then they are not tready AND they need a new Dr.'YOU HAVE TO WANT IT, before you can get it!!

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Please try and find a good Dr. They will help if done right. I know because I was an addict for 11 YEARS!!! please dont give up. PLEASE ask someone for help,PLEASE! If you get this message try to contact me thru this site.

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Wanting it is jus the the first step! Most people will say they want it. Doing it is what matters! It's easy to say you want it. It's alot harder doing it!

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Your exactly right. That's why I said you yourself HAVE to want it. For yourself and for no one else. I tried to stop oxycodone 15mg 15 - 18 a day!!! I was told yes, you say you want it, but addicts say one thing one day then change the next. I just said enough was enough and told my family I had tto put myself first for awhile and they'd have to help me with just being patient and they did and do. I know I will always be an addict, but I WANT it!!! Suboxone made it easier, not all of it is the pill, its how you deal with it. I pray to God I never relapse...one day at a time!! All I have to say is suboxone is what helped me immensely!!

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I had to reply to this post. Interesting data that you wrote about the 70's and 80's. I am curious to know if you have the amount or number of people that died from overdoses during this time? You also stated "hundreds" lived without mdical detox, really, that many??

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What???

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I am a drug addict. I abused narcotics for most of my life. I was introduced to heroin in 1976 at the age of 15. For the next 30 years my life revolved around getting high and not getting sick. Before being introduced to suboxone I was dealing with a serious methadone habit. I was at the end of the road and life was nothing more than a chore. I started on suboxone in 2004 and I have been clean since. There is no doubt in my mind that I'd be dead if not for suboxone. I couldn't imagine my life without heroin and other narcotics before suboxone. Nothing else worked for me. My life was a train wreck 30 years long. I would have found heroin on the moon. Getting clean for me was only the beginning. I'm still in the process of learning how to live. Dealing with emotions/feelings that were numbed for so long I never learned how to deal with them. Long term drug addiction....in my case, my whole adult life, brings many more challenges to the table than just kicking the drugs. Suboxone saved my life....no doubt about it. Since getting clean, I've been able to focus on learning to live with emotions/feelings that I never had to before. A new life indeed!! If you're addicted to narcotics give suboxone a try. I believe if it worked for me it will work for you. Good luck!! Peace!

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Hi Ricky...I am curious how long it took you to feel "normal" again. I have been pain killers for 2 months and was taking suboxone for that 2 months and I feel like, well I don't know what I feel. Suboxone saved my life as well but I have terrible anxiety, restless leg, can't sleep, etc. Not even close to cold turley, just hard to deal with sometimes. Any advice to help me thru this time? I will never go back, ever! Thanks Teal

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