What Exactly Does Suboxone Do? Is It Addicitive? (Page 4)

i have a friend who desperately wants to get off of methadone and pain pills. will suboxone work? is it addicitive too? if someone can please help me that would be great! also is it very expensive, that's what i've heard.

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I have been addicted to lortab and percocet for four and a half years now and I want to get off of it so bad but the withdrawls are straight hell! I can not take it. I now take them because I dont want to go through pain. I have a friend who charges $25 for 8mg but I can not take them because they say you have to let it disolve under your tounge and the taste is unbearable (for me) as soon as it touches my tounge i am throwing up. And then that just waste $25. Please give me some advice because I seriously can not go on like this anymore! Thanks. If you can I would love it if you could email me any advice that you might have. Thank you so much!

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I have been on Oxycontin for almost a year now (taking 30mg X3 day )and it's not working that well anymore. My doctor wants me to go on suboxone. He say's I have to get off the Oxycontin for at least 24-48 hours before I can go on to Suboxone. I want to know if anyone has done that before. What was the symptoms of your withdrawal from the Oxy and how bad was it really! And did the Suboxone work for you? My doctor said it is longer acting so it would help me better. Is that true and how long does it take for the Suboxone to make you feel better? Can you explain to me the difference of how you felt on the oxy verses the Suboxone? Do you get more tired on the Suboxone? Does it make you feel depressed or give you energy? . . . How did you feel and would you recommend that I do this? They want to do this soon so a quick reply would really help. Thanks so much.

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I had a major surgery this past 3 months its been, I have been on at least 90 mgs daily maybe more since the surgery of percoset. I had tried this past weekend to cold turkey go off of it, not only to get off of this but didn't have anymore until the tuesday. I didn't have anything in my system starting friday night well the side effects started saturday just that I felt I needed them but my energy level went really low in my body. By sunday morning I was in bed all.day litterally had no energy slept for 16 hours and then monday cried all day. I finally was able to get the prescription but it was truly hell what I went through and never want that to happen again. I was told about a drug suboxine and would like to know if this will work for me? I don't want to get hooked on this either and don't want to withdraw from this drug. How long would I need to take suboxine? Please Help.....

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Kathy, I to became addicted to pain-killers after many surgeries and I can't warn you enough about the drug Saboxone. The biggest ? you should ask yourself is are u addicted to the percocet just physically or emotionally or if both. If just physically then ur doctor should start tappering youre dosage untill youre off and if you do as youre doctor sas it shouldnt b a problem but if you are like myself and enjoy the added benifits of the drug (the high) Saboxone is an opption but (BE CAUTIOUS). See Saboxone Doctors are trained to keep a patient on the drug for one year, the drug Saboxone does a wounderfull job at stopping the withdraw but can become as addictive as the Percocet because it provides a high too. If youre considering Saboxone treatment seek a good doctor and request only two weeks of treatment with the drug itself. One week to get threw the withdraws and second week to tapper of the saboxone, then DONE! with the drug that is. Any doctor that wants to keep you on it longer is in it to fill his pocket book! Kathy you dont want to go threw what I went threw, I went from one addiction to another. My Saboxone treatment went to a five year nightmar when I got addicted to it. It almost distroyed my family and me. Im here if you want to talk Jessica Meyer my #1920-226-6560.

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Lynn- I guess what I dont understand is if youre doctor is just after a longer acting pain killer and you dont actually have an addiction to pain killers he should be perscribing you methadone but to answer youre ? about the saboxone (by the way the withdraws from oxies is horrible, it wont kill you but you will wish you were dead). Saboxone will take an effect on the withdraws with in fifteen min, thats how long it took for me anyhow and yes it does give you energy too but watch it Lynn it is also very addictive.

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Angela, I can definatly relate to Saboxone tasting like s**t. youve basically have two options, one you can go on methadone treatment or what I used to do is put the pill under my toung and without getting the pill wet sip on cofee or cappachino till it dissolves. Please take this warning seriously only stay on the Saboxone for a couple of weeks it is just as addictive as pain-killers if not more so. If you need me please e-mail me, take care

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I will pray for all of you, if you truley love yourselves than do what's right and treat your bodies right. You don't need another drug to get off of drugs just be strong most physical withdrawls are over in five days after that it is all mental. Stop being week and start loving yourselves. I can say this becus I did it too, I got off of opiates and I stayed clean without the help of any replacement drug. I did it with the help of God and my own strength and determination!

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Suboxone has been a wonder drug for me.after yrs of trying to kick the pain med habit suboxone worked for me.I will have to stay on it because of injuries i suffered in an accident in 97.The program includes meeting and support group to help you understand addiction.the suboxone takes the edge off my pain and allows me to function as a normal person.the suboxone took away my cravings for opiats and alcohol.i have been on it for over a year with no relaps.

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I've been researching suboxone after having no other choice following my Dr. taking a personal leave of absence and having to find another Dr. who flat out refuses to keep my on methadone. I have been prescribed pain medication for chronic back pain and after a 10 minute visit to the new Dr. he told me to find another Dr. or try suboxone. I don't know if it will help my back pain and altho I realize I am now opiate dependant, it has been for chronic pain. I too have gone without medication and the withdraws from methadone are worse then any flu I've ever had, and I too feel panic when I get low on my meds.
I am on social security and that is my means of insurance, I have no idea if my insurance will cover this new medication. I have so many questions and need answers please!

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ive kicked heroin 3 times at a younger age...i am now 30. i've been using more now ofcourse. for this past week ive been trying to kick and i keep relapsing=(
yea its hell kicking the drug but folks out there just do wat im about to do today..tough it out.suboxone yea it might help but i have no insurance n its expensive..
i hate it..it literaly takes about a week exactly to kick. start monday and by sunday ull get some sleep or come monday again and u'll be all better.wish me luck.i have to stop.its thursday today and my grl thinks ive been kicking since monday=( damn i shouldve just went with it and all would of almost been over..its only a week. yea a long week but ull get thru it..its faster dan detoxing on meds.i think.never tooken suboxone. screw the mofuker who sold to me. i hate wat im about to go thru cuz im using about a gram a day.i love my grlo too much to loose her cuz of this dam drug..

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Suboxone is not the miracle drug that many doctors make it out to be. Suboxone is very addictive, and is amound the top abused drugs of the world. I was an opiate addict and went through an outpatient rehab center, where I was origionally prescribed Subutex (8mg of buphenorphine) then Suboxon which is buphenrophine and naltrexon. Although Suboxone does contain naltrexon which is an "opiate antagonist" or whatever doctors call it, aka it covers your opiate sensors so you don't get the "high" that causes many to be addicted to opiates; it also contains opiates??? Make sense? No it doesn't. In fact you can easily remove the naltrexon by simply wiping it off, and by injecting Suboxone you will get even more of a "high" than regular opiates. Although, I personally have never injected anything, I know many addicts who became addicted to Suboxone because it is a higher potency than Oxy Contin, Dilauted, and Roxicette. I have now been on Suboxone for 4 months. I cannot go more than a few hours, without begining to withdraw. And Suboxone withdrawl is much much much worse than a regular opiate withdraw. And a Suboxone withdrawl last anywhere from 2-6 months, where as pain killer and heroin withdrawl last for 3-5 days typically. If I would have known that the doctors where exchanging one opiate for another, stronger opiate, I definitely would have reconsidered my treatment options. SUBOXONE IS VERY ADDICTIVE AND DANGEROUS IF ABUSED, I STRONGLY RECCOMEND CONSIDERING ALL OF YOUR OPTIONS BEFORE SUGESTING SUBOXONE FOR YOURSELF OR A FRIEND. Also many don't understande that Suboxone treatment for addicts is usually the shortest of 6 months, and most doctors want you to stay on it for 2 years. Do you really think it's going to be easy to quit an Opiate use after 2 years? No it's not. I DO NOT RECCOMEND SUBOXONE FOR ANYONE, UNLESS YOU HAVE EXHAUSTED EVERY OTHER OPTION AND HAVE A LIFE THREATENING ADDICTION THAT CANNOT BE STOPPED ANY OTHER WAY. And even then take it for the minimum amount of timw possible in an in-patient rehab, and get weened off before you leave the treatment center, because taking yours3elf off of Suboxone is nearly impossible.

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I realize this post is 2 1/2 years old, but I hope you get this. I want to thank you for this post, there are a LOT of myths and flat out lies out there about methadone and suboxone, everyone is different. Different things will work for different people. Methadone and suboxone are addictive, but so are The high levels of opiates people are taking. It's MUCH safer to take one of these two drugs AS PRESCRIBED under medical supervision than it is to take the high amounts of opiates us addicts that use these medications take. No one posting on here is a doctor, and I agree you can share your experience but not try to scare people away from something that could save their life. I'm an addict (norco), and I start suboxone treatment today, but I wouldn't rule out methadone if subs didn't work for me. Thanks again for your open, honest, and informative post.

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If you are using social security as insurance it will not cover suboxone. Suboxone is very expensive, and very addicting. I would definitely try another Dr. before you choose suboxone. I made the mistake of switching to suboxone, and I go through a withdrawl almost every 8 hours or so every day. I very strongly discourage Suboxone.

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Hello: I am currently a "small time" heroin addict. I do between 2 and 5 bags a day. I am sick of this lifestlye and when I dont have dope I get sick. probably not as bad as most but still extremely terrible. I was thinking about taking suboxone. I am very curious about this but know nothing. can you help?

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Dude read all my posst about Suboxone. I'm still trying to get over my Suboxone withdrawls. I suggest go to a suggest hospital or rehab clinic to safely detox from heroin in a safe manor. COMPLETE A REHABITLITATION PROGRAM! But if and when they suggest METHADONE or SUBOXONE say NO! The doctor's will work with you to learn real comping methods. Instead of replacing one drug for another.

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I laugh when people say well how much were you spending on drugs? Most likel;y every one was robbing for drug money so asking that question is a joke. Should people still rob to get suboxone?KBBDQ

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I just spent about fifteen minutes reading most of the posts regarding Suboxone and I am truly amazed at how much misinformation and very poor understanding of this medication is written here. If I am not mistaken, I have not seen anybody write the ACTIVE INGREDIENT in Suboxone. If you first understand what is in Suboxone, then most of your questions/answers will make much more sense.

In the United States of America, only Suboxone and Subutex were approved for Opiate-addiction therapy. The difference between Suboxone and Subutex is, Suboxone includes 2 MG of naloxone, whereas Subutex has no Naloxone. So, any logical person should focus on the ACTIVE ingredient, which is Buprenorphine.

Buprenorphine IS part of the Opiate family but it's chemical make-up is different, in that Buprenorphine has an extremely high binding affinity at the µ- and κ-opioid receptor. It has partial agonist activity. In other words, compared to other Opiates, Buprenorphine has a partial agonist effect, then adding the Naloxone increases this, blocking those receptors that people who want to use Opiates simultaneously, more difficult to work.

You have to look at Suboxone as two medications combined into a single tablet, or film (NEW), rather than one. I read one post on here, where somebody said that the only reason people need to increase their use of prescribed Opiates, like Oxycodone is, "they like the high". This could not be further from the truth. What really happens to your body is, you develop a tolerance of whatever amount you are taking. Eventually, that original medication will not be as effective, because your body naturally becomes more tolerant, which makes the medication less effective.

One thing that I think is extremely important to know is, Methadone and Buprenorphine are NOT exclusively used for Opiate addiction. Both medications are Opiate-Based "pain killers". In fact, Buprenorphine is prescribed alone, as a chronic pain relief medication. It has been used in Europe for several years and is the number one, prescribed pain medication there, versus Vicodin (Hydrocodone) in the USA.

Again, please remember that Suboxone has either 4, or 8 MG of Buprenorphine, which IS a legitimately used Pain medication. In fact, this medication has just been approved for the USA market, named Butrans®. Unlike Suboxone/Subutex, the physician needs no additional certification, or special training. It is marketed and supplied by the same company responsible for Oxycontin (Purdue). Butrans is pure Buprenorphine and is a skin-patch (like Fentanyl). It has been used successfully in Europe for many years now. The Butrans patch is made to look like your skin tone and is needed to be changed every four days.

Prior to Butrans being approved for the USA market, many American physicians used/use Suboxone as an off-label, chronic pain medication. Many people have found excellent relief using Buprenorphine (Suboxone), as they have with Oxycodone, or any other Opiates.

The same thing applies to Methadone®. Unfortunately, Methadone has become synonymous with drug-addicts, when it is widely prescribed for many, many chronic pain patients. In America, we use the description of the location which dispenses "The Methadone Clinic", which falsely stigmatizes this medication used exclusively for "Drug-Addicts". Again, another falsehood. Methadone is extremely effective for chronic pain relief for thousands of patients, when nothing else works. People who are prescribed Methadone DO NOT need to go to any clinics, or be on any kind of lists. They simply get their prescriptions filled at any local pharmacy. Physicians can prescribe Methadone from their offices, in a tablet form, not liquid, as they use in these substance abuse clinics.

I know this sounds complicated, but it really is not. Unfortunately, the FDA took a very long time to approve the use of Butrans in the USA, while Europe has been using it with great success for years. Why you might ask...... I would speculate the large pharmaceutical companies have been able to keep this very helpful medication out, while continuing to sell their very expensive Opiates. This is not a fact, just my own opinion.

As far as should, or shouldn't you use Suboxone to help you with your Opiate addiction, it has the support of succesful studies and has been praised much more than criticized. This does NOT mean it works the same on every person who ingests it, as each human body metabolizes these chemicals differently. It may be a godsend for one and not useful for another. More often than not, Suboxone has proved to be a very safe, successful part of recovering from your addiction to Opiates.

I have noticed a common theme throughout every post on here, with regards to how helpful Suboxone is for them. For instance, I read about a person who was only taking a small amount of Hydrocodone and was able to "get off" Suboxone quickly. Again, logic will tell you that Suboxone will be much more helpful (at least, in the beginning) for a person who is only taking Hydrocodone, versus another person who has been taking 160 MG of Oxycontin a day. You cannot put these individuals in the same category. The same applies to a person who has been using a very large amount of Heroin, for a very long time. You could analogize it like a wound; some people have a scratch on their body and others have severe, deep lacerations. The person who has just a simple scratch will need less "care" (Opioid replacement), than a person who is bleeding excessively, for a very long time.

It is good that this forum exists, but please be sure to check your facts, prior to posting information, as it may misguide an individual seeking help, or discourage a person, that Suboxone would be a life-saver. The same applies to Methadone. Yes, it is "commonly" thought of as a medication used exclusively for heroin-addicts, or other opiates, but it also has a very beneficial use for those who suffer with a chronic pain disease, after they have tried most other prescribed Opiate medications.

Your body is unique and may react completely differently than the person sitting next to you. My advise to anybody seeking help is, do what works for you, to make you productive and happy. Every Opiate medication IS "addictive", which is simply a natural course of anybody using pain medications. Simply because your physician may change your daily dosage of Oxycontin from 30 MG twice a day to 40 MG is a perfectly, normal expectation from anybody needing these medications to increase the quality of their life.

There has been too much bad, or negative link to Opiates within the past few years, but always know that a mediation was developed and meant to be used to make a person's life better. Simply because a small population of people choose to abuse these medications does not make them bad, or need a stigma attached.

My conclusion is that it is extremely dangerous when the Federal Government, Physicians, Health Care Providers and others responsible for the availability of these medicines make it more and more difficult to access when needed. Some people will ALWAYS abuse medication, but we cannot allow the minority to rule the majority.

STOP SCARING THE HELL OUT OF EVERY LICENSED PRESCRIBER, AS THEY MUST MAKE A CHOICE TO PROVIDE SUCCESSFUL CARE, OR LOOSE THEIR LICENSE BY BEING ON SUCH A TIGHT LEASH. We send our caregivers to many, many years of school to make appropriate decisions based on health care AND all medicines are created for a legitimate reason. Bravo for those brave providers, who do the right thing, rather than depriving their patients, based on fear! It is ridiculous that a small group of people are influencing those who are able to make these sweeping changes, making access to health services more difficult and a lower quality of life.

Educate yourself and don't simply believe everything you read. Check all of the facts yourself before you make any major decisions. The ONLY person responsible for YOUR health is YOU! We don't live in a "Gray's Anatomy" world (similar to Disneyland)!

Be well.

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This response was very helpful to me! You covered all the bases/questions I had! I'm happy to hear you are doing well with the suboxone treatment and wish you success in the rest of your life and desires! I've been on a large mix of pain killers for injuries eetc... since 2000 and they literally rule my life. It's taken SO much away from me, physically and emotionally. I'm still a young 46 and do not want to be labeled as an addict. Totally dependent, yes. But, what do I do for all the pain if I get off all the oxy & methadone and just take the suboxone??

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i hurt my knee about 4 years ago, i had to go to the emergency room wich then recommended i go to my regular doctor, i didnt have a regular doc, so a friend recommended one, so i went. he prescribed loratbs7.5 first, i had mri's,xrays the whole nine, after a few months he scheduled a surgery and prescribed me loratab 10's. now the pain has actually subsided but i still find myself taking them, like my body is on a schedule r something, and when i run low i do get anxious. I ve been married for11yrs and have 2 daughters, and i feel guilty that i cant stop cuz i know that all im doin is killing myself, thats selfish, cuz i cant function without tabs and i cant quit cold turkey and i really want to, and my family needs me. My wife and i lost a 7 month old daughter to cancer 4 yrs ago this month and i do take meds for my depression and nerves, but the tabs r what i turn to anyway, cuz i can take those and work and it doesnt drag me down. ive heard about this suboxon and think thats what i need before i kill my liver and die and leave my wife and kids behind. the truth is, im not a hundred percent honest with my wife about how many i take, and if i tell her then im scaed that wont go well, i dont want her to be ashamed of me, i was an alcoholic for a looong time and when my daughter died i just quit drinkin and havent looked back, but i soon became addicted to oppiates after my knee injury, so now ive went from one addiction to another. i really cant afford suboxon from what i hear on these posters, im the only one in the household that works and both my kids r in school, and school is expensive enough, so ROCK me HARDPLACE... ive been struggling with this for over a year now and the fear of one day having a doc tell me that my liver is gone and i dont have but a week r so to live and not wantin to go r do anything unless i have tabs isnt fair to my kids, they need a sober minded father to whom is addicted to them....

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I also would like to add my experience here. This thread has been pretty interesting. I began taking Vicodin in 2008, after battling cancer in my early 30's. It didn't take long for that to stop working and bumping to Percocet and then Oxycodone. Somewhere pretty early on I became dependent on it physically, it just took awhile to realize what was causing the horrible symptoms...finally my husband made me recognize that it happened when I hadn't taken my Oxy for a while.

For the first year my Dr. increased every time I asked and gave early refills...my month supply lasted 21 days every month, I was obviously taking more than prescribed-but was honest for that year. After that year he stopped with the early refills and I became embarrassed/afraid to ever ask for more, thinking he'd realize my problem and completely cut me off. And I'd start to take more on my own when my tolerance continued to build. That last week of each month was hell, and I would manage to find *something* from family to tide me over and prevent withdrawals though it usually wasn't as effective as the Oxy and I was miserable. When I'd get my refills, I'd treat myself the first day liberally taking them and then be terrified of running out.

All in all, I took the pills for over 3 years. I knew it was a problem for about the last 2 years. My husband knew, and my parents started to suspect this past May. With their pressure I had decided to quit. Cold turkey didn't work at all. I researched and decided to try Suboxone. The plan was to do it around August 1 when my children would be vacationing with my parents.

However, on June 30 my husband went to get my refill script and the nurse said the doctor was out but to come back the next day. He went back July 1 to find that the doctor would not prescribe anymore due to new laws that went into effect that day. He was restricted to only a 3 day script at a time, which he wouldn't write. Even though they gave me *no* notice! I panicked. It was 4th of July weekend, a long one. We did find a Sub doc that I would see on the 5th. I went through withdrawals for the 24 hours or so I was miserable! But the Sub did help right away. I was still pretty out of it and having symptoms, they were just not as severe.

The first week exactly was rough. The time of acute severe withdrawals I guess. Plus adjusting to the Sub. It didn't make me feel high, but I felt completely numb. And exhausted and drained. But of course I couldn't sleep that whole week. The 8th day started much better.

So now I've been free from Oxy for 43/44 days. I really don't have any symptoms. I do have extreme fatigue and sleep a lot which may be a symptom from my prior health treatments. Is anyone else completely worn out every day? The only physical symptoms are sweats and chills. My pain is bearable most of the time. I don't know that Sub helps my pain much, though I know it's supposed to be a strong pain reliever.

The cravings I think are gone. I don't feel like "I've gotta have it now" but I do think about it. Most times it's a passing thought or memory. occasionally like tonight I feel a bit depressed, which is why I ended up here. I can't imagine this for the rest of my life. I worry about needing surgery or becoming sick, but then think about all the things I've been through and didn't need narcotics...again I started taking it after the cancer and treatments were over due to damage caused by it all. I also have fibromyalgia which is long term. And I've had dental work and babies without narcotics. But still...it is hard.

My doctor says that it can take 18 months for the extra opiate receptors in my brain to go away and function normally again. I wonder if I'll need to take Sub for that long. I'm on 16mg a day, 8mg twice. Some days because I sleep a lot and on a weird schedule I may end up taking only one dose of Sub instead of two. I've not really noticed missing it. So I am curious about that.

Tonight again I'm bummed, kind of dwelling about all of it. The damage the pills caused in my life. The way that the *good* feelings went away so quickly when starting them, and taking them just to prevent the sickness and to be able to semi-function. Though I now can see that I wasn't really functioning. Worrying about needing them in the future. And kind of missing them. Plus carrying around the title of "opiate dependence"...something I never dreamed would be me.

Also, wanted to mention after reading some comments...I have Medicare which covers a lot of my appts. and the prescription plan I have, plus the "extra help" program through SS Disability/Medicare covers my Sub...I pay about $10 for a month of Sub.

Thanks for reading and any thoughts or advice. If anyone would like to chat via email, just post and we can exchange addresses.

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