Sublocade - A New Kind Of Suboxone
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So there's a new kind of SUBOXONE out and it's called SUBLOCADE. It's a once a month injection done by a medical professional that lasts ALL month. So no more having to take it sublingually (under the tongue) daily anymore. I just found out about this last week and was wanting anyone's input about it. I don't know how I feel about it. What if it doesn't work ALL month and on week 3 you start feeling like s***? Can you go back to the doctor and get another shot or will they just give you a couple sublingual suboxone to make it through till the next week? I guess it's a pretty big dissolvable thing that slowly releases about 2mg a day into your bloodstream. Once again, I'm not sure how i feel about that. What if something happens and it ALL gets released at once? I'm sure that's bound to happen once every so often. Do please write back letting me know how you guys feel about this, or if you have any new info that I'm leaving out. Thank you.

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Re: Rawdog (# 20)

Each Injection is $1800…insurance covers what they cover and then there is a copay assistance program through sublocade manufacturer for up to $800 per injection after insurance. You do not get copay assistance if you are on any government or state assistance program. Must be private health insurance to get the copay. Government assistance most likely will cover the whole thing. When big pharma was sued for billions and lost those billions of dollars should be going in to getting these shots for people!!!!!

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Re: Kc (# 18)

Can you give me an update on how this ended up?

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Re: Paul (# 6)

Sublocade is not a patch. It is an injection that gels up on contact with your body fluids. Then the gel slowly wats away at so many nano grams per second.

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Re: El cano (# 5)

This forum is suppose to be about sublocade….

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Re: RAWDOG (# 2)

He didn’t say ink jiz…he said injectable kinz….its given to women in labor and they use it like subtext in other country’s.

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Re: Kc (# 18)

There were no withdrawals after 4 days, it was your mental state. During Subs, everyday is a habitual and continuance treat in our lives. It is a crutch and becomes a lifeline to our existence. Think back, every waking second of each day revolves around these damn films. The appointment day is like Christmas Day each month. Once we you have the script then the fun begins. Time to hold your breathe at the Pharmacy and pray they have them in. Pray they don’t tell you it is too early to refill. Your mind starts to go in panic mode driving to the Pharmacy. You know that every appointment day, you are out. You have to get it filled. You start preparing excuses to why you need this filled today and I’m not taking no for an answer. You start getting pissed. Who in the hell does a Pharmacist think he/she is to override my Dr’s orders! I did that crap for 10 years of my life until I said to myself,, This is recovery!?

Subs do little to change the previous lifestyle we wanted to escape.

The toughest part of Sublocade is the fun above that I mentioned is all over.

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Re: El cano (# 5)

Hey. I know this response was from a while back, but I am experiencing the exact same side effects. Have you managed to overcome them? I was thinking it may be due to a naloxone allergy and was going to ask my doc to switch me to bup only.

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Re: Elle07 (# 38)

You have to be on at least 8mg daily to qualify for the shot... this could change over time because we are always learning in medicine, but currently you have to be on 8-24mg of suboxone daily for the shot. Since it comes in 300mg and 100mg doses, (after the first 2 months you get 100mg) in the studies that was what showed to keep people at the therapeutic level all month. My doctor says after a few months he will start injecting less and/or space the shots out to every 5 or 6 weeks. More research and time is needed for the med company to change their dosing guidelines, but the doctors can do things based on their experience with what works in the mean time.

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Re: Kimberly 123 (# 26)

It burns for a few seconds.. think it is a liquid being forced in between fat that quickly hardens.. so it burns a few seconds and the area is tender after to touch (but you shouldn't be touching it anyway!) It's less painful than a tattoo... and its literally super quick! Worth the 15 seconds of pain each month for a chance at life long sobriety! :)

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Re: jainnpain (# 17)

Well Sublocade isn't so "new" anymore... its been 4 years since your post... I hope people are seeing how beneficial it has been. For people with opiod substance abuse disorders it has been a life saver!

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Re: Subutex4 (# 11)

Subutex4:
Sublocade can help ween you off suboxone/subutex so that you can do those things again! Its the most painless way to taper off of any form of BUPRENORPHINE...

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Re: RAWDOG (# 9)

Sublocade does NOT GO INTO VEINS! That would kill you. It is a liquid that hardens to a solid mass when it touches body fluids.. It goes into your fat in your stomach.. under your skin.. (Subcutaneous)

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Don't worry, it can't get released all at once, the medicine is liquid and becomes a hard "depot" that gradually dissolves. It won't wear off too soon, in fact its more likely to last well beyond the 28 days. (Up to 6 weeks or longer even. I read that Sublocade was meant to last way past the 28 days so that it would be rare to feel sick early, for the people who miss appointments for whatever reason. It was designed to last plenty longer than 28 days. I have seen people experience this with the Vivitrol shot, where it doesn't last the full month and cravings come back causing relapse. That's another story, another discussion, but we typically give naltrexone pills along with vivitrol to take at the end if cravings come before the next shot). I work in a detox and have seen tons of people successfully get off heroin and fentanyl because of sublocade. I think I'd say only 1 in over approx 100 said it didn't work and I know now that person didn't want to get clean yet (she self admitted it in her admission a few months later) and I've seen many others go days past their 28 day mark and not get sick. I personally haven't seen anyone feel sick too early, if anything a small number (if I have to guess, maybe 5 in 100?) that needed a small 2-4mg suboxone film dose in the first few days or weeks of the FIRST month only, by the 2nd months shot they are feeling better because the medicine has built to a stable level. This is usually only people that have been on Suboxone for a long time and their body is used to much higher levels of suboxone, not people who haven't already been on long term suboxone. People coming off street drugs that just start suboxone for a few days then get the shot are usually fine because they aren't used to having high doses of suboxone in their system. Typically in our detox, a client will detox with methadone for a few days...(because of the fear of precip most people can't wait the necessary time between fentanyl use and starting suboxone.. it used to be approx. 36 hours from last heroin use, but now with fentanyl in everything people are waiting over 48 hours and still going into precip. If someone could physically wait 48hrs+ without medication, they wouldn't need detox in the first place! Its painful to watch so we've adjusted our detox protocols accordingly. Its physically easier on them to wait from the methadone - or even from straight heroin when that still existed! - than waiting after fentanyl use because fentanyl withdrawal is so bad and happens so much sooner after last use. Fentanyl is meant for short term use, like after surgery, so when people use it for long periods of time it ends up stored in the body in fat cells and there is no single average of time to predict its out of someones system) So, after a few days and small doses of methadone, they wait 48 hours, then take a 2mg test dose of suboxone or subutex just to make sure they don't go into precipatative withdrawal, and if they don't we will build them up to 8-12mg a day for a few days before giving the shot (they say to take it for 7 days before getting the shot, but if a person already has past experience with suboxone and they know it worked for them and that they aren't allergic, then there's no need to wait longer, just long enough that we know the fentanyl is out of their system so we don't put them into precip). I saw one comment about the guy who got his shot 24 hrs from last opioid use. That only way to get someone out of precip besides time and waiting it out is to give more suboxone to force the opioids off the receptors. It sounds counterintuitive but it works... or speeds up the discomfort period anyway. Either the doctor had no clue what he was doing, or in my experience people can lie or even forget when their last use was. Hopefully some of this insight helps people who are curious about the how and why of sublocade. You just have to remember that every body metabolizes medicine differently so one person's experience won't necessarily be yours. If you read the reviews, they are mostly positive, and you have to also consider that in recovery, people may say negative things because they personally weren't ready to get sober. (Like my one experience of the client that said sublocade wasn't working and she still felt like shit and later admitted she just wanted to use) Sublocade also has the benefit of coming out of your system sooo gradually that there isn't the typical withdrawal associated with stopping suboxone. Just wait until you are ready and in a good position to do so. Also, you break the habit of having to take a medication every day just to feel normal. Nothing is a 100% miracle cure, maybe Sublocade is 99% but you still need the other 1% to be your own will to change! ;) good luck to everyone starting their sublocade journey!

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Just got the shot few hours ago.. wish me luck update on how it goes.. was on 2 8 mg strips a day and 2 mg in afternoon..

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Re: RAWDOG (# 9)

Its injected in your stomach

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Re: Kimberly 123 (# 26)

Yes verybpainful and the lump has lasted 45 days so far

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Re: MT (# 19)

I have been on suboxone film strips 2 mg for around 12 years. Same dose always 1x a day and i had told my doctor i wanted to try and come off. He suggested sublocade. I had my 1st 100 mg shot 45 days ago and my 2nd 100 mg shot 2 weeks ago. Tjere are definitely side effect(lumps under skin at injection site and extreme fatigue) not sure when is the right time to make the final jump but i think this will be my last shot as i am dying to get off this awful drug

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Anyone know of any doctors that for sure offer the Sublocade shot in the Nashville, TN area?

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So I got my first injection Thursday evening. It feels different. Obviously. But my question is for anyone, if you eat can you like feel the sun in your system? I have been a little queezy these first few days, like the very very beginning of withdrawal, nothing I can’t handle. But I have noticed if I eat something it feels like I just dosed. I get that little burst of energy, if I’m sitting down I start getting drowsy, and that gut feeling of anxiety goes away. I said something to my husband about it and he looked at me like I was insane. But that would make a little sense right? Like once I get my metabolism pumping after eating, maybe? Lol. It very well could be all in my head too.

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Re: pjmasks12 (# 49)

I was only taking 1 8.2 mg. strip. You will be fine. I was very anxious also about switching, but believe me when I tell you.... it's well worth it. The pros certainly outweigh the cons.

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