Suboxone Abuse (Page 2)

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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Yes, the sweating part is a side effect. As far as her other symptoms like the way her eyes look and focusing, not too sure, sounds like she may be taking more than prescribed.

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i agree i have a daughter whos been in and out of rehabs says shes on soboxne now but i see changes in her every other day not shure what she is doing what are the symptons of when your son is on heroin

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Some signs of heroin addiction are; mood swings- they can go from depressed, no energy, angry to feeling alive, to much energy, and happy. Depending on their method of usage you can notice various other symptoms. With inhalation this will effect their lungs causing them to cough all the time. With shooting the tale-tale signs are you should be able to see track marks on their body. If you see your son wear long sleeve shirts on a hot summer day it's probably because he is trying to cover the track marks up. Now some users are smart and they shoot-up in places that you can't see with the naked eye; i.e. toes, upper thigh, I have even none users to shoot directly into the vein up under their eye. If your son is working then you will see his finances slowly dwindle away and have nothing to show for it. He will begin to lie, cheat, and steal just to get his fix. Now know, this is not the son you gave birth too. This is a whole different person. Addiction is very big all over the world and has ruined many of lives. Addiction is genetic, it is a disease, but it can be prevented and helped. Best thing to do is let your son know you are there for him. Nothing you do or say will get him to stop. He will only stop when he reaches rock bottom. Now there are steps you can take to help this process. I cold hardly believe you should attend AL-ANON Meetings. They will provide you with the necessary tools to cope with this as well as teach you how not to be the co-dependent. By doing anything for your son while he is using you are basically telling him it's okay with you to use. I know this is a hard process to undertake and this is not coming from someone that only read about Addiction in books but from someone that has lived that life for many years until I reached my rock bottom. Now I understand you did not say he was using heroin, but I thought I would just give a little bit of advice just in-case. You can never be to cautious when it comes to addiction. If your son is living in your home than you have every right to search his room, his belongings, whatever it takes to make you feel at ease. He will get angry with you for doing this and try to make you feel down for doing this but ask yourself. Would you rather have your son be angry with you for searching his belongings and room, or not have your son at all. This is the cold hard reality when it comes to addiction. In America a lone some 600,000 people in the United States are addicted to heroin! According to the drug project and Journal of American Medical Association, 900,000 Americans die a year from substance abuse! That's more than the population of Jacksonville, Florida which is a little over 800,000. I do recommend Suboxone as a recovery option. Methadone is not big on my list because it's nothing but a synthetic form of heroin and many doctors and pharmacist will tell you that Methadone is stronger than Heroin. Plus once you start a Methadone treatment program it is very rare that you ever come off of Methadone. Suboxone is widely used in the treatment of opioid addiction and in order to be prescribed it you have to attend an out patient clinic where you will receive psychiatric help, as well as see a clinical physician every time you go to get your Suboxone. Another good reason to use Suboxone is the withdrawals are meek meaning more than likely if being prescribed Suboxone by a licensed trained doctor; the doctor will put him on the right dosage and gradually take him off the medication when he is ready. I myself was prescribed Suboxone for opioid addiction and I am now still currently taking Suboxone for chronic pain; and some people will tell you that Suboxone is not used for pain but it is. Suboxone has been studied by many doctors, scientist, etc and has been found in clinical studies to help chronic pain suffers. Suboxone comes in a pill form, as a strip, also comes in liquid that hospitals use for pain, and it comes as a patch for those who suffer from pain 24hrs a day. Talk with your son and a doctor to find the right dosage and form for him. I hope this helps you out and remember your only as strong as you let yourself be. This burden is not yours alone and there is help out there.

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I was on methadone over 25yrs now in my 60s I made the choice to try suboxone and try to change my life 8mg in the morn and maybe 4 at nite if needed but its only been a week very tired all the time some I don't want the meth any more but still have thoughts of getting high on herion what can I do here down the road take more suboxone.

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Suboxone is an opioid and it will make you tired. This is one of the side effects from Suboxone but this will subside in time. If you are still having mental thoughts of wanting to use my opinion would be to get yourself a sponsor so you have someone that has been through the same thing as you and can give yo advice. You could also talk with a therapist or go to a Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meeting. I found all of these to help me out when I was struggling with addiction. I am glad you switched from Methadone to Suboxone. It is much safer and you will not have to be on it the rest of your life. Also; Suboxone should help subside your cravings and if what you are taking a day isn't helping than talk to the prescribing doctor and let them know so they can re-evaluate your dosage. Do not increase your dose on your own as this can cause serious health complications. Also; if you haven't been on the dosage your currently taking now that long than give it a few weeks and see if it gets better. Suboxone will help with withdrawal symptoms within 15 to 30 minutes after taking it but can take up to 3 to 5 weeks to help with mental cravings. One other thing; if you are taking the 8mg pill form of Suboxone; should look like an orange octagon with a cross on one side; than talk with your doctor about switching you to the 8mg Suboxone Strip. Much easier to take, less of a bad taste, and works much better. Now this form of Suboxone is stronger than the pill due to the saliva to medicine ration. The pill creates a lot of saliva which dilutes a lot of the medicine. The strip only produces enough saliva to dissolve the strip and that's it. The strip will also work a lot faster than the pill form. But please get yourself a Sponsor so you have someone to help you go through this. Remember addiction is not something you want to go through alone. I really hope this helps you out.

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I could not agree with you more. The mass of many doctor's are simply trading street addictions of opiates/heroin/pain killers in for medications that the drug companies and doctor's can make money off of. Lot's of money, I may add. As many insurance companies do not cover this drug, and it runs about $8/pill and they are sometimes prescribing 2-4 pills a day. That is between $240-$1000 per month! About as much as a drug addiction habit. These treatments are STILL addictive and still opiates!! Instead of having a drug dealer, your doctor is now your dealer. These doctor's fail to inform their patients that you if/when you try and get off the "helpful" and "life changing" Buprenorphine drugs such as Suboxone and Subutex, you will experience a detox and painful withdrawal symptoms LONGER and much more INTENSE than the original drug of choice. Because Suboxone/Subutex have a longer half life, and are MUCH stronger than pain killers such as heroin and Vicodin, when you try and cut the cord off this addicting drug, you are in for one long and arduous ride. Not to mention the terrible side effects of these drugs. People call it a "Miracle Drug" when they first are educated slightly about it, and once they are ready to get off, they realize the trap that they are in. You do not treat drug addiction with another similar drug- the whole point is to get off. Anyhow, I just want people who are researching this to be aware and do your thorough research on both sides. Drug addiction has ruined many lives, but so has this replacement drug. The longer you are on this drug, the harder and stronger your detox. We are talking months of struggles. This medicine was supposed to help with detox symptoms and used only up to 7 days, and now they are prescribing it for lifetimes. Find a doctor out there who really cares and will be honest about these drugs. I have been struggling to get off the suboxone for 2 years now. My family has noticed (as have I) a complete personality change. It makes me jittery, nervous, fidgety, I ramble on and on, I have practically no memory, and for some reason it makes me compulsive. Like shopping, I have this compelling thing to look at each and every item at a store or on a website. I have always loved fashion, but this is just crazy and is driving my sister and best friends insane. They say it is hard to be around me because I can't focus on a conversation and I tell them the same things over and over and a story that should take me five minutes to tell, turns into twenty. What a nightmare. I went to rehab to get OFF drugs, not get addicted to another. I want to file a lawsuit against this drug company. This is hell.

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does anyone know if you take suboxne if other days you can take heroin

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I am going to say this for all those who are posting and reading. Suboxone like anything else in this world can be abused. You can abuse foods you can abuse the consumption of even water. If your taking Suboxone like it is prescribed it can and will help you to maintain a healthy sober lifestyle. Unlike methadone; which is used for opioid addiction as well as pain and likely your never going to get off of it, Suboxone can be taken for numerous of years and two days later with the help of your doctor you can be weened off of it with little to no withdrawals. The only withdrawals I suffered when I got off Suboxone the first time was cold sweats. Unlike when I was taking methadone and suffered withdrawals a lot worse than trying to kick heroin. I am currently prescribed Suboxone as a pain regimen. I am on two 8mg Suboxone strips a day. And yes people; Suboxone helps with pain. People said the same thing about methadone and methadose when it first came out. That it was only used for opioid addiction. There have been numerous of studies on the pros and cons of using Suboxone and the pros outweigh the cons by a very large margin. Vicodin= opioid= pain relief ; Suboxone= opioid = pain relief. So don't listen to anyone that tells you that Suboxone is not used to treat pain. The reason some doctors will say no it doesn't help with pain is because they make more money prescribing Suboxone for addiction benefits than they do prescribing Suboxone for pain. I get so sick and tired of hearing people say doctors are just trading one drug for another. This is not true. I tell you what. You take 8mg of Suboxone which is equivalent to 100-200mg of OxyCodone (better known as oxycontin) and see if you can tell a difference. I bet you can. The reason for this is because Suboxone is not a drug that was made to get you high or give you that perfect feeling of euphoria like every other opioid on the market or even in the street. It is meant to block strong opioids like heroin, Vicodin, Percocet, etc. but also provide relief from pain and withdrawals. So don't tell me that doctors are just trading one drug for another. I would be dead right now had it not been for the doctors that taught me about Suboxone. I was taking over 160mg of OxyContin each day for pain and was badly addicted. It was taking more and more to just get a slight relief of pain in my lower back. It wasn't till my doctor told me about Suboxone, which I was really hesitant to switch, that I finally found not only pain relief but something I can go days without taking and though I may be in pain from my back, I am not going through withdrawals. And as you can see I am also a firefighter, I save lives each and everyday as well as put my life on the line to save others and their belongings. I am medically trained and I am a certified First Responder as well as EMT. So again would you rather me come save your life on 200mg of OxyContin or one 8mg Suboxone?

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I am curious, you said "Suboxone can be taken for numerous of years and two days later with the help of your doctor you can be weened off of it with little to no withdrawals. The only withdrawals I suffered when I got off Suboxone the first time was cold sweats." I was on 3 8mg tablets for almost 2 years, then weened down over a month and jumped off. My withdraws lasted seven days, I had NO sleep, muscle aches so bad I had to lay in the hotub literally all night and was freezing and couldn't go outside in 100 degree weather because I was so cold. I also sweated so profusely, I had to change clothes 5 times a day. Can you please give me tips or explain to me how in 2 days you experienced practically no withdraw symptoms? I understand were you are coming from in your opinion. Suboxone is like a double edged sword and I am just frustrated at my inability to get off at this point without going through withdrawals longer, stronger, more intense than heroin and oxys. I would love any advice you have. Thanks, Nicole.

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My son was alcohol addicted-- for years nothing worked until suboxone which his psychiatrist decided to try. Unfortunatey, although he is no longer an alcoholic, he is also not functioning. He has a master's degree in a highly technical field in which he was very good until alcohol got the best of him. Suboxone was like a miracle for awhile--no more drinking . However, now he has lost his drive and ambition. He sounds like one of the articles above: he rambles on and on. He has always been too focused, but now he cannot pull himself away from the computer. He must find out about every detail and look at every option when shopping on line or doing any type of research. Anything he starts to explain which should take a few sentences turns into a 20-min. or more lecture. He is hours late due to his inability to withdraw from that in which he is involved. He cannot just do a, b, c which will guarantee a desired result. He must over-think and over-analize every component. Thus, he has become disabled.

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Maybes he was using heroin to self medicate becauae he's insane. And now ur seeing the real him. Haha

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I was addicted to pain meds for over 10 years taking 25 to 30 pills a day. I was on sub for almost 5 years 8mg 3 times a day it saved my life. I have been drug free and Sud free for over a year know. I winged my self off the sub and had no withdrawals hardly at all. I never once mixed sub with any other type of drug either plus I didn't have any mood swings. The real deal is if you truly want to get off drugs you can trust me after 10 years of hard opied addiction and 8 long years of a cocaine addiction I would know. God is good a Christ center program is the way to go not a religious freak just learning the true Word. Teen Challenge !!!!!!

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I am a recovering addict and have been clean for over five years. When I say clean, I mean off of all drugs. In my opinion Suboxone is just a drug replacement. It replaces illicit drugs for licit drugs. A person on Suboxone is not clean, they are just using a legal drug. There is help for drug addicts. Narcotics Anonymous is a worldwide twelve step program and many of its members have been clean for years. You can check out their web-site at www.na.org
NA states, “While this decision is always left up to the individual, the chapter on the Third Tradition in "It Works: How and Why" states: "Narcotics Anonymous offers recovery to addicts around the world. We focus on the disease of addiction rather than any particular drug. Our message is broad enough to attract addicts from any social class or nationality. When new members come to meetings, our sole interest is in their desire for freedom from active addiction and how we can be of help."†Good luck with your son!

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I'm with Debey. My sons dad was never on haroin and he just went right to methadone then subs. He was on subs the whole time we dated, now my son is two and I've been a single mom drug testing his dad with him coming up with a big fat red POSITIVE on everyone. He is so dark, and depressed, and doesn't give a s*** about anyone or anything and acts high and mighty...(mostly high...if you know what I mean) ppl I'm sure use this to get clean, but it is also SO so addictive.

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The First time you went off suboxone, why wasn't that the last time as well?? It may very well work for pain and you may be one of the few who actually use it for that, although I seriously doubt it, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt since you are a firefighter and in the health care field. I have not seen nor heard of any success stories. Suboxone does get addicts off of oxy's, and other related drugs without going into withdrawal, but the problem is once off the sub. the majority start using their drug of choice again. Most of these clinics hand out the script and say see you next week, month whatever. There isn't any therapy or counseling involved to rehabilitate the addicts mind, to reteach these people how to react to unpleasant situations in an acceptable manor. Drug addiction doesn't just affect the body it also changes the way people think and behave. They have spent many years focused on only one thing themselves and getting their pills to stop the withdrawals. They have become master manipulators, liars, cheats,and thieves. Many have lost touch with reality, their families, friends and jobs and they don't even realize how far they have fallen. They think they are functioning at a mainstream level, but the truth is they aren't even close, everyone around them can see this and some try to talk to the addict and offer help but the addict becomes angry, aggressive and very defensive pushing the few people who still care about them away... There is so much more to recovery then just getting off the drug, yes withdrawals are a b**** but picking up the pieces of a broken life and mending all the broken relationships and dealing with the reality of everything that addict did to their family and friends to maintain their addiction is a million times harder then getting off the drug. Suboxone can't heal that!! I researched suboxone and spent some time talking with someone I know with the F.D.A. and this is waht I learned. Suboxone was created by a French company, it was intended for pain but was found to helpful with relieving withdrawals from opiates. The use of sub. for addiction was supposed to be for no more than 3 weeks to get the patient off of the stronger opiates without the painful w.d's period. The rest of the recovery is dealing with the depression and psychological aspects of addiction, which involves therapy by a psychiatrist and psychologist one to help the patient with the depression and lack of endorphin's due to the damage the opiates have done to the receptors in the brain and one to counsel the patient and help them rebuild their
self-esteem their lives and possibly some broken relationships. What an addict doesn't need is a G.P. who attended a weekend course on addiction and how to prescribe suboxone! Another thing I learned and you can look in the PDR one of the compounds in suboxone is made by the same company that makes oxycontin how convenient, they make money either way. Then you have the clinic who prescribe suboxone and also dispense it right out of their office. Now tell me there isn't an ulterior motive for all these doc's to open sub. clinics, especially in this economy. People can't afford to get check ups but an addict can always afford suboxone!!!!

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ur completely right dude. my dad started that to quit vicodin.. and i told him the info about it and he stopped it immediately.. went back to vicodins and is now taking 1-2 a day from what used to be at least 15. everyone that says it's great it's great.. all of those people have been ON IT for literally years. it's a major scam and people say it's easy to kick? the ONLY WAY it's possible to be easy to kick is to use it as a treatment for 2-3 weeks max. which is EXTREMELY difficult to do. the half life of the stuff is 36 hours.. so if you take 1mg a day even every day.. the amount in your system skyrockets ten times faster than vicodin whose half life is a mere 4 hours. if anyone is on something like vicodin or percocets.. just decrease what you take by a few mg a day until you're down to 5 or so mg. then just shut the hell up and TOUGH IT OUT and quit cold turkey. it's NEVER going to be a 100% withdrawal free process.. but if u decrease your dose down to that then stop.. all you'll face is a few sneezes and cold sweats for a few days and youll be good .. anyone that is not willing to handle that to quit.. their claim that they WANT to quit is nothing but BULLS*** whether they accept it or not. the reality is that they waste money and they are hurting themselves.. and they prefer that over sneezing and being pissed off for a week? NO ONE that doesn't quit can say they want to.. bc i used to take over 10 pills of vics a day and i quit. it's all about if you really WANT to or not. but i guarantee suboxone isn't worth it.. i can't speak for heroine users or people who are taking 100's of mgs of things.. idk about that kind of level. but if your issue is under 20 or so of these pills a day - suboxone will destroy you trying to quit. NO PAIN NO GAIN.. only a person that truly wants to quit will quit. i wake up in the morning and can do 150 squats 25 a rep - and i feel better ALL DAY than i ever felt in my life with a vicodin - i have the same euphoria - with the added benefit of a CLEAR HEAD. just QUIT. your brain is clouded and you can't know true happiness until you actually quit. MOST PEOPLE DON'T QUIT - because truly they have nothing else in their lives besides that.. so they quit and end up as couch potatoes and get depressed and want it again in a month. YOU WILL ALWAYS NEED DRUGS IF YOU DON'T CONTROL YOUR LIFE RIGHT. i guarantee if you do a vigorous workout every day after quitting - at that point - you won't feel like going back a month later bc your body will finally be creating the endorphins it needs to make you happy. OF COURSE YOU WONT BE HAPPY IF YOU QUIT AND DO NOTHING PHYSICALLY - YOUR BODY IS NOT BEING USED AT ALL - SO IT'S NOT EXCRETING NATURAL CHEMICALS THAT WOULD PREVENT YOU FROM FEELING UNHAPPY! take my advice people please

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2mg of Suboxone is equal to 5mg of Methadone. The ratios you have described are wrong. I have just switched medication from methadone to suboxone. I was on 18mg of methadone (worked my way down from 120 mg of methadone. When I started on methadone I was using .8 of a gram of heroin a day.) and have been prescribed 4-6 mg of Suboxone. (I start on 6mg and can go down to 4mg at my request.)
I hate when people say maintainence programs don't work. Sure you are trading one habit for another but at least there is stability. I ran a habit for 25 years. Worked all day and stole all night. I had nothing to show for 25 years of work. In the past 2.5 years since I have been on the program I have kept the same job, bought tons of musical equipment and kept it and saved up for an overseas holiday. (now I just gotta persuade them to give me a visa. ) I'm in Australia in it usually cost $5.00 per dose. We are usually only granted a limited amount of take-away doses per week and in most cases still have to take at least one dose per week in front of the pharmacist. People complain about the cost but in my mind there is no case to be made. $1600 a year for methadone/Suboxone/Subutex or $120 000 on dope. I know which I would prefer.

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I was addicted to Vicodin and at the peak of my usage was taking 20 7.5mg pills a day. I never used anything more potent. I went to a physician who runs a suboxone clinic and with the use of that medicine my life was changed and I began the path to sobriety. A word of caution (common sense): suboxone doesn't work by itself. It must be part of a program that includes therapy, NA meetings, and, most importantly, the commitment by the addict to become sober. Suboxone can be an inredible help to recovering addicts. But, like anything else, if not used properly it can be as harmful as any other drug.
My life was saved, and then changed, by the suboxone program I was on.

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Debbie, I am discouraged by how difficult it is to get patients off of suboxone. I do think it is an improvement over methadone, but some of my fellow addiction doctors will just allow this med to go higher & higher over 3 years instead of tapering off. The longer duration became the norm, & how can you get patients to give this up??

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Suboxon i PART of a treatment not the ONLY treatment. In my experience I found that those patients who were using suboxone as a SUBSTITUTE for the drugs they'd been taking and doing nothing else....were the ones who never reached recovery. The patients who went into recovery using suboxone along with an intense program of therapy and counselling and had a COMMITTMENT to sobriety had a much higher success rate. The day I began the suboxone treatment I was given a "finished" date. That was a day about 180 days into treatment when I would be off all medications. Suboxone is great for withdrawal but can't be confused as a singular step to a healthy life. If somebody's on suboxone and is experiencing the kind of mood and behavior swings that have been described my guess would be that other drugs are being abused.o

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