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Should I Be On Suboxone?
eagles202020






Posted: December 17, 2017, 8:14 PM
Hi All

New on here, but I have read several posts and have gained a lot of knowledge through here (I think). So heres a quick rundown of my situation:

I suffer from bulging discs and terrible TMJ; my jaw dislocates when its closed. So over the past year Ive been in a ton of pain. I have done everything my PCP has asked of me; mris, x rays, tests, etc... After a few weeks, we found the Percocet 10mg 325 were the best fit for my pain and thats what we did. I was on this for about 1 year total. I was never "addicted" to the percs but by about the 9th month I started having urges of that I needed it and would panic when I was close to running out. So then I knew I was on slippery slope, so was very honest with my DR and he knew everything. We decided that by the end of the year (this year) we would start to ween me off by the new year. Naturally, my balance was getting out of control with the practice and I only needed 1 more refill, possibly 2, to ween me off as we had discussed, however when I called to make an appointment the receptionists were incredibly rude to me and refused to schedule an appointment for me. I called my Dr over that weekend, and he couldnt do anything and was now going to refer me to a Dr he knows that specializes in Suboxone. So that Monday, I saw the new doctor and I was prescribed Suboxone 8mg/2mg strips once a day.

Now, Ive tried reading as much as possible on Suboxone, and from what I gathered its a very potent and last resort medicine for serious pill and heroin etc addicts. My question is, should I have been prescribed Suboxone? I was taking 12-14 Perc 10s a day, only for the 2-3 months leading up to it. Before that, a 120 script would last me 3 weeks - month. I have never had a problem with pain medicine, Ive never done hard drugs ever. Suddenly I find myself wrapped up in medicine and programs for serious addicts - and the withdrawal and dangers are insane that go with it. Any advice? Thank you!


Posts: 5
Joined: January 8, 2019


Posted: January 8, 2019, 7:44 PM
Trust me if you can get off the drugs without it do everything in your power to do so. I am day 6 without suboxone and no withdrawal I've ever been through compared even close to this. DONT DO IT


Posts: 195
Joined: July 6, 2018


Posted: January 9, 2019, 3:19 PM
I agree don't do the suboxone. You might find that once you have the other drugs out of your system that your pain lessens. You might be experiencing rebound pain from withdrawal symptoms.


Posts: 8
Joined: December 28, 2018


Posted: January 9, 2019, 3:50 PM
Don't do it, man. Don't get on Suboxone if you can do without it. It's like cutting off your arm because you have a splinter on your finger.
Wayne






Posted: April 23, 2019, 6:45 PM
Interesting... I'm seeing all the responses saying, "don't do it" and "it's like cutting off your arm because you have a splinter in your finger."

I've never thought of it that way but I've only ever taken it to ease withdrawals when I'd stop taking pain pills. I've got degenerative disks and have been doing pain management for 27 years. In the beginning it wasn't daily management, it was "as needed". My back would blow out, I'd to to my doc or the ER, get a 15 days script, take them for 5 to 7 days and put em away until my back blew out again. I didn't want to take habit forming meds but they wouldn't consider surgery, "you're too young" or "you'll loose too much mobility" or the one that really pizzed me off, "you're not a candidate because you still respond to pain management". The first two were correct as I found out when I had my first surgery 15 years ago. When it eventually got to the point of being a daily thing I would ween down regularly because I noticed within months that my tolerance would go up. I didn't want to take the damn things in the first place so I sure as hell didn't want to get really strung out on them. Eventually the pain was so bad that only the really hard stuff would manage my pain and a surgeon agreed (finally), to do a three lumbar fusion. I was taking 90 mg of Morphine Sulfate and dilaudid for break through, (I can't remember what does the dilaudid was) so my family doc was concerned about what it took to manage my pain and sent me to a clinic that dealt with "alternative" options for pain management. The options were Suboxone, Methadone, and Fentynal. I didn't know much about fentynal and thought Methadone was only for Heroin addicts so I tried subxone. It didn't manage my pain but I did find that as long as I waited until I was in withdrawal, Suboxone would would eliminate the withdrawal symptoms. But about a week in the doc said, "you're levels are way too high, I suggest you go to Methadone". I was dead set against it so he suggested the fentanyl patch. It turned out that I couldn't go 3 days per patch. Somehow or another I'd be in pretty nasty withdrawal after 2 days. I thought the world ended but the doc said, "naa, that's fairly common. Some people absorb it faster, just put a new patch on the morning of the third day. It managed the pain fairly well but had no idea how hard it would be to get off of it. So, the surgeon that said he's fix me up was so popular it took well over a year until I walked in for surgery. I had a week or so before surgery and suggested to the doc that I go off the patch so that I'll have a fighting chance of pain management during and after the surgery. He said, "wow, I don't think anyone's ever asked me to take them off the hard stuff because they actually wanted to be off". But I did. That time suboxone was a nightmare. I had taken the patch 24 hours before my suboxone appt, I went in and just like before I layed on a padded table so they could monitor me. This time I wasn't getting any relief from the withdrawal so the nurse gave me another sub, then another. The next thing I knew I was in hell! I could barely comprehend where I was. I remember the doc asking if I'd actually taken the patch off the day before, I had. He asked if I were taking anything else? "No, I don't play games with that stuff". He later suggested that because I was so thin and where I had been applying the patch the Fentynal probably got absorbed into the bone. So, even though I had gone the 24 hours before taking the Sub, I had gone into precipits withdrawal. It was really bad and they seemed to not know how to reverse it or it was impossible to reduce it. it took about three days before I felt human again and went med free until I had surgery. Since that surgery I've use sub to go off pain pills here and there to keep my tolerance down. BUT, I am damn sure to wait until I am in FULL withdrawal and just take it for about three days, go without anything and then start back on the norco at a much smaller done for as long as I can keep it that low. I don't recommend anyone go on it as an alternative to pain killers as a permanent solution. The stuff's not something you want to get hooked on a high dose of. But to use it just for the withdrawals and go off the subs, it's great stuff. I just started a detox today. I took my last pain pill yesterday about 5 pm. I held on till about 5 pm today, just to be safe. I was pretty uncomfortable by then but it wasn't that bad as far as withdrawals go. I've only got about 8 or so 2mg subs. I took about 3/4 of a pill and the withdrawals stopped instantly. I'll take another half before bed and maybe two halves tomorrow. The next day no more than two halves and the following either nothing more one half. I don't recall how long you should wait before going back on norcos but I want to go at least 2 to 3 days after my last sub. Hopefully 4 days but I'll have to see how I feel. I can see this isn't a new thread so you may have already decided one way or the other but that's my take on Subs, if you use them to get off pills or smack, GREAT! Use it to get through the withdrawals but don't think of it as a cure. It's NOT.

Wayne


Posts: 8
Joined: December 28, 2018


Posted: May 9, 2019, 8:53 AM
So, let me get this straight. You take suboxone the ease the withdrawals off painkillers, but still want to use painkillers? I get it that you have degenerative disk issues and need pain management, but bouncing back an forth doesn't seem like a good idea. I know that in Europe pain management specialists prescribe Suboxone just for pain. I don't know if they can do that in the US or elsewhere, but you may want to check. The Norcos and Vicodin have such long term health issues with your liver, kidney's, etc.

I was on Suboxone for a very long time and I was done. I just needed to get off completely and didn't want to be some 75 year old person counting strips and wondering if medicare was going to cover my next script. I do not have back issues or chronic pain, so everyone's story is a bit different. I would hope and pray that there is a better way of coping with pain than downing a bunch of opiates.


Posts: 53
Joined: April 26, 2020


Posted: April 26, 2020, 7:34 PM
Taking 12-14 percs is a lot per day. you will definitely suffer from withdrawals from taking that many for 3 months. If you feel you can deal with the pain and you feel you aren't hooked than try and go without the Suboxone. the suboxe will help with the pain though and it would be better in my opinion than taking 12-14 percs a day. I not a dr though
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