Monthly Archives: November 2011

Relapse in Progress

Posted on by

Author: Diary of a Quitter

Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:07 am

Romeo, I am glad that you’re ok.

I guess it’s an important lesson that we all have to learn sooner or later: you shouldn’t have to do anything you’re uncomfortable doing to keep a friend. Real friends will respect your boundaries, right?

I know you care for these 2 friends of yours and I hope you’re able to find a way to establish boundaries with them that protect your recovery. In the end, that will be better for them as well.

Keep us posted ya ding dong! And take care of yourself.

New To Forum Couple Quick Questions Please!..

Posted on by

Author: NoRegret03

Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:12 am

Hi Guys, I am new here… but not new to addiction or suboxone…was addicted to Opiates for 3 years and now have been on Suboxone for 2 years…. ready to be done with all this…. last week I had a week off from work so I figured it would be a good time to go ahead and begin the process of healing… Prior to this my doctor said there would be "No WithDrawals" and basically dismissed my concerns as me being paranoid… Needless to say by the 5th day, I had a weak moment and went back on to my 1 mg dose of Suboxone… I really was caught off guard by the intensity and timing of the WD effects. I go back to the DR. to re-up my rx this evening..is there anything he can give me for Sleep, Restless Legs, and the total lack of energy that you guys may have taken? I get off another week at the end of December and this is when I will begin round 2 with this…. Also, how did you guys make it through the day at work feeling like you did?… im 26 years old and have a full time job and respsonibilities I dont have the time where I can take off for a month straight to get over this. Any Info , Tips, or Motivation you guys could give me would be great. Thanks!

Babies on morphine?

Posted on by

Author: subside

Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 4:09 pm

new here,i would just like to throw my hat in here since i currently have a child in nicu.
i live in nys and i can assure you my wife and i were dead set against are baby being put on morphine and even going into nicu!
like others have said the test they have to diagnose nas are so ridiculous with most symptoms being things every baby dose.
we have been fighting them since the moment hes been in there and there isn’t a damn thing we can do about it.
by the way hes been in there 3 weeks and counting!

Is cold turkey an option for me?

Posted on by

Author: pmsl

Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 4:26 pm

I have been prescribed 4mg this week at my request. 8mg was comfortable and I went to 4mg for 2 days and have been taking only 2mg for about 4-5days now (I’ve been spitting out one 2mg tab when the chemist isn’t looking). The suboxone on it’s own hasn’t left me too comfortable but I have used small amounts of benzos to regulate some kind of sleep and calm me down in general.

I am now of two minds. With the discomfort at 2mg should I just drop it altogether and use what Valium I have left to ease the w/d’s over the next week or so OR should I stay on a comfortable dose (now that I’ve found one) of Suboxone as the past year to 18 months have been spent cold turkey/smacked up then cold turkey/smacked up and so on. I’ve been to 2 NA meetings and I’ve remembered why I stopped going in the first place so without suboxone yet another relapse is possible as I have been expressing to my GP that I seriously think there is an element of depression behind this even when abstinent but he’s not interested.

In answer to your question I use whatever drugs I can get my hands on when I’m performing at my best. Crack,smack,benzos, alcohol, chloral hydrate and other stuff but my DOC is heroin. It’s hard to say how much I was using due to variations in quality. At the latter stages I was either injecting a sixteenth (1.75g) or smoking an eighth (3.5g) daily costsing anything from £50 to £150 per day then the cost of other drugs on top of that.

The other meds you mention to use when stopping completely aren’t likely to be an option as the doctors here are ballbags and so I’ve been able to buy enough valium to sort myself out but I would much rather use something weaker as I really don’t want a Valium habit. I came of 120mg of it per day the same time as I came of 120mg of methadone cold turkey in 1995.

I have seen clonodine mentioned in a few forum threads and plan to read up on it before asking if I can have some to help me through w/d.

I don’t expect much help from the CAT (community addiction team) or my GP so I’ll just have to man up and do it with what’s at hand should I go cold turkey. I can access some codeine which I might use but am unsure how long I should wait between the last dose of suboxone and using the codeine I have.

Cannot Stop Crying

Posted on by

Author: u2star

Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 4:43 pm

tearj3rker wrote:
Instead of skipping doses altogether, have you considered just having smaller doses, and keeping it at 2-3 times a day?

When people get down low, buprenorphine stops lasting as long. What many people do then is have smaller doses more often, as it keeps the levels more consistent through the day. That would be a better option than to skip doses altogether, at least at this point in your taper.

If you did it that way, you would also have the option to change the timing of your doses to suit your day. ie if you had plans to take your niece shopping, you could potentially delay your midday dose until that time, so there’d be minimal WD’s when you’re busy.

That is a possibility but I want off. It marketed is a 24-36 hour drug so I do not know why it seems to wear off so fast for me??? When do I get to the place of every other day dosing? When I quit crying? I do notice after 1-2 hours after my tiny dose I feel better.

Muscle Twitching and Skin Feels Hot

Posted on by

Author: Sub Zero

Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 6:13 pm

I get these tiny twitches too..feels like a fly landing on me..or the corner of my eye twiitches. Like jerker..I kinda like them.
But I also get a band of burning skin across my chest in the eve I don’t like. If I take a shower it goes away. I’m at .5 Mg and these symptoms started at around 2 Mg.

Setmefree’s ‘Final’ Taper Journal

Posted on by

Author: tearj3rker

Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 7:14 am

setmefree wrote:
What I believe the very short course of tramadol did for me was to allow me to finish ‘washing’ the buprenorphine off my receptors. It eliminated the stacking of bupe and allowed me to be able to space my bupe doses out far enough to sort of lose that incredibly long half life of bupe also. Therefore, giving my brain a break from that steady stream of the potent opiate, bupe, which I have fed it for over two years.

You’ve been doing really well, and it’s admirable how you’ve stuck to your decision. With every update, you’ve moved forward, and despite the "slips" you spoke of, in the big picture, you’re still miles ahead.

I hear you about the Tramadol. Here in Oz detox clinics would use Doloxene, a really mild full agonist, to taper off methadone & buprenorphine. It still surprises me how those techniques didn’t seem to just delay the bupe detox, if you know what I mean. Buprenorphine is a very potent drug I agree, but it has unique qualities that make it so useful in treating addiction.

I can’t stress though to be careful about taking Suboxone when things get stressful. It would probably be better for your recovery if you dosed only when things were calm, and you tried to work through the stressful & difficult times on your own. The line can easily get blurred when dosing occasionally, between medicating the withdrawal, and medicating life’s stresses.

Something that’s really helped me with the aches & restless legs is Ibuprofen. It’s the painkiller they prescribe for that symptom in detox.

Good luck with it all, and I hope to see you post in the "rear view mirror" forum some time soon. Very Happy

tj