Author: tinydancer

Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 11:55 am

I’m not Amber but her methadone to suboxone induction is very similar to mine. I too went through days of the dreaded PWs, and it took me weeks to get back to "normal", as well. A few weeks in, I felt the same as you, I just wasn’t right yet and I felt like my dose wasn’t lasting. My doc wanted to up me to 32mgs (from 24) but I asked if I could split dose instead. That was the key for me. You really don’t need to start your day at 24mgs. You could try 16mg and then 8mg in the later afternoon or evening. This is what worked for me, anyway.

You asked why the suboxone isn’t working for you like it did even though it’s been a year since you’ve been on it. The answer is methadone. Methadone is a full agonist, suboxone is a partial agonist. It is NEVER easy going from methadone to suboxone but rest assured you will adjust. You will never feel high on suboxone after methadone, though. You will eventually feel just normal. You either need to split dose or wait it out…

Good luck and hang in there!

p.s. One of my biggest regrets is staying at such a high dose for too long. No need to start thinking about dropping your dose now, especially when you haven’t stabilized yet, but just something to keep in mind down the road. There is not much difference, at all, from 16mg to 24mg. A split dose also makes it easier to drop down a bit.