sub side effects

[psychotiKK]

I have been on suboxone treatment for a few weeks now, and I noticed like many other long lasting opioids, it makes me tired and I have the need to sleep more then usual. I had the same problem with pods. With suboxone and pods I can wake up as late as 6:00 P.M. The other thing that bothers me about suboxone is the price of the pills and the visits. It's more expensive then having many other illegal habits!!

I'm not too sure what to do. First, I'm going to ask the doc about it and see what he has to say. Eventually I think I may even switch over to methadone since it's much cheaper, doesn't make me anywhere as tired, and kills my cravings better then subs. Only problems are going to a clinic everyday early and having to be dependant on methadone. I wish I could just be placed on some hydrocodone or oxycodone maintenance. Cheap, effective, easy to get, and fewer side effects (for me anyhow.)

[ontario_opiophile]

Yah thats a bitch. They should just give out the users drug of choice. It doesn't make sense to give people drugs that are of the same class and just as addictive but are undesireable to the person taking them. If you give the person their drug of choice they don't really have any other target drug to try to get. If you give a heroin user heroin, they aren't going to want codeine or morphine to get high on. I just dont think it makes much sense to give people such a small selection of opiates. Methadone is pretty strong and it's very abusable so why can't they give out dilaudid or hydrocodone or even heroin. It's all the same in my eyes. If you give addicts opiates that they dont like, they will always search for the ultimate drug and if you give it to them, they have nothing to look for anymore. It stops the drug seeking in it's tracks. If the government started a heroin maintenance program and gave adequate doses and a bit of freedom in regards to take homes and less frequent visits to the clinic and kept the methadone and buprenorphine programs as well I dont think many people would be searching for illegal painkillers anymore. I think the dealers would lose alot of business. I may be wrong but I think it would be more effective than the current programs. Why can't they just give you two 12 hour Oxycontins per day. Why can't you just go and take it at the clinic or pharmacy and then take the other one home for when it wears off. I highly doubt if you gave somemone 2 oxycontins per day that there would be much diversion, considering one would be taken in front of nurse or pharmacist. They could do this for all drugs, they could give addicts a 12 hour pill of their choice, watch them swallow it, and send them home with 1 more pill to tide them over until the next days visit to the clinic. And they could do this and if you pissed clean samples they could trust you more and let you take home more just like in a methadone program. I don't see how that would be any different. There needs to be more flexibility within these treatment programs. Take care everyone! Be safe.

[psychotiKK]

^ I agree with everything you say. The thing is, if I am to stay clean I need something cheaper then suboxone treatment. It's just WAY too expensive, even with insurance. Atleast with MMT, I could actually afford it myself. Aren't there private doctors that can prescribe methadone/methadose pills/wafers so you can pick up weekly to monthly prescriptions quicker then normal clinics? I rather not have to drive to a clinic everyday for 90+ days before I get any take-homes. Anyone know about this? Thanks

[blahblahblah]

Aren't there private doctors that can prescribe methadone/methadose pills/wafers so you can pick up weekly to monthly prescriptions quicker then normal clinics? I rather not have to drive to a clinic everyday for 90+ days before I get any take-homes. Anyone know about this? Thanks

There are private doctors that script out methadone w/out the limitations of most clinics, but these doctors are often expensive. You get what you pay for money rules the world. Anything is possible just is the price worth it for you?

[psychotiKK]

The price isn't worth it to me if it's way too expensive. For now I'll be staying on the suboxone. Currently I am taking 12mg a day, but may need to start taking more. 12mg seems like alot to be on for the first month from a simple pod addiction. I was started off with 4mg and it gave me a strong mood lift, (wouldn't call it euphoria, really) took away my cravings, and made me feel a nice opie buzz. The thing was I didn't have any pods or methadone for 6 days when I went in, so that was why I felt it so strong at first. I was in nod land everyday on this stuff for a couple weeks. I had my dose from 4mg to 12mg within a few weeks. I may ask to go up to taking two 8mg sublinguals when I feel like 12mg isn't doing the job anymore.

I noticed that it doesn't really make me as tired as I originally assumed. This is only if I am on a new (higher) dose or I'm feeling the "hangover." The hangover is the way you feel the day after taking suboxone/subutex/buprenorphine the day before. I usually have the urge to sleep most of the next day and it's hard to get up. I believe I can fix this by taking atleast one whole 8mg suboxone earlier in the day (around 9:OO - 10:00 A.M.) The thing is, I wasn't taking any of my pills till I woke up, and it was anywhere from 3:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M.) I'm sure my depression added to my lack of energy and need of a longer sleep. Oh why must women always fuck me over. I'm a nice guy and always please them in bed, but they all end up leaving me. Shit liek this makes it hard to stay clean. With my subs, I decided I always need some kind of "buzz". I don't want to JUST feel "normal" or I will never stay clean. I do get buzzed with my subs, but it has to be the right dose. My normal daily 12mg dose has had me buzzed, but not to the point of nodding or anything. That only happens if I add in 2 klonopin, a couple somas, and some weed. Either way, I don't feel TOO much of the suboxone unless I take something with it. I love buprenorphine, but at times I don't. Some days I just want a full opiate agonist to get me really going. That and the low price is what makes methadone look like a good choice, but I rather not go to a clinic everyday and have to come off that shit. I've heard that methadone w/ds are the worst of any opioid or opiate. When my parents cut me off my suboxone, I just might have to go on MMT since I could probably afford it..

[Coddfish]

I was surprised to read your post psycho, just because my experience has been so different. I started out on 6mg and over a few weeks had it down to 2mg, but in all that time I never had a 'hangover' effect. I also have found that, even if I take a little more one day, that I sleep far less than when I was on methadone. Anywhere from 3-5 hours a night. Now, I should say that I wasn't much of a sleeper before the opies grabbed me, but I can definitely say that Sub hasn't increased my sleep. Methadone used to make me tired all day long, and that was on as little as 5 mg daily. I dunno, different strokes for different folks, I suppose.
coddfish

[psychotiKK]

Yeah, I'm not too sure about it either. It's no where as bad as the hangover effect I would get on pods though. When I first when in I thought 4mg would be way more then enough to handle my addiction, yet 12mg may not even be enough soon. I prefer methadone to suboxone by a great margin, but I think in the end getting off the subs will make it worth it.

[blahblahblah]

Sorry I never got back to you psychotiKK but I left BL and no longer can access my accounts. This is my new home now. What did your doc start you on milligram wise? I have noticed in the past two years the amount the doctors script has dropped considerably, just curious...

blah

[psychotiKK]

Hey blahblahblahblah!! I don't know if you recognize me from BL, but I left a message, saying nothing but positive things about you.

Anyways, I was started off on 4mg. I had no opiates in my system for almost a week when I went on it. The 4mg worked great. After a few days it wasn't working nearly as good so I went up to 8mg. Again, I felt great for a week or so, but I was still having intense cravings and barely feeling anything from it, so I went up to 12mg. Same thing has happened so I am at 16mg now which worked for maybe two days. Wtf is up with this? It used to work so great, but even if I keep upping the dose of my suboxone it doesn't stop my cravings or make me feel any type of buzz at all. It's just making me mad that it was working so well at first, but hardly does anything for me anymore. My doc doesn't really want me to continue increasing..

Do you think I'm having this problem because I'm not at my "stable dose" yet, or this is just how suboxone works, or is the nalaxone making it like that? It's really frustrating me, because at first I thought, "omg what a perfect drug." I know if I went the methadone route it would kill my cravings and get me high at the same time, but with a cost. I have to start paying for my shit too myself and subs are too expensive.. my doc charges me 100 each visit which as been once a week or once every two weeks. I feel like I'm about to say "fuck it" and go to a methadone clinic... but I'm broke and I doubt I'd get any support going with that route. How much is methadone for someone with insurance? I need to be able to afford it myself..

[Opiyum]

Sorry I never got back to you psychotiKK but I left BL and no longer can access my accounts. This is my new home now. What did your doc start you on milligram wise? I have noticed in the past two years the amount the doctors script has dropped considerably, just curious...

blah
anybody ever notice that they constantly have to take a piss while on sub. Literally like every half hour.

[Coverage]

I've had absolutely no side effects from the beginning and I've been on suboxone for 8 months now. Found my stable dose in 2 days - I've been on 24mg/day for all of the 8 months. Never had any problems with being tired, no hangover, basically I just feel 'normal' - that is, like a normal person, a 'not-high' normal person.

I've always heard that if it makes you tired/sleepy you're on too high of a dose. But then you say that you have to keep upping your dose to kill the cravings. I'm not sure what to say about that. It's too bad not everyone had the immediate success I had - I have absolutely no cravings for opies - except under EXTREME stress. No sleep problems, no frequent urination problems, nothing.

You really need to get all this info to your doc - there's something not right with your dose - or maybe you're on another med that's causing a bad reaction? There are some AD's that will decrease the effectiveness of bupe - and your doc should know which ones. There's a certain enzyme that if it's used by one med, then the Bupe does not work correctly.

Good luck, and I'll bet if you and your doc work together on this you won't have to go to methadone. Unless that's what you want to do.

Peace,

Cov

[psychotiKK]

Well my doc knows everything I'm on.. paxil CR 75mg at night 1mg klonopin x 2 daily (I only take them as needed which is not everyday) and the suboxone 12mg-16mg (he wanted me to try out 16 but as i said it helped more then the 12, but I don't feel much more than that) The thing is for me to not have any cravings it has to atleast settle me with some opiate effects.. I need a mild buzz, which it was giving me in the begining but has been fading even if I up my dose.. so I have been craving more and more. I know with methadone you can get high on your dose for along time before it ends, but I'm just looking for a mild buzz with my subs.. then I probably won't crave anything..

At first I was more social, happier, motivated, and it's not like that anymore. I don't understand..