Prescription Drug Abuse Support Group

Hello!

Quitting Oxy cold turkey is a hard thing to do! Be careful!

I don't know much about suboxone (I took naltrexone) but a lot of people on this forum have taken it with a lot of success.

I can tell you that xanax works great for anxiety but it's very addictive. Getting clean from one drug only to get addicted to another isn't fun. Benzos are even harder to get off of than opiate narcotics. You CAN'T stop taking them cold turkey-- it can be dangerous--seizures can happen. Benzos stay in your system for days. And they have to be tapered off slowly. I'm tapering off of klonopin now and it's been a loooooooooong process-- not fun.

Take care, Chick!

a c/t from the subox is bad, too..a lot of people have found that they can ween off subox easier than the harder opiates....I never went the subox route myself, as I know I would just cheat...for me, it's go big or go home..

For someone in your situation, it's extremely difficult to quit cold turkey without help. If you went to a detox center, I am almost certain they will give you all the suboxone you need so you won't have to suffer the pains of withdrawals. And suboxone is safe as long as it is prescribed by a doctor and taken as prescribed.

God Bless

Please be careful with the suboxone, and read up on it before seeing a doctor about it. drugs.com has some good groups & topics about the mis-prescribing, over dosing by docs, and how hard it is to get off if you are on it LONG TERM. Some docs, like mine, will have you on it for YEARS and it is HELL to get off after you're on that long because Sub has a very long half life & lurks/builds up in your system; the w/ds are tough & sneaky-you'll feel fine one day, then the next when it's started to wear off more, sick as a dog. My side effects are sweats, hot flashes, cold chills, skin crawls, headache, irritiability, diarrhea. About the same as with opiates, really. My doctor prescribed me 32mg/day to start. Seemed like a CRAZY high dose to me, so I tried just 8mg and was fine! That is a HUGE difference! And it wasn't until months of me insisting I wanted to taper down she agreed-I'd been on it for a year at that point!! It's ntaken me another year to get from 8mg to .25 mg a day. This drug is so powerful that even with .25mg dosing, you really feel the need & withdrawals if you try to go without it. So, please be careful & tell your doc upfront you are concerned about the power of this med, the amount Rx'd, and for what term you'll be on it. I know the idea of getting Sub for years may sound great but trust me, it is not...it's the same exact feeling as when I was addicted to pain pills, with everythign that goes with that.

I'm not saying Sub is bad, if it gets you off street drugs or snorting opiates & on a controlled, medically advised recovery plan that's a huge plus. BUT I really wish I'd known that most docs prescribe Sub as only a short term, as in a couple weeks or months, detox plan because it IS so hard to get off-it's NOT really meant for long term maintenance, but to get you over the hump, stabilized enough to be ready for the emotional work of recovery, then weaned off the drug to start living clean. Sub got me off the opiates, but it was just substituting one addiction for another because of the way I was prescribed it. If you have to, shop around for a good doc. Or call area detox hospitals/programs and get recommendations on good docs who prescribe this, or go to NA meetings & talk to the people there. Good luck, you can do this!!!

^ great post!....

32 mgs????? Whoa, seriously!...that is by far the largest dose of subox I have ever heard of...I knew people that had astronomically high tolerances that got by on 4-8mg, some even as low as 2mg...

Mandy, I'd be a bit leary of your doc, he may a good practitioner, but he is in the dark about subox treatment...that is downright scarey...

One other thing: there are two distinct meds: subutex==straight buprenorphrine....suboxone==bupe+naltrexone, the naltrexone is supposed to help block cravings, also prevents ppl from shooting the pills...you might need to do some research to figure which option is best for you.

Good luck!

Crazy, huh? Here in Maine, it seems most docs start people on that! My tolerance wasn't even that high, I was only doing 5-10 mgs of hydrocodone then same of Methadone-just enough to avoid withdrawal. I hate to say it, but of the Sub. docs I've heard of here in Maine, many ARE scary!! My doc left, and the new doc was, well, beyond words. Horrible, horrible person. First time I saw her, I had a urine test & of course didn't have equal to 16-18 mg of Sub in my system. I tried to tell her the old doc knew I wasn't comfortble taking that high of a dose. 5-10 minutes after meeting her, she was in my face, calling me "a liar-just like all junkies" and to "come back when I was serious about recovery". In front of my 4 year old daughter. I walked out and have since used the extra meds to wean off with the guidance of my PCP. Calling me a liar, junkie, and not serious because I wanted to take LESS meds. Go figure. So yeah, be careful, wary and don't take any BS about how YOUR path to recovery looks!

I sense some misinformation. If you are using too much suboxone, you will get a sickness very similar to withdrawals, In other words, too much suboxone has the opposite effect. That happened to me and my doctored lowered my dose, thats all. After being on suboxone for 6 months, I weaned myself off and never had any withdrawals. I was ready, so I did it on my own. It was a financial thing for me. I had lost my insurance and could not afford the expense.

We are here to encourage people to get treatment, not to confuse them and scare them away.

If you go to detox, the doctors and nurses there will see to it that you get what you need. That is the first step.Please listen to this and don't worry about what may be good or bad for you. Discuss your fears and axieties with your drug doctor in rehad. Those kind of doctors have been through what you are going through right now so they understand and know the best ways to help you.

God Bless and TC

WOW...

"5-10 minutes after meeting her, she was in my face, calling me "a liar-just like all junkies" and to "come back when I was serious about recovery". In front of my 4 year old daughter. "

I assume this was NOT a detox center doc, right? I realize there probably are many docs out there that are licensed to prescribe sub, but probably are not very educated about it and/or lack any compassion? To follow on Bob's point, maybe stick with the detox centers?

Suboxone saved my life .....I too snorted oxycodone for 4 yrs and went on suboxone for a month and a half.....Aug 10 was 13 months clean for me....without suboxone I KNOW i would still be using today...Best of luck

Ive been taking it now for 2 years due to addiction to Tramadol. It works great and is something I would rec. to anyone addicted to pain meds, heroin, etc. Just wein yourself slowly. Start with one a day and then slowly off.