Morning Mark....Hope you are as well as can be expected. Becky (manny123), is our resident expert on Suboxone. She just had some surgery so her time might be limited a bit.

I copied a couple of links regarding Suboxone. I hope they will answer some of your questions until you find Becky. By the way, Becky swears by this stuff....I hope you are equally successful.

Hugs!
Deb


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http://www.dailystrength.org/c/Chronic_Pain/forum/9979896-suboxone

http://www.dailystrength.org/c/Chronic_Pain/forum/13157157-update-and-ms-contin-not


Reply #8 - 11/10/11 11:13pm Manny123

I went through the exact same thing then my doctor suggested Suboxone for pain it is usually used for addiction but she said there were studies that people use it for pain as it controls pain without effecting your personality and you are back to normal and boy did it work for me. I feel like me again and no pain well not much pain I guess I will always have pain even did when I took the pain meds.

I do not have any fog I am not a zombie and they give me some energy that I did not have in so long. I can think without my brain being confused and slow thinking like I had not all people who take meds have this but I do think there is a select few who it has side effects like this and it is so hard to live like that. I was in bed all the time and I did not want to do anything I had no enthusiasm. It was so weird by the third day I was back to myself before all this pain started.

Alot of people will not try it as they think it is attached to a stigma of being a drug addict and I struggle with that from time to time but in the end I dont give a hoot as I am me again and my pain is being controlled.

I have on my medical records that it is used for being a CP patient so that is all I need to know me and my doctor.

Started it last Friday 8mg twice a day ( strips) for pain relief as I didn't want to keep switching to stronger narcotics. Was taking too much Vicodin and it WASN'T working! Suboxone helps! I get break through pain and this is where I'm running into trouble =( CAN NOT take any other opiates while on this med. NONE. They won't work! As you research suboxone it'll tell ya why. Good luck!

thank you Deb that info really helps, I am convinced this is the way to go for me, its gonna be a tough sell my wife thinks 33 years of marital problems are all due to my chronic adiction to pain meds, just like the so called straight community they all look at me anyway as junkies, she even recently turned my brother against me. No one more than me wants this terrible life of constant pain and narcotics to end. They al, want me to get admitted for detox with no concern of what I am to do for the constant daily pain I am in.Why can't they see the difference between someone who takes narcotics for a high and the people like us who take it and hate it as a necessity I just can't tolerate the constant pain in my legs,it has gotten to the point where I no longer have good days, The last 6 months I have seen the pain increase , I used to have good days where I could do things and almost live a normal life, no longer do I have that luxury every day is a challenge to keep my body working doing as little as I can because the more I do the more I suffer days after. But my mind is strong and still positive, I don't let the little things bother me I am just determined to have the best quality of life as soon as I can before the diabetes and the neuropathy totally takes control of the rest of my body. I watched in horror as my father went through this as he continued to eat sweets and be over weight till the day we caught him in the bathroom trying to kill himself and then the hospital room where he begged me to pull the plugs on the machines keeping him alive. That will not be the way I go out from this world, I am going out with a smile on my face. Thanks again for the info you have been extremely helpful, now I have to find a doctor to take me wish me luck. Feel good have a great day Mark

The thing is....you cannot take opiods when on suboxone or any antagonist. You must come off of it first. So if you have a heart attack, surgery will be an issue. If they can give you loads of opiods to overcome..but betting here that they won't do that. They can do a local drug pump...a famous clinic told me they have non opiod things for pain if you are on an antagonist. I decided to decline it. Docs like it becausej they are afraid of scribing opiods and feel they won't get in trouble with an antagonist. I've checked my state law out and that is not an issue. Know the facts before you take any med. One person on here needed shoulder surgery and had to withdraw from the antagonist before he could go to surgery. My feajr was that if I was in an accident or needed emergency surgery that I'd be up the creek. I'm older and a heart attack isn't that unusual.
Whatever drug you take make sure you read and google it and know what the side effects are. Best of luck.
Anne

I agree no more opiads but I called all the doctors on the list and none of them take insurance and I am on ss disability so I have to go thru my health care provider, any way I call the suboxone help line and the next thing they are trying to get me to one of there treatment centers and detox me ok that's fine but they will only use holistic methods to deal with my pain after I detox woaaaaa believe me I have tried to live and deal with the pain without meds and its just too severe' so that's where I am at for now thanks all

update spoke to my health care provider and before I can do anything I have to go in for a psych evaluation so guess I'm going soon hope they don't lock me up ha ha ha ha thanks all keep ya posted and everyone feel good

I hope it works out for you Mark! My current medication regime is working just fine but....when I need to change I'd like to try the Suboxone route. So many are having great results!

Best of luck.....I'd love to know how this works out for you, will you keep us in the loop?

Hugs!
Deb

Mark consider trying a detox/rehab center. There are many that can teach you other methods to deal with pain. And they are very successful. I know of several people who were taking way more in meds than you and they are now taking nothing. It is possible.

wow tig someone is taking more than 6 to 8 8mg dilauded a day I feel sorry for them and my insurance wants a psych evaluation before I can go any further so I am going to try to get that done by Friday. And we will see from there Thanks all feel good layer all Mark

I had to decline suboxone b/c I couldn't take my muscle relaxant with it. Later, I saw 2 docs who told me I was never a good candidate for it anyway b/c it wasn't effective for RSD (this was based on research one doc did and research I did on my own, speaking to people on an RSD board) and then there's the problem of what to do for the muscle spasms. That said, I know there are people on this board who have said it works very well!

I would suggest that you weigh all pros and cons, and do what is best for YOU, not your family. They don't feel your pain. Certainly keep their thoughts in mind, and always consider them and how they feel, but remember, you're the one in pain. I've been lucky- very few people know I even have RSD and no one asks what I take. I think my hubby and one other know what my meds are, and that's as it should be.

I'm confused about 1 thing. You call yourself a pain pill addict- did YOU realize this or is this something your family called you? Because later in the post you say that you take the pills for pain, not to get high. Addiction is a disease and yes, CP patients can become addicted, but be sure that you are self identifying, not just being called that by others.

Either way, suboxone might work well for you. It's not for everyone, but there are success stories. Be sure your doctor agrees to chart that you're taking it for CP and not as an addict, and do your own research. And as someone mentioned, Manny took it successfully, so talk to her. She had good results if I remember correctly, and was helpful to me when I was wondering if I should try it.

Bottom line is that it's right for your health and it kills the pain. If it does that and doesn't interfere with your other meds (if there are other meds) this might be a great answer for you!

Let us know how it goes! Good Luck!

Hi mark,
I sent you a message. as you know I am on suboxone and i just had surgery and people who take suboxone can have surgery and even take opiates if they are strong enough the only pain in the butt is doing the induction of suboxone over again. I take muscle relaxers aslo so if you have surgery or in a accident the staff will just give you enough to counter act the suboxone and then you are on them and then you can go back off the and back on suboxone.

This is the loop hole for the drug addicts because when there tolerance gets to high and their pain aids dont work they go on suboxone for awhile and then their pain meds will work again.

I just got up so if my message is a little off ask questions LOL as i am goggy and need my two cups of coffee first before I make to much sense.

I forgot to add as my explanation when I went into surgery I asked the anesthesiologists what can you give me to put me under for pain that isnt a opiate because I did not want to do the induction over again and he said oh yea there are lots of stuff he can use since I take suboxone, of course he does not know me from adam and does not know I take suboxone for pain and did not tell me what he was going to use but I did not feel any pain after the IV trust me.

So I had no problem with surgery and I just took my suboxone like anyone else would their pain med and I was fine the only problem is if you do have a flare you can not take a break through med and more suboxone really does not work it does not work that way that is the only draw back I have found. I rarely need a break through but when I do I do miss it.

Hear I go away No coffee LOL I just am forgetting stuff

This is not for everyone there is a stigma on it since it is not used for CP often people will think you take it for addiction and that gets on my nerves sometimes as I think I have to explain for some reason. The bottom line is you do what ever is best for you and this may or may not be it. It is only a option you may want to explore as there is a percentage of people it does help if you can put up with the stigma you can do it.

Some people dont like to have that stigma and they then have a harder time with family and friends believing they are in pain but I have a good support system and they know it is just the rest of the people I have to deal with LOL Non CP people just dont get it but here people get it that you gotta do what you gotta do.

Hello Manny yes I agree there is such a stigma on all of us and it is such a roadblock making it difficult to get proper care. My health care provider united health wants me to go for a psych evaluation to make sure where my head is at, that's cool with me and I understand why, I call that proper care even though I just had one about 4 months ago before they would approve the cortical stimulator trial, which I am sure my old now pain doc screwed up, and I do understand people like us well some of us do have emotional swings like crazy. But for me I am extremely grounded, not depressed not suicidal, I watched my father go through this and tried to kill himself, and died by the disease and just totally giving up on life. Me I am just mad at my inability to work and provide for myself and others, having a very bad quality of life etc. Angry to the point that it gives me the energy to find the next step, I want my remaining time how ever long or short to be of better quality than the last 20 years.Shrinks love me because I go in there totally positive and I put on such a show all we do is laugh a lot.
You are fortunate you have a good support system at home if I had that everything would be so much easier, but it is not and time has come for me to make the tough choices and will end up making it more difficult for everyone.
Oh well that's about it I will go in tomorrow for the veal get that done and can you believe my doc has still not sent my file to the 2 pain docs that are willing to give me a evaluation, hopefully so after they get my file, its been over a week all she has to do is get off her ass walk 3 feet to the fax machine drop it in the feeder and dial a number, just can't get a break. One thing I haven't considered is what kind of cost is the suboxone in relation to other meds, I guess I will find out.
Wow that's a lot of rambling, ha ha anybody out there have info on the cost factor? I know its gonna depend on my health provider I guess I will find out eventually.
Manny you have been great I really again appreciate your input you have helped a lot. Hope you are feeling good today I am really stressing as each day goes by and I feel no closer to a resolution to my problem than a week and a half that has passed with my meds going down and down. Thanks again Mark

Suboxone without insurance can be 7-10 dollars a pill if your insurance covers it it is a Tier 4 med so usually that is about 30-40% coverage. When I took Morphine and insurance covered it it was about the same to give you an idea.

You usually take a pill or less a day they can be broken into four 2Mg pieces so you can take less and sometimes I will only take 6 Mg a day as I forget to take sometimes and I cant take the whole pill or it makes me sick so I split it up and with this med if you dont remember to take it you forget because it does not wear off like opiates would when I was on opiates I would sometimes clock watch till it was time I am usually 4-6 hours late taking sometimes.

Good luck at your eval I hope you get the help you need, you need a break somewhere.