my son who was about 21 at the time got a Rx for suboxone and immediately abused it and got kicked out of his residence. Later he got in a methadone program where he did have to go daily, and they only let him take home weekend doses. Methadone is very addictive; when he started to taper off, he was a mess. Even before that, he would get 'dope-sick' just before his regular methadone dose. At any rate, he landed in jail while tapering, so they did him the favor of withholding any further methadone, and he completed his withdrawal in jail. He was not happy at the time, because it feels every bit as bad as withdrawing from heroin or oxy. But to my knowledge he has stayed off that stuff ever since, nearly 4 years (he hasn't been clean all that time, but not back to the opiates, at any rate)...
If your son can go that long between doses, he's well on his way to being clean off opiates; from what you said it looks like a good bet to stick with what is working.

Methadone scares me. Suboxone has certainly been a life saver for my husband, but that can also be abused. I think the bottom line is that neither one will likely help unless he is also getting some treatment for the psychological part of addictions (meetings, counseling, whatever). If I had to chose, I would chose the suboxone. There are many doctors that can prescribe suboxone, and there is also support online. Check out the website, and call your insurance directly don't rely on the clinic to get you the best info....

http://www.suboxone.com/?s_kwcid=TC|7630|subuxone||S||4390214666&gclid=CI6vzonmlrECFYFo4AoddUvjgA

Thank you both for your responses. They confirmed what I suspected. Bambuse, I read your story to my son and he said he definitely wants the Suboxone instead. I'm very glad he has made it off the opiates 4 years.

This morning I found a doctor that may be able to get him in next week. The total cost of the appointment and the meds will be about $300 a month is he is able to stick with his current dose of one film. That's about half of what he is paying right now for buying Suboxone on the street. (It costs $8 per film and he's buying it for $20.)

Laura, I did check with our insurance. They are being very difficult. They will pay 100% if we use their contract provider and won't pay a dime if we go anywhere else. Their contract provider is at their limit for Suboxone patients and can only do methadone. It's very frustrating to pay premiums for this coverage and not be able to use it.

Donna i wish your son lots of luck and tell him he can do this! I share your frustration with the insurance companies when I was trying to get my son in inpatient they wouldn't pay for it and instead he relapsed a few times and was hospitalized 5 x and ended up costing the insurance company with the outpatient rehab about 70,000+ so there is no common sense it seems. Penny wise and pound foolish. Good luck Dee

Hello Donna, every person is very different I can tell you my son was on suboxone and the reality of this all is that they are all drugs, trading off one for the other. Suboxone is. It meant to stay on long term it was supposed to be used short term so that the addict could get passes the withdrawel stage. However, the medical community has now realized this alone can be there business and keep them on for a very long time. Many medical professionals have given up there practices to do nothing but Suboxene, so the medical boards stepped in and regulated that a doctor could have no more than 30 patients at one time. I do know that suboxone can be positive IF it is used short term. If you are going to invest in anything I would recommend cognitive therapy. Again, this is only my experience and why I know,good luck

Dee, I know exactly what you mean with the insurance companies being penny wise and pound foolish.

They will pay for the full program at Clinic 1. That includes the therapist, the group sessions, the prescribing doctor, the drug tests and the prescription (minus a small co-pay). They won't pay a penny for Clinic 2.

The deal I offered them is that I will pay 100% of the therapist and group therapy at Clinic 2 if they would pay for the doctor, the drug tests and the prescription. They said no. In other words, they are willing to pay about $1,800 a month to a clinic that we've been to before with no success but not $300 a month to a clinic that is actually getting him clean. No wonder our health insurance premiums are so high!

Dmatt, I agree with what you are saying. The only reason why I'm agreeing to the Suboxone treatment is that it is combined with an excellent therapist who is making great progress with him. He's also going to group twice a week. One is just for young people and the other is for opiate addicts. The therapist also found him a wonderful sponsor and is hooking him up with an LGBT support group. The clinic also has sober activities nearly every night for young people. The Suboxone is a bridge to help with cravings.

The doctor we found is willing to prescribe up to 3 films of Suboxone per day. Trevor is down to about 5 per week, so he's well on the way to tapering off. He feels strongly that he wants to get off the Suboxone as soon as he can. We're making him pay for it, which provides extra incentive.

Hi Donna, I like what your saying it seems to me that there is a comprehensive program which us really crucial. Insurance well I can't even go there, our country is in dire straits with the manner in which our insurance works. When I even hear the word the hair in my back stands straight up. I hope this works for you and your son. At the end if the day it's up to him, and he is lucky to have a great support system. Hugs.

In my opinion, he is replacing one drug for another. I know someone who was on suboxone. She had to go to Bradford to detox. I have not heard good things about either.