Prescription and Synthetic Drug Abuse Support Group
If you or a loved one is struggling with presciption drug abuse, this is the community to discuss your experience, find support, and meet others going through a similar fight. You don't have to struggle with addiction alone. Ask a question, give advice, share your story, and get hope for recovery here.
Hello my name is Morgan. Iam new here. Please excuse the horrible grammar and punctuation.
This is my personal story about taking Suboxone. I just want people to understand the dangers of it. I'm sure it's worked wonders for many people but there are a few of us it's just been something else to get addicted to. And for me it was an addiction 10 times worse then what I was going through already when I started.
Back in 2005, 2006 I found myself with a bit of an opiate addiction. I'm not going to get into a how all that started. That's too long of a story. I had heard about this wonder drug called Suboxone on a the Howard Stern Show since one of the co-hosts have been taking it for his addiction. I did some research on it and it seemed like it was a wonder drug. I made an appointment with a Suboxone doctor which is pretty easy and was only paying $60 a month for my visit. This doctor really didn't care about my back story he really seem just to care about the money I was giving him. I saw him for about 2 years he had me on 16 mg a day for a year and then put me up to 24 mg a day. He never told me when I should take it or how I should take it how many times a day. Nothing. He only told me to take 3 8mg tablets, at the time, everyday. So that went on for about 4 years. I would go once a month pay my $60 which was eventually raised to $85 and get my prescription. Sometimes I didn't even see the dr! I would just call the office walk in and pay the money and prescription was ready for me. I would ask the doctor how long he thought I might be on the medication and he told me it depends. Some people stay on it for months and other years. So I thought being on it as long as I was, was completely normal.
A few years later my husband and I ended up moving to a different state. And I found out I was pregnant. I was pretty freaked out about being pregnant and on Suboxone but I found a doctor in my new state and he told me to stay on the Suboxone because if I wean while I was pregnant I could have a miscarriage or something could happen to the baby. So I stayed on the Suboxone throughout my whole pregnancy. We did lower the dose to 16mg a day. I was actually lucky enough to give birth to a 10-pound baby girl. She did show few signs of withdrawal so she had to stay in the hospital for 4 days. Right now she is a healthy two year old girl. Thank God.
During all this time while I was on Suboxone I started noticing changes in myself. I was very irritable all the time my sex drive was non-existent and I stopped talking to all my friends and became very introverted. This was completely unlike me.
To top things off a few months after having my baby I found out I was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer. I had brain surgery to remove the tumor and I underwent radiation and chemotherapy for a year. I am happy to say I've been completely cancer-free for the past 6 months.
It's been about 9 years now that I've been on Suboxone. I finally decided enough is enough. I was so tired of planning my life around my Suboxone prescription and worrying if I would need a prior authorization, if the insurance was going to cover it, if I was going to go away what they said early for me, Ect.
I got a prescription for something called Gabapentin and stop taking the Suboxone. The Gabapentin really helped with restless leg syndrome and muscle aches. My withdrawal has really not been that bad. I'm only on day 4 but I've heard the worst part of withdrawal are the first 72 hours and I made it past. I am extremely tired and a bit irritable and I'm having a hard time motivating myself to do things but other than that I'm feeling pretty good. Please wish me good luck.
I am starting therapy next week and I want to be free and clear of this for the rest of my life.
I am not trying to bash Suboxone. This is my story and what I went through. I'm sure that it's helped millions of other people I just want to warn people of what could happen.
Thank you for letting me share.
- Morgan
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So mad at Xfinity! They're trying to charge me $115 per month for the same service I had been paying $50 the last four years. I took the equipment to UPS for shipping and cancelled my subscription today! Next door was a cookie shop called Crumbl. I had heard of it before but never went in until today. I don't need one more sugar fix, but maybe it will help with my sad) grieving heart....$15...
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check out that smoke ring. It tasted really good. I smothered it with Maulls BBQ sauce which is Local to St. Louis and one of the best I ever had.....
The only reason why I stopped taking it was because my insurance ran out and I could no longer afford it. It was expensive. I was able to wean myself off from it over a 3 month period. I didn't have any withdrawals except for a little minor discomfort now and then.
I have heard from others in this group that long term suboxone use makes it difficult to discontinue it's use. The longer you have been on it, the more difficult it is. I heard from an addiction doctor that the key to success is with a very slow and gradual wean to give your brain a chance to adjust! So I just wanted to pass that along.
In the beginning, suboxone was never meant for long term use, it was suppose to be prescribed as a bridge to total abstinence from opiates. You could go directly from opiates to suboxone and feel quite normal and you could wean off suboxone without withdrawals or with much less severe withdrawals. Most treatment centers will take patients off suboxone as soon as they finish treatment.
Congratulations on being cancer free! I had a relative who recently past away from the same thing. I also believe in miracles and that we are hear for a reason.
You have a story that needs to be told. Many will identify and will be helped. Thankyou for coming here today. Good luck on your road to recovery.
Keep us posted.
God Bless
Each individual addict is different.
I am all for ppl only taking Suboxone for withdrawals during detox or for less than a year.
But I do get extremely agitated when I read ppl uneducated on the use of Suboxone for long term, even life-long, Maintenance treatment of OUD with Suboxone.
It's medically safe and effective for long term Maintenance.
It is now late 2018 and all the medical studies & statistics & real world info has PROVEN that the 3 approved medications for Opioid Use Disorder, buprenorphine-methadone-naltrexone, are most effective when used as Maintenance meds for as long as needed and possible.
I plan to remain on Suboxone Maintenance treatment for the foreseeable future.
I'm very ok & comfortable with that fact. It's no different than me taking my blood pressure and Bi-polar meds for the rest of my life. Would I or anyone for that matter, stop taking their Psych meds just cuz they feel better.
I have almost no Bipolar episodes because I take the medicine. I stop taking the meds and my episodes will return. Same with my Suboxone. Yes I feel better.... cuz I take my Suboxone. I stop taking it and active addiction will return.
For the majority of ppl that have had OUD for a significant amount of time, we are alive because we take Suboxone as a life long Maintenance treatment, which results in us remaining clean and living full lives with no relapses.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with it.
It's now recommend by Medical professionals to stay on it for the long term.