Hello everyone. I would like to welcome any readers of my previous post (Welcome Opiate Addicts) as well any new comers to my blog. If you want a introduction to my blog, the rules of the blog, what we stand for, and a quick history about myself and my addiction feel free to check out the following link:
http://welcomefellowopiateaddicts.blogspot.com/2012/08/welcome.html
I would like to use this blog post to discuss my experience with the drug Suboxone. I think most people on here have either heard of Suboxone or may have even used it but bear with me as I give some quick information about it to those who have little to no experience with this drug. Suboxone is used for a variety of things, most notably as an aid to help with both alcohol and opiate addiction. I won't go into much detail about the drug itself as I'm not a doctor and don't want this to seem like a lecture. Basically, Suboxone is classified as semi-synthetic opioid and consists of two main ingredients. These ingredients are Buprenorphine HCl and Naloxone HCl. The Buprenorphine is what will help with the withdrawals one would experience if he or she were stop using opiates after a period of time of continued use. Think of this ingredient as an opiate just like oxycodone ( I realize they are both completely different drugs but I'm trying to make things simple for now). Now one would ask why the hell would a doctor prescribe an opiate addict with an opiate to help battle addiction? This is where the next ingredient comes into play. The second ingredient is the Naloxone which is put into the Suboxone as a means of preventing abuse. The Naloxone prevents users from snorting, swallowing, or injecting the Suboxone as an attempt to get high off of the Buprenorphine. Users of Suboxone must take it sublingually (under the tongue) and if one is try to abuse the Suboxone by snorting or injecting it, they will instantly become sick due to the presence of the Naloxone.
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| Suboxone 8 mg Pill |
Suboxone helps a lot of opiate addicts for a number of reasons. The most popular reason being that the Suboxone will help prevent most withdrawal symptoms that one would experience if they were to go cold turkey off their drug of choice (DOC) opiate without the aid of Suboxone. The body does not go into withdrawals due to the presence of an opiate being in the body (the Buprenorphine). If Suboxone is taken correctly, it allows a person to be able to continue their everyday lives comfortably without the fear of withdrawals. This can be crucial for those who have to work, go to school, take care of children, ect...Another reason why Suboxone has become so popular over the years recently is due to its ability to help deal with cravings. Because your body is getting an opiate with the Suboxone, the brain receptors (see for more information on how addiction affects the brain) are able to stay relatively normal. However this is NOT to say, from both knowledge and personal experiences, that the Suboxone is some miracle drug that will completely take away all cravings. However, I will say it does help and to help combat these cravings is where meetings (AA or NA) combined with talking with a friend, family member, or consular can come in handy.
For more information about Suboxone, check out the following links:
http://www.suboxone.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buprenorphine
http://www.drugs.com/suboxone.html
http://www.rxlist.com/suboxone-drug.htm
Now that we're finished with my chemistry lesson on Suboxone, lets move on to my experience with the drug. I won't go into full detail about my past (I did this in my first post if you wish to know more check it out) but to paint a better picture I'll tell my fellow readers some quick facts. I'm a 25 year old male who has had an addiction to the Oxycodone 30 mg pills. My use of the drug has lasted over 3 years and I was using the drug on a daily basis for 2 years. I am currently prescribed Suboxone through a outpatient program and see both a consular and doctor weekly. I simply take life day by day and I am currently almost 4 months clean off of Oxycodone with the help of the Suboxone. I have also not smoked weed or done any other drugs or drinking besides tobacco. If you were to ask me on a scale of 1-10 on how I would rate my overall experience with Suboxone thus far, I would give it a 8. If you were to ask me how I currently feel on a scale of 1-10, I would say between a 7-8. Overall, I believe Suboxone can be a useful tool in helping one battle their addiction to Oxycodone or other such opiates.
If you are interested into getting on a Suboxone program, there are a few steps you must do and things you should know. First, it is important that you go into a program such as this with the true desire of getting clean. Don't be joining a program such as this to simply have a prescription for "backup pills" in case you can't find or have the money for opiates. I'm not trying to sound like a jerk but am saying this because programs can only accept a certain number of people to prescribe Suboxone to so why take someones spot who is truly attempting to get clean? Also, if you do fail out of the program, it gives you a bad reputation and could make getting help in the future more difficult than it has to be. The next thing you should know going into a program such as this is that it can be quite expensive. I can't talk for everyone but the costs of my program are not too bad but do create a little bit of a dent in the pockets. For example, I must see the doctor and consular each once a week. Each appointment I must pay a co-payment of $25. I also pay about $40 each time (every 2 weeks) for my Suboxone prescription. It really depends on your insurance and the place you are going too, so don't be surprised to hear and see different costs when going from place to place. I have heard of people with good insurance who pay practically nothing while I know of others who lack insurance and are forced to pay thousands if they wish to seek Suboxone treatment. My best tip is do your research, make calls early and often, and find a place that you feel will truly help you in battling your addiction. The way I looked at it was that I would be spending more money buying Oxycodone off the streets if it were not for the outpatient program I am in.
It is important to note that not all doctors can prescribe Suboxone. In fact, doctors are required to obtain a license to prescribe Suboxone so don't expect your primary care doctor to be able to prescribe you Suboxone. However, it should be noted that it is important to keep your primary care doctor up to date with what is going on in your life and in regards to your health. Finding a doctor who can prescribe Suboxone is not very difficult. In fact, simply go to the following link: http://www.suboxone.com/patients/opioid_dependence/find_a_doctor.aspx , then go to the doctor locater tab where it will instruct you to enter your zip code. The website is ran by Suboxone and will help you find doctors who can prescribe Suboxone in the nearby area. Be sure to take down a couple names of doctors as you will most likely have to call around to find a program accepting new patients. You may get lucky and find a doctor accepting patients who lives right down the street. Or you may be less fortunate and be stuck with having to take a 45 minute drive each week to see the doctor. For me, I had to call 4 different places before I finally came across a place that was accepting new patients. The place ended up being pretty close to my house and is a pretty nice outpatient program to be in. If you are not successful getting into a program at first, do not give up! Be sure to make a list of places you have called and ask each receptionist to take down your name to call you back in case there are any future openings. You'd be surprised at how many and how frequently patients drop out of programs such as these.
While all programs and doctors are different, I am going to give you my experience and requirements during my program. A requirement of my program is that the patient must be willing to see a drug consular at least twice a month in addition to seeing the doctor once a week during the early stages of the program. During each visit with the doctor and consular, I am required to take a urine screen drug test. The drug test serves 2 purposes; (1) to make sure the patient is clean (2) to make sure the patient is taking the Suboxone and not selling it. The rule of thumb in my program was that if you fail the drug test you get a warning the first time. The next time you fail you are forced to take part in a intensive outpatient program which meets 3 days a week for 5 hours each day. The third time you fail the drug test you are kicked out of the program. Every program is different, some stricter then others. I have heard of people being able to smoke weed or drink while on the Suboxone program as long as they remained clean off opiates when testing. On the other hand, I have heard of people being kicked out of a program after failing a drug screen after a night out of drinking. In my opinion, the stricter, the better as it will help keep you on track. However, I am a big believer in 2nd chances and think everyone screws up once in awhile. I believe if a patient is really trying to get help and get clean, then the doctor should reevaluate the patient and determine whats best rather then just going by a strict set of rules.
The meetings with the doctor are always very quick (usually no more than 15 minutes) while the meetings with the drug consular run about an hour. The meetings with the doctor are basically for just making sure the patient is having no side effects and that the dosage is working for them. The meetings with the drug consular are more for helping the patient in dealing with their addiction and staying clean. Another requirement of the program is that the patient attend AA or NA meetings. However, in my program this isn't monitored so it is real easy to get around with not attending meetings. I personally have never been to a meeting in my life but I have heard countless stories of how they have really helped others with their struggles. My main reason behind not going is basically fear, not knowing what to expect, and running into someone I know. I am also a more realist type of person and while I am a Catholic, I am not overly religious. However, this is not to say AA or NA is all about religion because it is certainly not. In fact, these meetings do not associate themselves with a certain religion or set of beliefs. The 'Higher Power" you always hear about from these meetings can be anything you wish it to be. Some people chose God as there "Higher Power" while others simply refer to the group as their "Higher Power". I have heard of some people choosing things such as doorknobs, their pet dog, or their own mother as their choice of a "Higher Power." The only requirement for AA or NA is that those attending respect one another and have a desire to get clean. To check out both NA and AA meetings close to you, simply check out there websites. Again, I do not have much experience in regards to these meetings but certainly respect their ability to help others and even hope to check one out myself soon.
Some important things I would like to briefly touch upon with Suboxone:
- Suboxone comes in a pill form or a strip form (think Listerine breath mint strips). Both to be dissolved under the tongue. The pill takes about 10-20 minutes to dissolve where the strips dissolve much faster (usually less then 5 minutes). Both have a rather nasty taste, although some people claim they like it. This was my experience with both the pills and strips anyways and I choose to stay with the strips over the pills.
- Suboxone must be taken by placing either the pill or strip under the tongue and left to dissolve. If you try to swallow, snort, or inject Suboxone you risk the possibility of going into precipitated withdrawal due the Naloxone. The reason you do not go into precipitated withdrawal by taking the Suboxone under the tongue as directed is because the Nalaxone is not fully absorbed through the disgestive track in your body where as if you were to inject it or snort, it would be absorbed by other means causing these unwanted side effects.
- Some people say they experience a slight high off of the Suboxone the first couple of times taking it. This high will usually not occur after you get used to the drug. In my experience I have never experienced a high when taking the Suboxone.
- Suboxone will also limit your ability to get high off of other opiates while you are on Suboxone.
- It is extremely important to remember that you must "detox" yourself off of any opiates before you take Suboxone. Each opiate has it's own length of time to leave your body before you can safely take the Suboxone. For example, you should be OK to take the Suboxone if you have given yourself at least 24 hours before your last dose of Oxycodone. Meanwhile a medication such as Methadone takes much longer. I do not have any experience with Methadone but from what I have heard, it takes a matter of days to even weeks before one can make the jump from Methadone to Suboxone. Do your research and talk with doctor about this matter before taking Suboxone. BE HONEST! You do not want to go into precipitated withdrawals because you didn't wait long enough to make the jump.
- For the most part, Suboxone will help greatly with the withdrawals you would normally experience if you were to stop taking/go cold turkey off of an opiate. Everyone is different, some people feel 100% great while others still feel the effects of withdrawals when on Suboxone. For me, the Suboxone probably takes aways 90% of withdrawals I would normally experience if I were to stop taking opiates totally.
- Suboxone doesn't take away all of the cravings but it does help significantly. This is where meetings, therapy, picking up new hobbies becomes important.
- Suboxone is like nearly every other opiate in that it is also addicting and can be misused. You will eventually go through withdrawals when coming off of Suboxone. From my experience and what I have heard, the withdrawals from Suboxone are not as bad as they are from say Oxycodone, but the withdrawals from Suboxone do drag out a little longer than other opiates. It is recommended that you slowly wean yourself off of Suboxone over a period of time best decided upon by yourself and your doctor.
- Suboxone has a relatively long half life, meaning it takes longer to exit your body. This is why the withdrawals tend be longer then most opiates and why the withdrawals of Suboxone don't really start to kick in until about 36-72 hours off of your last dose of Suboxone.
- Finally, Suboxone is only a tool to help you with ending your addiction to opiates. While some people stay on Suboxone for years or even life, most will eventually look to come off the Suboxone and opiates in general at some point of their lives. Suboxone is useful by allowing the user to avoid withdrawals but not get the feeling of being high while on it. It can allow users to get their lives back together, gather support, get jobs or start school, and learn about themselves. In my experience it helped a lot with the withdrawals and cravings but everyone is different. I honestly do not think I would be 4 months clean off Oxycodone if not for Suboxone and the support I am getting but again, everyone is different. You and doctor should decide whats best.
In my case, Suboxone has helped me greatly with getting my life back together and learning more about both myself and my addiction. I want to note that I didn't feel totally normal until about my third day of being on Suboxone. I believe this may have been because my body was getting used to the drug and it needed to build up in my system. Getting drug tested and talking with my consular, family, friends, and doctor has given me more structure and someone to answer to which helps greatly in my opinion. Suboxone is a powerful drug and as mentioned, can be addicting. If you can, try to start at a dose that's low yet helps you feel comfortable. I have been prescribed 4mg once a day and have stayed at this dose the entire 4 months of my recovery period. I was quite a heavy user of Oxycodone (180-300 mg a day) yet found this dose to be efficient. In my opinion, some doctors either over prescribe or under prescribe so it is important you talk well with your doctor. However, don't play doctor and mess around with your dosing, just be honest with yourself and support network. I would also like to note that there are other options to getting clean and Suboxone is just one of many. Once again, I cannot stress, do your research and talk with your support networks often.
This is my second post overall in my new blog that I have just created. As I said before, I am a addict of Oxycodone. My Drug of Choice (DOC) was the Oxycodone 30 mg pills (A215, M30, 224, Blue Vs). I am now about 4 months clean off of Oxycodone with the help of Suboxone (4mg once a day) and feel pretty good both physically and mentally. I am currently part of an outpatient program where I see a consular and doctor each once a week. Overall, the Suboxone has been a great tool in helping with overcoming my addiction and I hope to one day get off the Suboxone and be done with opiates completely. I will keep posting and encourage anyone who reads this to comment on any of my posts. If you have a friend or family member who suffers from an addiction such as Oxycodone or something similar feel free to tell them about my blog. I do not get any money or anything like that for doing this, I simply wish to share my experiences and knowledge in this area to help others. I would like to thank everyone who reads or comments on my blog and wish you all the best of luck in battling your inner demons. I know I am still pretty early in recovery but feel like I can help others through this blog. Again, thank you guys for listening and pitching in. And remember keep trying to see that light, it is there.
Take Care,
Seeingthelight
