Hello,
PamEla here with a bit more of my story. I have been involved in three rear-end car accidents. First one in 1992, second in 1998 and last one in 2008. I did not want to have surgery on my back so I tried every avenue I could find to make my back feel better. Finally I had had it with the pain so I elected to have back surgery in Jan of 1998. In August 1998 I was rear ended again, not healed yet from first surgery this sent me through the pain roof. In 2001 I had a bi-level fusion. Then 10 years to the month later I got rear-ended again. My Ortho in 1992 started giving me vicoden for pain, kept increasing amount and I could not stay out of pain. Then I learned about Oxycontin. My Doc started prescribing it slowly and it sure didn't take me long to get addicted to Oxycontin. I was taking 160mg three times a day and then some, when I learned about Suboxone. My doc had to take that "special" class so he could prescribe suboxone. I reached a point in my addiction where I wanted my body, mind and sprit back. I knew Suboxone was the ticket for me. I had the bottle of Suboxone in my home for about 5 weeks before taking it. I set my date and just did it. I was terrified, and had to walk to the edge of my courage and take one more step. I took my last dose of oxy in the evening and threw away all opiate drugs in my home. I left myself no option as to, do I take it today or not. Not much sleep the night before and I should have waited a bit longer before taking it, but all went well. My plan was to take Suboxone for 3 months and then get off. That is exactly what I did. I started reducing the Suboxone on the 75th day and by day 90 I was done. Currently I am in lots of pain and I use breathing and slow movements and the pool for pain relief. I had a wonderful experience getting myself back, and decided to take the same class my doctor did on Suboxone. What I learned, and wish I had know on my induction day is that one should take 2mg at a time giving one hour between doses, up to 24mg in 24 hours the first day. Taking it that way is far easier that a full 8mg at the gate. Then individually one must figure out how much is needed to stay feeling ok. I kept a journal of when and how much Suboxone I was taking. Doing that made it easier to get off and to track my intake. Having taken the class I have been able to help 6 other people make the transition on to Suboxone. I have done it on the phone with some and in person with others. I used RN assist line at Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals Inc. (the company that makes suboxone) and have found them to be very helpful. The number is (800) 444-7599. I wish I would have had that number the first day I took suboxone. They are there Mon. thru Friday during the day. They are very helpful, if you can't get through to your doc or have any questions about when or how much to take. I hope this info helps one more person to get clean. Be Well to all,
PamEla