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Switching from Methadone to Suboxone

Old 12-10-2009, 06:00 PM
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Unhappy Switching from Methadone to Suboxone

Just wanted to see if anyone else has been through this and how you did. My bf did it and he did fine, but he did it at our current methadone clinic and only had to go without anything for 1 day after getting down to 30 mg. I have to go without 3 days before I can start suboxone at this new place I'm getting ready to start. So I just wanted to know if you all think this is a good switch? I've heard that it's easier to get off of suboxone. And if anyone else has switched and has had to go without anything for 1-3 days before switching..how bad is it? I'm just scared...need some support please
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Old 12-10-2009, 06:52 PM
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We're a peer support group here, not a medical board XStacyReneeX.

Regardless of the experiences and opinions you may get here, please discuss this with your doctor and make sure you're satisfied with the answers.

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Old 12-10-2009, 07:18 PM
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Of course I've discussed it with my doctor...I'm just asking for other's opinions. I've been talking in this chat every day...i've been here long enough to know it's not a medical board and I don't appreciate that comment.
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Old 12-11-2009, 06:46 AM
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I think Dee's point is well-taken and needed to be said.

I was on methadone nine years, then suboxone for the past two and one half. To me, all the problems I encountered with methadone were due to the clinic system rather than the drug. I had a series of problems and the staff tried putting restrictions in place that I could not comply with. I was discharged with no detox, tried tapering myself with stockpiled meds, got desperate and turned to suboxone.

I had been told that suboxone would not work for me due to the high dose of methadone I required. When I went to the suboxone doc, I learned this was not true. While the first week was pretty uncomfortable, I got through the transition. I would never recommend this to anyone, and I took both on the same day many times. I would say to anyone considering the switch to do so only if there is a valid reason and only if the change is supervised by a good doc and treatment team.
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Old 12-11-2009, 07:18 AM
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just wanted to see if anyone else has been through this and how you did. My bf did it and he did fine, but he did it at our current methadone clinic and only had to go without anything for 1 day after getting down to 30 mg. I have to go without 3 days before I can start suboxone at this new place I'm getting ready to start. So I just wanted to know if you all THINK this is a good switch? I've heard that it's easier to get off of suboxone. And if anyone else has switched and has had to go without anything for 1-3 days before switching..how bad is it? I'm just scared...need some SUPPORT please


just thought i'd highlight those two words and try to clarify that I'm asking what people think...aka your opinions. And to point out that I asked for SUPPORT in a support forum. Just wanted to make sure everyone knows that I understand this isn't a medical board. Thanks and hopefully this time I can just get some opinions...
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Old 12-11-2009, 09:01 AM
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It is standard advice to taper to <30mg of methadone, then to go without for 1-3 days prior to starting suboxone. The idea is to avoid precipitated withdrawal. As I pointed out,, I did none of these and got through it, but I would never recommend that. As to getting off, I have heard all sides: some get off methadone with little trouble, others never get off (and everything in between). All of the same can be said of suboxone. The important point is to be willing to accept whatever happens as long as you are in recovery. Planning for tapering off prior to starting is counter-productive as no one can predict the future.
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Old 12-12-2009, 09:39 AM
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Never been on either, but I've heard from friends that it's easier to get off suboxone than methadone if the goal is to be clean from opiates entirely. Suboxone still requires tapering however and there still might be some withdrawls, although they likely won't be as bad as methadone. A friend of mine tapered all the way down to 1mg/day of suboxone and still had withdrawls, but I've had other friends who just went from their DOC to a quick suboxone taper and had minimal withdrawls. It really just depends on the person.

One other big advantage with suboxone is being able to have it prescribed without having to deal with a clinic. I have friends who are on suboxone who live basically "normal" lives now and most people would never know that they used to be addicts. Suboxone allowed them to change their behaviors and I also believe the fact that they are still taking it helps them stay clean. I have seen several people try to jump off all opiates too quickly and end up relapsing. Maybe they would have been better off if they had just stayed on suboxone. May I ask if you plan to stay on suboxone for a while or are you trying to get off opiates altogether?
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Old 12-12-2009, 10:20 AM
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I submit that worries over how long treatment will last or tapering issues are irrelevant going in.There is nothing easy about being on either drug and the decision to begin maintenance should be well thought-out. From a day to day perspective, there is nothing different about a client's lifestyle.

Most of us have no choice and end up with whoever will take us or who our insurance will cover. If I lived near a methadone clinic, I would have stayed on it. I was thinking last night that a patient's lifestyle will affect this decision. For someone who is unable to manage their own meds, the structure provided by a clinic might be crucial.
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Old 12-17-2009, 06:28 PM
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switching from methadone to suboxone...

I did this about 3 months ago. I had a problem with the clinic and chose to walk out at 65mgs. After 4 days I was pretty sick and miserable and begged a friend for a suboxone. I took a quarter piece and within 15 mins I started to feel like my whole skin was crawling...kinda like a bad lsd trip. This lasted for about 8-10 hours, and then i started to feel better. I did the suboxone for 4 weeks, decreasing the dose and then stopped. I felt much better after that. Of course I have relapsed since then, and am back on suboxone.
I wish you the best of luck, girl!!
I am brand-new to this website, just so people know.
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Old 12-18-2009, 05:47 AM
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Yes, I went from methadone to suboxone

Hi Stacy,
I was on MMTP for many years. I could not bear driving all the way there and back, before I went to work and having to listen to the Nurse tell me, "You'll have to wait for your counselor to come in" even though I had an abbreviated pick up schedule (twice a week) The clinic has too amny BS 'restriction" for a person to live a "normal" life".
So I had them drop me down to 45 mgs very rapidly, and then to thirty when I went into Detox.
I had never thought of Suboxone as an alternative. If it had Narcon it, then to me it was Bad News. But after speaking to both patients and professionals in detox, I thought I'd give it a try.
I had no insurance having been laid off three months previous, just my unemployment insurance, and that was too much money to get on Medicaid. But the hospital worked something out for me and I did it. I went 7 days after the detox with nothing. It was not easy. I felt like somebody had hit me in the head with a sledgehammer. Dazed and confused. Then I was precribed the subs and I felt a great deal better. No more running to the toilet, no more screaming inside my head to go cop to releive the withdrawal symptoms. No more laying awake, punching the wall in frustrated anger. But I wasn't high either. Hey, if you're on a meth clinic, why not try? I first got on a Methadone clinic in 1967 when methadone was cited as a Wonder Drug. You don't want to waste as many years as I did. Oh, and just one thing more. Oftentimes you'll hear things you don't like. I would lose the atitude if I were in your place and try to listen with an open mind. I had to take the cotton out of my ears and put it in my mouth in order to help myself.
Good luck
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Old 12-18-2009, 06:01 AM
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Originally Posted by tsmba View Post
Planning for tapering off prior to starting is counter-productive as no one can predict the future.
Very well put, thanks
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Old 12-18-2009, 06:29 AM
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Subs saved my life. For me, they were an easy drug to be on. It is a very normal lifestyle for most of us who were on it. I didn't experience any sort of downside to it. I don't see why switching from methadone to suboxone would be all that different then switching from oxys or heroin to suboxone??? So it will probably be just fine. You will probably feel just fine from the first day you start, if you are anything like most of us.

I would only say, as a caviat, that if you still feel like you need to be high, you should stay with methadone, because that gets you high where suboxone just keeps you kind of normal, for most people. But if you are done getting high, and if your doctor is willing to switch you, it will be a better lifestyle for you.

PM me anytime you want to talk.

Oh, by the way, Dee, who cautioned everyone about not giving medical advice, is actually the forum leader, chosen by Soberrecovery to monitor the board. So he was just performing his service, which he does as a volunteer. He is concerned, as many of us are, that we can be sued or shut down if we get into medical advice. That's why we have to be so careful. Please don't take it personally.

Love,
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Old 12-18-2009, 06:33 AM
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There seems to have been a shift in treatment philosophy since I began ORT in '98. Then, there was a requirement that your counselor had to discuss tapering off from time to time. In '02, when Federal guidelines changed, so dis treatment goals. Now, they recognize that maintenance is a long-term commitment and that stability is the final goal.

With suboxone, there have been more and more young patients, pain patients, and addicts that try to stop earlier in their addictions. All this variety produces variations in treatment goals. It seems quite a few start out thinking ORT is the easiest way to go, and assume treatment will be short-term. No one can really know going in, and I think some simply assume they will taper off quickly. This may not be possible.
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Old 12-18-2009, 07:44 AM
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Thank you so much for all of your comments. Especially the people who were concerned about helping me and weren't concerned about the first couple of posts...to answer ur question skroomadoom...yes, I do want to get off of opiates all together. I'm a completely different person..I go to group all the time, I have hobbies now, and I just feel that I don't live like an addict anymore, so it's time I stop relying on substances to get by. And I'll be okay managing my own medicine..even though I go to the clinic, because I've done all that I'm supposed to(attending all groups and no dirty drug screens) I get take-homes, so I don't go very often. It def. will not be a problem for me to manage the suboxone..I just hope that I don't feel like crap very long after switching lol..i'll be ok though. I'm ready for this, I have been for a LONGG time.
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