I need advice on induction to subutex
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I need advice on induction to subutex
My son so far is willing to go back on Subutex this time he is gonna try a therapist. Last time he was willing but couldnt find one on his insurance, even if it breaks me I will pay the 150 a session so he gets the help he needs. Anyway I cant recall if its a quarter or a half for the start dose of subutex after 24 hours of opiate use, do I even have to do that or can he just take one whole one? he was taking for 24mgs a day
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Originally Posted by raven333 
My son so far is willing to go back on Subutex this time he is gonna try a therapist. Last time he was willing but couldnt find one on his insurance, even if it breaks me I will pay the 150 a session so he gets the help he needs. Anyway I cant recall if its a quarter or a half for the start dose of subutex after 24 hours of opiate use, do I even have to do that or can he just take one whole one? he was taking for 24mgs a day
Don't forget, there are therapists that operate on a sliding scale (no $150!!!). I know what it's like to want to help our kids yet be sure he really wants the help or it will just be a waste of time and money.
Subutex and Suboxone: Questions and Answers
There is alot of information on the internet about subutex
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The start dose varies. If it were my adult child, I might pay the first monthly fee, but after that, he'll be stable and should be able to find some kind of job to pay the next appt. fee. The pills, even with insurance, are fairly expensive, so yeah, he should be working and buying them himself.
Remember, $150 is nothing compared to the cost of street opiates. Oxycontin is $50 for an 80 mg pill in my area, and is $25 for a 40 mg here. Percocet is around a dollar a mg. And so on. So coming up with $150 should be less that what he's spending now unless he worked solely off of prescriptions (and even then, the type of doc who's "loose" with opiate scripts usually charge a lot of cash, too.) I just would never have asked my Mom to finance my recovery. Good luck. He's the one who should be coming here to learn how to do this. Have you checked out our family and friends forum for help with dealing with an addict in your family? Love from:
KJ
Remember, $150 is nothing compared to the cost of street opiates. Oxycontin is $50 for an 80 mg pill in my area, and is $25 for a 40 mg here. Percocet is around a dollar a mg. And so on. So coming up with $150 should be less that what he's spending now unless he worked solely off of prescriptions (and even then, the type of doc who's "loose" with opiate scripts usually charge a lot of cash, too.) I just would never have asked my Mom to finance my recovery. Good luck. He's the one who should be coming here to learn how to do this. Have you checked out our family and friends forum for help with dealing with an addict in your family? Love from:
KJ
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 22
Welcome!
I just started suboxone the other day. You definitley should have a physician guide your son through the induction process. The amount you are on on a daily basis really differs with each individual and how bad the withdrawls are, how many opiates were taken a day.
I have to say though, the suboxone is truly a miracle for me right now. I was taking A LOT of pills and now have no withdrawls, where normally I would be sick in bed (literally) for at least a week. This allows me to focus on my program while being comfortable.
I will be praying for you and your son. God Bless!
:praying
I just started suboxone the other day. You definitley should have a physician guide your son through the induction process. The amount you are on on a daily basis really differs with each individual and how bad the withdrawls are, how many opiates were taken a day.
I have to say though, the suboxone is truly a miracle for me right now. I was taking A LOT of pills and now have no withdrawls, where normally I would be sick in bed (literally) for at least a week. This allows me to focus on my program while being comfortable.
I will be praying for you and your son. God Bless!
:praying
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: East Tawas, MI
Posts: 3,683
My daughter was given her Suboxone while she was in rehab and the bills were covered by her insurance. Unfortunately the suboxone was not and it costs about $300 a month. She started on 16 mgs. and is now down to 12. Today she has 100 days clean. It has been a miracle for her. When she came home she had to find a doctor locally. He charges $100 an office visit but she only has to go once a month because she is stable on the dose right now. Let your son manage his own recovery. I found that it was easier on me to let my daughter handle things herself. Also my daughter is getting one on one counselling through our local Mental Health/Substance Abuse facility and she only has to pay $10 a session. Suboxone can really help an opiate addict that wants recovery but it is equally important to attend meetings or get some other kind of outpatient or counselling support. Hugs, Marle
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Couple things ...
First off, 24mg/day is a HUGE dose. That's enough for somebody who's been shooting a gram or more smack/day. If you give me an idea of what his usage level/drug of choice/length of use has been, I can give you a 'guess' of what's appropriate. But it's better to involve a doctor in this process.
If for some reason you can't get a doctor's advice on this, I HAVE PERSONALLY FOUND the following: As a rough estimate based on your average level of painkiller abuse (this should be a decent guess for a habit in the neighborhood of between 100mg and 300mg/day of hydro or oxycodone) After waiting until withdrawals are quite severe (18-24 hours, usually), I would recommend 16mg the first two days, given at 4mg every 4 hours, and then 12mg (8mg AM/4mg PM) the next 4-5 days, then down to 8mg(4mg AM/4mg PM) after that.
Any less than a 100mg/day habit, I'd go with half these dosages, or consider just going cold-turkey. Another way if the opiate dosage has been pretty low is doing a really quick 5-day taper, like 4mg, 2mg, 1mg, .5mg, .5mg, then quitting. Kinda depends on the person's 'pain tolerance', their upcoming schedule, how motivated they are to quit, those kinds of things.
Taking more subs than one needs tends to make a person feel worse, rather than better.
I recommend sucking on the pill/saliva mixture for about 25-30 minutes, otherwise, you end up wasting a lot of a very expensive drug. It takes A WHILE for the whole dosage to enter your bloodstream through the filter that is your mouth. Also, spitting out afterwards doesn't hurt, the stuff doesn't work once it hits your stomach anyway, and some people find it upsets their stomach if they swallow.
Also, if a person has taken any methadone in the past 2 weeks, especially if it's been a large dose recently, I'd say it's probably better to wait until 2 weeks have passed to even start the subs, cause it'll be brutal if you've got methadone in your system.
Talking to a doctor is best, though. Oh, and tell him 'good luck' for me
First off, 24mg/day is a HUGE dose. That's enough for somebody who's been shooting a gram or more smack/day. If you give me an idea of what his usage level/drug of choice/length of use has been, I can give you a 'guess' of what's appropriate. But it's better to involve a doctor in this process.
If for some reason you can't get a doctor's advice on this, I HAVE PERSONALLY FOUND the following: As a rough estimate based on your average level of painkiller abuse (this should be a decent guess for a habit in the neighborhood of between 100mg and 300mg/day of hydro or oxycodone) After waiting until withdrawals are quite severe (18-24 hours, usually), I would recommend 16mg the first two days, given at 4mg every 4 hours, and then 12mg (8mg AM/4mg PM) the next 4-5 days, then down to 8mg(4mg AM/4mg PM) after that.
Any less than a 100mg/day habit, I'd go with half these dosages, or consider just going cold-turkey. Another way if the opiate dosage has been pretty low is doing a really quick 5-day taper, like 4mg, 2mg, 1mg, .5mg, .5mg, then quitting. Kinda depends on the person's 'pain tolerance', their upcoming schedule, how motivated they are to quit, those kinds of things.
Taking more subs than one needs tends to make a person feel worse, rather than better.
I recommend sucking on the pill/saliva mixture for about 25-30 minutes, otherwise, you end up wasting a lot of a very expensive drug. It takes A WHILE for the whole dosage to enter your bloodstream through the filter that is your mouth. Also, spitting out afterwards doesn't hurt, the stuff doesn't work once it hits your stomach anyway, and some people find it upsets their stomach if they swallow.
Also, if a person has taken any methadone in the past 2 weeks, especially if it's been a large dose recently, I'd say it's probably better to wait until 2 weeks have passed to even start the subs, cause it'll be brutal if you've got methadone in your system.
Talking to a doctor is best, though. Oh, and tell him 'good luck' for me
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Join Date: Sep 2008
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Originally Posted by GvngIn
Welcome!
I just started suboxone the other day. You definitley should have a physician guide your son through the induction process. The amount you are on on a daily basis really differs with each individual and how bad the withdrawls are, how many opiates were taken a day.
I have to say though, the suboxone is truly a miracle for me right now. I was taking A LOT of pills and now have no withdrawls, where normally I would be sick in bed (literally) for at least a week. This allows me to focus on my program while being comfortable.
I will be praying for you and your son. God Bless!
:praying
I just started suboxone the other day. You definitley should have a physician guide your son through the induction process. The amount you are on on a daily basis really differs with each individual and how bad the withdrawls are, how many opiates were taken a day.
I have to say though, the suboxone is truly a miracle for me right now. I was taking A LOT of pills and now have no withdrawls, where normally I would be sick in bed (literally) for at least a week. This allows me to focus on my program while being comfortable.
I will be praying for you and your son. God Bless!
:praying
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 13
[QUOTE=kj3880;1896172]The start dose varies. If it were my adult child, I might pay the first monthly fee, but after that, he'll be stable and should be able to find some kind of job to pay the next appt. fee. The pills, even with insurance, are fairly expensive, so yeah, he should be working and buying them himself.
He has been seeing his subutex Dr. He didnt tell him about relapse because he would be kicked off program..So he has agreed to start taking it again, been off em about 2 months. His Dr. Charges $75 a visit and Sub costs $592.00 its more than the subtex...
He has been seeing his subutex Dr. He didnt tell him about relapse because he would be kicked off program..So he has agreed to start taking it again, been off em about 2 months. His Dr. Charges $75 a visit and Sub costs $592.00 its more than the subtex...
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 13
[QUOTE=GvngIn;1896175]Welcome!
I just started suboxone the other day. You definitley should have a physician guide your son through the induction process. The amount you are on on a daily basis really differs with each individual and how bad the withdrawls are, how many opiates were taken a day.
He was taking suboxone first then Dr. switched him to subutex, he was on them for 6 months 24mgs a day. He relapsed and has the option to go back on Subs or move out. He says he will go back on them. Just trying to find out whats the best way to start back..thank you for your post. I pray he goes back on them and this time we can find a therapist to help..
I just started suboxone the other day. You definitley should have a physician guide your son through the induction process. The amount you are on on a daily basis really differs with each individual and how bad the withdrawls are, how many opiates were taken a day.
He was taking suboxone first then Dr. switched him to subutex, he was on them for 6 months 24mgs a day. He relapsed and has the option to go back on Subs or move out. He says he will go back on them. Just trying to find out whats the best way to start back..thank you for your post. I pray he goes back on them and this time we can find a therapist to help..
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