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#682735 - 04/12/08 02:03 AM
Re: Question for people on Suboxone
[Re: golden1]
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scruf
GRAND Pooh-Bah
Registered: 03/21/05
Posts: 2565
Loc: pacific nw
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Hydro is THE agent for cough suppression. Anything else will be minor, I'm afraid. You CAN probably look forward to it's other fun side-effects like constipation, however, as I doubt sub will block that.
the constipation hydro provides pales in comparison to what sub does to a person. I was relatively normal on hydro but after 6 months of sub, still cannot go at all without help from prune juice, magnesium citrate, bisacodyl, docusate sodium, etc. sub just puts the intestines on permanent vacation.
didn't take the cough med. took a valium and otc stuff at same time, and it helped stop coughing fits. couldn't bring myself to put hydro into my body again. a mental thing maybe, like picking up that first drink or cigarette again.
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#685148 - 04/17/08 08:32 PM
Re: Question for people on Suboxone
[Re: jackspa]
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PrivateRealm
GRAND Pooh-Bah
Registered: 03/18/03
Posts: 3067
Loc: In my realm, I'm QUEEN
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When they come off the sub, if thet truly want to quit, they will. The cravings are gone. The original underlying problem is still just as real and is waiting. Don't go back. Nothing has changed. And Ann, sub does indeed block all the receptors. Yes, you can slam enough fentnyl to get a high, but it ain't like the old days at all. Doesn't even compare.
It does bind to the receptors, but it does not totally saturate every one of them. Of course it is not like the old days...many of your opiate sensitive receptors are blocked, but yes, if other opiates are taken, they potentiate each other, and can be felt.
Of course effects of other opiates are not felt like if a person were not on sub, but people forget how powerful of a narcotic sub is. We give it to burn patients, as for them it works really well when morphine does not cut it.
And when patients come into the emergency room on a sub program we can still treat their pain without "slamming" them with Fentanyl. Each patient is different.
Dr's will tell you that you cannot penetrate sub at all so that patient's will not try to do this, and it will block a great deal, but nothing is 100%.
And yes, I have taken sub for other reasons, though not for long.
_________________________
Anne~~~
"A person's true identity is rarely apparent in the life that they lead."
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#685158 - 04/17/08 09:24 PM
Re: Question for people on Suboxone
[Re: kearl]
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stillhopeful
Journeyman
Registered: 04/01/08
Posts: 90
Loc: usa
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I got off Sub failry fast, as I was not experiencing any pain releif from SUb and my doc agreed that it waqs best not to prolong being on Sub unless it was useful for pain...There is a htread out there entitled "Suboxone mYth" or something similar...here is a quote from what I posted there about getting off Sub - (quoting so as to save time...
"when I taperd off, dr. told me to just decrease dose slowly each day....I got down to taking 1/2 of 1/2 pill (2mg) 2 times a day, then went to taking 2mg every 16-24 hours...the first time I went that long was by accident (did not return home in time for 12 hr dose) and I was really surprised to find that I was fine...from there on out, I just spaced the doses out longer and longer...the last times I took Sub, I had gone about 2 days in bwtn doses, and decided to make that the last one....no problems at all....I could not believe the ease of that taper...I never never would have been able to accomplish that with hydro or oxycodone....."
my Sub doctor was quite a drive away from me and going was an all day event....had he been closer, I may have lengthened the taper off out another month...as it was, I managed to make my final month's worth (60 for one month taper - from 4/ 8mg a day to being off) last about 2 months and was down to taking 1/2 of 1/2 of an 8mg pill every other day or so...at the very end, ther were a few nights where I felt a little sweaty and anxious...more like restless, but nothing like coming off hydro or oxy....I think that if I had had more Sub, I would have taken 2mg or less maybe every 3rd or 4th day, then moved to 5or 6...but, I had none, did not want to pay for another appt and so I just made due with herbal tea....)Organic Nite Tea) helped me sleep....I thkn you can make it really drawn out (i've read about people taking crumbs of Sub every day or 2 jsut to feel "normal"...but, at some point you have to make the jump off...it sems to be different for everyone, just as pain med doses and w/d are....I can tell you that my husband was very supportive and understanding about me getting off Sub...he has been through hydro and oxy tapers, w/d and such and beleive me, even he said that my getting off Sub was nothing like he feared.....he was actually a bit excited about how easy it was.....it made me laugh to myslef about where this whole painmanagement journey has brought us....from him hating meds to him actually being interested and supportive in my efforts to find an answer...he still is not thrilled about my having to take anything, but that is to be expected...at least he knows now how totally unfunctional I am when not on anything for the pain.....he is great and having a supprtive partner makes all the difference....hang in there with your "someone"....you can grow stronger together through this if you allow it to work to bring you closer together....love is hard...love is a choice...everyday...to not give up....but the reward is having a partner who never gives up on you in return....
_________________________
still hopeful....
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#685190 - 04/18/08 03:45 AM
Re: Question for people on Suboxone
[Re: scruf]
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stillhopeful
Journeyman
Registered: 04/01/08
Posts: 90
Loc: usa
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scruf,
I think I stated in post somewhere before that I waited 2 weeks between getting off Sub and taking any Vicoprofen...I have not yet taken anymore oxycodone, which is what I was on before the Sub....so, no I took nothing, except herbal teas, during my entire Sub therapy....even though pain was not allieviated....my whole point in getting on Sub was pain management, not opiate detox....I knew from the start that I might have to go back to opiates for pain relief if the Sub did not work, but was really wanting to get off opiates for pain...being let out of PM made the timing ideal...I would prefer to not take anything at all, but that is not realistic for me....
I can say that being on Sub allowed me to normalize my life and make a break from the pills, refills, and constant hassle that whole cycle brings....Sub steadied me out and gave me the chance to reprioritize life, rethink some areas I had mismanaged (teaching 2 places, waiting tables at night and going to grad school all at once!), and in general, just get myself thinking clearly again....I laugh b/c my mom asked me about a week in to the Sub if I was "seeing better"...she always thought that b/c opiates affects your pupils that I was not able to see clearly on them....  I thought her comment was hilarious....but really, I did fell like I thought more clearly and was more focused, though I never realized I was not such while on hydro or oxy...it was a slow and gradual climb over the years and I always was fully functional, which was great, but bad also,b/c I just thought I was SUperwoman and could go go go....that has been the hardest thing about getting on Sub, getting off Sub, and now only getting very limited meds - the not being able to do things I want and need on my schedule, but rather having to ration my meds and schedule my life around them....not impossible, but not a real long term solution either....
I can also encourage you that if you do ever go back to hydro, and really only took it for pain, you will find it much easier to maintain non-regular doses of hydro than when on it all the time....I,m sure this is a dual effect,in part b/c of the limited meds I get now and also in part b/c I just had the time to evaluate life and such...my Sub dr did tell me that most true "addicts" (different than those physically dependent on opiates for pain b/c you take them each day)cannot stay on just Sub for long, b/c not a high involved...I responded, "H**l, I have not gotten that feeling from pain meds in years....and really, back when I did, I could not function and drive and such....he explained that if one is on opiates just for pain, and not for euphoria and high, then getting off opiates will be quite easy with Sub....he has followed up with me to make sure that I did not go full blown back into hydro or oxy....uncontrolled, unscripted, etc...also he did and now my current GYN check insurance each month and PMP to make sure I am not going to other docs for meds...my GYN was at first, quite shocked that I was not using illegal drugs, and getting meds from elsewhere...she assumed that b/c of the amount of oxy I was on, I had to be getting high...it took the Sub dr. explaining to her that after so many years of opiates for pain and building such a tolerance, there was no way I was high ...also, my GYN treats my mom and sister and they both reiterated to her that no one was even aware that i was on meds every day, b/c I never acted "out of it"...I think the combination of all the above helped to reassure her that I was okay, just doubling dose for pain and taking sometimes 5-6 xs per day instead of 4, and thus running out....but truly, my not going to anyone for meds but one doc, not getting from elsewhere, and not obssesing about my meds is not something I would have imagined possible back in late December....even w/ou the "high", I was just so physically dependent on opiates to function.....I feel like I have come a long long way from where I was....if you had asked me at any point over the last few years if I though that a day would come wherein I would be able to stick to 60 pills a month and not seek meds elsewhere...I would emphatically answered "NO way"....Personally, that was the best thing about Sub for me, just allowed me to get out of the whole cycle that constant opiate use involved....so, the Sub di not work for my pain, but I do not view it as a total failure...it just offered me something I did not even know I was seeking....only thing I hate still is that my sleep cycle is still all wacked out....I've been up all night  ,part b/c of pain, part b/c I just cannot seem to rest the same since getting off Sub....I definitely think there are long term afffects from opiates (affecting sleep and such) that take a while to return to normal....
anyhow, I have found that now I can take the Vicoprofen when I need (and believe me, I reserve it for when physical activity is involved, I/m bleeding heavy (sorry guys), or we ahve family events)...and when I don't tkae it, I'm okay...not pain wise okay, but rather, I am not mentally wrappped up in how many pills I have left, when a refill is due...and such....life is much more manageable these days, so I guess, in a weird way, all things work for our good, if we allow them...
scruf, another question...why are you tapering from Sub if it is controlling your pain? Will your doc not script it for chronic pain...? mY Sub dr, wrote my script specifically for chronic pain and had initially assured me that id dit worked for me, I would be able to atay on it indefinitely.....why get off if it would mean your pain would come back and need other opiate again? just a question....thanks
BTW....sorry for the long rambling post...I am trying to stay up all day today and exhaust myself, so that I can hopefully get a full nights' sleep tonight and maybe get on a regualr schedule???!!! I have to try something and I knwo if I let myslef slepp now (almost 7am) that I iwll never sleep again tonight....
_________________________
still hopeful....
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#685275 - 04/18/08 09:17 AM
Re: Question for people on Suboxone
[Re: kearl]
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backpain2007
Banned. Too much trouble...
Veteran
Registered: 03/13/07
Posts: 716
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I've been on sub for 2 years now. When I 1st started taking it, I felt sleepy. I would take a dose of it, usually about 8mg and then take a nice nap. Then, later when I had to goto work (nightshift job) I would take another 8mg and feel a little fluffy but really, not much else. Now, I don't feel anything, I am down to somewhere around 4mg to 8mg per day. I usually try to take 1 8mg pill every other day in the morning, I don't feel any effect although I can imagine if I stopped taking it, I am sure I would go into WD. Being on it this long, I really should taper off of it, its just so easy to take that I never get around to tapering. But I guess after taking it for as long as I have, any effects just go away. I even took 16mg one day and felt nothing. It helps my pain a little but nothing like hydro did. It does keep me off hydro which is good. I can make 60 8mg subs last 2 months so I guess my dose is low. I am just scared to try and go off of it as I am confy with it and am afraid I will feel like [censored], I have heard horror stories about people quiting sub and from what I have read, 8mg is still a large dose so I would have a way to go to stop.
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