Silk Road forums
Discussion => Drug safety => Topic started by: FenderGuitarMan on May 31, 2012, 02:41 am
-
I recently had surgery that required me to get off suboxone a few days before so I could get relief and not be thrown into WD by the fentanyl given during procedure and percs after.
So here's the thing. Suboxone binds itself pretty good to the receptors and it takes between 12-36 hours before you can get off on another opiate/opioid. I've done this several times recreationally (tapered subs so I could do OCs). But before surgery you really want to get the subs out of system for 36-48 hours MINIMUM. I did 3 days. I did it by getting my doc to give me Vicodin for my arthritis since I also couldn't take NSAIDs (Aleve, Celebrex, Ibuprofen) prior to surgery due to bleeding. So With 50 Vics I was able to manage a transition that was almost free of discomfort.
On the other side doctors will have you believe you must be well into withdrawals before they can administer suboxone.I have found they exaggerate this a bit. The official thinking is you must be like a day an a half into WD. I have found that you can take the suboxone as soon as the WD symptoms set in. Mileage may vary for others.
Does anyone else have a protocol for transitioning from suboxone to opiate/opioid and then back that they want to share?
-
im on 4mg of suboxone a day (prescribed 16 but im a bad boy) so anyway i feel like it takes a solid 72 hours (3 days) to be able to feel the full effects of real opiates. this of course depends greatly on body chemistry, dose of suboxone, and metabolism rate. the doctors do greatly exaggerate about having to be in withdrawal to take the sub. as a general rule i wait 8 hours after the opiate high is over to do my subs and im fine. but everyone's different!
-
I'm a bit of a bad boy too. Current only 8mg a day and prescribed 12. I usually taper down to 4mg and then wait 24 hours after before any opiates. The opiates work to stop the WD but I don't get a good buzz until the next day or day after. So it sounds like we are about the same metabolism-wise. I have to say Subs were a lifesaver for me. At one point I was snorting about 240 mg of OC a day and then the supply vanished because I ran out of money! Did a couple of days in WD and then started researching what to do. Called a couple of local docs advertising suboxone. Found one who was pretty funny. He called me and I said "I need suboxone because I'm in withdrawal of Oxys". He said "it's not a Chinese restaurant menu where you just call up and order combo 16 mg of Suboxone!" I liked his sense of humor and went to see him. He hooked me up with them and the WD symptoms stopped. Of course now I'm just addicted to a different opiate. But while on Subs I can function normally, do my job, avoid cravings. Someday I dream of being free of the sub addiction to but one day at a time as they say. I just had a surgery a few weeks ago and still dealing with some pain so thanks to the magic of SR I just prescribed myself some opiates! They gave me some percs and vics after the surgery but I burned through those pretty fast.
The main downside of suboxone is it does shit for pain relief. At least for me it doesn't help. Even tried doubling the dose. It's not much stronger than plain tylenol for me. Since chronic pain is a real issue for me I do find I end up back on opiates at some point just for the pain. I do like a little buzz too, but the pain is the bigger issue. I take Celebrex NSAID which helps somewhat with the pain but I still have trouble walking sometimes. With a little OC I am without pain.
I guess I'm rambling at this point :-*