From methadone to subutex?

[magadog]

Hi all was surfin for info and found this and it seems a few ppl are very clued up so here goes.

I was a heroin addict for 11 years and although i always said i would never take methadone after all the horror stories i heard associated with it. I eventually decided that it cant be any worse than the mess my life was in at that time so i went to the doc and got on the methadone and it has turned my life round. I now have partner of 5 years and a little girl of 2 who i adore but i think its now time to get off the methadone and leave this life behind for a new one totally drug free. I have been cut down to 33ml of methadone and my counsellor has told me i will be better waiting till im down to 10 - 15ml before going onto the subutex and i am happy to wait as i know everything will happen in its own time.
What i do want to know is what is it like as i have heard conflicting stories of the drug. Are the withdrawals heavy or are they ok/ i once had a bug and brought my methadone up for 5 days running and couldnt even get it down for 3 more and i thought bob marley was in the house with a load of rastas and that was just the beginning so are there halloucinations like that or is it just plain sailing? im a bit apprehensive about starting it and i suppose im just lookin for a little bit of piece of mind thanks for any info you guys can give

[bkim]

Hey there. Welcome to the board. I had a lot of success with the subutex and would have to say you are making a very wise decision. It really should be taken for short term use. I took the sub for about a week or so. I have heard the methadone does lurk in your system longer than other opiates. Not sure if this is true because they are all opiates, but just what I have heard. Are you working with an addictionologist? Do you have a support group in place(na)? Insurance for counseling or support groups. Just want to see you have all the tools in place for the best chance of being successful.

[magadog]

Originally Posted by buckeyetim

Hey there. Welcome to the board. I had a lot of success with the subutex and would have to say you are making a very wise decision. It really should be taken for short term use. I took the sub for about a week or so. I have heard the methadone does lurk in your system longer than other opiates. Not sure if this is true because they are all opiates, but just what I have heard. Are you working with an addictionologist? Do you have a support group in place(na)? Insurance for counseling or support groups. Just want to see you have all the tools in place for the best chance of being successful.

Hi there buckeyetim thanks for your feedback.
Yeah the methadone stays in your system quite a bit longer than most opiates and my counsellor has said i will probably be on the sub for bout 8 - 10 weeks. im not sure what an addictionologist is but i think it must be the same as the ppl im working with. i have a counsellor ive been seeing since i started on the methadone and it was actually her that got me on it in the 1st place and she works in a building where the drug counsellors and doctors all work together with addicts to try and give them the best shot at getting clean. i have been on the methadone for 6 and a half years now and she has been there since day 1 so i totally trust her and the docs in this place. As for the support group there is aftercare given to those who want it but it is not an obligatory thing though i will be using it as i think all the help you can get is better! ive seen ppl saying "hey im clean i dont need that aftercare **** im cool" yeah right!! ive also seen the same ppl 3 months later hangin round town lookin for spare change and stuff so i dont need that!!!
Also my partner is brilliant and very understanding. she has never been an addict in fact she doesnt even drink or smoke but you would think she has been in the past as she is so clued up to my needs and stuff when im going to go through with this so thats my support group right there! also my little girl has changed my life and 1 look at her little face is all the boost i need. i just dont know what this sub is gonna be like and i hope its not too rough.

[Brunnette]

Hi magadog

New to the site, this will be my first post - regarding subutex, this is my second week on this and I transferred from methadone. I was on 30mls and had my last dose of this on Tues night and did not take anything for 24hrs. When I came to have my first dose of subutex, I was in withdrawel so after taking the inital 4mg does I felt better after 30mins, it was such a relief as i had also heard comments from others that after taking their first does they felt worse. As long as you leave it 12 - 24hrs from your last dose of methadone and are experiencing withdrawel pains, it will been fine. Subutexs does take a little getting used to and their were side effects but I never felt withdrawel pains. They started me on 4mg and increased me to 16mg over the first week as I was struggling a little - the first doses did not see me through to the next morning. But now I feel great even so that I don't feel I need to take any in the morning (but doctors state that you have to keep taking it every morning even if you think you don't have to). I hope this helps. It was the best decision I have ever made.

[chefob1]

im a 47 year old divorced cause of drugs male...back in 1984 i snorted heroin for a year/half,wanted out of the projects of detroit so i went on methadone...stabilized at 35mg a day and after a year wanted off completely so i detoxed two mg a day...the first 11 days were unbearable..didnt sleep for 12 days straight and then i caught 10 min here and there...felt like complete crap/zero drugs in system,relapsed...swore id never do methadone again...never did heroin again...1990 got into a accident that hurt my l5disc...started poppin pills and over the years up to 1998 was takin 50 lortabs a day just to be strait...wiped out my marriage and my kids,became homeless...lets forget that stuff for now...in 1998 they came out with a injectable form of bupenorphine that i could get from a pain clinic in fla...they would fed ex a months supply so i wouldnt have to drive down from daytona...they also gave me serax and restoril...every once in awhile i would use the h since i knew i had my bupe coming in the mail...bad news...denial being an addict...fda came up with bupenorphine in a pill and i stated taking subutex back in 2001...i basically take it for pain and w/d prevention...doc jumped me back on methadone for two years but dose crept up to 120mg...addict thinking..10 or 20 would have staqved off pain...jumped back to subutex two/half years ago..transgration was fine...you need to get down below 20mg and even then a day or two off the meth so the bupenorpjhine will hop on your opiate receptors and bind quick...subutex is alot different than meth..it is an ant-agonist opiate...really cant od but you can function just fine...it gives you more energy than the methadone,sex is heaven..acts like viagra for me and no w/d's show....tad bit of constipation....i just got out of hospital and i need surgery very quick for stalactites(big spurs) on my neck discs..tomoroow doc will pull me off subutex and back on methadone...they are both long actinmg opiates...meth=72 hrs...bupe=24 hrs..aftyer surgery will jump back off meth and go back on subutex...if i had time i can fill you in more...twice in the past when i diddnt have my bupe and couldnt get h,i took my serax and restoril in a little higher dose and went into alice and wonderland...its a drug physcosis...thought might be to forget the bupe and if yopu want out of your addiction wean all the way down on the methadone and take a month off life and by the time its a montha nd a day,youll be feeling like a human being...no one wants to deal with w/d's...i did on methadone and after a month/half i was normal...except sleep patterns are last thing to return....if uyou went into a 30 or 60 day program you would be surprised all the time youve been wastin chasin that high feeling that youlol never get again like the first year or two on heroin...i had two guys i knew died shootin up a regular daily dose and it must not have been mixed right in columbia or afghanistan and must have been a chunk of pure and they died in minutes...od....and youve got a kid now...also because of chronic bone degeneration i lost all my teeth,not sure if it was meth related but use good hygeine,see a dentist,watch your calcium,eat/exercise and pray...may god be with you....chef