If you dont hve insurance it will cost you about $750 a month, With insurance that doesnt have a copay but a deductible, I pay $248 a month for 45 - 8mg pills that lasts 30 days.. When I was on a different insurance I paid $50 a month. But if you dont have insurance it will run you about $750 for a 30 day supply.
I have started to wean myself off and the withdrawals are horrible. Muscle cramps, leg pain, back pain, very weak. lost my job cause I couldnt physically do the work anymore. I detoxed off methadone for suboxone and to me there was no difference. I was trading one drug for another, both with the same withdrawal effects. I was takin 12 mg a day for 8 months. I decided to get off and told my doctor. He told me to break the 8 mg pil into 4 pieces and take 3 of those 4 pieces a day and once I got use to that take another piece a way a week after 6 days I went back to my regular 12 mg a day regime and don't know what I am going to do.
S/Jimene
I have started to wean myself off and the withdrawals are horrible. Muscle cramps, leg pain, back pain, very weak. lost my job cause I couldnt physically do the work anymore. I detoxed off methadone for suboxone and to me there was no difference. I was trading one drug for another, both with the same withdrawal effects. I was takin 12 mg a day for 8 months. I decided to get off and told my doctor. He told me to break the 8 mg pil into 4 pieces and take 3 of those 4 pieces a day and once I got use to that take another piece a way a week after 6 days I went back to my regular 12 mg a day regime and don't know what I am going to do.
S/Jimene
I was on the Fentanyl system at a pretty high dose for severe chronic pain for 3 years. i tried to quit cold turkey several times because i hated the w/d parts of it but I never made it through the 1st day. What kick started my finally getting off the Fentanyl system was when my air conditioning broke. My house reached 87 degrees inside and the patches wouldn't last the full 72 hours because i would overheat and the patches wouldn't last their full 72 hours. I went through terrible withdrawals until it was time for new patches. I then had to wait roughly 6-12 hours for the meds to finally kick in. It was awful. All I could do was lay on the floor under soaking wet from the sweats but freezing and shivering at the same time. There was not one part of my body that didn't hurt. I felt like i was knocking on deaths door. Earlier in the year I made plans with my best friend to take our children to visit my parents in Florida. I knew I would never last there in the heat unless I stayed indoors. It was my 1st vacation in years so i was not about to let anything ruin it. I made an appointment with my doctor and discovered that he is certified to prescribe suboxone. He also prescribed trazodone to help me sleep. That day at 4:15pm i put the prescribed dose of suboxone under my tongue and ripped off the patches. I was a nervous wreck. The 1st 4 days were a little rough (nausiated, soar joints, headache, no sleep) but, they were far better than the days going through w/d. I'm no longer a prisoner. Today i am 15 days fentanyl free and feeling great. I spent every day of my vavacation basking in the 99 degree heat and loving it. I know that i will have w/d when i come off the suboxone but i feel that if i made it this far, it will smooth sailing from here. The suboxone does help with my pain along with knowing when i need to rest. i hope anyone trying to get off any drug can do as well. It's one of the toughest things that i have ever done. Well worth it![/enc]
Yeah, sure it is, if it is prescribed and controlled for short term use only. There are some Addiction Centers that are for profit and has the client sign a year long contract, and God forbid if the client becomes financially unable to pay the $7.00 a pill. Other Centers use suboxone with a 5 day plan coupled with gradual reduction daily till there is no more need for the drug.
I have worked with several people that this scenario caused extreme acute withdrawl much longer and worse then the original Heroin habit would of been. Plus it bought on anxiety and suicidal thoughts to people that normally would never had a history of before.
Please do not be confused with being "clean" from opiates if you are currently digesting another form of an opiate, particulary man-made, even if it’s of the lesser kind.
I am not saying do not go on Suboxone but rather please find a treatment center which does not care about profits but rather cares for the individual. Most people in recovery are seeking freedom because thats what they lost, and the price was everything they loved, from Family, Friends, Jobs, Hobbys, etc. etc., for another shot of dope. Freedom from having to take a mind and physical altering drug daily just to go to function is not the "freedom" I was seeking when I went cold turkey from years of heroin usage. AND THANK GOD I did go cold turkey. Remember, withdrawal is your body healing from years of being a toxic waste dump, and unless your withdrawing from Alcohol or barbiturates, you may feel like you’re dying but it won't kill you like the alcohol or barbs can.
Check with your family doctor and do the research in seeking an Addiction Center that is not profit oriented.
Good luck and Be well
I have worked with several people that this scenario caused extreme acute withdrawl much longer and worse then the original Heroin habit would of been. Plus it bought on anxiety and suicidal thoughts to people that normally would never had a history of before.
Please do not be confused with being "clean" from opiates if you are currently digesting another form of an opiate, particulary man-made, even if it’s of the lesser kind.
I am not saying do not go on Suboxone but rather please find a treatment center which does not care about profits but rather cares for the individual. Most people in recovery are seeking freedom because thats what they lost, and the price was everything they loved, from Family, Friends, Jobs, Hobbys, etc. etc., for another shot of dope. Freedom from having to take a mind and physical altering drug daily just to go to function is not the "freedom" I was seeking when I went cold turkey from years of heroin usage. AND THANK GOD I did go cold turkey. Remember, withdrawal is your body healing from years of being a toxic waste dump, and unless your withdrawing from Alcohol or barbiturates, you may feel like you’re dying but it won't kill you like the alcohol or barbs can.
Check with your family doctor and do the research in seeking an Addiction Center that is not profit oriented.
Good luck and Be well
The suboxone withdrawl is mild compared to heroin withdrawl. Suboxone is addictive too!! Be very careful with your intake. I was starting to get hooked on it. I've since weaned myself down to a little scrape everyday or every other day, depending on how I feel. But hey, the mental part of addiction has always been the hardest part for me.
Each withdrawal is different for each person. Also sometimes withdrawal can very for each person from time to time. I may only have certain acute withdrawal symptoms one time and completely different symptoms the next. My experience is that the man made chemicals ( suboxone, methadone, or any other narcotic, O.C.s, morphine, Demerol’s, etc, etc) have much more acute physical withdrawal symptoms that can last much longer then street heroin.
Pure heroin withdrawal compared to an addiction to scrambled dope, which has the quinine cuts, had much different physical withdrawal symptoms. I have never had acute withdrawal physical symptoms last more then a few days with heroin. You will have minor symptoms lasting another few weeks, such as having a very tired and run down feeling. My only experience with a man-made (OC's for 3 years) was a complete night mare with ACCUTE SYMPTOMS lasting well over 6 months. The rest of the year was spending feeling like I was dragging a 500 lb anchor around.
These decisions are strictly for a patient, his doctors and counselors.
If you are still using suboxone even for just a small amount a day them great!!! Particularly with the plan to be completely off Suboxone in a time oriented goal, then even better. The real deal for me is not being controlled by any drug (or chemical). Freedom.
Good luck and please be well
Jeff
Pure heroin withdrawal compared to an addiction to scrambled dope, which has the quinine cuts, had much different physical withdrawal symptoms. I have never had acute withdrawal physical symptoms last more then a few days with heroin. You will have minor symptoms lasting another few weeks, such as having a very tired and run down feeling. My only experience with a man-made (OC's for 3 years) was a complete night mare with ACCUTE SYMPTOMS lasting well over 6 months. The rest of the year was spending feeling like I was dragging a 500 lb anchor around.
These decisions are strictly for a patient, his doctors and counselors.
If you are still using suboxone even for just a small amount a day them great!!! Particularly with the plan to be completely off Suboxone in a time oriented goal, then even better. The real deal for me is not being controlled by any drug (or chemical). Freedom.
Good luck and please be well
Jeff
your so wrong.,.,,u do withdrawl from suboxone,. its 30x stronger than morphine...its a controloled opiate. i have been on it 4 2 years..the withdrawls can last up to 4 weeks, you may have been on a very low dose...or i dunno, you can read anywhere on line the withdrawls are hell..u r the ONLY 1 who sais they no wd's
I have tried Suboxone, and had a bad experience switching over from the methadone. On recomandations from my doctor, I stopped taking the methadone for three day's and then took my first dose of soboxone which got me violently sick. I lay in the back seat of my car as my wife drove me back to the clinic for my methadone. To make matters worse; the clinic dosed me ten mgs less because I had missed the three days. Why any doctor would prescribe Suboxone which contains NARCON is beyond me. The better route would be Buprenophine, which is void of NARCON, just as effective, and easier to detox from. I myself am currently detoxing from Methadone after 27 years. I remained on Methadone for so many years, because I never had the time to detox due to my financial situation and need to work. Now; after being out of steady work for the last year and a half, I decided I would take advantage of the time and shed the liquid handcuffs. I am voluntarily reducing my medicine against the clinics recomedations; otherwise they would have me there the rest of my miserable life. Here is what I have done so far with no significant physical discomfort whatsoever.
I started out at 80mg and dropped my dose 2mg per week until I reached 40mg. At that point I started to become severly depressed, and stopped the decreases for three months; otherwise I would have probably buried a razor blade in my wrist. Mind you; the depression may or may not have been completely from the decrease, as I was also going thru a lot of personal and finacial problems. To say it came from the decrease would'nt be fair, although I am certain it played a role.
After approx 3 months I started feeling somewhat metally stable and decided to continue my steady ride down. I continued my 2mg decreases straight on down to 12 mg, where with the exception of a increased bout of laziness and over sleeping
I am currently at 12mg and will be going down another 2mg at the beggining of next week; with the intention of cutting the decreases to 1mg the rest of the way. I am determined to rid myself of this last bit of a long horrible chapter in my life, which started out in the drug fueled 1970's. :cool: My biggest fear about getting off of methadone is finding myself face to face with that young shy miserable kid I left behind nearly 35 years ago. God willing; he will have learned to live with his shortcomings; and will have learned to accept his alloted role in society. Good luck to anyone who is currently trying to rid themselves of this monster. Remember; what works for one person, might not be the correct method for yourself. We all know our own needs. Find something that works for you, and proceed accordingly.
I started out at 80mg and dropped my dose 2mg per week until I reached 40mg. At that point I started to become severly depressed, and stopped the decreases for three months; otherwise I would have probably buried a razor blade in my wrist. Mind you; the depression may or may not have been completely from the decrease, as I was also going thru a lot of personal and finacial problems. To say it came from the decrease would'nt be fair, although I am certain it played a role.
After approx 3 months I started feeling somewhat metally stable and decided to continue my steady ride down. I continued my 2mg decreases straight on down to 12 mg, where with the exception of a increased bout of laziness and over sleeping
I am currently at 12mg and will be going down another 2mg at the beggining of next week; with the intention of cutting the decreases to 1mg the rest of the way. I am determined to rid myself of this last bit of a long horrible chapter in my life, which started out in the drug fueled 1970's. :cool: My biggest fear about getting off of methadone is finding myself face to face with that young shy miserable kid I left behind nearly 35 years ago. God willing; he will have learned to live with his shortcomings; and will have learned to accept his alloted role in society. Good luck to anyone who is currently trying to rid themselves of this monster. Remember; what works for one person, might not be the correct method for yourself. We all know our own needs. Find something that works for you, and proceed accordingly.
Sorry this is way too late for you but may help others. Here's how it works with the switch from Methadone to Suboxone. Firstly you need to be on as low a dose of Methadone as possible to have any chance. If not you WILL have a violent reaction and go into instant full blown withdrawl because it does have a narcane effect. You are on a perfect dose to do it. Down to about 35mg is about the recommended dose to switch BUT each person is different and it depends on how long you've been on methadone. The least time the better.
Secondly, you will have to stop taking methadone for at least 3 days before you can try or as before, the result is instant full withdrawl. This is important. If you take the Suboxone and you go into withdrawl DON'T go and take your methadone (that you've most likely kept from the 3 days of going without) or you are straight back to square one. The best way to do this is, just in case, have a supply of sleepers and anti nausea pills handy and if the worst happens, bomb yourself out for the day/night as the case may be and then go back the next day and have the suboxone again. It will definitely work on the second day if it didn't first up.
I know it's not easy to persevere with the withdrawl for about 24 hours if it doesn't work first up but it is worth it. Why? Because if your ultimate goal is to be free of the monkey, then being on suboxone is your only chance of success. Once you've been on methadone for over 12 months, the withdrawls go on for too long for most people to stick it out. Very few people get off methadone once they've been on it for anything over 12 - 18 months. Particularly if you've been on higher doses which most people do when they're trying to break free from the addiction initially.
The rate of success with getting off it is much higher with suboxone. The other advantage is that it is a much smoother drug than methadone. Where with methadone, you start withdrawing around that 24 hour mark (depending on your dose), with suboxone, again, dependant on your dose, you can get to the point of even only having to take it every second day without much ill effect. The effects of coming down are much less severe and last only a couple of days. Methadone withdrawl can go on for 6 weeks without actually waking up and feeling GOOD.
Good luck. Without going into details,be assured I do know what I'm talking about. To the person above who wrote the withdrawls are hell on suboxone and can last up to 4 weeks, all I can say is that you must have tried to get off it at a high dose rather than gradually reducing, which is obviously what you need to do with any addictive substance, and even then, the withdrawl would be severe but would never last 4 weeks. There had to have been other factors not mentioned for that to happen - such as taking something to take the edge off, which puts you back to day one and, because of the narcane effect of suboxone, actually worsens the withdrawl. Irrespective of the potency of the drug, the length of withdrawl time is dependent upon the HALF-LIFE of the drug. This is the amount of time it takes for the drug to be fully absorbed into your system. Suboxone's is very short.
Secondly, you will have to stop taking methadone for at least 3 days before you can try or as before, the result is instant full withdrawl. This is important. If you take the Suboxone and you go into withdrawl DON'T go and take your methadone (that you've most likely kept from the 3 days of going without) or you are straight back to square one. The best way to do this is, just in case, have a supply of sleepers and anti nausea pills handy and if the worst happens, bomb yourself out for the day/night as the case may be and then go back the next day and have the suboxone again. It will definitely work on the second day if it didn't first up.
I know it's not easy to persevere with the withdrawl for about 24 hours if it doesn't work first up but it is worth it. Why? Because if your ultimate goal is to be free of the monkey, then being on suboxone is your only chance of success. Once you've been on methadone for over 12 months, the withdrawls go on for too long for most people to stick it out. Very few people get off methadone once they've been on it for anything over 12 - 18 months. Particularly if you've been on higher doses which most people do when they're trying to break free from the addiction initially.
The rate of success with getting off it is much higher with suboxone. The other advantage is that it is a much smoother drug than methadone. Where with methadone, you start withdrawing around that 24 hour mark (depending on your dose), with suboxone, again, dependant on your dose, you can get to the point of even only having to take it every second day without much ill effect. The effects of coming down are much less severe and last only a couple of days. Methadone withdrawl can go on for 6 weeks without actually waking up and feeling GOOD.
Good luck. Without going into details,be assured I do know what I'm talking about. To the person above who wrote the withdrawls are hell on suboxone and can last up to 4 weeks, all I can say is that you must have tried to get off it at a high dose rather than gradually reducing, which is obviously what you need to do with any addictive substance, and even then, the withdrawl would be severe but would never last 4 weeks. There had to have been other factors not mentioned for that to happen - such as taking something to take the edge off, which puts you back to day one and, because of the narcane effect of suboxone, actually worsens the withdrawl. Irrespective of the potency of the drug, the length of withdrawl time is dependent upon the HALF-LIFE of the drug. This is the amount of time it takes for the drug to be fully absorbed into your system. Suboxone's is very short.