Suboxone and Shortness of Breath

Hi there, I think that what you're talking about is anxiety and the  shortness of breath can be related to that. As someone who's gone through a great deal of anxiety, I can tell you the best tactic is to just power through it. Anxiety goes away. It is better to try to practice breathing techniques. Does that sound like something you'd like to try?

I know this post is old but I hoping you are still active on this site. I'm also having the same exact complication s and side effects from the suboxone. Iv been on it for 4 yrs and I'm trying to wein myself off due to the breathing and anxiety issues praying the suboxone is the cause of this. If you read this or if someone has shared our same Experiances and problems with suboxone please share what has helped you and if kicking suboxone relieved these symptoms. Please help!!!

My 23 year old son is also having shortness of breath, but he is still taking suboxone. He has only been on the suboxone for about 4 months, but the shortness of breath and chest pain just started about a month ago. He only takes 4mg of subone a day. We have been back and forth to the hospital to find that it's not his heart and they can't see anything wrong with his lungs. They have done all kinds of blood work, but everything came back normal. Has anyone else had these symptoms while taking suboxone?

i am on suboxen and recently started experiencing shortness of breath which makes me have panic attack...i then have to take a piece of zanax to help

i have been on suboxone for 10 months and have felt over the last 7 months a much shallower breath or lung capacity.  Granted I am 33 and have not been working out as much due to a 3 year problem with percocet.  Yet, I am almost certain it is due to the suboxone and yet my doctor, who thinks you can take suboxone for the rest of your life (I do not agree with that) says it is not related.

If this thread is still active, I'd really like to know if others have this issue.

 

JJ

Hi guys, you might of seen me on the Oprah show for abusing pain pills with my mother. I have been on suboxone for about 4 years now and I woke up one morning probably a month or two into taking suboxone and had very bad breathing problems! I mean it felt like I was one minute away from death (seriously) I went to the doctor and they did a test thinking I had a blood clot in my leg because that can cause breathing issues! That came back negative! They then referred me to get my heart looked at that came back negative! Had another x ray of my lungs that came back negative! I smoke, but you don't just wake up one morning and can't breath, when you could breath when you went to sleep! I then started this thing were I would force air out of my lungs (like a tick) or (like clearing your throat in a way) and its been 4 years now and still have that problem! Not nearly as bad as when it first started, but Its still there! Before taking subs I "NEVER" had breathing problems or anxiety! The weird thing is I can run etc and it goes away! If your doctor says suboxone can't cause breathing issues there full of c**p because it clearly states on the side effects respiratory depression which in other words means breathing problems! Any kind of downer you can have the risk of breathing problems! I am going to start tapering because I don't wanna keep dealing with this breathing problems! Don't get be wrong suboxone does help get your life back together, and I would advise people to get on it if they are fighting an addiction , but this breathing thing sucks! It's not unbearable anymore, but it is annoying! Steve 

Same problem here. Been on Suboxone three-plus years. started 12 mg, now tapering and at 3 mg per day. I keep bumping up dose because of breathing problems. Scares the SH*T out of me. Take that fear "I'm gonna suffocate and die" and put it in the Magic Magnifying Mind of an addict -- I have turned into major drama queen about air quality.

Sure glad I found this thread. Like most things that really scare the cr*p out of me, I just learned I AM NOT ALONE.

It really sucks, but once I finish the Sub, I imagine I'lll be breathing fine. These were my first-ever full-blown panic attacks EEEKK ! ! ! For me, Suboxone is much better and less long term side effects than Methadone. BUT the withdrawal is a pain in the BUTT

Eric

So glad I found this thread. I have been on suboxone for 3 years and just the last year I have been having chest pain / SUPER shortness of breath. I am male 140lbs 30 yrs old, and am in pretty good shape. I have had every test imaginable, heart, lung, liver, stomach scopes, blood work all comes back perfect! I find the only thing that helps is if I lay on my right side I can get full breaths. This issue is debilitating! Wish I had some answers, glad to know others having similar problems.

Same here.. This is an old post but hopefully some others will see this and know what is happening to them. About a month ago I was rushed to the ER thinking I was having a stroke. I'm 48 and about 240 lbs. I have been on Suboxone for about a year now, taking 8 mgs a day. They scanned my brain, checked my leg and neck arteries and tested my heart, everything came out fine. I was told it was  vertigo and sent home with Meclizine. It didn't work. I would feel fine during the early day but around 7 to 8PM the dizziness and shallow breathing would start. This is when I started thinking it was medication as I also take high blood pressure meds and 800 mgs gabapentin for pain. It seems weird to me that I have taken Suboxone for over a year but the side effects are just starting. 

I am seriously trying to get off this stuff. I realize that you need to taper off Suboxone.. it can take a year or so.. I am hoping that with half the dosage, the breathing problems will subside...

If anyone else is having these symptoms on Suboxone.. realize that these meds and all meds are a foreign chemical to your body. They are a blessing to someone coming off heroin or some other narc.. but don't keep taking this poison any longet than needed.. its going to cause its own problems.. 

I have been on this c**p for 1 1/2 years (16mg) and everytime I attempt to taper, the anxiety causes me to bring myself back up to 16 mg.... I got on suboxone with the VA hospital and before I agreed to take this c**p I asked what the withdrawal was like (I was told there was very little to NO withdrawal) My life has been turned upside down since I've been on this c**p... I alos have problems with shortness of breath, especially when laying down to sleep. My sleep is not deep sleep and when I wake I feel beat up.... I too am researching L Theanine.... I'm going to give another taper a try tomorrow (very slowly) maybe one mg. per month.. The non specific effects of this sh*t makes tapering different for each individual,,, All I can say to everyone on this c**p that's trying to get off is; Hang in there.... Go slowly and remember that there is life after suboxone. I know that it may worry you that things won't go back to normal but they will. A couple of guys at the VA hos[pital who finally got off ( it took awhile) say that after being off of this c**p your body goes through a period of (homeostasis which is the body bringing itself to normal balance) takes a month or so after taking your last dose. I was also told by these guys that getting off of the last 2 mg is the hardest, so hang tough!!! We will get our lives back !!!

I've been on sub for 3 years now and started tapering down from 4mg about 8 months ago. I now reached less than 1mg a day so they put me on butrans which apparently is a buprenorphine patch that gives u 0.25 (one quarter) of 1mg each day. Around this time I noticed that I'm having serious breathing problems. I don't wana say its anxiety bc I've had anxiety and I no what panic attacks feel like. It's definitely a similar feeling but I don't think we can chalk this up to 'it's just anxiety'. It feels more physiological than that. Exactly like the first guy said, it feels like someone's standing on my chest and I can't get full breaths into my lungs. It's hard to talk too bc I seem out of breath, like if a 68 year old just climbed 20 flights of stairs but I'm 26 and pretty fit and healthy. Really weird, so I looked online and found u guys. Just a warning tho, suboxone does say to avoid benzodiazepines , which is like alprazolam (Xanax) clanazepam (clonopin), diazepam (Valium) lorazepam (Ativan). I don't think taking a little is a big deal cuz I have in the past and im fine, but definitely don't take alot of that sh*t to calm u down bc basically, two depressants can cause seriously problems, even death, look it up or ask ur doctor before u do that. Anyways, just wanted to say I feel your pain people! f*****g BS suboxone I curse the day I was put on that sh*t.

I am so happy to see that I am not alone. I was on subs for about 5 yrs and the last 2yrs horrible breathing issues. Bending backwards and twisting to get a deep breath, waking up gasping for air. I tapered off the subs and breath FINE now! Subs def cause breathing issues which instill occasionally have in very short intervals. I had asthma tests, saw a psychiatrist for anxiety (which I didn't have) and had an MRI on my chest. All tests showed a perfectly healthy 32 yr old. Get off subs is my only advice. But make sure to taper off the withdrawals from subs is worse than coming off roxycodone. Godspeed!!

well, Im on methadone but having same problems with breathing. Thought it was my heart so Iv gottin that checked n its fine. Started thinking maybe it was smoking and went few days with out smoking with the same problem. Feels like my lungs are not absorbing oxygen properly. anyways it was from mildly withdrawing from my methadone, i went up 5 mills and its gottin better. but how am I suppose to get off this is my next question? and has anyone actually sufficated from these medications? also it helps to yawn a lot. I have realized that these medications stop us from yawning n or stretching like we would prior to taking our meds on daily basis. Im wondering if the lack of yawing has something to do with this shortness of breath and if in fact its the body needing to yawn but the medication supresses that. something to think about anyways:p

 

I am on methadone 85mg a day and have been short of breath since starting it. I have also had heart and lung work ups with no results. Methadone can cause sob if you have high blood pressure and copd which I have. I am currently weaning off methadone so I can switch to suboxone hoping that the shortness of breath will go away but after reading these posts I'm not as hopeful. Has anyone else had a similiar issue? I was really hoping this would work. Thahks