2nd May 2005
Hi everyone!!
I am now on my third day of 1mg of sub. I have been going pretty fast, have only been staying on each dose for two or three days before dropping down. I feel this may be part of making it easier. I try to take it as late in the day as possible so that I can sleep and it works well. My Psychiatrist, also has me on Effexor XR (for two years) and he recently gave me "Seroquel", which is listed as an antipsychotic, but that is at 800 mg. a day. I take 2, 25mg. for sleep and it works great, with no hangover in the a.m.
Now, I think I have found the reason that some who have gone off the sub are experiencing loooong withdrawals. I looked up the drug (The Subutex) and found out that 0.3 mg of Buprenophine (sp) which is the active ingredient is equivalent to 10 MG. OF MORPHINE!!!!!! So when a clinician tells a patient to "just quit now", when they are at 1mg. (which sounds very low, but obviously is not) Now, I certainly would not go from more than 10 mg of morphine a day to none, and this is what they are doing. It's very deceiving because "ONE" seems like such a small number. It also has an extremely long half life which is why it actually works for about 36 hours or so.
I looked up the drug in the Physicians Desk Reference, so I'm sure it is accurate.
I am going to keep going smaller and smaller myself, no jumping off at 1mg or even at .5mg since .3 mg as I said is equal to 10 mgs. of morphine as far as the opoid receptors are concerned. I am just concerned about how to cut this small 2mg tablet into such teeny tiny doses. I have had them break apart and then I have just "powder" to try and put under my tongue. Does anyone have any ideas on cutting these? I know some people said they have a "gooey lozenge" which is easy to divide, but mine is a white tablet about the size of a Xanax, it is a little football shape.
Anyway, I was a bit shocked when I read this and I don't believe that many of the clinicians who are working with this stuff realize how VERY STRONG it is. I think they try and compare it to other opiods, like hydracodone etc. Well that is so far from the truth
I am honestly going to go to a tad more than .5mgs tomorrow and see how that goes, then in two days try to go to the .5mgs and then just take little crumbs, getting smaller and smaller each day. Would a pill cutter from the drugstore help?? Or what about a razor blade, would that be able to cut really small pieces??
I will keep everyone posted, everyday, and maybe I will find a way without the prolonged suffering some have had or are having.
Thanks again everyone, This board is more helpful to me than seeing my shrink. I think it does a great job of substituting for NA meetings, etc. as I could not find any around her that had anyone addicted to pain killers 99.9% used Cocaine as their DOC. Most of them smoked crack cocaine and I had trouble relating to any of them. This board is so supportive, as everyone has shared almost "exactly" the same things, even down to salivating when they see a UPS truck...LOL
I hope this helps someone understand why they feel so very bad after quitting the sub. I am a baby and am going to keep taking smaller and smaller doses, until you can hardly see them, and then I think I will take the smallest dose that I can, and take it every other day then every two, three, etc. and see how that goes. I don't feel it is stretching out the misery as I have gone from 16mgs a day to 1 mg. by going just this slowly and have NOT had ANY discomfort at all, except for when I was taking 3mgs a day and stopped for 5 days, that was HELL and now I understand why. 3mgs sounded like such a small amount to me, when in all actuality it is a HUGE dose as far as my opoid receptors are concerned.
Certainly, the doctors doing this need to really do some studies, I would certainly have been happy to be part of one.
Be seeing you all daily on these boards to let you know how my plan is working.
Love to all of you,
Linda
I am now on my third day of 1mg of sub. I have been going pretty fast, have only been staying on each dose for two or three days before dropping down. I feel this may be part of making it easier. I try to take it as late in the day as possible so that I can sleep and it works well. My Psychiatrist, also has me on Effexor XR (for two years) and he recently gave me "Seroquel", which is listed as an antipsychotic, but that is at 800 mg. a day. I take 2, 25mg. for sleep and it works great, with no hangover in the a.m.
Now, I think I have found the reason that some who have gone off the sub are experiencing loooong withdrawals. I looked up the drug (The Subutex) and found out that 0.3 mg of Buprenophine (sp) which is the active ingredient is equivalent to 10 MG. OF MORPHINE!!!!!! So when a clinician tells a patient to "just quit now", when they are at 1mg. (which sounds very low, but obviously is not) Now, I certainly would not go from more than 10 mg of morphine a day to none, and this is what they are doing. It's very deceiving because "ONE" seems like such a small number. It also has an extremely long half life which is why it actually works for about 36 hours or so.
I looked up the drug in the Physicians Desk Reference, so I'm sure it is accurate.
I am going to keep going smaller and smaller myself, no jumping off at 1mg or even at .5mg since .3 mg as I said is equal to 10 mgs. of morphine as far as the opoid receptors are concerned. I am just concerned about how to cut this small 2mg tablet into such teeny tiny doses. I have had them break apart and then I have just "powder" to try and put under my tongue. Does anyone have any ideas on cutting these? I know some people said they have a "gooey lozenge" which is easy to divide, but mine is a white tablet about the size of a Xanax, it is a little football shape.
Anyway, I was a bit shocked when I read this and I don't believe that many of the clinicians who are working with this stuff realize how VERY STRONG it is. I think they try and compare it to other opiods, like hydracodone etc. Well that is so far from the truth
I am honestly going to go to a tad more than .5mgs tomorrow and see how that goes, then in two days try to go to the .5mgs and then just take little crumbs, getting smaller and smaller each day. Would a pill cutter from the drugstore help?? Or what about a razor blade, would that be able to cut really small pieces??
I will keep everyone posted, everyday, and maybe I will find a way without the prolonged suffering some have had or are having.
Thanks again everyone, This board is more helpful to me than seeing my shrink. I think it does a great job of substituting for NA meetings, etc. as I could not find any around her that had anyone addicted to pain killers 99.9% used Cocaine as their DOC. Most of them smoked crack cocaine and I had trouble relating to any of them. This board is so supportive, as everyone has shared almost "exactly" the same things, even down to salivating when they see a UPS truck...LOL
I hope this helps someone understand why they feel so very bad after quitting the sub. I am a baby and am going to keep taking smaller and smaller doses, until you can hardly see them, and then I think I will take the smallest dose that I can, and take it every other day then every two, three, etc. and see how that goes. I don't feel it is stretching out the misery as I have gone from 16mgs a day to 1 mg. by going just this slowly and have NOT had ANY discomfort at all, except for when I was taking 3mgs a day and stopped for 5 days, that was HELL and now I understand why. 3mgs sounded like such a small amount to me, when in all actuality it is a HUGE dose as far as my opoid receptors are concerned.
Certainly, the doctors doing this need to really do some studies, I would certainly have been happy to be part of one.
Be seeing you all daily on these boards to let you know how my plan is working.
Love to all of you,
Linda