Subutex for Opiate Dependence - Maintenance User Reviews

• jmung
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• May 7, 2024

"This medicine saved my life. I started on Suboxone, but I was only on it for about 2 months before I got pregnant, so the doctor switched me to this. "No, my baby didn't withdraw, APGAR score of 9 and I exclusively breastfed for 2 years." Currently, after 6 years, I'm on 8mg twice a day. I've been clean for 6 years! My doctor says I can be on it for the rest of my life possibly, but that's just fine. It's better than being a junkie and living on the street doing awful things for drugs. But if you don't want to be clean, this medicine won't work for you. You also need to do therapy and possibly mental health medications as well, this drug won't just solve your addiction problems but it makes it a LOT easier to get yourself together. The side effects are a lot less than with other opiates, and they really don't bother me at all at this point. Tip for people using this for pain, the less you use, the better pain relief you'll get. High doses are for maintenance."

• Bree
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• August 16, 2023

"Subutex, which has been discontinued, but the generic equivalent, buprenorphine HCl, has saved my life! Suboxone wasn't for me. They started me on the Suboxone film, 8 mg, but it gave me terrible migraines. I switched to buprenorphine HCl, and all has been great! I was addicted to pain pills, coke, fentanyl patches, the works. But I got pregnant and decided I needed help. I actually got clean on my own at first while pregnant, but after she was born I relapsed. It was horrible. I was chewing on 100 mcg fentanyl patches. My tolerance was through the roof. I'm lucky to be alive. But ever since getting on Subutex, my life has completely changed. I stay home and raise my daughter. I'm not in the streets looking for my next fix. I'm not stealing, lying, scamming, etc. I am at home, doing really well. Actually, it's the first time in my life I've ever been truly happy. After 4 years in prison and over 15 years of active addiction, I decided to give Subutex a go. Clean going on 5 years now."

• LCG
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• December 4, 2023

"I have read every review on this medication and there seems to be one common thread. Every person that is addicted to opioids has a need to explain why, when, where, and how because that’s what opioids do…they change your brain chemistry. Every person's reason is valid to them. I promise I’m not on a soapbox, I just wish after all these years someone could show me how to fix that part. I had been on pain pills for several years for chronic pain. My last year on them, I was prescribed 3 80mg oxy per day, 6 30mg oxycodone per day, 4 soma per day, and 3 1mg Xanax per day. I have been on maintenance buprenorphine now for 8 years at 24mg/day, until recently I was given an extra dosage up to 32mg/day. In my experience, it gave me my life back. I’ve only taken this medication for 8 years. It does not cover my pain completely. If I had to put a number on it, I would say maybe by 50%, but what’s my alternative? I would have died eventually by being prescribed that much medication."