Im wanting to switch from suboxone to subutex, do I have to be in withdrawal to start the subutex?
Question posted by chachi09 on 13 Jan 2012
Last updated on 30 October 2022
3 Answers
Hey! I have both in my supply and I have used them both in the same day. Never had any problems. Trust me I’m terrified of Precip withdrawal etc and I had no problem. But that’s JUST ME!
And of course I must add… “confer with your medical professional before switching medications”
I have been on Suboxone for 3 years and it also makes me feel awful always tired headaches stomach aches weight gain swelling just so much negative reactions I live in Tennessee it is so hard to find a doc to switch me to Subutex which makes me feel so much better does anyone know of a doctor in or closer than Alabama that might switch me?
Hi!!! I’m just logging onto this site and seeing your old post. If you’re still in need comment back I can give you contact info
No, you shouldn't have to be. However it may be a good idea to wait 24 hours from your last Suboxone dose. Don't use up all your Suboxone. Save some for an emergency. We are all different, and the same drugs effect us all differently. This is a fact. So what happened to me may not happen to you. I hope it doesn't. But if at all possible, don't use up all the Suboxone.
Why do you want to switch to Subutex, did you have a bad reaction to the Naloxone in the Subox? How much Subox were you taking and for how long? How much Subutex are you now supposed to take? And just out of curiosity, what do your Subutex pills look like? Are they white and round or oval shaped? What markings are on them? I like to know these things.
the subutex i have are white round and say 54 411 on them, i have taken suboxone for a year, although im glad to not be using anymore i hate suboxone, my quality of life sux, im sick all the time excruciating headaches. i just feel run down, rapid heart beat, severe weight gain. i used to run 3 miles a day, and now i dont run at all, dont enjoy it, relations with my husband have went down the tubes because im not interested. im edgy grouchy..I COULD GO ON FOR DAYS!
i take 12mg a day of suboxone... i am desperate to get out of this. or away from this feeling
Well I hope you feel better with this Subutex. Did your doc ever tell you that if you had gotten down to 4 - 8 mg a day of Suboxone the headaches may have stopped, and your sexual desires should have returned? Usually once the dose gets lower all that changes. People who stay on Suboxone over 1 year usually try to stay on the lowest dose possible. I see your are new to our merry little band of message people; welcome to DC. If you were never on message sites about Sub there is probably a lot you don't know about the drugs in it. It seems the average Sub doc knows very little compared to us, we who take it. I still use it because it works wonders on my depression. But we have a few members here who went off it, and 1 of them wrote up how she did it in her profile. If you want off this stuff go read how pattishan61 did it. If you want to do what she did you might be better off sticking to Suboxone. But first try the Subutex. You have them, you may as well try them.
But keep some Suboxone in reserve if possible. I found Subutex feels very different from Suboxone. I used to love the Name Brand of Subutex. They are no longer being made, and the generics are not the same. This is why I said to wait at least 24 hours. I also suggest you don't take 8 mg of Subutex at once. I usually take 2 mg at a time, but sometimes I take 4 mg at once. Try it and let us know how you feel. We are a support group here, even though the format is questions and answers. We have a lot of good people here, and I'm sure some will be answering you also quite soon.
Keep us updated on how you do with the Subx.
Thor
thank you so much thor283 when i first got on suboxone the dr gave me subutex for 3 days, although it was the name brand i liked it much better, and many times wished that i couldve just stayed on that..i didnt know i could.
my dr has no bed side manner and doesnt even want to discuss it. so i called around and found a different dr that im going to monday. so im hoping and praying that everything works out, weather or not they decrease me or change it. i wish they would switch it..cuz if i could feel better, i think i would be able to get off of it entirely alot easy. i just feel horrible..not to mention the weight ive gained. i look in the mirror and dont even recognise myself. anyways. i wanted to thank you for being so quick to respond to me. that was awesome! thanks for your help and i will keep you posted. im not going to take the subutex til tomorrow evening. the last time i had suboxone was today around 2. so i will just wait until tomorrow to take the subutex. thanks again!
Hi Chac
You said you have had the Name Brand of Subutex, were they white oval shaped pills? I used to love them. I just added you to my list of friends. This allows you to send me a "private question", as they call it here. It's really just a private message. If you click on my name you can go to my page and you can make me a friend. If you do that then I can also send you a "pq". But first I want you to try the round Subutex. Some people think they are fine. I hope you will too. If you have a problem contact me. But I hope you won't. Don't try them before work neither, ok.
About the weight gain. There is something that happens to many of us when we start Suboxone or Subutex. We develop a sweet tooth and usually for something with chocolate in it. When I first went on Sub 8 years ago, all I ate for 3 months was chocolate chip cookies. And I mean that was all I ate. We also have to force ourselves to drink water. Even after 8 years I have to force myself to drink water. But I gained 30 lbs from the chocolate chip cookies. I have taken 1/2 off, but it keeps coming back. This drug does strange things to the taste buds.
Did you go read pattishan61's profile? If she comes here you can just click her name. Otherwise go to your friend page and do a search for pattishan61. That will get you to her page. Read her entire profile. The techniques she used are the only ones known to work all the time. Some people get impatient and try reducing the dose by more than she did and they try to reduce it every 4 days. That doesn't work. Even if it does, you're miserable when you get off Sub. But the way Patti did it is almost guaranteed to work.
I hope this helps. Good luck with the Subx.
Thor
ok so today is the day i use the subutex... im nervous as heck! i guess im more worried about adverse reactions. ive heard so many evil stories that i psych myself out. lol! i gotta stop reading all the horror stories..shoot its both bupe so it shouldnt be no different right? start of with 2mg just to be sure right? ok..i can do this... i want to feel good again..maybe then i can ween down and be off totally im ready..years ago. about 2006 i was on suboxone..weened myself down after a year..i didi great! no scary withdraw story there it just took along time and i had to have patience..i went down to a crumb a day..then i took the crumb every two or three days. then one day..i was busy and didnt take it and i noticed it had been 4 days i was off work the next two so i layed in bed. woke up on day 7 and felt great! not 100% but good enough to go about my business... immediately my moods were better...
so why havent i done that this time? i have no idea..for some reason im still on 12-16mg a day..i want to be on 8... so theres my goal... thanks for your support thor!!!
i will be back in a few hours..to let you know how the subutex went!
Hi Chac
I think a lot of the horror stories come from Heroin addicts that were placed on Suboxone and told they would feel great, better than with Methadone. One thing to remember is Mdone creates a high for the first 2 weeks, and after that a Heroin addict can double the dose of Heroin and still get high on their dope. But not with Sub. So they're horrified when they discover they don't feel high with Suboxone, and they can't get high on Heroin no matter how much they do. In fact they will kill themselves if they keep upping the dose of Heroin trying to get high. So that's it right there. Now they hate Sub. And they get all crazy about it. I read 1 account where the guy complained about constipation on Sub, saying his food wasn't completely digested. This guy was 19. I suppose he never noticed Heroin also constipated him. And I bet the food was corn and peas which are often never completely broken down. But being 19 he doesn't know this.
So he thinks Sub is preventing him from digesting his food. Nonsense. Maybe he even has IBS. I believe over 50% of the population has it. I do and I can't completely digest corn, peas and other veggies. It has nothing to do with Sub. But that's a typical horror story.
I do want to warn you that Subutex feels different than Suboxone. True wds from Sub don't set in until day 3 or 4. So you won't be in true wds. Many of us feel the Naloxone in Suboxone. I think you did. I guess what happens is when you get down to 4 - 6 mg a day there isn't enough Naloxone in it to matter much. But at 12 - 16 mg there is. I just wish NB Subutex was still being produced. I wonder if we can all complain to Reckitt Benckiser and ask them to make their version of Subutex, because it was better. But see what you think of what you have. Just make sure you can stay home after taking it. Nothing terrible is going to happen. But you will need time to adjust to it.
Now here is an odd thing. Back in 2004 I was inducted on to Suboxone. After doing some reading I wanted to try Subutex, which was all Name Brand in 2004. I was accustomed to Suboxone and didn't like Subutex. I then needed surgery and after the surgery I inducted using Subutex. Once I was accustomed to Subutex I didn't like Suboxone. So that's odd, because it was all Name Brand, meaning the same high quality Bupe was in both pills. But you get used to what you take.
I should be at my PC on and off all day.
thank you thor!
do you think that the subutex will wipe me out? maybe make me tired? im not going to take the whole 12mg of it today. i dont think that i ever will, if i can do fine on the 8mg i will do just that... so i wonder if in about a week i will start to feel kinda sick frm not taking suboxone? my mom always did say that i was sensitive to medications and i always had the opposite effect from them..xanax made me hyper, i slept when i dont cocaine.
weird how that happens.
and you are right the guy who was doing H just didnt realize that it was consitpating him..gosh i couldnt stand how the roxys and stuff would that to me..but here is one thing to think about..when your doing h or roxy you cant always find them..so in between your next score you would get kinda nervous and sick and would go to the bathroom..but when you have subs you have a steady supply of it so you cant go to the bathroom..maybe that was why he was complaining..i kinda noticed that too..but heck..they all do that to you...
one thing i miss is my xanax... when i was younger i did abuse those, but this last time around i took them just as prescribed because they made me feel so normal..i was at my best then..im not saying that the xanax made me that way..i just felt like i was functioning normal..without even having any type of high..when they took me off of them..back came my mood swings and my panic attacks only worse...
then the dr says no one person should take xanax for a long period of time..hello? people take bp medicine for life..or thyroid meds..why not nerve meds..i wouldnt care..because i took half a pill in the morning and half a pill at night..i was normal..lol! instead they wawnt me on prozac buspar or geodon if they wouldve left the dang xanax alone i would have been fine..
but of course now that im on subs i cant take it..
anyways i just wanted to rant about that. lol! here in a litttle while i will take the other 2mg... we will see how that works out
Wait a min. Why did you say you can't take Xanax? Did they tell you mixing Xanax and Sub causes instant death? That is soooo not true at all. I take Xanax, Ativan or Klonopin when the dang doc gives them to me. Benzos and Sub don't cause death. Sub is an opiate, and any opiate may call for a dose reduction when being mixed with a Benzo. Both drugs may call for a dose reduction. But not if you are used to taking both, as I am. Actually I haven't taken a Benzo without Sub in so long I might need a dose increase if I took a Benzo without Sub. IDK.
The whole death thing started about 12 years ago in a hospital some where. A patient was admitted and he didn't tell the hospital staff he was on Sub. The hospital then administered IV Valium, and the man died. There was a thorough investigation done, but it was also hushed up. They used this death to add to the mystery surrounding Suboxone use. This goes into a lot of things I'd rather not post. There were no convictions because no wrong doing was found. The hospital didn't know the man was on an opiate (Sub). He could have been on any opiate and he probably would have died. This underscores the need to tell a hospital all drugs you take when admitted. It could save your life.
i definitely agree with being honest about what meds you are on in emergency situation. weather or not it was prescribed. but to answer your question yes, they made me go off of my xanax and it has been hard, but i have been off of it for a year. the dr around here are very weird about prescribing benzos idk why but they act so suspicious about it
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