I am currently trying to get off of Methadone due to the high cost per month (308.00) and have an appt. to see a Physician to be prescribed Buprenorphine which I believe they can only legally prescribe 32mg. and no more ?? I take 150mg. of methadone per day which I know is an awful lot, i got this way due to a car accident and instead of using other narcotics, i just uped my methadone dosage at the clinic by 70mg to help with the pain which I still have today but cannot pay for the methadone anymore. Buprenorphine, I have checked is a little over 100 dollars per month at most pharmacies and I can swing that.
I can't find anyone who has literally been thru this process exactly or anyone who has any info for me to use. IF ANYONE HAS ANY INFO, PLEASE ANSWER MY POST. I know kicking 150mg. of methadone is going to be HELL but financially, I have NO CHOICE. I am just wondering if anyone knows exactly what the Buprenorphine does to you while kicking methadone, will I feel better, worse, what??? I just don't know what to do or if this is the road I should travel. Legally, there is nothing else for me to take to kick methadone, i don't have the money for any kind of treatment, etc. So legally, Buprenorphine is the only answer I have been able to find... ANYONE, PLEASE HELP ME FIND ANSWERS.... I WOULD BE EXTREMELY GRATEFUL TO YOU...
Thanks - Jillian D.
God Bless All Of Us Who Are Trying To Help Ourselves Become Better People....
First you have to go way lower on your dose because right now your to high and the pills wont work. You have to go down to 30mg so that the medication even starts working. I was on the internet last night and i found out alot about suboxone thats one of the ingridients in the pills you want to use the other is narxcel or something like that all i know is that that particular ingridient makes you go into withdrawal and thats the reason why you have to go down on your dose well thats all i could tell you right now you should go into the internet to find out more,good luck im also using the pills and they really work if you use them right..bye,bye.....
go over to the heroin board and post to diff or morpheus both of them are on it and should be able to help you. i think diff went from methadone to subs, but i'm not sure. good luck
raerae
raerae
I am a physician assistant as well as a recovering opiate addict. Personally I have used buprenphine and found it a life saver. I could not control my usage of methadone; it was like every other opiate to me. I am also a chronic pain patient and was taking 400mg of methadone a day from my pain doctor. It was out of control, taking that much and more. Being on that high of a dose detxong was difficult to say the least. This was before subutex/suboxone were available. After failing numerous (8+) detoxes using clonidine and librium, I was sent to a rehab in Atlanta. There they gave me injections of a medicine that took away all my withdraw symptoms. I later found out it was buprenorphine. It took 3 weeks but I finally did complete detox.
Now for your question. At your dose of 160mg you cannot be directly transfered to buprenophine. Most studies indicate you must reduce your methadone until you reach about 30mg before you can comfortably make the transition. My guess is you will find it difficult to find a doctor that will not follow this guideline. If possible you may choose to be sick for a few days by not taking your methaonde and then add buprenophine. There are ways to do it but it would be uncomfortable and finding a doctor to do this would be extremely hard. Your stated reason to change is financial. Honestly I doubt you will save money with buprenorphine, unless you have insurance that will pay for it. Most physicians initially require you to see them weekly until you stabilize and then monthly. The cost varies but can range anywhere from $50.00 to $200.00 per visit. The cost of the medicine depends upon your dosage. The least I have seen it for is $130.00 for 30 8mg tablets, usually it is more like $160. That translates to anywhere from $4.35 to $5.35 per 8mg tablet. I will let you do the math but it will probably be around the same or more than you are paying now.
There are many other reasons to change. Personally I think buprenorphine is a much better medication than methadone for opiate addiction. Chemically methadone is not very different from any other opiate and acts the same. Buprenophine is chemically different having both opiate like properties and anti-opiate properties. My personal experience is that I felt much less drugged compared to methadone. In fact I had no feeling of sedation, nodding,etc as I did with methadone. I just felt normal like I did when I was drug free. This is one reason some opiate addicts do not like this drug. It really is amazing in that there is no high but it stops all withdraw symptoms. In addition for those like me, it also helps with pain. The only real side effect I have had a problem with and it was only minor is constipation. It is not as bad as methadone but present none the less.
Personally as a medical professional and a recovering addict, I feel that either drug if it is effective is worth taking. People in NA/AA who carry their own prejudices about using medication assisted recovery should not allow you to feel badly about taking whichever one works for you. I would be very careful who you tell. I do not think it something that concerns anyone but you and your sponsor. Any medication prescribed and is effective is worth while. I would not announce in a meeting I was taking a medication for blood pressure so I need not announce this either.
I hope this helps.
Gary
Now for your question. At your dose of 160mg you cannot be directly transfered to buprenophine. Most studies indicate you must reduce your methadone until you reach about 30mg before you can comfortably make the transition. My guess is you will find it difficult to find a doctor that will not follow this guideline. If possible you may choose to be sick for a few days by not taking your methaonde and then add buprenophine. There are ways to do it but it would be uncomfortable and finding a doctor to do this would be extremely hard. Your stated reason to change is financial. Honestly I doubt you will save money with buprenorphine, unless you have insurance that will pay for it. Most physicians initially require you to see them weekly until you stabilize and then monthly. The cost varies but can range anywhere from $50.00 to $200.00 per visit. The cost of the medicine depends upon your dosage. The least I have seen it for is $130.00 for 30 8mg tablets, usually it is more like $160. That translates to anywhere from $4.35 to $5.35 per 8mg tablet. I will let you do the math but it will probably be around the same or more than you are paying now.
There are many other reasons to change. Personally I think buprenorphine is a much better medication than methadone for opiate addiction. Chemically methadone is not very different from any other opiate and acts the same. Buprenophine is chemically different having both opiate like properties and anti-opiate properties. My personal experience is that I felt much less drugged compared to methadone. In fact I had no feeling of sedation, nodding,etc as I did with methadone. I just felt normal like I did when I was drug free. This is one reason some opiate addicts do not like this drug. It really is amazing in that there is no high but it stops all withdraw symptoms. In addition for those like me, it also helps with pain. The only real side effect I have had a problem with and it was only minor is constipation. It is not as bad as methadone but present none the less.
Personally as a medical professional and a recovering addict, I feel that either drug if it is effective is worth taking. People in NA/AA who carry their own prejudices about using medication assisted recovery should not allow you to feel badly about taking whichever one works for you. I would be very careful who you tell. I do not think it something that concerns anyone but you and your sponsor. Any medication prescribed and is effective is worth while. I would not announce in a meeting I was taking a medication for blood pressure so I need not announce this either.
I hope this helps.
Gary
TO GARY, MANNY AND EVERYONE ELSE that posted a reply to my question, I THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR WORDS OF WISDOM.
I would have gotten back to the board sooner but had to have surgery due to gall stones and it was rough, they upped my methadone for 2 weeks and also gave me dilaudid for pain, then demorol, now just using the methadone like always and went back down.
My problem when I first wrote was the cost of the methadone and also this: In the state of Florida, if you want more than one week's worth of take outs, they automatically put you on the generic white disks, that aren't worth diddly in my book but I try to look at it like this: methadone is methadone.(supposedly). When I got home from the hospital abooout 10 days ago, My Dr. had given me a Rx for methadose tablets, 5 mg. #50 and they worked very well, alot better than the disk I take from the clinic but per the regulations in Florida right now, it you get more than 6 take outs, you are put on the disks - PERIOD, no exceptions. I liked the liquid alot better but cannot go to the clinic once a week due to the distance. I only go once a month anyway and have been for almost 2 years, it would interfere with work if I had to go any more than that. I jsut wish that I didn't have to take the disks, some days I swear it feels like I am taking "AIR" and some of them are not fresh, they just crumble apart but then others are very fresh and are really hard to break up. Anyway, it's the pits...
I did find a Dr. in Georgia that was willing to try me on Buprenorphine but as I already knew from the research I had done, I went into immediate withdrawals as soon as it hit my system. I ended up taking 4 - 8mg Subutex the 7 hours I was in his office and they finally had to get an Rx for methadone brought to me from the Pharmacy there and give that to me just to get me out of withdrawals. I have no idea why I decided to do that, I was desperate and I guess I wanted to see if everything I had read was true, I DID GO INTO IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL THE VERY INSTANT THE SUBUTEX HIT MY BLOOD STRIEAM - SO ANYONE WHO IS WONDERING ABOUT IT, DON'T TAKE SUBUTEX UNLESS YOU ARE ON A VERY LOW MILLIGRAM OF METHADONE. And with me, I have been on methadone for so many years that the transition is probably going to be worse but I won't try that again, plus it cost me $409. 60 just for someone to put me into withdrawals and then try to get me out of them....
I haven't used since 1998 and it only took me about 14 days to become stable enough on the methadone to where I honestly did not want anymore dilaudid or anything else. I have decided to just stick with it for now and not worry about getting off of it so much and to ignore the people who are putting so much pressure on me to get off of it. That was the main reasin I was trying to find help. I should know better than anyone that unless I am doing it because I WANT TO THAT IT WILL NEVER WORK... I've told the members of my family that don't understand and are pressuring me, to get somewhere and leave me alone. The money i pay for methadone isn't coming out of their pockets anyway....And like Gary said to me in this post, Buprenorphine, (Subutex, Suboxone), isn't really any cheaper at all than methadone and when you add in all of office visits to the Dr. that you must pay for, it is really more expensive so thanks for the info and today, I am GOOD....
Jillian D.
Anyone who needs any information on Methadone Maintenance or where to find a Methadone Maintenance or Buprenorphine Maintenance Clinic, please let me know and I will be glad to help you find whatever you are looking for anywhere in the United States. You can get Buprenorphine at some clinics in the State of Florida, I don't know about other States yet, but eventually, you will be able to get it just like people are getting methadone without having to go to a Dr. 50 times at the beginning !!!
I would have gotten back to the board sooner but had to have surgery due to gall stones and it was rough, they upped my methadone for 2 weeks and also gave me dilaudid for pain, then demorol, now just using the methadone like always and went back down.
My problem when I first wrote was the cost of the methadone and also this: In the state of Florida, if you want more than one week's worth of take outs, they automatically put you on the generic white disks, that aren't worth diddly in my book but I try to look at it like this: methadone is methadone.(supposedly). When I got home from the hospital abooout 10 days ago, My Dr. had given me a Rx for methadose tablets, 5 mg. #50 and they worked very well, alot better than the disk I take from the clinic but per the regulations in Florida right now, it you get more than 6 take outs, you are put on the disks - PERIOD, no exceptions. I liked the liquid alot better but cannot go to the clinic once a week due to the distance. I only go once a month anyway and have been for almost 2 years, it would interfere with work if I had to go any more than that. I jsut wish that I didn't have to take the disks, some days I swear it feels like I am taking "AIR" and some of them are not fresh, they just crumble apart but then others are very fresh and are really hard to break up. Anyway, it's the pits...
I did find a Dr. in Georgia that was willing to try me on Buprenorphine but as I already knew from the research I had done, I went into immediate withdrawals as soon as it hit my system. I ended up taking 4 - 8mg Subutex the 7 hours I was in his office and they finally had to get an Rx for methadone brought to me from the Pharmacy there and give that to me just to get me out of withdrawals. I have no idea why I decided to do that, I was desperate and I guess I wanted to see if everything I had read was true, I DID GO INTO IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL THE VERY INSTANT THE SUBUTEX HIT MY BLOOD STRIEAM - SO ANYONE WHO IS WONDERING ABOUT IT, DON'T TAKE SUBUTEX UNLESS YOU ARE ON A VERY LOW MILLIGRAM OF METHADONE. And with me, I have been on methadone for so many years that the transition is probably going to be worse but I won't try that again, plus it cost me $409. 60 just for someone to put me into withdrawals and then try to get me out of them....
I haven't used since 1998 and it only took me about 14 days to become stable enough on the methadone to where I honestly did not want anymore dilaudid or anything else. I have decided to just stick with it for now and not worry about getting off of it so much and to ignore the people who are putting so much pressure on me to get off of it. That was the main reasin I was trying to find help. I should know better than anyone that unless I am doing it because I WANT TO THAT IT WILL NEVER WORK... I've told the members of my family that don't understand and are pressuring me, to get somewhere and leave me alone. The money i pay for methadone isn't coming out of their pockets anyway....And like Gary said to me in this post, Buprenorphine, (Subutex, Suboxone), isn't really any cheaper at all than methadone and when you add in all of office visits to the Dr. that you must pay for, it is really more expensive so thanks for the info and today, I am GOOD....
Jillian D.
Anyone who needs any information on Methadone Maintenance or where to find a Methadone Maintenance or Buprenorphine Maintenance Clinic, please let me know and I will be glad to help you find whatever you are looking for anywhere in the United States. You can get Buprenorphine at some clinics in the State of Florida, I don't know about other States yet, but eventually, you will be able to get it just like people are getting methadone without having to go to a Dr. 50 times at the beginning !!!
