I'm a newbie !

Good Morning,

I did post in the introduction section to introduce myself, those that read it know I'm real new with Suboxone. Today is day 28 on this great med !!! 28 days without a pain pill. It's wonderful !!!

The question I have at this point, I've read about people being in the induction stage, the maintence stage, taper stage.... I get the taper part, but when does the induction end and maintence begin ? Like I said I'm a month into this.

Right now, I take 16 mg in the morning, and it took me a month to get that down, while I always took the 16mg, I took it twice a day and even in the very first week, a few times a day.

My doctor is very laid back about dosing.

Thank you ! I'm looking forward to meeting some people here, this is basically my only therapy !!!!

No one commented ?!?!?

Boo (Sad face)

Hey Blue Eyes.

Don't get discouraged if you don't get any comments in the first few days. It took a while for the core group of women who support this forum to comment on my story when I first posted. But, trust me when I say... It's worth the wait. So, be patient... they'll come to you in due time.

So, I don't know if you have read my story or not yet, but I am at the end of my addictive ways. I have yet to stop using and I haven't gotten on Suboxone yet. I am in the "find a doctor" stage. I wouldn't even be that far a long if it wasn't for this forum and the resources that it has provided... ie DEE! So, you might be able to help me understand a few things...

When you were still using pills, what were you taking and how much per day? When you were taking the pills what was your energy level like? Were you lethargic with no motivation to get out of bed, let alone shower and face the day? Or, were you one of the people that felt energized from the opiates? Once you stopped the pills and started on the Suboxone how did it effect your energy level? Were you able to function at a more productive pace/level right away, or did it take a while? If it took a while to feel motivated, how long did it take? And, what about the insomnia? How many sleepless nights did you have once you started the Sub? These are my biggest concerns once I quit and start the Sub... I am afraid I won't be able to get out of bed and take care of the people that I am responsible for. I am a "lazy" person by nature... I think. And, I'm worried that I won't have the energy I need to function once I quit since I don't have hardly ANY energy right now.

So, yeah... If you could kinda give me an idea of how you felt and what you went through before and after you started the Sub, I'd appreciate it. You came here looking for help and support... and you just may be able to help and support someone else at the same time.

I hope this finds you well and smiling.
Take care,
KJ

KJ

Thank you for your kind words !! I guess I'm really looking to connect with people like myself and I have already quit a forum since I felt I didnt fit in. So thank you.

I would LOVE to help you !!! I will also go back and read your story. I'm trying to read through some past posts.

My last prescription was Opana 40's. Pretty strong stuff. I've taken them all. Perc's, vicoden, Roxy's. I was taking anywhere from 20-30 pills during my worst times.
You asked about energy. If I had enough pills then I can do what I had to. If I didnt have enough (enough means I didnt feel sick) then I did nothing. I went through weekends without showers, without leaving the couch. It was a bad time.
You also asked about sleep.
When I was using, I never slept all night. I had to get up to take a few pills. And I would wake up still feeling like shit. Shaking, heart racing.

After I started taking Suboxone, I feel GREAT, I have a ton of energy. I am sleeping AWESOME , ALL night, I wake up feeling great.

I had surgery in 2009 and I thought I was still hurting from that, 90% of my pain was from pain pills, my body was always hurting for more, I was never satisfied.

Going on Suboxone was the best thing I could have done. It was immediate by the way. The first day I felt a little off, but by the next day I felt like my old self.

I hope I was able to help and again thank you for your comment. OOH, sorry I didnt answer right away, I had the WORST stomache virus yesterday. Its going around my whole family. Blah !!

Take care

I'm really disappointed that after 3 days, I havent gotten an answer.

Thank you KJ for your response, I hope my post helped you, if you have read it yet.

I looked up the answer on another forum (the one I left because I never got responses to my questions.)

Dont know if I feel so welcome here either. I just needed some people that I could chat with that were going through the same thing.

Good morning ladies,
Blue Eyes, I did actually post a response to you yesterday but for some reason after sending it, it seems to have disappeared. I learned a long time ago to type my posts into word so that if need be I can go back and retrieve what I had posted. So this is what I am doing now.
Re-posting what was posted last night.
When I said that you are a welcome member on the forum I did mean it. Sometimes it is hard for me to get back to post as often as I would like to.
Such a sad face to see Blue Eyes, I'm sorry. I did see your post the other day when I logged on but I wasn't able to post because I only did a quick check to activate new members.
I also manage our Methadone forum along with being the assistant editor on both of our websites, Suboxone Assisted Treatment and Medical Assisted Treatment of America Inc. The founder of Medical Assisted Treatment and Suboxone Assisted Treatment hasn't been up to working for quite some time now. Probably a little over a year give or take so I have been doing what I can to fill in the gaps until she is up on her feet. I don't know how long that will be though because she has also had a surgery to try and repair scoliosis back in April of last year. It was a difficult surgery that took up a total of two days. Day one was to get everything ready for the hardware to be put in and day two to actually install the hardware. I don't know a better word so I use install and hardware.
She is still having some problems and in pain pretty much of the time.
Being the only person who runs the forums it gets hard some days. Not having moderators to help out some days, I don't know if I am coming or going to be honest. I've had people in the past help out from time to time, but eventually they do get busy in their own lives and have to move on.


But please believe me I haven't forgotten about you.
Induction, Stabilization which is the stage you are in now. The maintenance stage and then for those who wish it, the taper. Not everyone chooses to taper. That is based or should always be based on individual patients. No two patients are alike and no two treatment should be alike either.

What if I may ask, helped you to decide on Suboxone? Were there any deciding factors for you? Some people lean towards Suboxone to avoid the withdrawal from opiates and some because they really aren't wired to live without some type of opiate in their system.
I do look forward to getting to know you and hope that you won't let a few days without hearing from someone lead you away from the forum. I can't speak for the other members, they come and they go. For the most part like I said before we usually do have a few members here and there who do post.

Thank you KJ for your help.
Have a great day ladies, I have to run and check on the other forum but will be back later on this afternoon. (Funny I keep saying ladies when in reality, I'm not sure blue eyes if you are male or female yet. If I have offended you, I apologize.)
Dee

Hello Dee and KJ,

Thought I'd stop in and give this a try again.
In answer to your comment Dee, Yes, I'm Female, I think I have that in my profile, and I thought I spoke about my husband in my introduction. In any event, I'm a 48 year old female,. 2 kids, married 19 yrs this month.

Thanks for responding to my post. In answer to some of your questions, I started Suboxone to get off Opiates. Ive been on various pills for 10 years now. the last 3 yrs were heavy use after my surgery. I saw no way out. I did not want to keep feeling like crap everyday. Now, I feel great. I sleep great, I have my life back. I never get tired of people saying I look good (and they don't know I'm on this). I have been on Suboxne for about 35 days now.

KJ, I've been thinking about you. Have you made a choice yet on what your going to do ???

Blue Eyes,
Your family must be very proud of you. I myself am 53 and have 6 children. Four girls, all adults from my first husband and one daughter, one son from my second. My son is my youngest, my baby at 18.
I am glad that you have been able to find a way out of your addiction. Things will just get better from now on.
Congratulations on day 35!
Dee

Dee

Six kids !! Wow. That's awesome. i come from a large family of five so I know what it's like.
My family have told me they are proud of me, my husband bought me a gorgeous plant last week when I hit the 30 day mark. I guess I'm still in the counting days of my recovery. I guess we all do that.

I'm also guessing we are all about the same age ?? That's makes this really special !

[i][b]
Hey Blue Eyes,

Making that 3o day mark is a great accomplishment...Good For You.
Isn't it wonderful to not have to run around trying to find drugs?

We are all close to age but I'm the old chick in this crowd...

I hope you doing well today

Blessings,

Marie

Older in years but so young at heart Marie, I'm glad everything went okay for you today.
Sleep well,
Dee

Wow Ladies... I hate to do this to you all, but if Marie gets to point out that she it the "Old Chic" in this bunch...then I get to point out that I'm the Baby! 38, lol Sorry, couldn't resist. I agree with Dee... young at heart. If we were anymore "mature" at heart, would we really be where we are? I know I wouldn't trade any of it if I could. Makes us who we are, and from what I've come to know of each of you I don't think that's a bad thing at all.

I have seen people here post about one of their biggest motivators in getting in recovery was the fact that they "wouldn't have to worry about where their next pill was coming from" or "not having to chase down drugs all the time". I think I'm at a bit of a disadvantage with that one. I don't have to worry about where my next pill is coming from. It doesn't cost me anything to be an addict. "My doctor is in this for the money" or "they look at us and think to themselves 'if they can spend hundreds of dollars a month to get high, then they can find a way to pay hundreds of dollars a month to get sober!" I am a bit discouraged. Then there is the tapering stories, or nightmares. Am I taking the easy way out like the AAer's say? Am I still abusing drugs to take an opiate to get off of a opiate?

I'm sorry Blue Eyes... I keep posting in your threads when I should post elsewhere. I'll be more mindful... I hope you are all doing well.

KJ

KJ- I'm still new to this treatment, so I hope one of the others will jump in and talk about this. I do not think of it as trading an opiate for another. It's not the same at all. And if you were on Suboxone, you would see the difference.
I am no longer craving pain pills, hell, I barely remember to take my Sub in the morning when I'm running out the door for work ! You literally take it an forget it. Even when I had my own script, I still ran out early and had to find it elsewhere, so it's a huge relief to not have to even think about any of that. I don't wake up sick from withdrawal, I don't get sick when I've had to much (i would get sick to my stomach when I ate to many vicodins in a day.) I don't come home from work and sit on the couch in what my husband would call "a dope-coma" - I'd do that for an entire weekend. Just sit stoned on the couch while the world lived their lives around me. I am up off the couch and living my life !!!
Like I said, I'm new to this, so I hope Dee or Marie will come and discuss this further in more detail than I have.

Karla,
It is true that it's nice to be able to wake up and not have to worry about that next pill or not having to worry about coming up with money to buy a stock of whatever to get through just another day.

Taking Suboxone in the morning comes with taking my other medications for the day, the heart medication, thyroid and blood pressure medications. That's the way I look at it, not that I am switching out one for another.

There is something you said,

Quote :

"They look at us and think to themselves, 'if they can spend hundreds of dollars a month to get high, then they can find a way to pay hundreds of dollars a month to get sober"

A lot of people do say that.
But what a lot of people don't realize is, now that we are in recovery we spend money on rent, house notes, utility bills, groceries and yes some spend it on doctor's appointments.
Before,- when we(a lot of us) bought pills it was easy to forego things like food, paying rent, buying clothes & other bills. Those things were not on the top of the list but rather on the "when I can" or 'later on' list.
Now it is hard to give up the roof over my head, the food in my belly and I've gotten used to paying what does need to be paid
The simple things in life are enjoyable. Taking time to just sit and watch the birds, smell the snow and simply live. I admit I used to enjoy watching the birds when I was taking pills but only when I took a pill. I only went to family functions after I felt the warmth and relaxation that only a pill could bring.
Oh yeah there are some sh**ty things that come with recovery too. Feeling normal also comes with feeling bad. Actually feeling the bad instead of medicating it. Counseling helps teach me how to deal instead of hiding from those feelings.

Taking Suboxone doesn't really take the place of a pill for me. I don't feel that warmth or relaxation that I used to when I was using. I don't think about that warmth anymore. I get up and do things automatically without thinking about them because they need to get done.
Before I started buying from other people I had a doctor that would write my prescriptions and for awhile that was okay. But after awhile my tolerance went up and I would take more and more to get through. Run out early and have to either buy or borrow pills. Eventually even the endless supply runs out.
It's hard to describe to another person how I feel. I know the words I want to say. I have them in my head and sometimes I feel like I repeat myself over and over again. It gets hard when you come to care about someone and you want only what is best for them. It is even harder to let them make their own decisions. All you can do is be there.
Once again it is late and I have talked way to long.
Enjoy the night and sleep well
Dee

[i][b]
Good Morning,Ladies

I just wanted to let you all know I've not forgotten about any of you.
My husband's 37yr old nephew died Sunday and we going to funeral today.
He fought addiciton and alchol since he was a teenager. They saying it's a heart attack and I'm sure that's what did him in. It's terribly sad to see another addict die from this horrible disease. He leaves behind 2 young babies,3 and 5.

Let's remember to pray for all our fellow addicts out there still suffering.

Blessings To All

Marie

Marie,

My deepest condolences to you and your family for the loss of your nephew. May God give his children the strength they will need.

Marie, I am so sorry to hear about your loss.
It saddens me every time I hear of another life lost to this awful disease. I pray everyday that just one more person will be able to enter into recovery before it is too late.
I have been blessed many times and consider myself very lucky to be here today.
Let me know if you need anything.

I wanted to let you know also, I haven't talked to Beth in awhile but the last time I did she was making her plans for school. So I hope she is doing well and happy. I do miss her though. Barbara as well.
Sending many prayers out to you and your family
Dee