Question regarding buprenorphine

[jbuck]

I’ve been hearing a lot about this drug and think it may help me. I was taking methadone, but side effects made me switch to hydrocodone. Then the sh** show happened with everyone panicking over opioids that made it impossible to stay with it. So I weened off, but it’s been over 4 years and it’s just been miserable. I have a dr apt on Monday and want to ask my doctor about buprenorphine. I think he asked me once about suboxone, but not sure. My question is, do you have to go through all the red tape with it as you do with hydrocodone? E.g. drug tests, surprise pill counts, signing contacts, etc. also I’m pretty sure it can’t be called in so do you have to goto your dr office every month to get the prescription (I’m 100 miles from my dr). Then what about pharmacy. I’ve heard CVS will only give you a weeks worth at a time.

Cannabis really helps but I live in indiana, so it will be 50 years before pot will be legal here. So it’s sporadic in availability.

Any thoughts, ideas, comments are welcome.

[badnights]

Pot will never do what opioids do, small comfort though that is.

I don't live in the US so I can't really answer any of your questions, but from what I've heard, you will go thru the same red tape with Suboxone (a buprenorphine+naloxone mix). You might be able to get three refill prescriptions, so you go to the pharmacy for a refill every month but see your doctor every 3 months.

[Rustsmith]

The red tape for buprenorphine is much less than with most of the opioids. Hydrocodone, methadone, oxycodone, etc are all Sch 2 meds. Buprenorphine is Sch 3. There is still red tape, but you are not hit with the 30 day supply limit, etc. There are also several forms of buprenorphine available. Suboxone is only one of them. So you might want to do a bit of research before hand so that you can ask for the one that suits your needs. For example, subaxone is a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone. If you don't need the naloxone, then why pay for it?

Another option to ask about is tramadol. Tramadol is Sch 4. There is even an ER form that only has to be taken once a day. Like all meds, it has its own side effect issues, but you don't know if they are a problem until you try.

[James7]

I take buprenorphine and tramadol. buprenorphine has been a God-send....but be aware that it has a reverse effect on the pain receptor blocking of opiods. While tramadol does seem to complement the buprenorphine for rls for me, the pain reducing effect is removed. I had knee surgery and didn't realize this about the drug which I took the night before my surgery. The anesthesiologist caught it, thank God! After surgery, they had to put me on strong opiods just to numb the pain.. which was awful! Also, be careful titrating up. I had some weird side effects, but they went away. And, the med stays in my system longer than others-72 hours, which is one of the benefits for my rls symptoms. My dr gives 5X monthly refills with no issues. Blessings!