Suboxone - Living on the Edge

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EeFall
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Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2013 4:11 am
Location: Washington State, USA

Suboxone - Living on the Edge

Post by EeFall »

My severe RLS is now totally in the hands of Suboxone at 4mg a day taken at about 5:30 pm each day. It is probably more like taking 8mg a day though, I will explain what I mean further down the page. I have been keeping a calendar of the amount of sleep I have been getting and it averages to a little over 5 hours a night now. That is terrific for me except for one negative, a big one that I will also mention below.

The Doc started me at 1mg (half a strip) and then to 2mg, and then to 4mg. I was about ready to ask the doctor to increase it to 6mg when I did some searching on the web and found that there are better ways to take Suboxone that allows one to get more of the medication per strip. The directions just say to place it under tongue and wait until it is dissolved. I found some interesting articles online that work!

This is how I take it now. I put one strip under left side of tongue and one under right side starting with a very dry mouth. I don't drink water before. After it is under tongue for a few seconds I begin moving the tongue all around my mouth. This includes the inside of the mouth the top of the mouth, even along the tops and bottoms gums. All over the place and I do that several times during the 15 minutes before I swallow. I have actually been doing this up to 20 minutes. By that time there is a lot of saliva in my mouth but I am still moving my tongue around once in awhile. Then I swallow. After that I do not eat anything for at least 15 minutes. During this 30 to 40 minutes I do not talk at all.

The reason for doing it this way is that Suboxone must be administered sublingually, which mean under the tongue. Swallowing it destroys most of the drug, it won't absorb correctly into the bloodstream so it is just wasted. What the articles mention, and I now know for a fact works, is that only about 15% of the medicine on the strips are absorbed, the rest ends up being swallowed and not used. That is just the way it is made to be used...but it is not just absorbed under the tongue, Suboxone can be absorbed through most of the skin in the mouth so if one "paints" it all over the mouth with the tongue, more of it is absorbed. Also if you don't swallow for 15 minutes then all of it is still in the mouth and has a better chance of absorption. The 15 minutes of no eating is because the meds are still sitting on the skin in a kind of film, some will continue to absorb, but if you eat it will most likely wash off the skin and the rest of the meds will go down the throat.

This is only the third night I have done this and I can feel the difference within even 45 minutes after taking it. Not only that but I am sleeping over 6 hours a night. The night before last I slept 6-1/2 hours! That is like reaching the Moon for me. It takes 10-14 days to totally ramp up and some have told me up to a month at taking the same dose. So I have only been doing this 3 days. It will be interesting to see what it is like after another 10 or 11 days.

If you take the strips, the directions tell you this, but who reads directions? lol You need to fold the one end over that has a dotted line. On one side is a pre-cut slit on dotted line then you can just rip the aluminum pouch all the way down and take out the strip and place under the tongue. I couldn't get in the dang package, was using scissors until I got a magnifying glass out and read the directions :lol: duh!

Addicts usually take it in the morning, but I am a RLS guy so I take it in the evening when a little bit more of the med is just that much better. After a few weeks it probably doesn't matter that much. The half life is very long like 36 to 42 hours, I forget exactly but it stays in your system for a long while. I have also talked to others addicted to opiates, even kratom, and they can get off any opiate with Suboxone, some do use it to get off kratom. I have stopped taking kratom from the suggestion of several addicts because it will disturb my sleep when taking it with Suboxone.

Now I am also pretty sure I am dependent on kratom, methadone, and Lyrica. Suboxone makes it so I don't even have cravings for them. I have also read that people who try getting off Suboxone after months of use find that it is very difficult. The reason may not be that Suboxone is so strong, although it is strong, but because when they stop taking Suboxone their addictions for the other drugs they were taking it to get off of in the first place are still present. So they are not just stopping Suboxone, but also, in my case I would be stopping Suboxone, Lyrica, methadone, and kratom. Sounds like a terrible mess, but I am pretty darn sure that is the case with me, as many who take Suboxone. It is just that Suboxone happens to help severe RLS too! Who knows, maybe RLS is some kind of body addiction - yeah that sounds pretty weird :lol:

The downside. I got really angry at work the other day. I won't go into details but I almost lost control. I have talked to others taking Suboxone, addicts, and some of them have had similar problems but it seems to go away with the more one uses it, so I am hopeful within the next few weeks that I will be able to better control my temper. My wife was surprised when I told her about the work incident because she said I seemed much better since being on Suboxone so I can only hope it will get better.

Polar Bear
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Re: Suboxone - Living on the Edge

Post by Polar Bear »

It is good to hear good news. And to sleep around 6 hours is wonderful.
It will be interesting to hear how things are in say.... 3 weeks. I hope it continues to work really well.
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

QyX

Re: Suboxone - Living on the Edge

Post by QyX »

You are lucky that Suboxone can help you. I heard that it can cause severe sleeping troubles. A doctors wants want to tried it but I was sceptical because in the literature it says sleeplessness is a common side effect. So I went with Morphine.

EeFall
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Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2013 4:11 am
Location: Washington State, USA

Re: Suboxone - Living on the Edge

Post by EeFall »

Polar Bear wrote:It is good to hear good news. And to sleep around 6 hours is wonderful.
It will be interesting to hear how things are in say.... 3 weeks. I hope it continues to work really well.


Last night would have been better but I fell asleep on couch at 11 pm and woke at 1 am, slept until 6 am in bed so 5 hours of good sleep but could have been 7 hours. I think it is working even better! :D

Polar Bear
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Re: Suboxone - Living on the Edge

Post by Polar Bear »

Excellent - here's to another good night.
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

EeFall
Posts: 1557
Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2013 4:11 am
Location: Washington State, USA

Re: Suboxone - Living on the Edge

Post by EeFall »

EeFall wrote:I got really angry at work the other day. I won't go into details but I almost lost control. I have talked to others taking Suboxone, addicts, and some of them have had similar problems but it seems to go away with the more one uses it, so I am hopeful within the next few weeks that I will be able to better control my temper. My wife was surprised when I told her about the work incident because she said I seemed much better since being on Suboxone so I can only hope it will get better.


I wrote this the other day and this isn't really a good excuse but it explains what happened Friday a little bit. This weekend I have had a headache and last night I was in bed from 11 pm until midnight because of headache mostly, then fell asleep. I woke at 5:15 am (after restless night) and got ready for work. The headache was still there, maybe a little worse despite Aleve and Ibuprofen. Finally figured out I have some type of bug and stayed home today. With the lack of poor quality sleep from the sleep apnea and RLS and the Suboxone which makes me drugged up, getting sick is a really poor combination for my irritability. So I don't think it was just the Suboxone making me cranky, I don't feel good either. Better just to stay home and get well than chance flying off the handle. Besides it is probably catching.

Polar Bear
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Re: Suboxone - Living on the Edge

Post by Polar Bear »

A headache is not a good friend and let's hope that whatever is causing you to be poorly is very transient. Good luck.
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

EeFall
Posts: 1557
Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2013 4:11 am
Location: Washington State, USA

Re: Suboxone - Living on the Edge

Post by EeFall »

Polar Bear wrote:A headache is not a good friend and let's hope that whatever is causing you to be poorly is very transient. Good luck.


I got all ready to go to work and knew it was a very bad idea. My head is pounding despite taking ibuprofen and my stomach is bothering me too. Called in sick and the manager and the lead were both ticked off, I could tell it by the way they were acting. I am so sick of this situation. If it wasn't for missing time for RLS they wouldn't think anything about it, but I miss a lot of time because of WED. It is not my fault. I keep falling asleep. I slept 6 hours last night and it is not real. Yes, I sleep, but no it is not good sleep, not even fair sleep. I need to find a way out of this, I have no business working anymore, no business driving in my condition. I'm getting myself mad, my wife will be up soon and say something mean about me staying home...

Polar Bear
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Re: Suboxone - Living on the Edge

Post by Polar Bear »

We come back again to the difficulties of working while suffering from this disease and how many folks should be able to apply for disability. It just isn't fair.
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

cornelia

Re: Suboxone - Living on the Edge

Post by cornelia »

In my view it is almost impossible to work with severe RLS unless you can work from home.

It is awful if you have to stop working but you have to consider if the extra stress from having to call in sick so many times makes yoyr RLS worse. I'm sure it does.

Corrie

EeFall
Posts: 1557
Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2013 4:11 am
Location: Washington State, USA

Re: Suboxone - Living on the Edge

Post by EeFall »

Someone recommended for my headache Vanquish. I got some today but it has aspirin, NSAID, Acetaminophen, and Caffeine. I don't want to make my WED any worse or stay up any longer than I have to. Is it okay for RLS to take this? Thanks.

badnights
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Re: Suboxone - Living on the Edge

Post by badnights »

I would say don't take it. You don't want caffeine, especially if you're trying to get rid of the headache so you can sleep.

You can buy and consume the ingredients separately, though. You can apparently take the maximum doses of both acetaminophen and ibuprofen (an NSAID) at the same time, since the former is metabolized by the liver (mainly) and the latter by the kidneys. Aspirin (ASA) is metabolized mainly in the liver, so I would be wary of adding that in if you have max'd out the other two.
Beth - Wishing you a restful sleep tonight
Click for info on WED/RLS AUGMENTATION & IRON
I am a volunteer moderator. My posts are not medical advice. My posts do not reflect RLS Foundation opinion.

EeFall
Posts: 1557
Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2013 4:11 am
Location: Washington State, USA

Re: Suboxone - Living on the Edge

Post by EeFall »

It has been about a week since I posted. The suboxone is allowing me to sleep 4 to 6 hours a night. Probably for most people it would be wonderful, at least it allows me to work for awhile longer, but the quality of the sleep really isn't there. I suspect that whatever I have is just too far gone, obviously not only is my sleep 100% from medications, but the sleep quality (as in deep sleep) is lacking. I suppose that is how it is going to finally do in my working.

I have found in the past week I am becoming more and more frustrated solving complex problems and I get into almost a panic attack phase. It probably has to do with the strength of the suboxone. I am taking 4mg a day except I found a more efficient way to take it (thanks to the Internet) and the strength is more like twice that much. I need it though to stop the onset of the RLS symptoms. What is remarkable is that I take it once a day around 5:30pm and don't need it again for 24 hours. I forgot one day and was 2 hours late and I started symptoms. At one point I was taking 5 different prescription drugs a day for RLS! At least that is much better only taking one thing, but it is very strong and physically addictive.

If my supply every stopped I would probably be in withdrawals within two days, besides having terrible RLS 24 hours a day. That actually does scare me. We were having flood warnings the other day, wonder if something like that happened? Kratom would not be enough to stop the withdrawals, I can tell that already, this stuff is like the atomic bomb of RLS meds, if this doesn't stop your symptoms nothing will. It also stops all the withdrawal symptoms from the other meds like methadone that I had taken for years. I wouldn't use it though unless you get to where I am, which is just on this side of hopeless. I'm still working though! Still hoping for a total cure one day soon.

Don't give up hope, you can always try Suboxone or morphine, I think either one should work. I even started playing my xBox game again which I had given up for most of last year because of lack of sleep and lack of interest in anything really. I just wish I was 100%, at least for my age, but I will settle for my present predicament :D

crl363
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Re: Suboxone - Living on the Edge

Post by crl363 »

I am on 10mg Methadone and 600mg gabapentin. Since I have been on the Methadone I get mood swings and “mean spirited” often. I constantly have to be aware of it or it would be worse (snapping at people). My doctor thought Suboxone would help but he doesn’t have the special license you need to prescribe it (in the U.S.). Does anyone know of a way of counteracting the mood swings/meanness that the Methadone is causing? (Sleep and RLS symptoms are no longer an issue).

Bob

debbluebird
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Re: Suboxone - Living on the Edge

Post by debbluebird »

I would have thought it was the gabapentin that was doing the mood swings, etc. I've been on both and that was my experience. Same with Lyrica.

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