Author: tearj3rker

Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:26 am

It’s really great to see the concern you have for your friend. It could be what makes the difference.

It sounds like your friend is quite guarded with all this, which is something we often do in addiction. But I can nearly guarantee he’s not abusing agonists. If he was, he’d be accumulating Suboxone instead of running out of it. People skip Sub doses when they abuse other opioids, not take more.

Whether it’s because of his pain or just because of the effect .. ??

I wish I could help, but I’ve never really abused Suboxone like that, so don’t have much insight into it. But I’ve always thought it’s quite serious to abuse maintenance medications, whether methadone or Suboxone, and I’d consider myself to have lapsed into addiction if I did it myself. The reason is that when a person takes more than prescribed to get high, Suboxone becomes a drug of addiction rather than a drug of recovery. If they do it long enough, they end up denying themselves the benefits the drug can provide.

This was a bit of a warning sign for me:

Whatever he’s trying to do, he’s clearly acknowledging that he’s using more than he should.

Some people on this forum would know better than me maybe, what to do when someone on the program is abusing their Suboxone, or taking too much for pain reasons.

Author: tearj3rker

Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:26 am

It’s really great to see the concern you have for your friend. It could be what makes the difference.

It sounds like your friend is quite guarded with all this, which is something we often do in addiction. But I can nearly guarantee he’s not abusing agonists. If he was, he’d be accumulating Suboxone instead of running out of it. People skip Sub doses when they abuse other opioids, not take more.

Whether it’s because of his pain or just because of the effect .. ??

I wish I could help, but I’ve never really abused Suboxone like that, so don’t have much insight into it. But I’ve always thought it’s quite serious to abuse maintenance medications, whether methadone or Suboxone, and I’d consider myself to have lapsed into addiction if I did it myself. The reason is that when a person takes more than prescribed to get high, Suboxone becomes a drug of addiction rather than a drug of recovery. If they do it long enough, they end up denying themselves the benefits the drug can provide.

This was a bit of a warning sign for me:

Whatever he’s trying to do, he’s clearly acknowledging that he’s using more than he should.

Some people on this forum would know better than me maybe, what to do when someone on the program is abusing their Suboxone, or taking too much for pain reasons.