Author: JoshuAble
Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 5:21 pm
Welcome Space. I’m glad that you’ve inducted onto suboxone successfully and are feeling relief and feeling life is good without opiates (and whatever other addictions you were suffering from like alcohol).
I also started on 16 mg of suboxone when I started, and I have been on suboxone maintenance a LONG time, about 4 years or so, and am now at 2mg daily.
My doctor also had me taking 8mg 2x a day, morning and night, and I did that for about 2+ years. In that span I didn’t really think much about "dosing once a day being the best" as I was just happy to be off my DOC (heroin/oxy) and living a normal life.
While I agree 100% that unless you are taking suboxone for a serious/chronic pain problem it should be taken once a day. But I also realize that taking suboxone a couple times a day is still a huge step forward compared to taking your DOC and the likes. While I would also suggest trying to simply take 16mg one time a day (I do mine in the morning), I would severely recommend you at least stop breaking it into 4 doses, and if you must take it morning and night (twice a day at 8mg each) it’s an improvement compared to the 4 times a day (it is just purely mental/psychological).
In my experience, after 2 years of taking 8mg in the morning and then another 8mg at night to sleep was 1000x better than shooting up heroin 10x a day (or however often I needed it), so while others and myself are suggesting you simply take your full dose once a day please just take it as constructive advice, you’re definitely still doing the right thing and by just being on the forum, taking suboxone, and showing your here to seek further knowledge is proof you are definitely on the right track.
I will admit, after 2 years I had been talking to someone who recommended I just take it once a day, and after reading more about it and reflecting on it I decided to do just that. I remember, even after 2 years, when I switched to just taking 16mg in the morning 1x daily rather than dosing 8mg twice a day, I understood I had a psychological addiction to just "dosing" and taking it more than once a day (like a multivitamin). I had little to know actual Physical manifestations or withdrawals when I switched to once a day after 2 full years, but I remember having trouble for about a week because when 9pm rolled around when I usually took my second dose that I mentally relied on to help me sleep, I would find myself building up anxiety in myself, having thoughts that "I think I might be feeling some withdrawal symptoms", when in reality it was purely psychological.
I have an extremely fast metabolism too, and suboxone’s mean half-life of 37 hours is a little less for me, though it’s still probably around the 30+ hour mark at the lowest (everyone’s body differs, but science proves that it’s pretty much impossible that it has a 12 hour half life on ANYONE, which would be the only reason to dose two times for the physical W/D reasons).
For your sake, since you just stabilized on suboxone, I’d recommend you stop the 4 times a day dosing, go to 2 times a day for a couple days and then just dose once a day (I prefer mornings, some prefer nights), simply because it is meant to be taken this way (unless you are taking it for chronic pain which is a different story). 16mg a day in the morning when you wake up will still be basically 12mg (that’s in theory because it’s obviously not 100% bioavailable), but you get my point; and since you’ve been on it for a month now it’s built up in your system, so physically you really would have no withdrawals switching to dosing once a day.
But simply being on suboxone at 4 doses a day is something to be proud of, so don’t take this as a negative whatsoever. You obviously feel much better, and you are no longer doing your DOC(drug of choice) and also quit drinking etc. So keep your head up, you’re on the right track!
Maybe just try taking 16mg tomorrow in the morning and see how it goes; and if you "feel anything different" realize it’s purely mental, as the science proves this 100%. If you feel like that might be too much, at least go back to taking it 2x a day rather than your current 4x a day. The longer you take the same dose of suboxone, especially in the first 2-4 weeks, it slowly builds up to a steady concentrated plasma level, and it takes about 2-4 weeks for it to reach that peak level where you will always be at taking 16mg a day. So I’d bet with some willpower and exercise you could move to 2x dosing and then 1x dosing daily without much trouble, while confronting the fact its purely for that mental purpose.
EDIT: Here’s a thought, how about taking 12 mg in the morning and then 4 mg at night for a couple days (or even 14mg morning and 2mg at night) and you’ll see no difference physically compared to dosing 4mg 4x a day (or 8mg two times a day), and that will maybe soothe your mind in understanding that it’s purely a mental and just how your brain works (like all of ours did or do, depending on what stage we are at in our treatment), and then switching to the one dose every morning could be that much easier on you mentally.
Either way, you’re on the right track, and will get tons of great information and feedback here. Not only will you get great answers to questions or posts, but also search around the forums (and the blog and past articles) and you can really learn a lot about addiction, suboxone, and yourself, which will only make you feel even better than you’re already feeling now having gone a month without your DOC and alcohol.
Keep up the good work!
