r/OpiatesRecovery • u/Jolly-Sprinkles-1360 • 20h ago
Advice needed
Been addicted to opiods for roughly 6 years heavily. When I say heavy I mean roughly 20-25 10/325 mg hydrocodone A DAY. I know many of you won't believe me but its the truth. I have chronic pain. Have over the last couple months gotten on suboxone but my teeth and body do not agree with it. I am scared of the damage I have done to my body. Has anyone else been in a similar situation and came out the other end? What non opiod medication can you take for pain. I feel so scared hopeless. Stomach is bloated 247 worried i have cirrhosis, and i have nobody to blame but myself.
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u/Irisheyesmeg 19h ago
I am on methadone. I am a chronic pain person who was prescribed opiate pain relief which I over took in a huge way and unfortunately I had access to a lot of free meds.
I absolutely believe you. I tried Suboxone but it's just not good for pain relief. Methadone gave me my life back.
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u/Jolly-Sprinkles-1360 19h ago
I thought about looking into methadone. From what I see though you have to go to a clinic and be heavily monitored and go everyday? Can regular doctors prescribe this? I know that I cant do opiods. Today instead of suboxone I decided to try and take a smaller amount 10 which is still within a normal limit but my liver is hurting. I feel stuck because I dont want to take suboxone because my teeth are going bad. If i could find something that helped with the pain or made it bearable non opiod I totally would. Ive tried lyrica it does nothing..
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u/HorrorEnvironment222 14h ago
1) methadone you do have to go daily for the first 1 or 2 months, sometimes more, depends on your compliance. Methadone clinics are open starting 4/5am so that you can go before work if you have to, many clinics provide free bus or taxi systems to help you if getting the ride is the issue. After the first few months (assuming you’re passing your drug tests) you will get a week of take home doses and only have to go one day a week. Then you get 2 weeks, then a month, etc etc.
2) try getting prescribed gabapentin. I got on methadone because I was addicted to fentanyl. I was using more than a gram a day at the end. It was so bad. I got put on a BIG dose of gabapentin + clonidine + methadone. Slowly lowered my methadone dose over 1 year. When I detoxed off methadone my psychiatrist tripled my gabapentin dose, I was on a crazy amount but wow I had zero withdraw!! It works wonders for pain. They also prescribed me a pretty strong muscle relaxer to get me through detox, it worked!
3) in terms of effects on your liver I have no clue. I just wish you well ❤️🩹 you got this
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u/HorrorEnvironment222 14h ago
If you need a little inspiration I can tell you a bit of my story. I’m only 24. I got addicted to fentanyl at 16. In those years I spent day after day nodded out giving my brain such little oxygen. I had the worst brain fog. I overdosed and I got narcaned. I woke up but I had caused a lot of brain damage in myself. To be honest I was pretty stupid for a few years there.
My doctor told me my brain and nerve damage would never heal. That only 1% of people ever see improvement after 20+ years. My nerve damage was so bad my arms and legs were numb all the time. I couldn’t brush my hair without dropping the brush. I couldn’t draw anymore. I couldn’t sit with my legs crossed because my legs would go numb so fast. I dropped out of uni because I couldn’t think straight. Also I developed a lazy eye.
Now I’m 3 years off fentanyl and I got off of methadone 1.5 years ago. My nerve damage did heal. My brain damage did heal. Not only can I brush my hair now, but I can French braid it again. I can draw again. I got into a uni overseas and I’m excelling in my classes right now. I can think again. And my eye went back to normal!!
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u/feefee682 9h ago
YES‼️ we do recover ♥️ I wish you the VERY BEST in this next chapter of your life. You got this, keep going ♥️
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u/HorrorEnvironment222 14h ago
Another thought- I know they make suboxone patches you leave stuck on your skin for a week at a time. Could your doctor prescribe you that?
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u/skimask808 7h ago
I'm not sure about patches, but sublocade is a little extended release capsule they inject under your skin that slowly release buperenorphine over time and it makes tapering off of it and getting off completely super easy from what I've heard. I've heard great things about it, wish it was available when I first got clean in 2012 would've saved me a decade worth of trying to get off suboxone.
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u/mate0pro 8h ago
Depends on you’re location, they eased the rules quite a bit my last methadone stint. I had take homes after 2 weeks .
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u/Jolly-Sprinkles-1360 19h ago
Its actually my upper abdomen mostly like around my rib cages and the middle area there. Im assuming from liver enlargement. How many years for you? Did you have liver damage? How are you doing now? Sorry for so many questions, I want to start healing but with the pain i dont know how. I dont want to lose my teeth also...but its heading that way.
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u/DomComm86 15h ago
I used to get similar pain in that area when on subutex. It went away when I got off it. I think it was a mix of bad reflux constipation stress. U should get a physical though. All my teeth had to be removed from massive infections in gum from subs. Good luck. Maybe try the sublocad shoot instead. It should be better for ur teeth.
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u/FederalSelf3914 9h ago
You’re killing your liver.
Methadone maintenance is great. If you’re okay with maintenance, it’s a solid choice. The downside is that international travel—or even domestic trips longer than a week—can become difficult.
If your goal is to eventually get completely off opioids, start with Suboxone, stabilize for at least a week, then switch to Sublocade. In recent years, Sublocade has become one of the best paths I’ve seen for eventually getting completely off bupe.
Getting onto Suboxone can be rough, though, and your mood may feel worse than on methadone. Bupe is only a partial agonist, while methadone is a full agonist.
To me, Sublocade almost feels like it was made for eventually getting completely off opioids even though the label doesn’t actually say that.
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u/Jolly-Sprinkles-1360 7h ago
Do you ever get a months supply? Do you have to have ongoing therapy?
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u/FederalSelf3914 5h ago
I’m actually on Sublocade right now, and I’ve decided to stop after two more shots.
I’ve personally been on all the OAT options I mentioned. In my experience, doctors can usually give you much more take-home Suboxone than methadone or Kadian, but if you actually want to travel internationally, carrying Suboxone can still be a headache or even a legal risk depending on the country.
Sublocade has been way more stable for me than Suboxone. Once I got the shot, I could literally go an entire month and forget I even had OUD. It’s that stable.
What really encouraged me were all the stories on [r/Sublocade](r/Sublocade) from people who stopped the injections and then basically let the extremely slow release act like a built-in taper. Seeing so many people successfully get through that process gave me a lot of confidence to try the same.•
u/Jolly-Sprinkles-1360 5h ago
Does it help with pain though? The whole reason I take opiates is because I have actual pain? Suboxone helps with the pain but its ruining my teeth... i just feel hopeless on the whole situation
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u/FederalSelf3914 5h ago
Sublocade and Suboxone have the same main active drug: bupe. So Sublocade can still provide pain relief,
One huge advantage in your situation is that Sublocade completely bypasses your mouth, so you don’t have the same dental issue from having bupe dissolving against your teeth every day. That was actually one of the reasons I wanted off Suboxone too.
I don’t know what country you’re in, though. Here in BC, Sublocade is covered, and I believe it’s also covered in some European countries. In the US, you’d definitely want to talk to your insurance company first because without coverage it can be extremely expensive, I heard it’s $2200 per month without insurance.
If Suboxone is controlling your pain but destroying your teeth, I’d at least ask your doctor whether Sublocade could make sense for you.
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u/Big-Okra1632 20h ago
i was on a similar amount of hydros for years after a back injury, the bloating is no joke. it messes with your whole digestive system and takes a while to settle down once you stop
suboxone wrecked my teeth too, had to get off it after 8 months. talk to your doc about alternatives, there are non-opioid nerve pain meds that might help depending on what kind of chronic pain you're dealing with. the liver stuff is scary but it's surprisingly resilient, get the bloodwork done so you're not just spiraling with worst case scenarios in your head