Question by Adam Smith: Opiate Addiction and Help?
Hey all. I have a quick question regarding Hydromorphone. About a year and a half ago, I sobered up from opiates. I had a pretty bad addiction. With-drawls were hell and ended up going on Suboxone for eight months. I am off of everything now. Here is the problem; I ended up breaking my ankle a few hours ago. I went to the hospital and was given liquid Hydromorphone via IV and they wrote me a prescription for 15 of the 2mg Dilaudids (Hydromorphone). I am a little worried. For this short amount of time, will I automatically have to go through full blown with drawls again? I have not used ANY opiates at all for 18 months…but I am REALLY worried that come tomorrow, I will be dope sick and have to go back on Suboxone. Will I have to go through all of that again, or am I okay and am just worrying too much? Can anyone shed some light on this?
@Maggie

I really appreciate the response! But no, I have not taken any Subs for pretty long time (more than a few months). My worry was that I would automatically be addicted again and if I stopped, I would go through that full-blown agonist withdrawal. The reason I did think this is the fact that yes, I did get high on this “medication”. I asked my doctor the same thing and he said: “If you are in pain, the pain will override the medication and it will do its job. This will not get you “high”. However, I got did in fact get high. I got REALLY high. Just like when I was addicted. So much so that it messed with my sleep and all that good stuff. I understand the craving thing. The craving thing has never really gone away…I suppose that may never will. I suppose I should thank “god” or someone for the fact that I have a strong self-efficacy. Getting off of the Suboxone was not easy, but I did it.

Again, I wanna thank you for your response. It put my mind at ease.

Best answer:

Answer by maggieeld
NO. You won’t go into any withdrawals. What you MAY do though, is go through another bout of addiction. I was on Suboxone. I wasn’t on it for addiction, however I know everything there is to know about it…NOW, so NO you will NOT go through withdrawal. You can safely take an opiate after Suboxone if you wait (they say exactly: 12 hours) subsequent to your last dose. I myself, went OFF Suboxone & 12 hrs later took a prescribed Oxycoadone 30 mg tablet (pretty strong stuff!) Then 12 hrs later, managed to “talk myself into THINKING I was “in withdrawal,” but I was NOT.” You can literally “think” yourself into feeling something, I discovered. 🙂 What you should experience: if you have not had Sunoxone for 12 hrs or longer: probably nothing. Why? because the Suboxone is still making the Opiate bounce right off that receptor! IT TAKES APROX 5 DAYS TO HAVE SUBOXONE COMPLETELY OT EFFECT THOSE OPIATE RECEPTORS. Trust me, if you were going to go through withdrawal, you’d already be IN withdrawal. You woud be curled up on the floor & you sure would not be online! 🙂 You are FINE, do not worry. If you have had NO Suboxone for 5 days or longer, then the opiate that the doc gave you will effect you EXACTLY THE SAME WAY, IF YOU HAD NEVER HAD SUBOXONE. You MIGHT even get high from it because you had an addiction at one time, therefore you may experience a craving for the opiate. But the RULE OF THUMB IS: YOU WILL NOT PUT YOURSELF INTO PRECIPITATED WITHDRAWALS IF YOU WAIT 12 HOURS AFTER TAKING SUBOXONE TO TKE AN OPIATE. AFTER STOPPING SUBOXONE: IT TAKES 5 DAYS FOR THE OPIATE RECEPTORS TO START WORKING THE SAME AS THEY DID WHEN YOU WERE NOT TAKING ANY SUBOXONE. THE ONLY WAY TO THROW YOURSELF INTO PRECIPITATED WITHDRAWALS IS: IF YOU TKAKE AN OPIATE & SUBOXONE WITHOUT WAITING 12 HOURS IN BETWEEN. PERIOD.
They ask you to please wait 12 hours & be in “moderate withdrawal” prior to starting Suboxone. Ths is to insure that you have the Opiate OUT of your syatem & are IN withdrawal when you begin Suboxone so that it can work properly, do it’s job, and so that you don’t o the off-chance have any opiate left in your system. You say that you waited 18 months. You are WAY safe to take an Opiate and not experience any withdrawals!!
HOWEVER: If you are afraid that you will go into wthdrawals when you stop whatever opiate the doc gave you just now, do not worry. Thing is, doctors do not prescribe opiates to people knowing that “this is just enough to make them not become addicted.” I have personally been on 10 days of VERY strong narcotics…I didn’t get addicted, nor did I exprience any withdrawals. You ONLY experience withdrawals (physical) when your body becomes DEPENDENT on a drug, and I have never herd of a doctor prescribing a narcotic to someone long enough to get them addicted, wihout also prescribing them enough to taper them off. IF they NEED tapering-off, anyway.
If I were you, I would take my medication AS PRESCRIBED and then follow-up with a doctor. Explain your situation. I’d say, “I once had an addiction to opiates but now I am not addicted. I have no cravings, however I was prescribed an opiate medication which I would like to take accurately and correctly, however I do not want any addiction to occur, what is your advice?” Your doctor will likely prescrbe you medication to sooth your pain, then if needed, will taper you off. If you are NOT an addict. IF you are not n addict. IF you are an addict (they say once an addict, always an addict, but that is ot for ME to say) they will medicate you so that you do not experience the pain & at the same time, they will not cause you to be in another situation in which case you were addicted to opiates.
NO you will NOT go trough withdrawals if you only take what your doctor gave to you right now. PERIOD, you wil not. Don’t talk yourself into that, either. If you take it as prescribed, follow the directions…you will not go through any withdrawals.
THE ONLY WAY TO PUT YOURSELF THROUGH WITHDRAWALS IS TO:
1. TAKE SUBOXONE & AN OPIATE WITHIN TOO SHORT OF A TIME TOGETHER OR–
2. TAKE AN OPIATE MEDICATION OR STREET DRUG FOR A PROLONGED PERIOD OF TIME IN WHICH CASE YOUR BODY BECOMES PHYSICALLY ((DEPENDENT)) ON IT.
I have known people who have had Suboxone one day & some crazy mix of street opiates the next and it’s VERY dangerous to do but it did not throw them into withdrawals. The fact that you took Suboxone & went through any withdrawals is crazy to me because hey prescribe Suboxone to those who are addicted to opiates & want to get off of them…and they prescribe the Suboxone to be taken 12 hrs after the last opiate was taken…when the person is in “moderate withdrawal.” Moderate withdrawal is scored on a table & is based on things like pupil dialation, light sensitivity, sweating, chills, yawning, aches & pains (they watch to see if they are rubbing or hitting their thighs) and so on… It is a sensitive table, I have read it

Answer by Changing the World 1 Y!A @ a X
Make an appointment with a counselor so you can be monitored by a professional for your addiction while you are needing to take pain meds.

Better safe than sorry!

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