Many patients taking buprenorphine live in fear of a dark world around the corner where they will have to taper off the medication. They see horror stories on YouTube posted by people who, for some reason, abruptly stopped the medication and kept a video log of their experiences. My own patients sometimes ask, nervously, if … [Read more…]
A post on the Forum asked about the best remedies for opioid withdrawal. I will review the medications and other treatments for opioid withdrawal that I have heard discussed by physicians or by people on the internet. Hopefully readers will leave comments about medications or approaches that they have found useful. Likewise, if you are … [Read more…]
Originally Posted 10/27/2013 I usually have my wife/business partner review my posts and provide her opinion whether my arguments are sound. For the record, she tells me that this post is technical and boring. I disagree, but we aren’t planning to separate over the issue. A valid criticism, I think, is that I’m doing a … [Read more…]
First posted 11/11/2012 In my last post, I wrote about the work-up of a patient who experiences symptoms similar to opioid withdrawal that start about an hour after each dose of Suboxone. We decided that the symptoms were signs of withdrawal—i.e. reduced activity of mu-opioid pathways—and that the symptoms were triggered by taking a daily … [Read more…]
Originally posted 11/7/2012 I struggle with the length of my posts. I shoot for 1000 words—an amount of reading that most people can knock off in a typical trip to the bathroom— but I find it difficult to limit posts to that size. So as I have done in the past, I will break this … [Read more…]
I received a question from a reader about withdrawal symptoms from stopping buprenorphine. My answer has relevance to opioid withdrawal in general, and to a common misconception about the duration of withdrawal symptoms. The message: Basically I quit Suboxone about 18 days ago. When I decided to quit I was taking about 8 to 12mgs per day. I … [Read more…]
I often receive e-mails asking for advice on tapering Suboxone, or asking how long Suboxone withdrawal should last. People who read my blog know my approach to stopping Suboxone; I see it as an exercise in futility even in the rare cases where the person is successful, because of a relapse rate that verges on … [Read more…]
I have talked about the book I am working on– I decided at some point to come out with two things. I receive so many questions about Suboxone– apparently many doctors don’t come up with suggestions for dealing with surgery, pain, etc. So I have produced an e-book that describes my approach to dealing with … [Read more…]