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Transitioning from High Dose Opiates to Suboxone for Chronic Pain

Posted by faithgirl30 @faithgirl30, Nov 25, 2020

Hi! My name is Melanie and I’ve been on high dose opiates for the last 5 years due severe degenerative arthritis in my neck. I’ve undergone 5 spinal neck surgeries in the last 4 years, the last of which was October 2019. I am now fully fused between C2-T2 and have rods in the back of my neck for stability that run the full length of my fusion. I suffer chronic daily headaches and have just undergone the first round of Botox for headaches and cervical dystonia. My pain specialist and surgeon agree that I will more than likely suffer long term chronic pain for the rest of my life. They have recommended that I make the jump from high dose dilaudid to suboxone to manage chronic pain, which is an off-label use for suboxone, but which has been shown to successfully manage long term chronic pain.

I am writing to find out if others have made the jump successfully to suboxone, and if so what your transition from opiates to suboxone was like? I have been nervous about this transition, because it requires that you go cold turkey off of opiates and enter into full blown withdrawal before it’s safe to start the ramp up onto suboxone. So, if you have made the jump, what was the withdrawal process like for you, and has suboxone been effective in managing your long term chronic pain? Would you recommend others make this move? Why or why not?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Chronic Pain Support Group.

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jdkitkat129 | @jdkitkat129 | 22 hours ago
In reply to @marky777 "@jdkitkat129 my last trigger point injection appt was 3/26 this year. Canceled the appt which was..." + (show)
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@jdkitkat129 my last trigger point injection appt was 3/26 this year. Canceled the appt which was scary, those shots kept me driving and walking and upright for at least 1-2 weeks, which had me counting days until next injection, if that stopped working the next option we were exploring was the shot they give you in the hospital.
But mid to late last year somehow ran across that book, and marked up so much of it that related to myself personally, that i grabbed a highlighter especially chapters 6-8, then passed it off to my pain doc, she took it home and checked it out, was 100 down with the idea but when I passed the script back, she said they can't see me any more per insurance, no shots no pills, on my own now, the sense of freedom is beyond liberating, not knowing nor caring about canes and placards any more, and those trigger points that one touch would have me on knees? Gone. Just gone.
For the first time in I don't know how long, the gait feels normal, even, steady.
Have 24 MRI's, Xrays CAT scans PET scans at radnet, about half for my MS and the rest for orthopedic, was non-ambulatory & mostly housebound for so long, was resigned to fate.

That all (started) changing when all that trauma was dealt with, started with a PTSD coach online, that was like opening up a Pandoras box that had been closed for many many decades.
And as that past slowly released it's grip, it was like you could feel the pain leaving the body, not all at once but slowly over time, then after a church service on 4/11 at 2:45 pm it was like POOF, legs came back. Limp vanished, have been "running" ever since.
Told everyone I know and they know you are speaking truth as they saw you using cane and placard for a long time.

John Sarno delves into the physical reality of psychosomatic disease processes. It is *very* real, the pain is real, but it is also very treatable.

Trauma can be a lot of things, events in life that then are reflected in our physical body. Death or divorce or loss or (name it) contribute to that process, the brain is very powerful, and also very protective, when our brain has been traumatized and shocked it can manifest in the body, sometimes even relocate to different areas.

Mark.

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@marky777

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jdkitkat129 | @jdkitkat129 | 22 hours ago

That's a lot of work and right now I don't know if I'm capable. I'm so beat down. I believe that I'm a candidate for sure. I was adopted at 3 days old. I lost my mother to breast cancer at 18. I got married young out of my junior year in high school but graduated anyway. When mother passed I was pregnant with my son but wasn't sure and she was not in the state of mind to tell her anyway. She passed in December 73 and my son was born in August '74. I thought I went through postpartum depression but looking back I'm sure it was grief. I remember not feeling the kind of love for my son that I should have. I was an only child and had never changed a baby's diaper so I really didn't know how to be a mother. Had an alcoholic husband that I finally got the courage to divorce after Daddy passed away in 84. I got my divorce from my husband in 85. My father would have been so proud. He knew I was suffering from psychological abuse. Six months after my divorce I got breast cancer and had a mastectomy but a year later I had breast reconstruction. I met a man that I was dating that stood by me during that time. We married in 1989. He didn't have children so he expected my children to act like adults. So there were a few problems. In 1993 my son passed away from a seizure disorder that he started having as a teenager. He had nocturnal Grand mal seizures. The next year I didn't know what happened in the world. I was trying to just function to get by. The next year I filed for divorce and I've never remarried. A few years later it was subtle but I got addicted pain medication and that's how I've been on Suboxone ever since because I had to go to rehab because I realized I was addicted and didn't want to keep living my life that way. But it appears I exchanged one addiction for another but at least I can function with this one.
I know this was more personal than yours but I gave you some of the details to see if you think some of this trauma might be related to my pain? Thank you for sharing your story. It would be nice to have hope again.

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