need help with med name please.

Suboxone!!!! ( went to the Chronic Pain 101) page and there it was )
I believe this is one of the meds she mentioned. Has anyone got any experience with this medication?
thx
cat

thanks retiredmom. I have an appointment on the 15th with this doc. I'll go only if its for med management. Its a local shrink who I know from my days as a caseworker so hopefully it will go smoothly. I looked up subooxone and was disappointed to find that it is also a narcotic. I guess I just have this dream to be narco free but hey..if it works then I will go for it.
Thanks for the info.
once again my family on this list has come through again
cat

Hi Cat,

Just wanted to mention that I was on Levorphanol and it was amazing! I felt better then I did in a long time! Only one problem....and it was a big one.....in February it went on backorder and as of September (which was the last time I checked) it still was not available! I went through terrible withdrawals and switched to morphine SR. For a long time I wanted to go back on it because it worked so well....but now I am scared of not being able to get it again! Anyway, just wanted to let you know!

Take care of you!
Beckey

just a question, why can a psychiatrist order this stuff but not a pain doc? seems strange to me. The only issue I have with trying this is because of the provider I need to see to get it. HI worked with this doc when I was a caseworker. He went through some ethical issues ( a female client sued for sexual abuse!!) which made him flee the country. Hes' back so obviously the case was settled but it makes me uneasy as I have have the same issue and already feel prejudiced against him. It could be tricky.
cat

A doctor has to take an 8 hour course to prescribe this medication for dependence/addiction, but ANY doctor can prescribe it off-label for chronic pain, but the DEA frowns upon that BIG time....if you go to the Suboxone's main websight, there's a place where you can either put in your zipcode and get a list of all doctors that can prescribe this medication or you can fill out a thing where the doctor's office will contact you if their is an opening, so you have choices in other doctors.

If your insurance doesn't cover this medication, your gonna be spending quite a bit of money!!! And generic Subutex is the cheapest medication (Suboxone doesnt come in a generic yet) but some doctor's wont prescribe Subutex unless your allergic or very sensitive to the naloxone in the Suboxone or your pregnant. Luckly for me, after 2 and half years, I only have to see my doctor once every 3 months for $90, and my medication costs $170 monthly, all out of pocket. But the fees to see the doctor the first time can be VERY spendy, mine costs around $500 for the first appointment, then $130 a week later, then another $130 every month for 6 months, then it was every 2 months for 6 months, and now I see him every 3 months, but he lowered his price for me since he knew I was suffering with finacial issues...

To me, it's well worth the money since this medication takes away my pain. I first started it to stop all pain medications (I was on a high dose of methadone and morphine with no pain relief and had a hard time tapering) so I decide to try Suboxone to help me taper so I could re-evaluate my pain, and I found out the Suboxone/Subutex was wonderful for my pain so my doctor and I have decided to keep me on it for pain control.

Also, every doctor is allowed to have so many patients on a thing where the manufactures gives the patients a years worth of free Suboxone, so you may wanna ask about that.

-kitty

antbuggey said...
Hi Cat,

Just wanted to mention that I was on Levorphanol and it was amazing! I felt better then I did in a long time! Only one problem....and it was a big one.....in February it went on backorder and as of September (which was the last time I checked) it still was not available! I went through terrible withdrawals and switched to morphine SR. For a long time I wanted to go back on it because it worked so well....but now I am scared of not being able to get it again! Anyway, just wanted to let you know!

Take care of you!
Beckey

Thanks for the insightful post! I'm hoping that I won't run into supply problems; I'm trying to find a Medicare Part D plan that will cover it when the next open Enrollment Period begins in 10 days. My hope is to find a dose that doesn't require too huge a number of those little 2mg tablets and with the help of Ultra Low Dose Naltrexone, have that dose continue working indefinitely. What dosage were you on and what other dosages of other meds might you compare it to?

now i'm really confused. I'm already on embeda which contains naloxone. If suboxone contains naloxone, why not just add the subtex?
I am getting very confused about all of this.
cat

Darn it!!!! My psych doc just called to cancel ( one hour before my appointment!!) He has an emergency BUT wanted to let me know he does not feel comfortable prescribing suboxone for pain...Now I am back to square one!!
I really think this is an omen. So much has gone wrong with my pain treatment and now this is the last straw!!!
I really think it is time to call "UNCLE"!!!!!!
really disappointed and ready to quit
catahoula

Proventil is an asthma med along the lines of albuterol...but you're close...I still can't think of it.
thanks
cat

thats it PROVIGIL which can even be a adjuvant to a pain med. the generic name is modafinil if i remember right and there is a new drug on the market which is very similar people are giving good reports about for narcolepsy and shift-worker-syndrome. as far as suboxone it is a good long term pain med for many people but i think the use of suboxone/subutex for pain is still off-label in the US. i took it for a year and it worked well when oxycontin, morphine, and dilaudid where not doing to good. the reason i D/C it was my insurance co-pay was over 500 /month, so i don't think it worked that good when generic morphine was 20. most psychiatrist who have a "suboxone waiver" on their DEA number are either outpaitent detoxing or matinance dosing their patients rather than treating chronic pain ; but some do. some pain mg. docs have the "suboxone waiver". the Embeda your on has naltrexone rather than naloxone. the IMPORTANT thing to remember is the opioid agonist/antagonist buprenorphine cannot be used concurantly with any other opioid pain medications. if your on a opiate agonist and you take a dose of suboxone/subutex it could cause immediate violent withdrawals, you have to almost be in a withdrawal situation to start suboxone comfortable. buprenorphine was originally marketed under the brand name buprenex and only in a pre-dosed injectable of 0.3mg which is equivilant to 10mg of morphine in IV administration and it had advantages with non-opioid dependent patients that had depressed respiration problems because it does not effect the breathing center of the brain as bad as MS. buprenorphine also has a ceiling effect at 32mg, which pure opioid agonist (morphine, metadone, fentanyl) do not. suboxone is a very interesting and complex drug. i wish you the best of luck with your pain mang.

The biggest problems with the new meds are the COST.  My insurance covers them, but they have made all non generic meds on a percentage pay basis. So for a formulary med, it is 20%  with a minimum of $20-to a maximum of $100, I think. and Non formulary if more with a minimum of $25 to maximum of $250 per med.  Methadone is the absolute cheapest long term med available. As Oxycontin has been reformulated and no longer available generically, I found it to run about $800 or more a month.  They have put out the cards for $70 -$75  off , but I think it is only with no insurance. I think it is strange that oxycontin never had much difference in the cost whether it was generic or name brand. BUT if I got generic and the actual cost was around $600, I paid $5, and if it was name branc and the cost was $700 or a little more, I paid $40, now all that has changed to where I would have to pay up to $250 per script per month. Makes no sense.

I thought you were looking for the correct name Proventil, sorry. I did not know you meant it sounded like it. One of the reasons that many meds are not covered by insurance, is that so many are used for things they were not originally meant for, and therefore the diagnosis and med do not agree.  It is pathetic that to use meds, to be able to get out of bed or move, we are labeled, and disdained. Some of the pharmacists are friendly, and treat me well while others treat me like I am breaking the law or something by filling my scripts every month. I have been a RN for a long time, and never judged anybody for their pain, and I rarely talke about mine, as nobody really wants to hear about it. I just take my meds in private, and keep quiet. Per my new dr. (the other left town) I was changed from methadone to oxycontin, Believe me it should always go the other way. I did it over 5 or 6 months, and still the methadone left my body missing it. The oxycontin I do not like. It gives me a headache, and makes me feel unwell, but the physcian likes it. Hopefully, now that my co ppay for it has risen so high, he will consider changing me to another med.

 

I wish you well,

absolutley you would not want suboxone tommorrow if you took embeda today because it is so long-acting a little morphine will still be in your system and immediate intense withdrawals would be precipitated.i am sure the suboxone doctor has a plan of treatment for how long to wait and also for that period they may give you clonidine,ativan,trazadone,promethazine, or maybe hydroxyzine all based on treating withdrawal symptoms.amitiptyline can also help you sleep during the transition.keep us informed on how the suboxone doctor prceeds. best wishes.