New Suboxone Laws In Tennessee...limits Patients To 16mg Per Day??? (Top voted first)

Updated

Hello. I am currently taking 24 mgs of suboxone film per day. This dose has worked well for me. I was taking 28mg per day but hav cut back. I live in Va but my doctor is TN. I was told at my last appointment that they had to cut me back to 16mgs per day b/c of some new TN law that forbids the doctors to write more than that. Is this true? How can they do that? It seems like it would be not only a violation of federal law but also a human rights issue. I would understand a reasonable limit but even the suboxone website says this is a reasonable dose. Please help me, I'm scared to death, freaking out & can't find any doctor in VA that is taking new patients. I've searched the web for days about this but can't find any answers. Thank you so much.

39 Replies (2 Pages)

Page:1Last Page
Earliest Newest Votes
7

I've been on suboxone for 3 to 4 yrs and now there telling me that I have to cut down to two a day just like that does the state of Tennessee not understand anything you take what helps and screw it up. I've been an addict for many years and suboxone is the only medication that has helped me since stopping pain pills. If the state of Tennessee only new what they are getting ready to get started when many people go back to crime and whatever to get there high maybe they will look at this another way

Was this helpful? 11
2

They lowered me to 16mg this month. My Dr. Showed me the papers he received explaining the law. In six months I have to be down to 10 mg a day and after six more months I have to be at 4mg a day. I can stay on 4 mg forever after that. My god what the hell is going on. Is the methodone clinics losing money. It doesnt make sense to even mess with suboxone. 17 years I chased dope everyday. Stealing, hurting, anything it took. For the last four years I have been able to wake up take my suboxone and go about my day as a normal person. I swear any time I think I have a handle on my addiction I get blind sided. This time I want to fight. Someone please tell me how to fight this law against suboxone.

Was this helpful? 10
11

I feel you 100%, They are taking me off subutex now after 5 years and doing Suboxone and for uneducated people on the topic of buprenorphine plz don't even reply because yes there is a difference, I - we should know after being on both and taking it over 5 years or longer. Suboxone/Naloxone don't help people for pain that take subutex for pain and addiction that can't take pain pills because of addiction ha and most of all it makes a lot of people sick where they can't function like me, migraines, sick to my stomach just to name a few. The naloxone doesn't have anything to do with making people dope sick/withdraws when mixing opiates with subutex or Suboxone. It's the buprenorphine, the main drug in both that throws people into withdraws when taking sub while on opiates or have opiates still in there system. So making people just take Suboxone ain't gonna stop people from abusing it on the streets, they already take Suboxone with opiates. The purpose that naloxone is meant for don't even work, it's so misunderstood that it's just plain stupid and getting very old explaining this to people. All this is gonna do is have people like me right back on opiates and right back where we started and probably not gonna make it out alive this time, you can only relapse so many times and recover from it and just end up all together giving up. Why take something from people that needs it and it works for them and can have a normal life because of it, are they really that hell bent on F'in up people's lives that we worked so hard to maintain. Look what changing the formula of OC did, It gave illicit drugs a come back to small towns that would of never had access to it in the first place and now they have a bigger epidemic on there hands, deaths, crime rates, etc and excuse my English, I know it sucks.

Was this helpful? 6
8

I agree I to have been on a 3 a day dose for 6 yrs I have a hereditary disorder that's non curable I shld be in pain management but we all know how that goes ..this has been the only med I have never increased does on and iv been clean only subs for 6 yrs my life is a total 180 my home is paid for and we r financially stable for the first time Nevada suboxone got us off pain pills I'm so so worried about this dose drop to 2 how can they toy wth my recovery this is the only thing that worked I tried methadone iv tried it all this is the only thing I'm not high everyday and have fixed my life whole taking I feel like the state wants us back on pills abs stealing to get them

Was this helpful? 5
5

TN has passed a lot of regulations about Suboxone, as well as other narcotics. TN used to be considered an "easy" state; Nashville was called the Oxy Express. Suboxone is highly addictive, and takes forever to get off of, especially if you've been on a high dose. I'd quit taking MS-Contin (30 mg 2/day) & was prescribed 2 1/2 8mg strips of Suboxone, for pain (which, my PMD said, should never be used for). It got me extremely high, nauseated, & put me in bed for days. I lowered my dose to 1 strip a day & tapered off, which took 3 weeks, went back to the dr & got back on my regular pain meds; meanwhile, my neighbor got some & was on a higher dose. She nibbled at it all day, was called in for a count & was 11 strips short. She had to go off cold turkey, ended up in hospital 5 days. Suboxone is more difficult to quit than just about any narcotic out there. The molecules are larger than regular opioid molecules, & they sit in the brain's opioid receptors until the half life dissolves them away, which takes a week - 9 days. Many people were finding ways to abuse it, such as injecting. Also, people who use H or other illegally gained narcotics will find it (illegally) to use when they can't find their DOC (drug of choice). It has become very problematic here in Nashville, so the state legislature decided to crack down on prescribers. The legislature has set limits even stricter than those of the FDA.

Was this helpful? 3
6

The whole problem is with the Goverment, FDA, and DPS. Contact your State Senator, and House Rep.. It seems they rather people chase illegal, black market, or even Herion to iinprison more Americans. Also it comes out to cash flow. Action equals creates reaction. Also addiction specialist will be our next resort. I feel your pain. We get addicted , then what do they expect us to do??

Was this helpful? 4
17

Guys we need to fight this! The government thinks we are all uneducated junkies. I am a college graduate. Suboxone has helped me in so many ways. I have a normal life now. Since we are not receiving the same amount of medication then we should not have to pay as much for the visit. Oxycontin has destroyed lives... including mine, so where is the regulation on it? Where does this end? Is the government going to tell cancer patients they are only allowed two chemo treatments a year? The dosage depends on each individual. The government cannot just make a law across the board. As of now Tennessee is the only state that does this. Imagine that! We are trying to get our lives back together! We want to live productive lives and not have to think about drugs 24 hours a day. This is a tragic mistake! You (the government gave the doctors the medical license! Let them decide on an individual basis..

Was this helpful? 4
15

From my understanding and from what my doctor told me.. you CAN get more than 2 a day but you have to go to an addiction specialist and most just let the doctors go ahead and lower their dose. I'm trying to find out more about how you get into the addiction diction specialist addictionddictionnd what's required and if you have to be referred or if you can just make an appointment and go.. that's what I was told at my last appointment..

Was this helpful? 2
16

Tis true my friend the new law went into effect 1 July. You have to see an addiction specialist to receive more than 16mg

Was this helpful? 2
19

HI I to an dealing with this. . Im going to drive out of TN I'm on 3 a day dose subutex because I can't afford $1200 for suboxone it is now $14 each here in TN and u can't get into a new pharmacy .. they did su this state wide ..they violate our federal Rights per the fair treatment act. .but what can we do? ?

Was this helpful? 2
20

MY DOCTOR IS AMERICAN BOARD CERTIFIED ADDICTION SPECIALIST. DON'T MATTER THE DEA HAS THEM SCARED TO DEATH. I HAVE AN ALLERGIC FORM ON FILE AND 2 WEEKS LEFT TILL I'M OUT. MY DOC OF 6 YRS WON'T WRITE IT NEXT VISIT AND SO FAR NO OTHER DOC WILL ..THEY R TO SCARED TO WRITE IT ..I CLD GET OPANA AND ROXY EASIER. I'M OVER THIS S*** ..I PAY OVER 1000$ A MONTH AND THEY KEEP GOING UP.

Was this helpful? 2
22

Well TN SUCKS IV SEEN OVER 20 RELAPSE DUE TO COST .. THIS IS SAD ... HAVE NO CLUE WHAT TO DO DOES ANYONE KNOW A SUBUTEX DOCTOR NOW ? MINE WON'T WRITE EVEN WITH FORM ON FILE

Was this helpful? 2
23

Hello All
I am not an addict .... only by the grace of god. I am and have been physically addicted to pain medication however for the past 15 years. What was suppose to be a routine surgery (if there is any such thing) left me worse off than ever. I complained to the surgeon for months but was told that there was nothing wrong with me that drug rehab could not take care of. Within about 4 months of having the surgery I could no longer tolerate the pain and ER became the only thing between me and a casket. After 9 trips to ER in a period of ten nights, they finally discovered that 2 of four the the screws in my neck were broken. I was finally given medication and started looking for a surgeon that could hopefully take them out. After a very long search, I finally accepted that the risk of me ending up a quadriplegic were so great that no one would agree to remove them.
My search then changed to getting the best pain relief that I could find. I have been on many of medications over the years including a morphine pump ..... It was so frustrating to find something that worked at a reasonable cost but have it taken away because they had mandated a new formula which at times would cost me more than my social security check. It is our crooked government that lets thee drug companies cook up what is suppose to be a drug that is harder to abuse when their patents are about to expire of their medications.
Now the DEA has come after our pain management doctors. They got letters from the DEA with guidelines on how much medication that could prescribe per patients. Out of fear the doctors have cut many patients medications way back. If you were lucky enough not to have your medications cut ... then you would not get lucky enough to find a pharmacist that would fill your prescription for you. Their were any number of excuses you would encounter .... anything from; they did not have that medication ....to .... they did not feel comfortable filling for you any longer! WTF
This was happening after they put the drug monitoring program in place so that anyone that a doctor writing a prescription or a pharmacist filling one could be sure that you were only seeing one doctor and everyone was on the up and up. When you think things will get better; they just continue to get worse.

About 8 months ago I moved about 120 miles away and could not find anyone that would fill what I thought would be my last prescription from my old doctor since I was looking for a new one closer to our new home. On New Years eve, I ended up at ER with my prescription and explained my problem. I was told that they would not write a new prescription for the Fentanyl patch that I had been on since they changed the formula of the long acting Oxycontin which I could then no longer afford.
They sent in a pain management doctor who told me the same thing but told me that he knew of a medication that was much better for me. I agreed to try the drug Subutex ... which at the time I had never heard of. It was cheaper that the patch but gave me little relief. When I made an appointment to see the doctor again about a week later, he refused to change the medication and accused me of lying. He told me it was a good pain medication. Oh ... but he did increase the medication and the number of times I could take it again without any help.

I finally started to look for a new doctor but had a difficult time because I had been prescribed subutex. I was told on numerous occasion that they do not prescribe it for pain.

I have finally found someone but am not given enough medication to do much of anything. I get half of what my patch use to be and NO break through meds at all.We are all in the same situation. They do not want any of us on these meds unless it is one that big pharma is endorsing and paying our political appointees to press for.

I am not sure how this got this long but I was outraged to see what they were doing to people who have done everything that they have been asked of you ... and which has helped you to get your lives back on track ... and now they are pulling the rug out from under you by limiting the medication that you can get and by changing a formula so that no one will be able to afford it and not have the option of a generic.

May God bless each and every one of you .... we all have to work together because we really are all in the same boat and are about to drown if we are unable to get our faithful life preservers which we know work and we can afford!

Was this helpful? 2
4

Hi, Sorry but I have no idea how to fight a pharmacutical company. I live in Tn. and I'm gonna ask my sub dr about this when I see him again in a couple of weeks.

Was this helpful? 1
10

I was just at class tonight an it's true as of July 1 2015 but I was told that there are 2 other types they can try u on that is in some ways better then Suboxon one is a pill form an the other is a film that you stick in ur check my teacher that leads the class is already went to the one u put in ur check an she said that it has helped her better then Suboxon so that may take some of ur worry away I would ask ur doctor about it hoped I helped u out a little I just heard about all this tonight I live in tn an go to the doctor here.

Was this helpful? 1
12

Let me be the first to say make cages TO HELP NOT HURT. THEY PASSED THIS LAW PUSHED THOUSANDS OVER ON TO NAME BRAND ..GUESS WHAT NOW THE PRICE IS 12 TO 14.50$ EACH .. TN STATE SENATOR BEHIND THIS BI'LL TRIED TO DO THIS IN 2014 IT DID NOT PASS.. WELL GUESS WHO HE GOT HIS INFO FROM R.B THE MANUFACTURER OF SUB FILM. 1 YEAR LATER THIS SENATOR WAS NAMED THE RICHEST STATE SENATOR IN HISTORY. IV VOLUNTEERED FUR YEARS IN TN .. THIS WAS A MONOPOLIZING OF THE MARKET BY LAWMAKERS FOR GAIN ..PAID OFF TO DO SO BY BIG PHARMACEUTICAL. . WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MAINTAINED ADDICTS LIVING GREAT LIVES FOR THE PAST 5 YRS NOW CAN'T PAY 14X60 .. ALSO DO UR HOME WORK ..R.B TOOK ALL AVAILABLE DOSES TO TAPER OFF THIS MEDICATION OFF THE MARKET ..THEY SAY IT'S MAINTENANCE. .THE TRUTH PATIENTS GET ON AND THEIR IS NO FDA APPROVED WAY TO TAPER THEM OFF THE FILM STRIP R NOT SUPPOSED TO BE CUT AS IT'S NOT EVENLY COATED.. SO THESE PATIENTS HAVE NO WAY CURRENTLY TO COME OF THIS DRUG ..THEY WERE TOLD U GET ON AND WTH IN 2 YRS TAPER DOWN OFF OF..

Was this helpful? 1
18

Yes the clinics are losing money. And the government wants you to try whatever new drug the lobbyists are paying them the most for. Right now its Zubsolv. Works for me, it seems a lot cleaner.

Really though I have seen this ridiculousness play out directly to me. I started going to the clinic, it was inconvenient, found out the clinic doc had her own practice, went there, they wouldn't prescribe me Methadone anymore and put me on Suboxone which made my teeth and head hurt super bad so now I'm on Zubsolv. Tried to get a higher dosage of Zubsolv because they just released two higher doses this spring and they told me they weren't licensed to write the higher doses "which is so strong you have to be supervised", but then offered to up the dose I was on from 2 pills to 3. WTF? Guess they think everyone is stupid and will just say okay and never ask again. I'll be hounding my doc for the higher dose or Subutex. This really happened. This year.

Was this helpful? 1
24

I'm in Tennessee and was told by my doctor a few months to ago laws have changed and I go to a pain clinic that you are only allowed a certain amount in milligrams of a controlled medication per month and that includes the pain meds along with my Klonopin I take. She told me in order to even up or switch my meds I would have to go see a interventionist that would go over my meds with me and they would decide if I needed to be switched or even lowered. I told my doctor that I would just stay in what I'm taking because I don't want to risk what I'm taking to be lowered because you never know the way I see it. I've been on Norco 10's for over 10 years and I know for a fact they don't work as well as they use to. I had a friend that went to the interventionist and they switched her from the Norco 10's and put her on Percocet 5mg. There is no way that is even comparable to the Norco but they told her it was. So I guess I will just ride it out. I'm also taking morphine 30mg er which does nothing for the pain I have. I suffer from lupus, fibromyalgia, diabetic neuropathy and several ruptured dics in my back from a ex that thought it would be nice after he knocked me out to kick me numerous times in my back.
I don't understand how a doctor can tell you how bad your own pain is. They don't live in your body, we do 24/7. I'm lucky that my pain doctor is a chronic pain patient herself but like she said her hands are tied when it comes to changing my meds. I am kicking myself now because before this new law she offered me the fentanyl patches and I didn't take them.

Was this helpful? 1
25

That's crazy cause my Dr told me i could get proof of an allergy and he could still write it otherwise you have to be pregnant or breastfeeding.. the allergy has to be documented I've also heard, from other people not my Dr, that it has too be notarized not sure if that's even true but my Dr did print me out the forms they were sent specifying the only reason to prescribe subutex and it can't be above 16mg daily which is what I've been on anyway but I don't know all i do know is I got a good Dr and I'm happy i was there when this law took place.

Was this helpful? 1
26

Yeah you have to go to a specialist, that's not your prescribing doctor and take some kind of crazy skin test that don't even tell them if it makes you sick or not man how to they know what side effects your having just because your skin didn't react to the nalox in the test. In the Great Words Of Sweet Brown AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT or the money when they can't hardly pay for there tex as it is with no insurance. Because like with this med the Doctors that give it to you are even ignorant about it. You don't have a voice war veterans are being treated as nobody's right now with pain management, what think they gonna for a recovering addict nothing. We are the scum of the earth to them.

Was this helpful? 1
Page:1Last Page

More Discussions:

Suboxone doctor in Miami accepting new patients

If you or anyone you know needs a suboxone doctor, my doctor (Rene Perez) in Miami is accepting new patients. Tel: 786-3...

2 REPLIES
looking for a suboxone doctor in mississippi accepting new patients

I'm looking for a suboxone dr accepting new patients as well as Medicaid in south central Mississippi ## If you are ...

8 REPLIES
I need help finding a suboxone doctor in East Tennessee

I started seeing a new suboxone doctor this past month. I have Medicaid so the doctor said they would submit my prior au...

5 REPLIES
Maximum dosage limits for Percocet in Tennessee.

Nov. of 2016 I moved from Pa. to Tenn. out of family need. I am 60 yrs. old and had numerous lower back and cervical sur...

1 REPLY
Suboxone Doctors That Accept Tenncare Memphis Tennessee

I have been on suboxone for a while. However the Dr I am currently seeing is falling short on his duties as a Dr. He did...

14 REPLIES
tennessee doctors that prescribe oxycodone 30 mg to patients

I need to find another clinic in Tennessee that will continue prescribing the oxycodone 30 mg tablets 5x's day, I ha...

4 REPLIES
quitting suboxone 50 day taper ...my story

Hi everyone my name is Peter. I was addicted to opiates for about 1.5 years and in my point of view my tolerance was hug...

1 REPLY
Online meetings for Subutex/Suboxone patients

Ok. Can anyone help me find a website or websites that allow Medication Assisted Treatments (MAT) for Subutex and Suboxo...

14 REPLIES
2014 new pain medication laws dictating to doctors that they cannot prescribe anything equivalent 120 mg of morphine or higher a day per patient

I was told Friday by my Pain Management Doctor at my monthly appointment that the DEA was implementing a new law dictati...

725 REPLIES
I Jus Finished Seven Day Taper On Thursday With Suboxone Wen Can Take A Pecocet

SUBOXONE TAPER I FINISHED TWO DAYS AGO CAN I TAKE A PERCOCET . PEOPLE AT THE CENTER I WENT TO SAID I WOULD DIE . I JUST ...

4 REPLIES