Sublocade - A New Kind Of Suboxone (Top voted first)

So there's a new kind of SUBOXONE out and it's called SUBLOCADE. It's a once a month injection done by a medical professional that lasts ALL month. So no more having to take it sublingually (under the tongue) daily anymore. I just found out about this last week and was wanting anyone's input about it. I don't know how I feel about it. What if it doesn't work ALL month and on week 3 you start feeling like s***? Can you go back to the doctor and get another shot or will they just give you a couple sublingual suboxone to make it through till the next week? I guess it's a pretty big dissolvable thing that slowly releases about 2mg a day into your bloodstream. Once again, I'm not sure how i feel about that. What if something happens and it ALL gets released at once? I'm sure that's bound to happen once every so often. Do please write back letting me know how you guys feel about this, or if you have any new info that I'm leaving out. Thank you.

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Re: Rawdog (# 13)

Sublocade comes in 2 strengths for inj. at your Docs office. 1st 2 shots are 300 mg subcutaneous in abdominal area just like an insulin shot... After 1 st 2 doses of 300 mg, you and your Doc decide to continue with either 300mg, or decrease to the 100 mg strength... How long does it last? 30 days and then you return for the next shot. So 30 days between shots. In all studies not one person complained of having any withdrawal even after 60 days had passed since their last shot and some people actually said they were still comfortable after 4-5 months had passed. I have 1 patient whom has received the shot and they feel great at 3 weeks so far!! (If you are curious they were on 16 mg suboxone daily prior to getting the shot).. It appears to be covered under most commercial insurance but not medicaid or medicare. Patient also said it was so awesome to go out of town on a 4 day trip and not worry about taking anything. Best wishes to you, hope this helps!

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Re: Rawdog (# 15)

Sadly, I have no experience with my pets using the Bridge Device. It does seem to have some utility for lessening opiate withdrawal. Most of my pts are on MAT and about 10- 20% transition off successfully when they are ready with some encouragement, counseling & coping skills living drug free. Sublocade has no naloxone so shouldn't cause that type of headache. Sublocade also has a copay assistance program where the manufacturer contacts your insurance company directly so they will do all the insurance footwork for you & your physician. That is a great thing and makes it easier for both of you. Your Doc just needs you to sign the authorization form allowing them to do the footwork. You will most definitely want to be stable on whichever form of buprenorphine you are prescribed before switching over to sublocade. Good Luck to you & Best wishes in your recovery!

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I honestly think you’d be feeling sick in a couple days or a week unless you're on 2mg a day. I'm having huge issues daily for 7 months now. Headaches, joint pain, flu like symptoms, confusion, cold nose hands feet and ears, hands also go numb, erratic heartbeat, cold chills. Sometimes eating high sodium food all symptoms go away for little while or minutes. I feel my nose warm up without other symptoms. I had been suboxone on for years, went from generic tabs to films thinking I’d be better and I’m not. Does anyone or do you know anyone that’s had those issues or anything that can help?

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Hi Yall, Remember when they came out with the Fentanyl Patches? Remember How they were leaking all out at one time?

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Started sublocade today after 4 years of suboxone 8/2. So far so good. Seems like the sublocade may be stronger cause I'm feeling super tired. Only downside is there is a hard lump under my skin which is like a knot. That's the sublocade in the knot. So far so good

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Re: AddxnDoc (# 29)

Hi, I know it's been a while since our last conversation about the Sublocade inj. but I have an important update about my current situation with my doctor & the decision of accepting the Sublocade inj.. Last month during my September doctor's visit, I informed him of my concerns & fears about the Sublocade inj., which he had already submitted a Prior Authorization & had the Sublocade ready to have his nurse administrator it to me. I asked him to please give me a couple of weeks to think more about having to receive the inj. because I was so full of fear & anxiety that he & the administering nurse clearly could see my facial expression & that I was really afraid & didn't want to have to be forced to change to Sublocade. So, he agreed to give me 2 more weeks to have time to get use to the thought of it & hopefully some of my fear & anxiety will have subsided somewhat in those 2 weeks. So, fast forward to yesterday which was Friday, 10/12/18. I pretty much at that point was just simply mentally exhausted from thinking & thinking some more & overthinking this change I was being forced to make by my doctor, but of course.... I could have just refused & been forced to find myself another doctor who has all the credentials, certifications & other requirements to even be able to treat a patient with substance abuse with Suboxone or any other opioid blocker which finding another doctor with these qualifications & not to mention who is accepting new patients & accepts my particular insurance is literally an act of Congress.

You learn fast that if you are well established with a doctor that you do everything you can to keep that doctor. I'm so sorry for going into such great detail so, I'll get to it.... I received my first Sublocade inj. yesterday. I really had no choice if I wanted to keep my current doctor. But, he did confide in me somewhat & informed me the ones who out right refused to even try the inj. are the exact ones he had been suspicious of either not taking their Suboxone at all & just selling them which is a small fortune for some who do choose to illegally sell their medication or they just weren't willing to give the inj. a try because they refused to give up the income they were receiving from the sales & chose to find another doctor. He also told me that if after giving it a fair chance & I or any other patient didn't do well with the inj. and wanted to seitch back to the Suboxone films or tablets, that he would be ok with that. Having said everything I've said, I can honestly say... I'm glad that I chose to try the Sublocade. I will update as the days & weeks of this month go by. Thanks for reading!

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Re: Sarah (# 42)

Hi, Sarah

You should be very proud of yourself for having the strength & determination of making that choice to switch to Sublocade! That's such a huge deal to addicts like you & I. I've been exactly where you are right this moment both mentally & physically and let me tell ya, it isn't easy at first but I can assure you, without a doubt that it does get better. Everything you're experiencing right now is normal & it's temporary. You will start to feel much better soon. Just know that when you do start to feel better & your body & mind has gotten accustomed to the change of Sublocade, it will be great thing. Much more convenient. You'll see & you'll be glad you made that decision to switch to Sublocade. Keep us posted. I'm interested in your thoughts & feelings as you get thru this as I'm right there going thru the same journey. Take Care.

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Re: RAWDOG (# 9)

Sublocade does NOT GO INTO VEINS! That would kill you. It is a liquid that hardens to a solid mass when it touches body fluids.. It goes into your fat in your stomach.. under your skin.. (Subcutaneous)

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Re: Kimberly 123 (# 31)

Hi Kimberly, Thanks so much for sharing honestly your story! I like your gut level honesty about how your mind took you all over the place about the change to the injection. I gather from what you shared that your Doc may suspect a lot of diversion from his practice for whatever reason among many of his or her patients. The fact he offered you the option to switch back makes much more sense. The unfortunate fact is many patients, unlike yourself, come into clinic and try to slip through the cracks to get meds to sell only. They really mess things up and when they get busted dealing it always makes major headlines. My patients have had excellent results with Sublocade so far. I have had zero complaints and all want to stay on the injection. The injection does leave a pea sized lump which is normal. It is deposited in a matrix in the subcutaneous fat layer of skin that causes very slow release over a month or longer. If anyone has an issue with the injection for any reason, it can be surgically removed within 2 weeks of getting the shot in case of any emergency.

I do have one patient that has continued with the 300 mg dose for his 3rd & 4th injection due to very severe pain issues. Others have switched to 100 mg with no problems at all. I also have an interesting patient that wants to come off meds altogether so he received one injection 13 weeks ago now and still feels no withdrawal at all! We stay in contact every week and he is doing amazing. All of my pts have stated the same thing as you about not taking something every day. This is where the very real "process addiction" comes in to treatment. The daily act of taking something and now removing that process becomes a huge part of the recovery process. Thank you so much for sharing your honest experience with this. It really helps others when they can read about others success & experience. As you are probably very aware, when people read stuff like {projected fear & bad potential side effects from people who have not taken the injection}, and have no actual, real experience, it scares the hell out of them unnecessarily due to fear instilled by others. So Happy for you, All the best to your continued success!

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Re: Elle07 (# 38)

Sublocade actually has no specific indication for persons on lower ranges of Suboxone/ Subutex. All the research data shows 100% success in persons in dose ranges 8/12/24 mg daily. I have also seen success in the 2-4 mg daily range. No patients experienced any withdrawal at 4 weeks, and most that dropped out of the study still felt no withdrawal after 2 to 5 months.

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I just started sublocade a few days ago. The only trouble I am having is the mental part of addiction. Trying different things to get through that bit it seems to be keeping me from being ill. I heard most people have found their "groove" of being comfortable after the first 4 or 5 days. This is my day 3 so I hope to only feel better from here. I do have headaches and sleepiness but if I get up and get moving both subside. I think it's definitely something you have to mentally prepare for and really want to do for the full benefits. I hope this helps. Here is to freedom from these drugs once and for all....!

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Hi, Everyone! It's been a while since I last posted any updates with my experience, thoughts & feelings with My Sublocade injections. It's now January 2019 & I've had approximately 4 or 5 injections thus far. As some of you know, I was so hesitant & full of fear pre Sublocade. Fast forward to today & in all the injections & time in between I last posted, I have absolutely NO complaints! After I got through that initial 1 to 2 months, everything has been just fine. The Pros of Sublocade certainly outweigh the Cons. It's well worth it y'all!

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Don't worry, it can't get released all at once, the medicine is liquid and becomes a hard "depot" that gradually dissolves. It won't wear off too soon, in fact its more likely to last well beyond the 28 days. (Up to 6 weeks or longer even. I read that Sublocade was meant to last way past the 28 days so that it would be rare to feel sick early, for the people who miss appointments for whatever reason. It was designed to last plenty longer than 28 days. I have seen people experience this with the Vivitrol shot, where it doesn't last the full month and cravings come back causing relapse. That's another story, another discussion, but we typically give naltrexone pills along with vivitrol to take at the end if cravings come before the next shot). I work in a detox and have seen tons of people successfully get off heroin and fentanyl because of sublocade. I think I'd say only 1 in over approx 100 said it didn't work and I know now that person didn't want to get clean yet (she self admitted it in her admission a few months later) and I've seen many others go days past their 28 day mark and not get sick. I personally haven't seen anyone feel sick too early, if anything a small number (if I have to guess, maybe 5 in 100?) that needed a small 2-4mg suboxone film dose in the first few days or weeks of the FIRST month only, by the 2nd months shot they are feeling better because the medicine has built to a stable level. This is usually only people that have been on Suboxone for a long time and their body is used to much higher levels of suboxone, not people who haven't already been on long term suboxone. People coming off street drugs that just start suboxone for a few days then get the shot are usually fine because they aren't used to having high doses of suboxone in their system. Typically in our detox, a client will detox with methadone for a few days...(because of the fear of precip most people can't wait the necessary time between fentanyl use and starting suboxone.. it used to be approx. 36 hours from last heroin use, but now with fentanyl in everything people are waiting over 48 hours and still going into precip. If someone could physically wait 48hrs+ without medication, they wouldn't need detox in the first place! Its painful to watch so we've adjusted our detox protocols accordingly. Its physically easier on them to wait from the methadone - or even from straight heroin when that still existed! - than waiting after fentanyl use because fentanyl withdrawal is so bad and happens so much sooner after last use. Fentanyl is meant for short term use, like after surgery, so when people use it for long periods of time it ends up stored in the body in fat cells and there is no single average of time to predict its out of someones system) So, after a few days and small doses of methadone, they wait 48 hours, then take a 2mg test dose of suboxone or subutex just to make sure they don't go into precipatative withdrawal, and if they don't we will build them up to 8-12mg a day for a few days before giving the shot (they say to take it for 7 days before getting the shot, but if a person already has past experience with suboxone and they know it worked for them and that they aren't allergic, then there's no need to wait longer, just long enough that we know the fentanyl is out of their system so we don't put them into precip). I saw one comment about the guy who got his shot 24 hrs from last opioid use. That only way to get someone out of precip besides time and waiting it out is to give more suboxone to force the opioids off the receptors. It sounds counterintuitive but it works... or speeds up the discomfort period anyway. Either the doctor had no clue what he was doing, or in my experience people can lie or even forget when their last use was. Hopefully some of this insight helps people who are curious about the how and why of sublocade. You just have to remember that every body metabolizes medicine differently so one person's experience won't necessarily be yours. If you read the reviews, they are mostly positive, and you have to also consider that in recovery, people may say negative things because they personally weren't ready to get sober. (Like my one experience of the client that said sublocade wasn't working and she still felt like shit and later admitted she just wanted to use) Sublocade also has the benefit of coming out of your system sooo gradually that there isn't the typical withdrawal associated with stopping suboxone. Just wait until you are ready and in a good position to do so. Also, you break the habit of having to take a medication every day just to feel normal. Nothing is a 100% miracle cure, maybe Sublocade is 99% but you still need the other 1% to be your own will to change! ;) good luck to everyone starting their sublocade journey!

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Re: Kc (# 18)

There were no withdrawals after 4 days, it was your mental state. During Subs, everyday is a habitual and continuance treat in our lives. It is a crutch and becomes a lifeline to our existence. Think back, every waking second of each day revolves around these damn films. The appointment day is like Christmas Day each month. Once we you have the script then the fun begins. Time to hold your breathe at the Pharmacy and pray they have them in. Pray they don’t tell you it is too early to refill. Your mind starts to go in panic mode driving to the Pharmacy. You know that every appointment day, you are out. You have to get it filled. You start preparing excuses to why you need this filled today and I’m not taking no for an answer. You start getting pissed. Who in the hell does a Pharmacist think he/she is to override my Dr’s orders! I did that crap for 10 years of my life until I said to myself,, This is recovery!?

Subs do little to change the previous lifestyle we wanted to escape.

The toughest part of Sublocade is the fun above that I mentioned is all over.

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Re: Asad (# 1)

I don't know what ink jinz is? And where in Pakistan can you get it but im sorry I have no idea. I live in the United States Florida to b exact. I use the SUBOXONE every once in awhile I preference the subutex the one without the naloxone. Can you elaborate on what (ink jize) is please. Is that what you guys over there call sublingual suboxone? No offence but I did not know you guys had treatments like that over there. Please no offence i'm not up on my Pakistan drug laws or treatment options, please enlighten me thank you.

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Re: Asad (# 1)

[1] Nalbuphine Details

When such combined therapy is contemplated, the dose of one or both agents should be reduced. In addition to the relief of pain, the drug has been studied as a treatment for morphine induced pruritus (itching). Pruritus is a common side effect of morphine or other pure mu agonist opioid administration. Kjellberg et al.

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Re: Diana (# 3)

What are you saying and are you talking about? What does it have to do with sublockade?

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I don't think I would change. All of these new medications you don't ever know how they're going to work for at least 6 months to a year. I would stay on the Suboxone.

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Re: RAWDOG (# 9)

I was clean for 1.5 years and wrecked my back. I was passing a kidney stone so I got prescribed 5mg perks for a month. I got scared I’d jump back my old habit of H/Perk 30s. I should’ve done a vivatrol shot but i was nervous and jumped the gun so for the 1st 6 months @ 16mg then cvs and pharmacies ran out of generic 8mg Suboxone pills. By then I was @ 4mg 6 month mark so like i said cvs ran out. I used the 2mgs but with the 2mg I couldn’t maintain feeling normal and needed 6mg, so when the 8mg came back 40 days later he put me back on those. I couldn’t fell normal at 4/6mg. I was feeling like the flu, back pain, fatigue, erratic heart beat, cold sweat. My nose, hands, ears and feet would get super cold. I was trying to stay @8mg but it wasn’t happening so he started bringing me back up, now @16mg. I fought for films thinking they would work better and I’d be able to get back to 4mg then 2mg so one year later I still feel like s*** on subutex for a week now. I bounce between 8mg-16mg depends if I’m super busy and still feeling like s*** with symptoms going away briefly for hours at a time. I don’t know what it is and an allergist can’t analyze suboxone but it’s weird cuz I have the same symptoms but 60% less. I want off and can’t afford to take time off from work at all. I’ve lost weight and can’t lift weights anymore. I’ve pushed but symptoms got worse, so for 3 years I’ve lifted and went for 256lbs 6 months into now these last 6 month @208lbs. 1 year total of Suboxone without taking any kind of drugs, all clean U/A's as I go weekly. So sorry I hope this makes sense. Please don’t bash me, I’m in a brain fog with this med. I want off completely. Also, my sub dr that I complained to for the last 6 months says it’s withdrawals, so I looked up my symptoms online and what I have are severe side effects, but he says they’re not, it’s withdrawals.

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Re: El cano (# 5)

NO I WOULD NOT TAKE A MONTHLY SHOT
(In reference to the question posted) I think after a few days u would feel like you need more. I was on subutex for 4 years my doctor retired, I went to a new doctor he only gave Suboxane films. I took the films for 4 months after being on subutex for 4 years and I felt a huge difference. On the film I felt worse I took 2 a day but felt like I needed 4 a day just to have the normal feeling. On subutex I can take half in the morning and half in the afternoon and be great! I am now on subutex it's been 2 years I have been on subutex for 6 years now with the exception of the 4 month strip. I felt tired on the film I craved more, I thought about it all the time while on strip. I have to say for me my opinion there is a big difference in taking the two. I prefer subutex. Now after being on subutex for so long, it's a daily routine, I also feel tired more often, less happy go lucky like I use to but it's not as bad as the way I felt on strips. I used to have more energy, more desire to go to work, clean, etc. Now after so long I'm just wore out, I want to stop. I miss the feeling I had 5 years ago of loving to go to work, jump up split second and go swimming, dancing, etc. Hope this helps and makes sense

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