Q&A: What Withdrawal Level Do I Have to Wait Before Giving Suboxone (Oxy Was the Drug)?
Question by Emily: What Withdrawal Level Do I Have To Wait Before Giving Suboxone (Oxy was the drug)?
I am asking this for a friend of mine and any help from a doctor or person with REAL LIFE experience would be helpful! My friend was taking Suboxone “8.2” filmstrips under her tongue for addiction. She said she’d taken one half a strip in morning and another half a strip at night. She went off her medication & started taking her oxy or oxi (spelling?) pills instead. She said she crushed them and also took some by mouth. She said she did this for about 5 days. I got her to go back to her Suboxone doctor who told her she had to wait 12 hours before she could go back on her Suboxone again. However, I’m supposed to “watch” her to make sure she goes into a full withdrawal, COWS scale 24 before she takes the Suboxone or else she will have precipitated withdrawals. I need to do this right or else she may have a seizure. Well, 16 hrs have passed since her last dose and according to the doctor, she wasn’t in “the right state of withdrawal” even though she was rocking back and forth wrapped up in a sheet. She did take her Xanax (zanax?) 1mg (prescribed) 2 hrs before she saw the doctor today to ease the muscle pain. He sent her home to wait longer! She says she feels better than she did earlier in the day and the withdraw doesn’t seem to be going on. I don’t want her to go through too much pain here because she needs the medication. I also read online that she doesn’t have to wait until she is “dry heaving & rolling on the floor” before she takes the Suboxone. I’ve also had this medication but have never gone through any withdeaws before taking it because I took it for pain, not for addiction so I don’t know. How long should I wait before I give this to her? I think she’s thinking that she hasn’t had long enough to let the withdraws set in & maybe it’s still in her system. I don’t know, I’m in the dark. But, how long before I can give this to her? Her puples are only slightly dialated, her skin isn’t sweaty anymore, her chills have subsided, she isn’t nauseated anymore but she says her “limbs are on fire.” Someone please help and tell me what the right state of withdraw is before I can give this to her.
Best answer:
Answer by Michael
It isn’t important what level of withdrawal she is, 24-48 hours after last dose will work regardless of her state of withdrawal.
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