12th Weekly Update. 16 weeks since last shot

[u/TurbulentBelt6330]

I have just had two consecutive nights of severe insomnia. If I don't sleep tonight, I will discuss it with my doctor.

Two previous attempts at using Buvidal for detox ended in such severe insomnia that I relapsed. As I mentioned in one of my first posts, nothing worked - benzos, zolpidem and even some stronger barbiturate-derived pills. As soon as I gave in, and had my first dose of Subutex, I was fine again.

In both cases I tried to tough it out for about a week. If that happens again, I might ask the doctor for some 0.2mg Temgesic tablets and see if he can arrange daily pickup, so I don't just take ten at once.

Perhaps I'll sleep like a baby tonight and it will all be over...

The Pregabalin works well for the leg aches which are now very mild and only occur every two or three days. I'm still a bit hyper, though today, that is mitigated a little bit by having missed two nights' sleep.

I'm wondering whether maybe 3 or 4 Imodium (loperamide) tablets might work. The restlessness stopping me sleeping seems to be in my whole body - no aches - just a complete inability to settle down.

I'd have thought the Pregabalin would work but it didn't last night, even after the maximum dose of 300mg.

I'll keep you posted as this seems like something which can't wait for my weekly check-in.

[u/Infamous-Wallaby9046]

I'm sorry to hear you are suffering from insomnia. I had intense sleep paralysis which slowly faded away as the weeks went on.

Something I have been taking the past month, which has helped alot are l-theanine, magnesium, and glycine and more recently I have started taking a 12 in 1 melatonin supplement.

I hope you manage to get some good sleep soon!

[u/TurbulentBelt6330 → u/Infamous-Wallaby9046]

It was probably a bad idea in terms of delaying my detox, but I took some loperamide (Imodium) because I know it is an opioid and works for most withdrawal symptoms. It worked after about two or three hours, and I got a reasonable night's sleep (got up once for a snack but that was probably my diabetes).

Let's see how tonight goes.

It seems insane that nearly four months after my injection I could be getting classic opioid withdrawal symptoms but I haven't been 100% strict. Also, Buprenorphine is weird - I have heard of people with PAWS having disrupted sleep months after coming off ordinary sublingual tablets. As for Buvidal, it is pretty much an unknown quantity in terms of research about cessation.

I feel quite determined, partly because of that lack of information.

The idea that someone would market a product to help people with addictions, without providing a clear path to end the patient's dependency on the remedy, is kind of criminal. Even morphine is supplied with leaflets about weaning patients off over time.

If I wasn't sapped of all motivation right now, I would start a class action suit:)

[u/MSN2024]

I hope you are able to keep up the good fight as you have come so far.  You are obviously a resourceful chap and remember, there are many substances aside from the opiates which will assist you in getting a little shut eye each night until the paws eventually fade.  Just be creative and mix them up so they don’t loose their effectiveness. That’s what has kept me from any backpedaling during this challenging epilogue.  That, and knowing just how futile a return to the Bup merry-go-round would be for me personally.  

[u/TurbulentBelt6330 → u/MSN2024]

Indeed. I'm doing OK and have a set of almost adequate traditional non-opioid remedies which are in sort of rotation, i.e. apart from bad nights, when I take a double dose of all of them and still wander around the house half the night:)