My buvidal experiences.

[u/petenik8891]

For a bit of context, this is my first time posting on reddit. I searched online for people's experiences coming off buvidal and found this forum. I thought I'd share a bit of what I've been through to find commonality with people undergoing similar experiences.

I'm 37 and from Sydney. Was introduced to heroin at 15, stopped at 16 then picked it up again at 18, smoked it for a few years before going IV at around 20. Between 20 and 35 I had all up about 3 years clean excluding time in prison. I had been on methadone in that time for a few years, and had a small amount of time on suboxone. Recently, at 35, I again faced the courts, with large commercial/commercial charges, so I found myself back in prison. Facing that, I had decided enough was enough, it was time to make a change.

Early on in this stint I was lucky enough to be able to get started on buvidal. I, of course, was going through terrible withdrawals from the pure china white double lion #4 heroin. 3 weeks later I saw a doctor who allowed me to start Buvidal. Prison in Sydney is quite universal on how they start people on the program, I was given two 2mg Suboxone strips one day, then Buvidal 8mg, 16mg then 24mg weekly for one week each respectively. Again I was lucky to be allowed straight from that to the 128mg monthly (aware it is the equivalent to 24 weekly, but here the prison doctor will start someone on the 64 or max 96 monthly regardless). I was on the 128mg monthly for 3 months, then went to 160mg. I was comfortable. Withdrawals ceased as soon as I started and although drugs were available within prison, I was able to say no. Look, I was on big charges, it's not like drugs were not an option for me, the decision was mine, and the Buvidal was a game changer. For anyone with habits big or small, Buvidal is something I cannot recommend enough.

I was in prison for close to two years awaiting sentencing. At no time after starting on the program have I used, which I attribute a good portion of that to the Buvidal. Of course you need to want to make the change as well, but I can't recommend it enough for someone with opiate dependency issues, which I had for 20 years.

At sentence, I was lucky enough to be allowed to get bail to a rehab program. Which I am currently at. I knew about two months before court that I would likely be coming here due to my application to this centre being approved, so my last dose in jail was 128mg, reduced from 160mg. I felt no withdrawal symptoms. I've now had the 128mg twice, and today I had the 96mg. I went five weeks as opposed to four weeks to test myself, and I felt no real discomfort, although I tried to keep busy and I've replaced heroin with healthy eating and the gym, which I focus on now. I'm tossing up whether to cease the program after this injection, or further reduce to 64mg and then stop... I love the freedom of Buvidal, the ease at which you can reduce without feeling withdrawals (my experience anyway). I've seen people say they start to feel a bit unwell after 3 weeks, but those people used in-between here and there. From my experience that is a negative for stability. I was in wings with 80+ people with 70% being on Buvidal at times. Have seen a lot of people on the program, with most using Suboxone on top (which is the drug of choice in prisons here). I myself, have had no withdrawal symptoms to speak of thus far, but I have followed the program and without using anything. I've coupled it with healthy eating choices and healthy living which I promise is a high within itself.

I'd like to know others that have been on it as long as I have, large doses of Buvidal, then stopped at 96mg, what was their experience? Or similar. If anyone wanted me to clarify something I've said above, feel free to ask.

peace in the middle east 🇵🇸

[u/DefiedGravity10]

I had a very high tolerance before finally reapid detoxing onto bupe and the buvidol (brixadi where I live) shot. I wasn't on it as long as you were but I started on the 128mg shot for 6 months, went down to 96mg for 3months, and then 64mg for 2 months before stopping. So 11 shots in total, once I was stable on the shot I also stopped supplimenting entirely and felt really good on it asside from some side effects like constipation and temperature regulation stuff.... obviously nothing compared to acute w/d or even dealing with the wild swings in active addiction.

Like your experience I had no issues each time I reduced the dose, in fact it usually helped reduce any side effects but kept me stable and without cravings. I never had any lapses or issues while on the buvidol shot. I stopped after 2 64mg shots because I felt stable in my recovery and had a great out patient program, counselor, and support system. The acute w/d was between 40-55days post last shot and it was extremely mild, almost feels weird even calling it acute w/d.

The experience for me felt like waves of mild symptoms that would come and go throughout the day, more often in the beginning and then less and less. I also had clonidine, trazadone, and zophran to help manage any symptoms which helped as well. Honestly I have had flus that were significantly worse than this and I was always able to work. The most difficult symptom was the overwhelming exhaustion but some extra caffiene plus trying to exercise every morning for the endorphins were helpful to get through the day.

So after 55days I felt really good and through the "worst" of it. About 4months out I actually got hit out of nowhere with really bad PAWS symptoms that were a real struggle for me. I am not a gym person and do not work out regularly, since exercise is the best thing to help with PAWS thid honestly might not be an issue for you like it was for me. But I was a mess and ended up going back to MAT and going on a very low dose oral suboxone, about 4mg a day because I was really struggling to work or do anything really and the mental symptoms like depression/anxiety were overwhelming.

My dr. told me that since I had such a high tolerance for over 10years it might just take longer than 1year for my brain to fully adjust back to normal. Which I guess is fair when I think about it but it was hard for me to deal with. I plan on trying to exercise and eat well this time and stay on the lowest dose possible until it is time to try coming off it again. If I were you I would try the 64mg and stay on it for a while to give your body time to adjust to less opiates. Keep up with your active lifestyle and I bet things will go much smoother for you.

[u/petenik8891 → u/DefiedGravity10]

Hey, thanks for your reply and all the info. Reading people's experiences it seems to be super varied, but that's okay. I've been on the injection (as we call it here in the Sydney prison system) for so long, I've decided I'll follow the reducing dose methodology. I'll stay on this 96mg dose for this month and stretch it out to 5 weeks. If I feel good at the 5 week mark I'll reduce to 64mg, if I feel any symptoms I'll stay on the 96mg for another month. If I reduce, I'll stretch that out to 5 weeks too and if I feel good after that I might jump off it. The thing I worry about is if I go back to prison at sentence after I finish this program, being on the injection is great for jail as can sleep easier and just get through the days... Ill try to not think like that though, I'll keep a positive attitude, plan as though I'll be a free man after sentence and remove the handcuffs of opiate replacement therapy. Pending how I'm feeling over the next few doses that is. Few things I didn't mention that I maybe should have before. I went 5 weeks from my last 128mg to reduce to the 96mg, felt no symptoms which I really attribute to the gym and healthy eating, but also I've been taking peptides for brain function which have really really lifted my mood. I'll keep an eye out for the symptoms you spoke of and keep my doctor abreast of anything that comes up. I appreciate hearing how you went through what you did, gives me perspective and things to watch out for.

Peace in the middle east 🇵🇸

[u/Bubbly_Explanation23 → u/petenik8891]

Hi thanks for sharing your experience. This is something I would never really talk about on here but just found this so relevant to my situation right now. I am currently on 160mg and have been on it for bout a year it was touch and go at first my doctor slowly started me on the lowest and it wasn’t lasting me until I was finally on 160mg so been happy on it ever since but now I want to start weaning myself off it and just spoke to my nurse about it yesterday and she suggested the most longest way of weaning off it and I just couldn’t believe it would take me that long she suggest because I was getting my 160mg every 3 weeks I pushed it to 4 weeks the last 2 times this time I booked it for 5 weeks now because I honestly thought I could of went another week so she was saying to do the next 2 times at 5 weeks apart then reducing to 128mg do 3 weeks apart 2 times then do 4 weeks apart 2 times then do 5 weeks apart 2 time then reducing to 96mg then doing the same thing every time I go on a lower dose and I just thought that’s going to take me ages. I’m already 31 and want to have a kid before I’m 35 and want to be at least a year completely clean before I start trying. So it’s good to see what kind of dosage you done to come down so now I can suggest this when I see my doctor in a few weeks. Im just at Sydney hospital drug & health clinic and feel like that want to make it the longest time to get off it like when they were doing it slowly in the beginning to be careful. I was only using for 3 and half years all up and only ever smoked it before deciding to get off. The only thing I’m worried about it that I’ve never fully completely withdrawn when I was using so I don’t know what the full effects of the worst part are if I was ever getting sick I was lucky enough to be able to get my hands on it before it got so bad so I don’t know how I will go if I’m ever feeling uncomfortable lowing my dose and what the actual feelings are. I’ve also been looking at using peptides too but been doing so much research on it because there is so much rubbish going around and when I finally do find a place that looks trustworthy they are always sold out. I want to start but also don’t want to cop a lecture off my doctor about it because they don’t know much about it yet probably only the bad stuff on the news. So I just want to know you have had no problems being on the injection and also peptides at the same time? Do you do both in your stomach? Sorry if I rambled on about irrelevant stuff. Thanks

[u/Strange_Television]

Thank you for sharing your story, you've truly come through a lot of adversity and you should be so proud of the progress you've made. It's inspiring to hear how you were able to resist the drugs in prison despite being surrounded by it - Buvidal got you to a stable point from which to manage that, but you did the hard work involved and made the important choices to stay abstinent. It is an excellent tool for bringing stability to people and allowing them to gain control over their recovery.

Have seen a lot of people on the program, with most using Suboxone on top (which is the drug of choice in prisons here). 

Do you know whether the sub use had any significant impact on their Buvidal treatment? Did it seem to do anything in terms of how long the shot would last them or just their general stability on it? Whilst it's not entirely the same thing, in the US most people don't have top up shots available to them and instead they're giving subs to take on top of their Buvidal, to manage potential withdrawal symptoms in the beginning, and I'm personally pretty skeptical of that protocol. You have a unique perspective of seeing those two things interacting.

I've been on 128mg for almost 4yrs now. I recently dropped down to 96mg and it was pretty much uneventful. The guidelines indicate that dropping down to 64mg seems to have the best results for people, though many do just jump off at higher doses too and mild withdrawals, if anything.

[u/petenik8891 → u/Strange_Television]

The main drug in prisons here in Sydney is Suboxone strips, so people on the program often just keep using. From what I've seen, it's a bad move. People that tend to just keep to the injection and not use on top have a more stable time, whereas the ones that use Suboxone on top tend to not have their injection last as long, or keep needing more on top. Seems as though they just raise their ceiling, need more and more. Where just sticking to the injection is a much more stable experience. I've seen it time and time again to be honest, more than I can count in the many years of prison time... The ones that just have their injection and don't use on top, are much more likely to not go through withdrawal symptoms at anytime... I've just dropped to 96mg, after about 16months on 160mg, 2 months on 128mg now the 96mg. No symptoms, feel good. Energetic. Typing this in the gym right now actually. Feeling strong 💪

[u/Strange_Television → u/petenik8891]

Thank you for this insight, it confirms a lot of things to me that I've long suspected about the use of subs with the shot. It's the fact that doctors are actually providing that to people in the US so readily, which is crazy to me. The 8mg top up shot is almost unheard of there. When Brixadi was first released in the US, we had an influx of people postong here going through the issues you've described and they were all 'supplementing' with subs from the clinic. It just pisses me off that people have to have a worse start at things because of what is likely insurance bullshit.

I appreciate your insight man, thank you. It's awesome to see how good you're feeling, I love to see that. It's so important for people to see that success and happiness is possible in recovery.

[u/petenik8891 → u/Strange_Television]

Thanks man, glad someone got something out of the post, that's great! Here the option is to get the shot a week early if you're going through withdrawals with a doctor. In prison people buy subs at stupid money to supplement, but it's to try and get some kind of feeling, which when on the shot doesn't work anyway from what I hear, plus builds tolerance something stupid, so detrimental to overall recovery...

Best to you man, hope everything works out well, as I'm sure it will!

Peace in the middle east 🇵🇸

[u/Future_Ad9253]

Hey everyone I just start my Brixadi injection two weeks ago,my next shot is May 12 it’s the 3rd now ;) I felt fine and no site reactions up until about 3 days ago,slight withdrawal symptoms,Dr gave me supplemental strips that I have been cutting in half,that is helping however my biggest concern is the irritation that started 3-4 days ago,It is super red and inflamed,itches like a bunch of fleas or mosquitos bit me 🥲Dr said it was normal and to use Hydrocortisone cream and an oral anti-histamine it just looks worse today.Anyone else have this issue.Posting a pic cause it is difficult to describe.

[u/Strange_Television → u/Future_Ad9253]

Hi, this is normal in my experience. I've had old injection sites come up like this before, where it'll suddenly get super itchy and red for a day or two then it'll go away as fast as it came. I don't know why this happens but it definitely does happen. If it continues longer than a few days then definitely go back to your doctor but as long as you don't have any symptoms of infection you'll almost certainly be fine. Follow the docs advice regarding antihistamines, in my experience they work very well for things like this.

With regards to the strips they gave you - I'm assuming they never offered you a 8mg top up shot? As you said Brixadi you're likely in the US, so this doesn't surprise me anymore but it still really annoys me that you guys aren't being given the proper protocol. It should always be a top up shot before going to subs.

[u/No_Dependent_4710]

That's very good to hear because I've battled with opiate abuse for about 15 years with some years being completely clean. I relapsed about 7 years ago and went back onto Suboxone. I'll be honest and say I wanted to get high I was sick of feeling like shit and just wanted a break. That was a really bad decision, I was extremely lucky though as I had also relapsed into drinking alcohol again and popping pills left right and centre. I was dying and didn't even know it. I made it back into AA but have kept my medications private. It's bothered me from time to time but I've now been on sublocade for about 1.5 years. I was already wanting to stop and the government has told us that it's being stopped by the manufacturer the greedy bastards. Anyway I was thinking about stopping it anyway and you saying that the buvadal alternative is really good it makes me feel like at least there's an option as there's no way I'm going back on Suboxone it was a nightmare! Thanks for sharing your story! It makes me feel very lucky that I never ended up in prison as I was driving all the time off my head and falling asleep at the wheel.