help: suboxone

[Marlayna67]

Hello, there’s good news and bad news.

The good news is that I haven’t had RLS for months.

The bad news is since taking Suboxone I’ve developed the most insane muscle pain I can barely function. To get out of bed I barely have the strength to roll my body, and even lifting my leg up, causes an immense amount of pain.

Walking is so painful I’m hobbling around like I’m 50 years older than I am. I’ve tried chiropractic and massage and hot baths and Tylenol and nothing works for the pain and of course doesn’t work for the muscle weakness.

I was reading that this is a serious side effect of Suboxone so I have asked Dr. Buchfuhrer if I can go back to oxycodone and see if this horrible pain goes away.

has anyone else experienced this with Suboxone? I am at my wits end.

[LotteM]

Sounds terrible! Also consider and discuss with your doctor other opioids, like methadone or hydrocodone. If it is dr Buchfuhrer, he will have experience through his many patients. I hope a change will work, side effects can be very debilitating. I am struggling with fatigue and brain fog.

[Marlayna67 in reply to LotteM]

i’m sorry you’re struggling with that. I did initially, but that were off and then the muscle pain and weakness kicked in. I’d rather have this than RLS, but in an ideal world I would just have a good nights sleep!

[LotteM in reply to Marlayna67]

I agree. But I have had this all the time, I don’t think it will wear off now. I am contemplating to wean off the buprenorphine (with specialist help) to find out whether it is due to the buprenorphine.

[Marlayna67 in reply to LotteM]

Yea that is my plan too. Suboxone is great for RLS but in my case I can’t be in pain 24 seven as that’s not quite an equal trade.

[Jelbea]

Have you been investigated for these symptoms? Do they improve during the day?

I am asking this as there is an illness called polymyalgia rheumatica and one of the symptoms is severe pain in the hips when trying to get out of bed in the morning. It also causes muscle pain in the shoulders and other parts of the body. It is not difficult to diagnose and comes under the umbrella of rheumatic diseases. It can be readily treated. I know all about this because my husband and mother-in-law both suffered with it.

Just a suggestion as I understand from your post that suboxone was OK at the beginning of treatment and then this pain developed somewhere along the line since then. Good Wishes

[Marlayna67 in reply to Jelbea]

Thank you so much for this. I have actually been googling different diseases and symptoms to see if it could be something that has come on. The pain is in joints all over my body and it is hard to get out of bed. it is hard to get up after sitting And I feel like my knees are gonna get out. And just 23 months ago I was at the gym, lifting weights and even doing some running. I will investigate this and see what I can learn. Incidentally, my left shoulder is where it started and I thought I had broken it somehow. But yes, feet knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, and neck. I do hope your husband and mother-in-law are OK.

[Marlayna67 in reply to Jelbea]

Thank you for bringing up this illness as I am going to the lab today and take the tests that could identify it. Would be wild if that’s what it was and I found out from you mentioning it!

[Marlayna67 in reply to Jelbea]

Hi Jelbea, just wanted to report that I ordered some labs due to your recommendation to check out and the standard tests for polymyalgia rheumatica are mostly negative. I do have a high c reactive protein, and I’m waiting for my nurse practitioner to tell me what to do next.

[Jelbea in reply to Marlayna67]

Hi Marlayna67 - I see that most of the tests carried out were negative apart from the c-reactive protein which I think is a marker of inflammation. The one blood test which is often used to diagnose PMA is a test referred to as ESR or erythrocyte sedimentation rate which is often quite raised for a positive result. I do hope you can rule out any other ailments but it still leaves you with the problem of your disturbing symptoms. I do hope you get all this sorted very soon.

[Marlayna67 in reply to Jelbea]

Yep. Sed rate was a nice low 8. I was certain this was the answer as I have ALL the symptoms, but doesn't look like it. Just still waiting to hear back from my nurse practitioner.

[ChrisColumbus]

Further to Jelbea 's reply, I wonder whether your pain could be caused by something else.

But then Suboxone is a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone, and aches and pain seem to me to be more often attributed to naloxone than to buprenorphine.

Were you never prescribed buprenorphine on its own?

[Marlayna67 in reply to ChrisColumbus]

no I have the combo. It’s just crazy if it’s a disease that it would come on so hard and so quickly I was fine in January February, and March. It just has been getting progressively worse.

[Munroist]

I’m not sure if this helps but I have recently been sleeping a little better and for longer stretches and am a lot more achey when I wake up. However I don’t take medication. I've also just turned 61 and was wondering whether it’s just age or maybe actually sleeping in one position for longer. Like you I was pretty active a just a year ago without this level of discomfort. In your situation I’d agree that it might be worth swapping medications to see as it sounds pretty uncomfortable.

[Marlayna67 in reply to Munroist]

I’m glad you are sleeping better and the achiness is really awful. I have it in the morning and every time I sit down I have difficulty getting back up and it’s extremely painful. I’m switching back to oxy and stopping the Suboxone today and I’ll see what happens.

[Marzipana]

Hi Marlayna, that sounds horrible! I'm sorry you're having this awful side effect. It sounds as bad as or worse than RLS! My son is on suboxone because he's been an addict of many things, including opiates. When he first started the sublingual film, he had about a day of feeling amazingly good, then got hiccups which became alarming. He hiccupped constantly, day and night for 2 weeks. He started cutting the suboxone strips,into smaller pieces, taking them gradually throughout the day, and that worked. Maybe you could decease the dose? Good luck with it all!

[Marlayna67 in reply to Marzipana]

Thank you Marzipana and I’m glad to hear your son is addressing his addiction. I too, am a mother of an addict. Hiccups are very alarming and what an odd side effect. My friend had them once for a year and the only thing that worked was Klonopin. I’ve been off the Suboxone for a couple days now and the pain has decreased, but it’s not gone away. I’m waiting for more results on bloodwork to see if it’s, an auto immune disorder or not. The oxy is not as effective as the Suboxone, that’s for sure.

[Marzipana in reply to Marlayna67]

Prayers for you, Marlayna, that all results of tests and drugs will be good and alleviate your suffering!

[Marlayna67 in reply to Marzipana]

Thank you!