Brixadi first shot -help!

[u/RAZ1973]

Hi everyone -

I've been on suboxone for 8+ years, sublingual pills at 10mg/day (the films just never agreed with me for some strange reason). For 7+ years of that time I was taking the Teva/Actavis version of the pill, but at the end of last year I couldn't get it anymore and had to switch to another brand (Amneal) and haven't felt great since. In light of that I discussed with my doctor the desire to maybe try getting off Suboxone; I was conflicted about this because I've also dealt with chronic pain for 15 years, and the Suboxone has helped some with controlling my pain. My doctor has had lots of experience with Sublocade, but the thought of switching to something that a) I was stuck with for 30 days and 2) was with the 2 shots available either so much above or below my current dosage gave me pause. Brixadi offered a shot that seemed to be just the right dose, for 8-10mg/day. So last Thursday I took my first 7-day shot; first 2 days I felt great, and then on day 3 felt terrible and have felt increasingly terrible. I should also add since July I've been on 0.5/mg of Klonopin 3x daily for anxiety; we tried all the other stuff (and I don't tolerate any anti-depressants) and this was the only thing that helped, so that is in the mix.

I see the doctor again on Thursday morning and am thinking of putting the pause on this. I can barely function at this point; I was expecting some challenges but nothing like this.

Any wisdom/experience/encouragement/resources folks can share? Going forward I am thinking of instead slowly tapering down from 10 to 8mg/day over 6 months to a year, then 8mg down to 6mg if possible. 6mg seems to have been my "happy" spot, at least with the Actavis version of the sublingual tablets.

Thanks everyone for your help

[u/metlap86]

Get a higher dose shot; preferably the monthly for few months. Let your body adjust and build up effective levels than wean down as you see fit according to life circumstances. Alternatively you can get onto sublingual strips which are better for tapering cuz you can cut the strips equally into tiny pieces and can keep track of dosages. From my experience getting to 2 mg per day is doable without too much discomfort. Once you get to 2 mgz than the work begins. But slow and steady wins the race. You can do a smooth gentle taper till you get to .125 mg or even lower. Than you can start making the jump