The Bernese method

If you are using fentadope or dirty blues or have had trouble starting suboxone in the past then the Bernese method may be your best option for starting suboxone.

Before we start: All suboxone inductions should be done under the supervision of an experienced doctor. These are just suggestions to discuss with your doctor

Reasons for using the Bernese method:

Suboxone can cause something called precipitated withdrawal. For those of you who don’t know what that is, its when the suboxone is taken too soon after using opiates and the suboxone quickly displaces the opiates in your brain causing extremely severe withdrawal symptoms.

Normally when starting Suboxone you stop your drug of choice first and then wait 12-24 hours before starting the Suboxone to avoid precipitated withdrawal

The problem is that fentanyl and its analogs can have long half lives and stay around in your body for a very long time. This means that when going from fentadope/dirty blues to suboxone in order to avoid precipitated withdrawal you need to wait 72 hours minimum, and even then many people have still been thrown into precipitated withdrawal.

Many users are incapable of making it 72 hours without using and don’t want to risk precipitated withdrawals. Because of this people have been avoiding suboxone.

However there is a method of suboxone induction called the Bernese method. This method works by microdosing the suboxone slowly over a few days while you continue to use your drug of choice in gradually lower amounts. This way instead of displacing the opiates in your brain all at once and causing precipitated withdrawal it happens so slowly that your barely notice it.

Dosing Schedule:

The Bernese method can be performed using various different dosing schedules. The main idea is that you slowly raise your dose of Suboxone while simultaneously lowering your dose of fent.

Below I'll show you 2 examples of dosing schedules, one for fentadope and one for dirty blues, you can adjust the schedule to your needs.

Fentadope Example:

For this example we will show a 1 gram a day fentadope habit transitioning to Suboxone.

Day 1:

Suboxone - .25mg taken twice, once in morning once at night totaling .5mg.

fentadope (100% of your regular dose) = 1 gram of fentadope used throughout the day

Day 2:

Suboxone - .5mg Suboxone taken twice, once in morning once at night, totaling 1mg.

fentadope (80% of your regular dose) = .8 grams of fentadope used throughout the day

Day 3:

Suboxone - .75mg Suboxone taken twice, once in morning once at night, totaling 1.5mg.

fentadope (60% of your regular dose) = .6 gram of fentadope used throughout the day

Day 4:

Suboxone - 1mg of Suboxone taken twice, once in morning once at night, totaling 2mg.

fentadope (40% of your regular dose) = .4 gram of fentadope used throughout the day

Day 5:

Suboxone - 1.5mg of Suboxone taken twice, once in morning once at night, totaling 3mg.

fentadope (30% of your regular dose) =.3 gram of fentadope used throughout the day

Day 6:

Suboxone - 2mg of Suboxone taken twice, once in morning once at night, totaling 4mg.

fentadope (20% of your regular dose) = .2 gram of fentadope used throughout the day

Day 7:

Suboxone - 3mg of Suboxone taken twice, once in morning once at night, totaling 6mg.

fentadope (0% of your regular dose) = 0 gram of fentadope used

Day 8:

Suboxone - 4mg of Suboxone taken twice, once in morning once at night, totaling 8mg.

fentadope (0% of your regular dose) = 0 gram of fentadope used

At this point you should be done using fentadope and can continue to raise your suboxone dose till you reach a dose that feels comfortable.

Dirty Blues (pressed pills with fent) Example:

For this example we will show a 10 pill a day dirty blue (pressed pills with fent) habit transitioning to Suboxone.

Day 1:

Suboxone - .25mg taken twice, once in morning once at night totaling .5mg.

Dirty Blues (100% of your regular dose) = 10 pills used throughout the day

Day 2:

Suboxone - .5mg Suboxone taken twice, once in morning once at night, totaling 1mg.

Dirty Blues (80% of your regular dose) = 8 pills used throughout the day

Day 3:

Suboxone - .75mg Suboxone taken twice, once in morning once at night, totaling 1.5mg.

Dirty Blues (60% of your regular dose) = 6 pills used throughout the day

Day 4:

Suboxone - 1mg of Suboxone taken twice, once in morning once at night, totaling 2mg.

Dirty Blues (40% of your regular dose) = 4 pills used throughout the day

Day 5:

Suboxone - 1.5mg of Suboxone taken twice, once in morning once at night, totaling 3mg.

Dirty Blues (30% of your regular dose) =3 pills used throughout the day

Day 6:

Suboxone - 2mg of Suboxone taken twice, once in morning once at night, totaling 4mg.

Dirty Blues (20% of your regular dose) = 2 pills used throughout the day

Day 7:

Suboxone - 3mg of Suboxone taken twice, once in morning once at night, totaling 6mg.

Dirty Blues (0% of your regular dose) = 0 pills used

Day 8:

Suboxone - 4mg of Suboxone taken twice, once in morning once at night, totaling 8mg.

Dirty Blues (0% of your regular dose) = 0 pills used

At this point you should be done using dirty blues and can continue to raise your Suboxone dose till you reach a dose that feels comfortable.

Once you've gotten yourself on to Suboxone you can now decide whether to stay on Suboxone maintenance or to taper off using either the quick detox method, or the slow taper method. The most important aspect of the Bernese method is to slowly raise your suboxone dose while you gradually lower the dose of your drug of choice. It's important to lower your drug of choice as you do this to avoid precipitated withdrawal.

Please share your experience and questions in the comments below or in the forum.

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