What's the difference between the film's & the pills?

[TlN17courage]

[Lillyval]

They contain the exact same ingredients, the active ingredient buprenorphine, and naloxone (which is inactive when taken sublingually). Some people feel that they get better absorption with the films because they stick to the mucous membranes better and have fewer fillers. As a result they can sometimes use a lower dose of the films.

[rule62]

In addition to what Lilly posted people also like the films if they intend on tapering down to a lower dose. Pills are hard to cut evenly and the films are quite easy to measure a decent dose.

There have been members who just hate the taste of the films and prefer the tabs. Some tabs like Zubsolv actually have a lower dose because they designed it to be more absorbent. Plus it doesn't taste as nasty. (so I'm told) Meaning, it takes less to do the job of a higher dose of Suboxone pills. Google buprenorphine to see all the different brands available and then discuss it with your doctor.

[D.K.]

Even though the previous posts on this topic were in April 2020, I can say that they missed the biggest difference between the pills and the films. Before I answer this question, let me tell you that I have tried the films in the past and kinda of liked them. About 3 months ago, I went to CARE Clinic for Drug Addiction in Central Mississippi in order to get off opioids. This clinic will give you a coupon if you don't have insurance (like me), in order to make your medication very affordable. I received the price with the coupon for the pills and for the films, and I can you that the films were about 4 times more expensive than the pills. Right now, I pay under $40 for my monthly supply of pills without any insurance and I am very happy with this. Even though the other points which were mentioned in the April 2020 posts are important, for people like me the price difference between the pills and films is the most significant factor in my decision to choose the pills over the films. We are currently living in very unstable economic times.

[jennjenn]

I have no insurance either. I’ve been in suboxone treatment for over 8 years now and haven’t had insurance the entire time. My clinic is $350 a month and the medicine isn’t cheap either. But I will say this, it depends on the area you live in on what the prices are for this medication. In my area they try to take every single dollar you have if you are a cash paying patient. Unfortunately that’s what I have learned. I started realizing that other areas are much cheaper than what I’m paying out of pocket.

I took the films for 6 years or so at $10 a strip. This was before the generics came out. I decided I was going to save money and switch to tablets but quickly realized they were still $8.50 a pill. So yes I saved money but not much. In some areas those prices are unheard of but not here. Here you gotta be rich lol not really but it sure seems like that. Regardless I know it isn’t that expensive other places and I can’t believe I was able to afford my treatment that long but somehow I did. Now I actually work at my clinic as a peer support specialist and thankfully I don’t pay any longer but I still pay for my medicine at the pharmacy and it’s still $8.50. In bigger areas I know it’s cheaper but I live in a small town in East Tennessee where suboxone is still judged and harassed by a lot of ppl.

[D.K.]

I have no insurance either. I’ve been in suboxone treatment for over 8 years now and haven’t had insurance the entire time. My clinic is $350 a month and the medicine isn’t cheap either. But I will say this, it depends on the area you live in on what the prices are for this medication. In my area they try to take every single dollar you have if you are a cash paying patient. Unfortunately that’s what I have learned. I started realizing that other areas are much cheaper than what I’m paying out of pocket.

I took the films for 6 years or so at $10 a strip. This was before the generics came out. I decided I was going to save money and switch to tablets but quickly realized they were still $8.50 a pill. So yes I saved money but not much. In some areas those prices are unheard of but not here. Here you gotta be rich lol not really but it sure seems like that. Regardless I know it isn’t that expensive other places and I can’t believe I was able to afford my treatment that long but somehow I did. Now I actually work at my clinic as a peer support specialist and thankfully I don’t pay any longer but I still pay for my medicine at the pharmacy and it’s still $8.50. In bigger areas I know it’s cheaper but I live in a small town in East Tennessee where suboxone is still judged and harassed by a lot of ppl.

Thanks for the reply Jenn.

I am shocked that you are paying so much for your office visits and medications. If you want to switch to CARE Clinic for Drug Addiction in Central Mississippi, you would be saving a lot of money. First of all, they don't charge a higher price for the first visit and then a normal price for the rest of the visits. All of the visits at CARE Clinic are always one low price which is half of what you are currently paying for your visits. Also as I have said, I am paying under $40 for a month supply of my medicine with the coupon that CARE Clinic gives me. So you may want to do the numbers to see if the costs of coming to Central Mississippi will be worth all of the money you will save. Their phone number is 662/508-0098 if you want to talk to someone there.

The one thing about the doctor there is that he believes in slowly tapering people off Suboxone. He takes small baby steps when decreasing the Suboxone dosage in order to allow the person's body to get used to the lower dose before he drops it any further. This way, he can avoid any one going back to using opioids because of a rapid taper. He is good at what he does and I completely trust him too. The reason why I mention this is because you said that you have been on Suboxone for 8 years. My doctor has some people on Suboxone forever (because he cannot taper them off it completely), but the dosage that they are on is much, much lower than the dosage that they started on initially. He would prefer that his patients are on a very low dose of Suboxone than to have any of his patients go back to using pain pills or heroin.

I normally come to the clinic on a Saturday or Sunday since I work on weekdays. This is no problem because they are open everyday until 7PM. How cool would it be if you and I both showed up there on a weekend to be seen.